The horror genre really is a thing of beauty. You have so many great options when looking for something to send you sprawling behind the couch thanks to all the fantastic subgenres of horror that you have to try out.

Thanks to all the variability, you can try a lot of different styles of games while still being able to stick to a horrific experience if you look around. With enough effort, you can find a horror game to suit any taste, but some subgenres have been given more love than others by developers, making a few legendary.

Dead By Daylight: Survivors Attempting To Repair A Generator Together

10Online Horror

While this isn’t one of the most well-known horror subgenres, getting toplay horror games online with some friendsis always a ton of fun. Two greats of this genre areThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre and, of course, Dead by Daylight.

These games focus much more on allowing you to experience horrific situations with others instead of keeping the experience to a much more intimate level. There aren’t too many major games for this subgenre, but with how successful games like Dead by Daylight are, it’s only a matter of time before there are more.

A demon in DOOM 2016 about to grab at the player

9FPS Horror

The FPS horror genre is filled with a lot of great games that let you feel powerful instead of completely terrified,even if there are terrifying bosses to fight. You still have to take on horrific monsters and even demons throughout games like these, but at least you’re armed.

Some greats of this subgenre are games like theFearseries and most famous of all, theDoomseries. Even theResident Evilseries has begun to dip its toes into the genre with Resident Evil 7 and 8, though both of those games could also be considered as survival horror.

Silent Hill 2 - A Crawler Emerges From Under A Van

8Psychological Horror

Rather than letting the scares come from being trapped in some kind of horrific situation with tons of enemies, psychological horror brings your emotions to the forefront. You’ll be scared, but it will be because the games you’re playing are twisting your mind.

Some greats of this subgenre are many of the games from theSilent Hillseries, theAmnesiaseries, and certainly theOutlastseries. It’s not what you see that is most frightening; it’s what may be around that next corner waiting to strike.

carrion monster in caves with sign reading keep calm and carry on

7Reverse Horror

Reverse horror is a great genre that gives you control of the forces of evil instead of acting as the helpless victim, making it one of the more refreshing genres. While a lot of online horror games likeDead by Daylightfit perfectly into this category, there are even more great single-player games to give a try.

One of the most notable games from this genre isCarrion, in which you play as a monster killing everything in its path within a facility. Other great options from the genre are Sea Salt, Stubbs the Zombie, and evenVampyr.

Five Nights At Freddys Plus key art.

6Jumpscare Horror

While this genre isn’t one of the most varied out there, what few games are dedicated to giving you all the jumpscares possible are fantastic. The gameplay of this subgenre often revolves around a simple rotation of tasks that punish you with jumpscares should you fail to perform well.

The most obvious example of this genre is the nowiconic mascot-riddenFive Nights At Freddy’sseries, where various animatronics are ready to jumpscare you should you fail at your night guard duties. There are many games that utilize jumpscares, but Five Nights At Freddy’s does it so well that it spawned countless clone games and created its own subgenre.

Alien Isolation xenomorph attacking and you fighting back with a flamethrower

5Stealth Horror

The stealth horror genre is one that overlaps with a lot of other subgenres, as stealth is quite common across various horror games. As you might have guessed, the main draw to this subgenre is how it combines stealth mechanics and gameplay with aspects of tense horror.

While it fits wonderfully into plenty of other subgenres,Alien: Isolationisa fantastic movie-turned-game exampleof this very thing. Many games bring in a cat-and-mouse element to the gameplay, keeping you forever helpless and forcing you to rely on stealth in order to survive.

Hello Neighbor - Cover art of Mr. Peterson holding a shovel with a crow to the left

4Indie Horror

Typically, indie horror is just horror games that come from smaller independent studios or even a single developer. These games tend to be smaller in scope, but the scares they manage to pack in can rival even the highest-budget games.

You aren’t likely to get super deep mechanics, but you will get interesting, replayable, and often thought-provoking gameplay. Some great indie horror titles areHello Neighbor,The Forest, and the always-tricky Doki Doki Literature Club.

Alien: Isolation - Amanda Ripley in a spacesuit - The alien in the reflection of the glass

3Sci-Fi Horror

Thanks to the inherent creepy nature that can come with science fiction, it shouldn’t be a surprise that horrific stories set in space or dystopic worlds are some of the best out there. Everything is scarier with aliens and the endless void of space.

Alien: Isolation might be one of the most famous games of this subgenre but theDead Spaceseries and evenThe Callisto Protocolare also fantastic examples. Having to survive horrendous alien creatures with minimal resources is always bound to be a horrifying situation.

Ellis, Coach, Rochelle, and Nick In Left 4 Dead 2

2Action Horror

While the action horror genre may be one of the most basic out there, it’s hard to not acknowledge how good the games of this genre are.Left 4 Dead,Bioshock,Bloodborne, and one of the greatest video games of all time, Resident Evil 4, all call this subgenre home.

Allowing you to have a bit more power as you struggle to survive, the action horror genre often provides massive setpieces to play through and bombastic stories to experience. You’ll be mowing down enemies from start to finish, with suplexes being optional, something that always keeps things interesting.

Jill running away from a Crimson Head in the Resident Evil 1 remake.

1Survival Horror

While action horror might have received the most love from developers, most fans of horror will agree that survival horror is the peak horror subgenre. Pretty much every horror game out there tries to work in aspects of resource management, puzzle-solving, and helplessness to be considered survival horror.

The series that is often viewed as having perfected the subgenre is of course Resident Evil, withthe original game and its remakestanding out as an incredible example. The goal isn’t to kill every enemy in sight; instead, you need to do whatever you can to survive the horrors of the night.