Amnesia: The Dark Descent
A monster popping out of the water is scary enough, but when they're invisible monsters, it's even worse. Welcome to Amnesia: The Dark Descent, where a creature called the "Kaernk" is out to get you. You can see it approaching from the water trails it leaves, but it took a bit of heart-stopping trial and error to figure this out the first time.

Aliens vs. Predator
The first time you encountered a facehugger in Aliens vs. Predator was especially chilling, even if you had previously seen the creepy-crawlies in the movies. They jumped on you, appearing without warning. Before you had time to react, this bizarre alien was assaulting you, forcing its proboscis down your throat. We bet you looked twice before proceeding after that, since the game was practically littered with them.

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum had the chance to spotlight some of the franchise's villain's most terrifying qualities. Batman is forced to enter Killer Croc's lair, where he creeps along narrow platforms with Croc lurking beneath. At any moment Croc could rise up from the sewers and insta-kill Batman. Even though it's not a horror game in the traditional sense, this section sure made for a frightful experience.

BioShock
BioShock's freaky dentist scene is unexpectedly spooky. Totter along through the Painless Dental area of the underwater dystopia Rapture, and you'll eventually come upon a corpse you think will move. That's not where this jump scare stems from, however. Just as you're looting a register, who should pop up directly behind you but a Splicer dentist?

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth showcased an intense chase scene that rocked players to the core. You play as Jack Waters as he is staying over in a hotel when the townsfolk decide they're sick of his snooping. Jack, sleepy, weaponless, and defenseless, must run for his life, blocking doors behind him, dodging bullets, and staying one step ahead of his pursuers.

Condemned: Criminal Origins
Condemned: Criminal Origins tasks you with investigating the St. Joseph's School in search of a torturing serial killer. You eventually find his last victim in a locker room., Mr. Tibbits, whom is mutilated but alive. He grabs your arm, for a delectable jump scare, then dies from blood loss -- but not before scaring you half to death.

Dead Space 2
Something in your eye, Isaac? As Dead Space 2's protagonist Isaac Clarke straps himself in for some DIY surgery/information extraction, it's up to you to keep a steady hand, or Isaac ends up mutilated and, well, dead. You might want to look away if you make even the slightest miscalculation for some surgery gone wrong.

Fallout 3
Any Fallout 3 player likely tells you to stay away from the Dunwich Building, like the in-game lore warns you as well. From the booby-trapped baby carriage on the outside to the horrific hallucinations you'll have inside, the Dunwich Building is a veritable gallery of nightmares that you'll want to traverse through as quickly as possible.

F.E.A.R.
The fabled Alma, creepy girl extraordinaire, may not be too scary over the course of the follow-up F.E.A.R. titles, but if you're sitting down to the shooter for the first time, the appearance of a demonic little girl had to shake you to your core, like it did us. Her appearances ramp up ever slowly, but it doesn't make the first time any less scary. Just look at those eyes. Yeesh.

Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 was full of jump scares already, but once players reached Ravenholm, things were turned up to eleven. The appearance of headcrabs and headcrab zombies ensured your stay in Ravenholm certainly wouldn't be a pleasant one, and it remains one of the scariest parts of the game to date. Scarier than the fact that we probably won't ever see a Half-Life 3...okay, so may not that scary.

Halo
Up until this pivotal moment of Halo, you'd been facing off against the easily-recognizable Covenant. Once you came face to face with the virulent parasites known as the Flood and their hundreds of brethren, Halo became a very different game. Just how many of those things would appear? How would you ever triumph over their numbers? Their grotesque appearance, surprise entrances, and infecting corpses made even the most hardened player shiver.

Left 4 Dead
What's that, over there in the distance? It looks like a distraught young woman. And listen! She's crying. We'd better investigate. Or not, because it's the Witch of Left 4 Dead, and she'll ravage you in seconds. Venture too close to her, and it's game over. But who was to know that the first time they played? No one -- making the Witch an extremely creepy encounter. It doesn't help that she spawns randomly throughout the game.

Metro 2033
Deep within the bowels of the Moscow State Library are grotesque monsters known only as Librarians. Imagine poking around the bowels of the Library only to meet one of these gorilla-like beasts face to face as it lumbers toward you out of the shadows. There's nowhere to run, but you've got meager munitions at your side. Do you fight back, or do you give into a grisly fate?

Outlast
Outlast finds you being chased by deformed mental patients as you duck into lockers and under hospital beds to protect yourself. In complete darkness, the only light you have emanates from the infrared mode of your camcorder. The thrill stems from the chase. That’s what Outlast excels at. The first time you meet one of the patients, they seem docile and tend to ignore you -- but that all changes once they've been alerted to your presence.

Resident Evil
While you were always on the lookout for zombies in the original Resident Evil, it was probably the dogs that did you in. Who could forget the iconic scary moment when things were really quite in the mansion only to have rabid dogs blast through the windows to attack you? It may be the basest of video game jump scares, but if you lived it then you know it was terror personified.

Sanitarium
Once you reach the Innocent Abandoned area of classic point-and-click adventure Sanitarium, a chilling cut scene bookends one of the most disturbing areas of the game. These are the unwanted and abandoned children only "Mother" loves, like a boy with two mouths and a girl with a mutilated face. The unnerving music doesn't help much, either. If you've got a soft spot for children, you might want to steer clear.

System Shock 2
*Spoilers* System Shock 2 was revolutionary, but the reveal of SHODAN, a malevolent supercomputer, took the cake. The benevolent voice of Dr. Polito, another survivor in the space-horror game, guided players via radio to safety. When players discover Dr. Polito's body, it becomes painfully obvious they've been tricked. SHODAN reveals her true identity -- she's been the Doctor all along, and now she wants you dead.

Silent Hill 2
You could pick out a cornucopia of scary moments from each individual Silent Hill game, but no one was expecting Pyramid Head, the manifestation of protagonist James Sunderland's innermost desire to be punished, when he first arrived on the scene. You're never ready for him, either, not even after subsequent visits.

Silent Hill 4
Your apartment in Silent Hill 4: The Room seems innocent enough, until you progress through the game. The more you play, the more ghosts pop up in your room, eventually culminating in a hot spot that you can barely navigate. And that's where your most convenient save location is. It's a race to save, getting in and out as soon as possible.

Thief: Deadly Shadows
Master thief Garrett has his work cut out for him when he enters Shalebridge Cradle, an abandoned asylum that used to be an orphanage where patients and children were abused. The sights and sounds that await you when you first traverse it are a frightful mixture of lobotomized patients, suffering spirits, and evil intentions -- did we mention that it's dark as hell?

Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines
The Ocean House Hotel area in Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines is another peculiar hotel scare because you're being pursued by a malevolent spirit who wants you out, or dead. Preferably dead. Disembodied voices, flying inanimate objects, and other mischief increase as you reach your goal, making this one haunted house to remember.