I started writing my entry for this contest, and I...got a little carried away.
So I decided to post my entry in blog form. Here you go!



When I was little, I was always scared of things. I refused to go to haunted houses on Halloween; I refused to see any scary movies. As for scary games...well, I was always a gamer, but my parents were somewhat strict about me playing M-Rated games as a child.

Thus, the scariest thing I experienced in a game at that point was most likely the level in Crash Bandicoot where you get chased by a polar bear.



I had nightmares for weeks.


Anyway, at the end of 2003 (when I was 13), a very interesting-looking game came out for the Playstation 2: Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly. I hadn't played the first one, but the camera-based fighting sounded so interesting to me that I figured I was finally ready to try a horror game. My parents apparently thought so too, as they bought it for me for Christmas that year, despite the Mature rating.

So the first horror game I ever played was also the first M-Rated game I ever owned. I had no idea what to expect, but I can say that I did not expect it to be as scary as everyone said.

I was wrong.

I turned off all of the lights, started up the PS2, and waited for the game to start. The big red Tecmo logo came up onto the screen, and I shivered. Then the intro video played, and I promptly shut off my PS2.

I was terrified, so much so that I could not bring myself to play the game I had been waiting for. The next day, however, I gave it another try.

And I was hooked.



The experience was unlike any game I had played before. The terrified feeling turned to excitement as I progressed further into the game, learning how to combat the ghosts instead of simply running away.
After that, I went on to play the first Fatal Frame and loved it just as much.
I wanted to experience every horror game that I could, looking to replicate that feeling of true fear that I felt the very first time I played Fatal Frame II.

I'm not sure if I'll ever feel quite that way again, but it goes without saying that the Fatal Frame series got me hooked on the horror genre.

Thanks to that, horror movies no longer have any effect on me. Experiencing fear in a game is something much greater than can ever be expressed in another form of media. You're not afraid that someone on screen is going to be killed; you're afraid that YOU are going to be killed.

It is an experience unlike any other, and it is the reason that Horror games are among my favorites.