Similarly to other video game genres, there are plenty of horror games that parody other genres, events, and tropes. For example, Baldi’s Basics in Education and Learning is a parody of edutainment games, specifically the 1996 edutainment game Sonic’s Schoolhouse, and Doki Doki Literature Club is a parody of visual novel dating sims.
But, there are also games that parody the horror genre itself. These titles look at the tropes, structures, and narratives of typical horror games and turn them on their heads in both creative and hilarious ways.
Death Trips
Although there are many great indie horror games on Itch.io, one of the most hilarious examples is the 2018 short experience Death Trips. Created to celebrate Halloween, the game follows an inspector named M. James who is searching for a serial killer known as “Lady Death.” Since the latest victim was found in a cheap hotel, James goes to investigate the building. But, it turns out that the serial killer is still in the building and wants to kill James next.
Luckily, as Lady Death runs at James within one of the hotel’s hallways, she accidentally trips over a trash can and is defeated by the sheer embarrassment of the action. With the reused assets and the cheap set-up, the game directly parodies the poorly made horror titles also available on Itch.io.
QT
Whenever the famous video game developer Hideo Kojima creates a new type of game, many other developers usually try to make their own versions soon after. For example, after the creation of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, plenty of studios tried making similar cinematic stealth games. But, one of the most prolific examples is how everyone tried to make their own looping hallway horror games after the release of P.T. with varying levels of success.
Originally released as a short free game on Itch.io in 2019, QT is a game that not only parodies P.T. but also parodies the many P.T. clones that came after. While QT uses the same iconic hallway and it still loops, the game is filled with cute and funny characters rather than any horror elements. In 2020, QT became its own full game with tons of more adorable places and characters to meet, which is available on Steam.
Spirit Cleaning
After the well-known YouTuber John Wolfe realized that many terrible indie horror games use the same Unity asset called “HQ Residential House,” he decided to co-host an entire game jam on Itch.io dedicated to using the overused asset of a generic-looking suburban house. One of the best games that was submitted for this was the visual novel adventure game Spirit Cleaning.
The game has the player visiting the iconic house as “The Cleaner” who helps spirits pass on by communicating with them, completing small tasks for them, and, of course, cleaning the bloody crime scenes. In the various rooms, The Cleaner will meet several ghost anime girls including a loving mother, an overworked streamer, and an entire car.
Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti
To this day, there’re still many great Japanese games that have never had an official English translation, and one of these titles is the 1989 Famicom platformer Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti. While the classic mainline beat ’em up games in the Splatterhouse series are often considered some of the most gruesome and horror-like titles of the era, this particular spin-off entry focuses on humor and is much more lighthearted.
After the main antagonist, the Pumpkin King, kidnaps Jennifer, Rick must go on a journey through several levels in order to save her. Each of the levels are filled with references to famous movies, such as David Cronenberg’s The Fly, and pop-culture, such as Michael Jackson’s iconic song Thriller. But, players shouldn’t let the comedic focus and chibi art-style fool them. Although the gameplay is different, it’s still just as difficult as the other entries in the franchise.
Kid Dracula
Along with Splatterhouse, the Castlevania series also has its own parody spin-off games called Kid Dracula. Known as Akumajō Special: Boku Dracula-kun in Japan, the original Kid Dracula was released for the Famicom in 1990, and only received an international release in 2019 as part of the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. The game follows the young Kid Dracula as he traverses through several platforming levels in order to find and defeat the demon Galamoth.
In 1993, a sequel was released for the Game Boy both in Japan and internationally. This entry once again has Kid Dracula navigate through several levels in order to defeat Galamoth who has stolen Kid Dracula’s throne. Both games have many pop-culture references including Mario, Splatterhouse, Indiana Jones, and Spider-Man, and the gameplay is fairly challenging too.
Toilet in Wonderland
After the release of one of the most influential horror games of all time Yume Nikki, many developers have made fan-games based on the original game. While some of these fan-games, like Yume 2kki and .Flow, try to stick with the serious and horror-focused tone, there’re also some games that try to do something different, which includes the 2010 surreal comedy adventure Toilet in Wonderland.
The game follows a young girl named Mira who is experiencing constipation. Similarly to how a dream world only exists while the person is asleep, her predicament sends her to a strange world that only exists while she is constipated. With the help of Michael Jackson, she gains party members, collects laxatives, finds toilets, and tries to defeat a being that’s trying to destroy the world.
Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion
Created by Akuma Kira who would later make other well-received horror titles such as Lost in Vivo and CorpseOcean, Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion is a 2015 freeware title about an amateur historian who gets trapped in an old mansion that’s run by a cute ghost girl named Spooky. To escape the mansion, the player must survive through 1000 rooms.
Although the game starts off relatively cute and harmless with the jump scares being adorable cardboard cutouts of cartoon characters, it quickly becomes more scary and dangerous as the player progresses and meets the various monsters. Many of the rooms and creatures are direct references to popular horror games such as Silent Hill. In 2017, the game was re-released as Spooky’s Jump Scare Mansion: HD Renovation with better graphics and continuous updates.
Slayaway Camp
Released in 2016, Slayaway Camp is a puzzle game where the player is a serial killer called Skullface. Inspired by ’80s slasher films, Skullface must make his way through each of the levels, which are called scenes, and kill all the camp counselors and any law enforcement that stand in his way.
Despite the brutal premise and the large amounts of blood and death, the game uses an adorable voxel graphics style that makes the overall experience much more lighthearted. With complex but easy-to-understand puzzle mechanics and plenty of DLCs, this cute and deadly retro throwback will be difficult to put down.
The Typing of the Dead
Based off the horror light gun shooter franchise The House of the Dead, The Typing of the Dead is an official parody sub-series where the player kills zombies by quickly typing the correct letters, words, and phrases rather than simply shooting them. Released in 1999 for arcades and later ported to other consoles, the first entry in this series largely follows the plot of The House of the Dead 2 with some humorous differences.
Like the original title, The Typing of the Dead follows James and Gary as they investigate a zombie outbreak in Venice, Italy, but the game has a completely different set of endings that are all absurdly hilarious. Because of the success of this entry, the game had multiple sequels.
Yakuza: Dead Souls
Released in 2011, Yakuza: Dead Souls is a non-canonical action-adventure survival horror spin-off of the Yakuza franchise. After a strange man begins turning people into zombies by biting them, the iconic fictional district, Kamurocho, becomes quarantined to prevent the spread of the virus.
After his adopted daughter Haruka is kidnapped, Kazuma Kiryu joins Goro Majima, Shun Akiyama, and Ryuji Goda in trying to find the source of the outbreak. Unlike the main series, Ryuji Goda is alive and a playable character.
