[PlayHalloween] 5 haunted places to set a horror video game

'Sometimes reality surpasses fantasy' is a phrase that is often heard and does not go very far from the truth because in the history of humanity they have happened events that have some inexplicable. The places linked to these events were then enveloped by a particular aura, entering them causes a shiver to flow behind the back of those who try to venture through the corridors or the streets that have been theater of chilling facts.

Movies and TV series are often inspired by these events, but video games also have great potential from this point of view. A couple of examples are given to us by Kholat, horror set in the Ural mountains that tells the still unresolved story of the Dyatlov Pass, and Man of Medan, title of Supermassive Games that tries to give an explanation to the sinking of the Ourang Medan ship.

However, there are several real places with the reputation of being haunted that could be the location for a horror video game. In this article we have selected five.

Aokigahara Forest

Aokigahara is a forest located in Japan that extends for 3000 hectares at the base of Mount Fuji. This place is infamously known as the "forest of suicides" because every year a large number of people decide to take his own life by going there.

It is estimated that around 30 people take their own lives in Aokigahara a year, but these numbers could be much higher as the Japanese authorities have decided not to disclose the data again so as not to aggravate the bad reputation of the place.

The Aokigahara forest is not only made up of dense trees, but also of lava rocks and ice cavesfurthermore, the wind seems unable to penetrate the dense vegetation making the place extremely quiet. Signs have also been placed at the entrance to the forest inviting people to seek help with specialists and to go back if their intent is to commit suicide.

It is not uncommon to find defenseless bodies inside and those who enter it by mistake or to explore may not be able to get out. More than terror, Aokigahara inspires desolation, sadness, strong anxiety, sensations amplified by the presence on its paths of personal items of those who committed suicide.

A horror video game set here could have an exceptional charm, as an incipit we can imagine the protagonist who sets out on the trail of a friend / relative who has disappeared or is passionate about urbex, that is urban explorations, with many parallel stories that are discovered gradually by reading documents and diaries. abandoned. A story driven title would make a lot of sense, along the lines of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter.

To deepen the topic -> Forest of suicides

Fattoria Hinterkaifeck

1921, farm in Hinterkaifeck, 30 km from Munich. Here one of the most chilling events in history takes place, one takes place series of murders still unexplained on which the real and the paranormal exchange places continuously. On that farm lived the Gruber, a family consisting of Andreas, head of the family, his wife Cazilia, daughter Viktoria and his children Cazilia and Josef. A maid lived with them.

The latter initiates a series of inexplicable facts, in fact the woman quits worried by possible presences who claims to have heard; following this, another maid is hired, while in the following days Andreas finds traces in the snow that lead to the nearby forest and then disappear into thin air, he hears sinister noises coming from the attic and discovers a newspaper at the entrance that was never requested and never delivered.

Despite this, the life of the Grubers continues normally until, after the first days of April, they seem to have lost track. The inhabitants of the neighboring village decide to look for them in their estate where the macabre discovery takes place: all the members of the family, including the maid and little Josef, are found dead, killed with a pickaxe.

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There is no trace of break-in, the dog is well tied up and, really disturbing, everything suggests that those who committed the murders remained on the farm even in the days following the crime, even taking care of animals.

Many hypotheses made, from supernatural to more rational ones, many suspects questioned, including Viktoria's husband, believed to have died during the First World War, but in reality still alive and well. On the family there are also many altars and unspeakable secrets that could have been the motive for the massacre. Still no one can explain what may have happened on that farm, which is why we believe that a horror video game set there can be truly fascinating.

We imagine it as a investigative horror in which the protagonist could be a descendant of the Grubers in search of the truth or a private investigator who, passionate about the case, decides to investigate. The farm is no longer present, it has been demolished, but for scenic fiction it can be left there.

To deepen the topic -> The Hinterkaifeck murders

Glamis Castle

An ancient manor haunted by ghosts or inhabited by deformed creatures is a horror classic. In Scotland, in the village of Glamis, one of the most beautiful castles in the world finds its place, the birthplace of the mother of the current Queen of England. The castle is open to the public and is theater of numerous apparitions, some of them really imaginative.

The main legend that is told about Glamis Castle is that of a deformed monster born from the royal family who, out of shame, locked him in a secret room which was then walled up.

The stories of some visitors, on the other hand, speak of truly distressing apparitions, like that of one woman without a tongue who still manages to make his screams heard, that of a man playing dice with the devil in person and that of a babbling madman that would appear at certain hours of the night on the roof.

All these "characters" seem suitable for a classic survival horror, in third person, Haunting Ground or the more modern Remothered: Tormented Fathers. These ghosts could do from villain stalker who, from time to time, chase the protagonist and try to kill him as he explores the rooms of the castle.

To deepen the topic -> The Ghosts of Glamis Castle

Island of the dolls

Isla de las munecas, that is the island of the dolls, is located about 20 km from Mexico City, on Lake Teshuil and is full of hanging dolls portraying smiling children, a vision that, on the whole, is disturbing and knows how to make visitors uncomfortable.

Why hang all those dolls? The story starts with the discovery on the beach of the body of a little girl by the keeper of the island, Julian Santana Barrera. He then also found a doll and, thinking that it belonged to the child, he decided to hang it to pay homage to her.

Barrera, however, noticed strange phenomena and, believing that the child's spirit was restless, he thought he could calm it by giving her gifts, that is, other dolls. The inhabitants of the contiguous islands also began to offer their gifts by filling the island with these toys.

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The legends then narrate that Julian became insane to the point of getting to feed the dolls. The caretaker died in 2001 and was found in the same place where he himself had discovered the girl's body.

Imagine the island of the dolls shrouded in darkness, in the most profound silence, and of the boys who get lost in it without knowing how to get home ... we can think of a video game suitable for the mechanics of Supermassive Games. Who knows in a chapter of the The Dark Pictures Anthology this location cannot find a place.

To deepen the topic -> Island of the dolls

Changi Hospital

Changi Hospital is located in Singapore and is considered one of the places with the most paranormal activity in the world. It was built in 1935 by the British and occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War only to be converted into a concentration camp, where the Japanese secret police perpetrated atrocious torture on prisoners.

After the war, it returned to be used as a hospital, but was definitively closed in 1997. Now abandoned, Changi hospital is now a destination for urban and curious explorers, who claim to have witnessed paranormal phenomena, to have heard screams and heartbreaking voices within the various abandoned wards.

In this case we have no doubts: the Changi hospital in Singapore seems perfect for a horror video game that can pay homage to the atmosphere of Silent Hill. In the third person, yes, but also in 2D, following the style of Detention, would not disfigure.