P.T. hailed as the scariest horror experience ever made

Few genres connect us quite like horror. From the way that it sends an unsettling tingle down your spine, to how we nervously reach for the light switch when entering a dark room – it’s a universal understanding that some things transcend language, societies, culture, etc. And when we think of these moments, many of us think of a game that never truly came into being: P.T., arguably one of the scariest horror experiences ever made.

The premise was a simple one, yet it never failed to get goosebumps rising as you heard an unfamiliar sound through your headphones, or watched as your shadow glitched behind you, begging for you to turn around. This Silent Hills playable teaser gripped fans and curious gamers alike, to the point that millions fastened themselves in for the hell-ride of their lives… only for the interactive teaser to eventually be removed. But the fear lives on.

Get into the spirit of all Hallow's Eve by watching the Silent Hill 2 remake trailer!

Fittingly, fans are reminiscing about the best bits – and by best, I mean most terrifying – just in time for Halloween. At the very top of our oh-my-god-I-just-pooped-my-pants countdown, we have the first time you see her at the end of the hallway, her slightly crooked neck more chilling than any jumpscares from The Haunting of Hill House’s Bent Neck Lady. Others, however, find what you see in the shadows much more alarming.

“The one that got me is when you're listening to the radio broadcast that keeps telling you different story things, and then suddenly the broadcast stops and the radio says, ‘Look behind you. Cmon. Look behind you’. And then you see your shadow is glitching,” Redditor KRD2 described. “I have never been more legitimately terrified by a video game than I was at that moment. I locked up completely.”

Another perturbed fan merely said, “‘Don’t touch that dial nowww, we’re just getting started’”, which elicited the response, “That line is burned into my brain”. Sometimes, it’s what you hear rather than see that truly grabs you in a chokehold and won’t let go.

What makes all these memories that more gutting is the fact that, despite extremely persistent demands from the one, the only Guillermo Del Toro, P.T. isn’t going to be made into a full game. It should be brought back to life, fleshing out what is already considered one of the scariest horrors, yet it won’t be brought back anytime soon. Still, while it’s destined to remain untapped of its fullest potential, it’ll always be an unforgettable experience that will haunt gamers until their last breath.