1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Atari 2600)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Atari 2600

The 1983 Atari release, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, based on the 1974 movie, is rooted in the infamous killing spree of Ed Gein. Although almost comical to play now due to incredibly outdated graphics (like most Atari games), you play as the serial killer Leatherface as you proceed on a murderous rampage yielding a chainsaw that really looks much more like a spinning water pipe attached to your body than a killing device. Although this game was more of a cash in on the film franchise, the real events that inspired Leatherface are quite gruesome. Searching Mr. Gein’s house, local authorities had found such nauseating pieces of evidence highlighting his murders such as bowls made from female skulls, a lampshade made from the skin of a human face, and a pair of lips tied to a window shade drawstring. Perfect inspiration for a video game aimed at 10-year old boys.

While some developers take increased license with the actual stories more than others, you can see that many horror games are simply more than just inspired by true events, with many development teams doing as much research as they can to get the details and ambience just as accurate as possible. Either way, any bit of real-life inspiration from a horrifying incident or series of events, in my opinion, makes the game all the more frightening.

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