Summary
Humor andhorror, while seeming to completely contrast each other, actually have core things in common. In both, the setup is important, and the payoff works best if you can surprise your audience. If you’re successful, you get a laugh in the former and a scream in the latter, or at least a feeling of unease.
It’s unsurprising, then, that humor has a place in horror media, especially in video games. Whether it’s to lighten things up so the game isn’t too gloomy, set the player up for bigger scares, or just to revel in the absurd, these are the funniest moments in horror video games.
Being a member of Clan Malkavian, a group whose bloodline is plagued with madness in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is an interesting experience. With the fractured mirror view that you’ve been cursed with, the world is very different from the view of the other clans.
This manifests in encounters that no other Camarilla members get in V:tM, most of which are absurd or mind-boggling. The most absurd among them takes place in Downtown Los Angeles, where you’re able to encounter a (presumably) ornery Stop sign and get into a one-sided verbal altercation. Funnier yet, you seem tolosethe argument against it.
Deadly Premonition is ostensibly a survival horror game, but its execution is often too absurd to take seriously. It’s occasionally eerie, given the uncanny Twin Peaks vibe of Greenvale, but by way of Tommy Wiseau.
One of the funniest encounters in an often funny game has Agent York sharing breakfast with Polly, the geriatric owner of the hotel. You proceed to a meal on a far too long table on opposite sides while York tries to make conversation with the half-deaf octogenarian, with the BGM up so loud the whole time that you wonder if it’s the reason why they can’t hear each other.
The universe of The Walking Dead is bleak and not exactly known for its humorous moments, which makes them all the funnier when they happen. Though it happens quickly, an exchange between Lee and Clementine in the second episode of the first game stands out.
Lee approaches Duck and Clementine in a conversation where Duck mentions that a random block in the room is a salt lick, which Clementine warns Lee not to lick because it’s gross. This leads to Lee asking, quite amused, if Clementine licked it. She replies with an awkward “I don’t know” in a way that clearly says that she did.
This moment was so memorable that it’s called back in TWD: The Final Season when Clementine’s own ward finds a salt lick, and her possible reactions are just as amusing.
In the midst of a (potential) killing spree where the only place to call for emergencies is the local radio station, you’d think that your first thought wouldn’t be ‘I should advertise on there.’ Otherwise, you’d be the possibly-Scottish proprietor of Ponty’s Pizza, who does just that in Killer Frequency.
A string of murdersstraight out of a slasher flickwon’t slow down Ponty’s sigma grind set, who calls the radio to advertise his tasty and affordable wares. They saved the best for last when a caller calls in to wish his uncle Pepper Roni a happy birthday, much to DJ Brian’s anger.
If you jump intoSpooky’s Jump Scare Mansionwithout prior knowledge, save for the fact that it’s a horror game, you might be surprised to find that it’s actually pretty cute, which is especially true for the titular ghost girl, Spooky. When you properly enter the labyrinth, the game does a good job of setting up a sense of dread and tension as you travel its halls.
Until suddenly, something jumps out at you! That startled feeling lasts until you see that it’s a cartoon skeleton. Or a smiling cartoon pumpkin. Ora frowny piece of toast.Your terror turns into laughs pretty quickly. This means you’re less likely to be prepared when it gets decidedly less cute.
Shattered Memories is an interesting meditation on love and loss, on what losing someone before their time does to the people left behind. It’s made more poignant when you arrive at the final destination of the game, a psychiatrist’s office where a little girl is still processing the grief over her lost father.
However, inthe UFO Ending, it’s decidedly less heavy and cathartic when we happen upon an incredulous Doctor Kaufmann exclaiming about how nonsensical the involvement of UFOs are in the story. It gets even more interesting when another client shows up, and the doctor wonders where his wife went.
This all culminates into a baffling turn where Cheryl is the dog god Mira complains about how much of a bitch (get it?) her mother is while Kaufman, now an alien, urges her to explore her feelings.
TheAlan Wake serieshas always been a surreal ride, with its Twin Peaks-ian atmosphere, its occasionally convoluted story, and Remedy’s signature blending of live-action and digital animation.
So you know you’re in for a ride in the sequel when, almost as a palate-cleanser for the gruesome proceedings thus far, you find a live-action video in a police break room of some locals advertising their tour guide services, magnificently acted, no less. You find other videos from the Koskela brothers, and while they’re all great, none of them quite blindside you like this one.
1The Finale
Death Trips
Death Trips tells the story of a police inspector or private investigator who’s hot on the trail of a serial killer only known as Lady Death. He’s tracked the killer to the hotel, which is the game’s setting, and is determined to see this case through.
This game has the funniest moment in all horror video games, perhaps all of horror in general. We won’t rob you of the twist by spoiling it here, but since the game is not only free and very short, you may easily experience it for yourselfhere.
