The second half of 2022 seems set to be a momentous few months for horror gaming fans; the promising Atomic Heart looks to carry the vaunted mantle of BioShock, and The Callisto Protocol hits the same visceral notes as the original Dead Space. Plus, in 2023, the original Dead Space game will receive a remaster, with a reworked version of Resident Evil 4 following a few months after.

Of course, in the last few years, horror gaming has primarily thrived outside of the AAA space, and there's a slew of interesting indie horror titles set to release in the near future of which fans should be keeping track.

The Fridge Is Red

A screenshot from the upcoming indie horror game The Fridge Is Red

An excellent example of the so-called analog horror movement that's taken the genre by storm, The Fridge Is Red evokes the unrefined and disturbingly indefinite visual approach of many early survival horror titles. A series of horrific vignettes threaded together by a strange central conceit involving a man tasked with staring at a red fridge, The Fridge Is Red certainly sets itself apart from its indie contemporaries.

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Puzzle-solving and first-person exploration appear to be integral parts of the game, and gamers who are still super nostalgic for late '90s console gaming will certainly want to give this one a go when it debuts in September.

Hello Neighbor 2

A promotional image from the upcoming horror game Hello Neighbor 2

The original Hello Neighbor was a one-of-a-kind stealth horror title that juxtaposed a colorful and whimsically abstract style with a sinister plot, a malignant pursuer, and an ever-changing house to explore. While many of the game's fans were upset by subsequent changes made by the developer, the franchise maintains an avid fanbase.

Originally revealed in 2020 and slated for a December 2022 release, Hello Neighbor 2 looks to double down on the harrowing hijinks of the original. Introducing new mechanics and expanding upon the twisted world seen in the first game, Hello Neighbor 2 will undoubtedly go down as a stand-out indie horror release.

Fear The Spotlight

A screenshot from the upcoming horror title Fear the Spotlight.

Another game that closely replicates the feeling of pacing the polygonal halls of a PS1 survival horror title, Fear The Spotlight sees its protagonist shuffle across an abandoned school in an effort to elude a titular terror that projects a beam of red-tinted light from its head.

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Too few indie horror games feature genuinely creepy monsters, but Fear The Spotlight's central antagonist evokes that same sense of dread felt when players meet Silent Hill's Pyramid Head for the first time. The game also goes all-in on the low-fidelity aesthetic, looking almost like something that would've been made to run on the even more primitive SEGA Saturn.

Level Zero

A screenshot of the upcoming multiplayer horror game Level Zero

Level Zero is touted as a tactical multiplayer survival horror title in the same vein as something like Kinetic Games' Phasmophobia or, perhaps more aptly, 10 Chambers' ultra-tough GTFO. A title that appears to combine team-oriented puzzle solving with stealth, resource management, and combat elements, it could also be compared to the fan-favorite survival horror title Alien: Isolation.

The inaugural outing for indie development outfit DogHowl Games, Level Zero doesn't have a set-in-stone release date at the moment, though it'll hopefully debut well before the current Dead By Daylight-instigated horror multiplayer craze dies down.

Autopsy Simulator

A still from the upcoming horror game Autopsy Simulator.

"Criminal cases, dead bodies, and nudity" reads the mature content description of Autopsy Simulator on the game's Steam store page. From what's been seen of the creepy coroner-centric title thus far, that definitely sounds like an apt description.

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Strangely enough, Autopsy Simulator actually looks quite a bit like DarkStone Digital's recently-released Mortuary Assistant, albeit with fewer demons and more attention to anatomical accuracy. Autopsy Simulator looks like an excellent experience for those who find the idea of simply standing in a morgue to be skin-crawling, and it's a great example of a concept that could really only be done by a smaller studio that needn't adhere to the restrictions of a large publisher.

Killer Frequency

A screenshot from the upcoming VR horror game Killer Frequency.

Most VR horror titles tend to be jumpscare-laden flash-in-the-pan experiences with no real staying power, but Killer Frequency has the potential to be something more. Despite an admittedly weak initial trailer, the title's premise should intrigue hardcore horror fans.

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Taking a page from the wacky sequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Killer Frequency has players assume the role of a radio DJ who must get to the bottom of a series of brutal slayings while continually spinning a suave '80s synth soundtrack.

Evil Nun: The Broken Mask

A screenshot from the horror game Evil Nun: The Broken Mask.

"Evil Nun" sounds like a perfect title for a low-budget horror B-movie, but it's instead a mobile horror title that far outpaced its banal competition. So warm was the game's initial reception, in fact, that the developer saw fit to port the title to PC.

Slated for an October 2022 release, Evil Nun: The Broken Mask promises to enhance the title's visuals and overhaul the somewhat basic mobile-centric mechanics. Many gamers immediately write off mobile ports, but this one has some promise.

Mirror Forge

A screenshot from the indie horror game Mirror Forge.

Directly inspired by the Silent Hill franchise, Mirror Forge marries the creeping dread of the beloved P.T. demo with the outright horror of the distorted otherworlds seen in almost every Silent Hill title. Replete with challenging puzzles and plagued by all manner of metaphorical monstrosities, Mirror Forge absolutely wears its influences on its sleeve.

While it appears to lack the polish of more established franchises, Mirror Forge nonetheless seems to be an imaginative, engaging horror romp on which genre fans should not miss out.

Scorn

Gameplay from the upcoming horror video game Scorn.

Overtly inspired by the somber and macabre works of Swiss surrealist H.R. Giger, Scorn is an upcoming survival horror title that takes place in a nightmare world that's so authentically close to Giger's work that it almost seems to be of his own design.

Though combat will be a part of the game, the focus is said to be on exploration and puzzle solving. In a way, Scorn could almost be considered a spiritual successor to Dark Seed, a 1992 point-and-click horror game that Giger directly helped to develop.

The Outlast Trials

A screenshot from the upcoming horror video game The Outlast Trials.

In 2013, Red Barrel's Outlast was heralded as a bastion of the horror genre at a time in which most developers and publishers weren't interested in the niche. Massive franchises like Resident Evil and Dead Space had, by that time, become overblown and uninteresting, but this surprise indie title managed to bear the torch.

Now, the Outlast series is experimenting with co-op multiplayer gameplay with The Outlast Trials. Little is known about how these new mechanics will be implemented, but the available trailers confirm that the title will triple-down on the gore and grotesquery of the first two titles. Though the game won't be out until 2023, a select few fans will be able to gain access to an upcoming Halloween beta.

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