Gaming

OK hear me out: Minecraft in survival. For real. Nothing jump scares like a creeper going "psshht" in your back, telegraphing that you’re about to die in a destructive explosion. As you walk a narrow path over a chasm of lava in the Nether, the wail of the Ghast might make you fall out of sheer panic before it even shoots at you. The Warden is a special kind of scary too, as it’s nearly unkillable and will detect you by the noise you make. It sounds kind of silly but there’s plenty of players making the remark that Minecraft survival is basically horror.

And it’s all in a child friendly, non gory, voxel style.

It’s on the tip of my tongue; there was a whole series of ghost pirate themed “hidden object” point and click puzzle games. I’ll update the post when it comes back.

Edit: Nightmares of the Deep

Dont Starve is pretty dark... i wouldnt call it horror exactly but it has a spooky vibe. Its officially 12+ but I think a horror-loving kid would probably be fine with it.

Yes how can we horrify children

Take a look at Dredge! It’s a creepy horror-ish game where you play as a fishing boat. There are some creepy elements at night but it’s fairly causal overall. I really loved the atmosphere and light story elements as well as the fun fishing games that is the majority of the gameplay.

My kid enjoyed that game where youre a lil kid in a yellow rain coat. Little nightmares

A Hat in Time has quite a spooky level in a swamp with a Deal with the Devil involved: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIrPsJMRJmo I also suggest Little Nightmares if the little guy's tougher than he looks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ6Jcftf-c4

Maybe add the old LucasArts adventure game Grim Fandango to the list, it’s more comical than ‘scary’. It has a relatively recent remaster with modern controls. Some would say the original tank controls are a horror into themselves. Though looking at the ESRB rating it is T for teen.

are there any good scooby doo games out there? i remember playing one on the PS2 as a kid, good balance of "creepy" stuff like zombies and just goofball humor

I've had success with playing scary games while they watch and when it gets too much I have the characters react in silly ways. Courage the Cowardly Dog, Are you Afraid of the Dark, Goosebumps, etc. You could also try meta horror like Cabin in the Woods, Tucker and Dale. Or something with laugh breaks to defuse the tension like Army of Darkness or Monster Squad.

Lego rock raiders.

Not horror, but can be scary and when monsters arrive it sometimes gave me a jumpscare.

Maybe the 7th Guest. I played that as a kid.

Has he played the other Luigi's mansion games ?

My Friendly Neighbor hood is mascot horror, but played entirely straight. It's resident evil 4, but with all of the zombies replaced with puppets.

FNaF is a classic, there's no gore or anything like that and a lot of jump scares

Five Nights at Freddy's

If Super Metroid is on the Nintendo Switch emulator, that's a good spooky game, including an explicitly horror-themed level, the Wrecked Ship. There's a layer of removal since it's 2D and zoomed out. Not all of the game is all that spooky, I think it's mainly Wrecked Ship and the end of the game.

Metroid Fusion is much spookier, including sequences where you're being hunted by a Samus clone. Very creepy vibes throughout too. Other M has a lot of thrills as well. And Metroid Dread is, of course, dread-inducing. Actually it was the first Metroid game I couldn't play because the stealth sequences were too much for me, lol.

Majora's Mask is mostly more eerie, but there are some good high tension moments as well.

How about Spookie's House of Jumpscares?

At least I think that's what it's called?

My 10 and 6-year-old play some horror experiences on Roblox. You'd be surprised how well-made some of them are.

Luigi's Mansion on the Switch!

Plants vs zombies maybe?

Hello neighbor might be good. I enjoyed the first one, the rest not so much. But I imagine a young kid would love it.

Dead space 2, start him out on the school level for the optimal results.

Baldi's Basics

If you're cool with emulation, the PS2 had a game called Gregory Horror Show.

Limbo?

Ghostwire: Tokyo is a good game about ghosts that's not actually that scary. The school DLC for it can get a bit creepy though. Also, Subnautica is one of the scariest non-horror games out there.

I think bugsnax might fit, it takes until near the end of the game for the horror aspect to begin, and then it hits hard. Look up the ending so you can screen it for him and make sure it's appropriate.

Also Zombies Ate my Neighbours would be also great for kids, Im not sure what services its available on (but the rom is easy to find for emulation, it is on Snes)

Would sonic.exe be too much?

Bendy and the ink machine.

Métro 2033, the library level will make him shit his pants. And the game is probably not going to make him have nightmares from gorish horror too

Is Amanda the Explorer too much?

Figment?