The brains, guts and secrets of your favourite Horror games…

Scare Tactics splits horror games wide open, exposing their gory inner workings such as, the psychology of horror games (why are they scary and why do we like them so much?), tried and tested game development and design techniques over the decades and game testing and balancing (how do developers hit that scary ‘sweet-spot’?).

What is it about Horror games that we love so much? 

Maybe we don’t know?

“Maybe it’s not love!?”

But something possessed us to play Amnesia: The Dark Descent in pitch black with our headphones cranked up. Something compelled us to experience Resident Evil VII in Virtual Reality or to bash our way through Silent Hill 2 using only a steel pipe. 

Whether you like it or not, Horror games have us by the jugular on an evolutionary level and games designers know just what (heart) strings to pull. From the genre’s haunting origins to its finest specimens - The pages of this book are splattered with tried and tested terror techniques, haunting psychological secrets and enough horrific nostalgia to keep us up at night.

Dead. Good.

About Me

It was the summer of 1996.

Wannabe by the Spice Girls was top of the UK charts, a 99 flake ice cream actually cost 99 pence and the sun was shining! Me, your regular young lady of the 90s… Was sat inside… In the dark… playing Resident Evil. And that zombie infested mansion, changed EVERYTHING.

Fast forward fifteen years (ouch!) and I am studying a Masters in Computer Game Software Development. Thing is, I still haven’t let Resident Evil die. In fact - With the then imminent release of Resident Evil VII in Virtual Reality - My dissertation was focused on how the mechanics of Virtual Reality can leverage a Horror game experience.

Let’s call it my, ‘Origin Story’…

Passion fueled research and research fueled a hunger! A hunger to share what I’d found through writing research-based articles such as the application of Virtual Reality technology in Horror games, terrifying predictions for the future of the medium and reviews of Horror experiences. I also had the unique opportunity to give technical talks on Virtual Reality to diverse audiences all over the world.

Continuing on my quest to attain more Horror game knowledge, I began collaborating with experts in this field, such as Assistant Professor of Communication Technology Teresa Lynch and game development studios such as Supermassive Games. And as this wonderful network grew, enriched with each new insight and such incredible talent - I knew that we were were creating something much bigger…

With the unique opportunity to combine my own experiences with those of my extended network, we had the power to create a new tome of terror - The handbook of Horror games - Scare Tactics.

My Experience

I’d recommend ‘Beyond Scenes of Explicit Violence and Gore‘ as an indicator of the tone of my writing. Please find further writings here.

As a member of the BAFTA Games Committee, I advocate for positive change in public perception of video games and encourage celebration of video games as an impactful artform. Video games have the power to elevate underrepresented teams, cultivate new perspectives and tell stories, often untold or difficult. The maturity of this medium not only enriches the creative industries but encourages a more diverse consumer reach and presses reset on the publics' perception of video games.

Details of my professional experience can be found on my CV.