Since I don't play anything from the horror genre really, I was wondering where you guys that have/do play games from that genre thought Shalebridge Cradle from Thief 3 would fit on a scariness scale. (FYI, I just finished T3 - again).

Anyway VOTING AS FOLLOWS IF YOU'VE PLAYED T3/SHALEBRIDGE CRADLE:
1 = cupcakes and Barbie dolls
10 = scared me so bad, my unborn grandchildren will be affected

ALSO, post some games from the genre and discuss where you think they would fit on the scale.

It was tense, but not very scary. A lot of fun though. I remember Thief I and II being much more tense.

I don't think anything has scared me as much as Amnesia: Dark Descent. Every time I was chased by an enemy I got goosebumps and chills. It was disturbing.

I've recently been playing through the Silent Hill series, and I think the cradle might have surpassed them. I still remember the first time I saw one of the puppets. I entered into the insane asylum section after going through the unpopulated orphanage section, and saw only a brief shadow of something passing around a corner.

I recently replayed Thief 3 as well. The Cradle wasn't as scary as I remember it, but it was still creepy. I think it is only initially scary, after playing through the fright is gone.

Also, I wouldn't really call it "scary," but every time I startled a witch or heard a tank in Left 4 Dead, I would scream like a little girl. I only played on Xbox with friends, though, never online.

Flirb, you owe it to yourself to play Frictional's Games. The Penumbra series and Amnesia: Dark Descent. The Penumbra series are better games overall but Dark Descent is the most terrifying game I've ever played. Yahtzee put it well: "I wouldn't say it's a great game, but it's almost unmatched as a constipation aid."

It scared the proverbial out of me.

I think it is a level that can, through the right set of coincidences, play out either slightly "flat" or utterly horrifying. I got the latter version.

For starters, I'd been playing the game for a few hours already, wearing a good set of headphones, and it had gotten dark outside. I'd been too engrossed to turn a light on.

I have tried to go back and play it once or twice since then but it's just unpleasant (in a different way to the first play through, though no doubt as a result of it) and I don't finish it.

It was the most that any entertainment medium has ever scared me, and I take my hat off to the bloke who made it.

I have the first one, actually. It's pretty good, though I stopped playing it for a while and when I tried to go back in I had no idea what I was doing.

I've never actually played Thief. I only read about the Shalebridge Cradle in an article in PC Gamer. I think it was one of Gillen's pieces. I love his stuff.

I remember System Shock 2 used to scare the **** out of me. Also, thank you for mentioning Amnesia: Dark Descent in this thread. I have never heard of that game before, it looks like something worth checking out (even though I'm not really a big horror affectionado).