The world of horror/thriller video games is historically unexplored, but lately we've seen the genre explode with games like Dead Space, The Darkness, Penumbra, and Left 4 Dead. Who doesn't love a little suspense with their action games? As a hardcore gamer, I've compiled a short starter list of games that every gamer should play if they love to be terrified. So shut off the lights, plug in those headphones and get cozy, cause here we go!

Doom 3

This game was a long, long time coming. In fact, Doom 3 appeared a full eleven years after the original Doom was released, giving new hope to Doom fans who once thought their beloved game had been left behind. As with many games in the horror genre, Doom 3 has a vast and complex storyline that includes accidental Hell gate openings, biological research experiments gone wrong, and demon invasions.

Bowel-Control Challenger: There are a number of shocking and gory scenes, surprise monsters, claustrophobic dark corners with gruesome monsters, and hellish hallucinations. The game is almost entirely set in dark, dark rooms where, for some strange reason, you've forgotten your night vision goggles. What kind of space marine are you, anyway?

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

This game, a follow up to the equally-scary Penumbra, is very easily the scariest game I have ever played. I have never experienced such profound panic as when I encountered my first mutant creature in Amnesia, I kid you not. You have no way to defend yourself; no weapons, no ability to reason with the hideous other-worldly monsters that would like nothing more than to eat the eyes out of your head. The only way to survive is to outrun them, hide from them, wait for them to get tired of looking for you, or for them to be distracted by eating something or someone else. These quick-moving monsters are quite efficient at tearing down doors and kicking obstacles out of the way to get to you and your delicious self. Running frantically from them in the first person perspective really adds and element of terror that has to be experienced to be believed.

On top of worrying about your standard health bar, you have to worry about your character's sanity as well. Hiding in the darkness for too long watching the drooling monsters try to locate their next meal (i.e., you) will cause your character to go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs very, very quickly. The further you descend into madness, the crazier the visual and auditory hallucinations become and very quickly you will get your crazy, babbling self noticed by hungry monsters which, of course, will end in tears.

Bowel-Control Challenger: Monsters can appear without any warning out of absolute nowhere and for almost no reason, which forces the player to walk through each room considering where they could hide in case a monster suddenly appears and tries to rip them asunder.

Silent Hill 2

The original Silent Hill still stands as my favourite horror video game of all time. While Amnesia is more terrifying, by far, Silent Hill has the compelling story line and re-playability to sustain its top place in my mind. The story revolves around James Sunderland, who has come to the eponymous town in search of his dead wife who may or may not have sent him a letter, depending on if James is losing his mind or not.

Bowel-Control Challenger: The town is completely enveloped in thick, white fog that makes it impossible to see more than a foot in front of you at any given time. Most of the time you will hear monsters and mutant creatures coming for you but won't actually see them until they attack. The only help you get is from a radio that emits static when creatures are nearby.

Dead Space 2

Dead Space 2 has really cornered the jump scares market. Like many games in the survival horror third-person shooter genre, it aims to subtly creep out players. Everything about this game is freaky: the silence of outer space, creaking rusty floor grates, and, of course, every corner is a dark, ominous one. The creatures who shriek and lunge after you and won't die unless you pump all your ammo into each and every limb will steal heartbeats from your chest as you struggle not to wail like a little girl.

Bowel-Control Challenger: For me, the biggest tension-building element of this game is the musical score. The composer, Jason Graves, wrote pieces for a string quartet in the style of 60's horror flicks and psychological thrillers (bigger scarier pieces for when action is high, and quieter, more intimate pieces for more personal moments). The main character, Isaac Clarke, is suffering from dementia, and the music does a very good job at depicting his vulnerability and emotional states. Graves' score for the first Dead Space won him two BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards.

Left 4 Dead

This zombie apocalypse survival game is a fun shoot 'em up, but some of the specialty zombies are freaky enough to give you a fright when they leap out and try to tear you apart. Just when you feel confident in gunning down a huge onslaught of undead, a "special infected" will come along and ruin your day by barfing on you, ensnaring you with their smoky tongue, pinning you down and ripping at your chest, or ramming into you until you're a bloody pulp. Sheesh.

Bowel-Control Challenger: Hearing the witch sobbing combined with the sharp, unnerving musical score immediately fills your stomach with dread. If you're unlucky enough to startle her, the emaciated zombie's screams and subsequent attack will force a wee bit o' pee out of you as you struggle to take her down before she ends you.

Have a game you would totally add to this list? Let me know in the comments below, I'm all ears and always looking for spooky recommendations!

Which do you prefer, scary movies or scary games?