History NightmareFuel / HouseOfTheDead

* In one of the paths, you save a child from a [[FatBastard Fat Zombie]] and you enter a bar. Once you save the bar tender from a zombie, he asks you where his son is. Because you successfully saved them both, you can feel good about yourself. However, if you were a parent caught up in a zombie apocalypse and were separated, you would immediately worry about your child's safety.

* The zombies and bosses in the fourth game. ''Especially'' [[TarotMotifs Justice]]. To elaborate, he's a [[MultiArmedAndDangerous four armed]] muscular humanoid behemoth with decaying skin, exposed muscle (especially on his face), and a lot of sharp teeth. Not helping matters is how he monstrously shambles in a rather deranged manner as he chases the players with the camera angles showing how intimidatingly ''huge'' he is compared to the players. Then, one of Justice's attacks involves grabbing you, and you have to shake the SMG ''fast'' in order to break free of his grasp or he will lick attack you, during which you are treated to a [[BlatantLies lovely]] [[NightmareFace close-up]] of his face, especially with that '''tongue'''. He's kind of notorious for scaring a lot of younger arcade goers back then, especially thanks to his WolverinePublicity on the game's attract mode, other promotional images, and even on the holsters for the gun controllers in [[https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1QIg_cUMgYeJjSZFGq6xsMXXaQ/Indoor-Coin-Operated-Amusement-Equipment-House-Of-The-Dead-4-Gun-Shooting-Simulator-Arcade-Game-Machine.jpg the deluxe version of the arcade cabinet.]]

* The Star, the penultimate boss of ''4'', is a ''greatly'' improved version of the Magician. That in itself is the scary part — Goldman ''learned from his mistakes''.

* Seeing civilians run for their lives and possibly die painful, agonizing deaths to the mutuants if you fail to save them, because unlike your PlayerCharacter, they don't have the skills and training to defend themselves.

* The zombies and bosses in the fourth game. ''Especially'' [[TarotMotifs Justice]]. To elaborate, he's a [[MultiArmedAndDangerous four armed]] muscular humanoid behemoth with decaying skin, exposed muscle (especially on his face), and a lot of sharp teeth. Not helping matters is how he monstrously shambles in a rather deranged manner as he chases the players with the camera angles showing how intimidatingly ''huge'' he is compared to the players. Then, one of Justice's attacks involves grabbing you, and you have to shake the SMG ''fast'' in order to break free of his grasp or he will lick attack you, during which you are treated to a [[BlatantLies lovely]] [[NightmareFace close-up]] of his face, especially with that '''tongue'''. He's kind of notorious for scaring a lot of younger arcade goers back then, especially thanks to his WolverinePublicity on the game's attract mode and other promotional images.

** [[https://youtu.be/MtZpJQXKYh8 The stage select theme]]. Which has an INCREDIBLY eerie background tune that sounds like a ghost wailing.
** The Chariot in the first game was a WarmUpBoss for the entire series. It's back, and it's now strong enough to take a direct hit from a rocket launcher and still keep coming.
** The Hanged Man is back too. Worse, he can ''talk'', just like in the first game. Not only that, but he is also introduced grabbing ''a helicopter'' with his claws and then ''throwing it away!''

** Then, of course, there's the first of two original bosses for this game, The High Priestess. Imagine a mutated/zombified octopus/lamprey/eel hybrid that looks like something Creator/HPLovecraft would come up with and vocalizes like a whale. Now imagine that this thing can follow you out of the water, pursuing you with CombatTentacles while its mouth shows off a nightmarish nest of fangs.
*** And then there's the creature's death; since it can't be defeated the usual way through depleting its health, it's instead doused in flammable chemicals from a ruptured tank which are then ignited with a napalm cannon; graphically burning it alive and then exploding it into massive giblets.
** All of this pales before the FinalBoss of this outing: [[EldritchAbomination The Moon]]. The cathedral you confront the BigBad in is destroyed as this nightmare manifests itself — first as nothing but a titanic, ghoulish head that vomits acid at you, then slowly emerging from the water/building upon itself by absorbing zombie minions to reveal an equally-massive body. That's when things ''really'' get bad, as the entity reveals itself as a WingedHumanoid that unleashes blasts of raw energy to rival anything the Magician ever did.
*** It gets worse: this isn't a mindless abomination. As you fight it, the Moon begins taunting you, revealing that ItCanThink.
*** Oh, and the crowner? ''You can't kill the Moon.'' Your guns do nothing to harm it; you can only fend off its attacks long enough for Ryan to get the idea to use a lightning rod to hit the Moon with the fury of the raging storm overhead.

* The bad ending of ''III'', where Daniel Curien and Lisa Rogan have just survived their ordeal, only for Daniel to start writhing and ranting about his father's legacy and what his purpose is. He uncovers his face [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie just as he transforms into a zombie]], and the game ends on Lisa's terrified scream.

* The zombies and bosses in the fourth game. ''Especially'' [[TarotMotifs Justice]]. To elaborate, one of Justice's attacks involves grabbing you, and you have to shake the SMG ''fast'' in order to break free of his grasp or he will lick attack you. The [[BlatantLies lovely]] [[NightmareFace close-up]] of his face, especially with that '''tongue'''.

* The sewer and the subway tunnel is terrifying knowing it is dark, murky, wet, and has monsters on every corner. Oh, we forgot to mention there are lizardmen with whip-like tongues swimming on the murky waters of the sewer.

* As the games are on-rails rather than having free movement and turning like [=FPSes=], the games ''love'' to suddenly swing the camera in unexpected angles to [[JumpScare show a zombie right about to smack you]].

* The opening treats us to the second to last remaining man of Thomas Rogan's team being grabbed and subsequently killed by the zombies, with blood spilling about. It's disturbing to say the least. You later fight a zombified version of this same man in the final level, which is a tougher version of other Rogan commando zombies. Even freakier? He actually speaks as you fight him.
-->'''Commando Zombie:''' "We're humanity's last hope! We can't lose!"

** Bonus points have to go to its introductory quote. Whilst normally these are ridiculously Narm-ridden due to the series' voice acting, it's one of the few occasions where it actually ''works'' — thanks to The World's chilling, withered tone that's laced with TranquilFury.

* The fact that there are no savable civilians and that the areas are littered with bloody footsteps and handprints as well as the streets of Venice flooded with zombies brings a whole new level of NothingIsScarier.

For a series infamous for its [[Narm/HouseOfTheDead many narmy moments]], ''House of the Dead'' still has more than its fair share of genuine horror.

* ''The House of the Dead: Remake'' managed to make some moments even scarier. Zombies now look much more realistic and behave in a more animalistic way. Remember the intro scene, where a zombie knocks a human scientist down before going to the player character next? In the remastered version, he outright ''bites into the poor sap's neck''.

** To add to that, The World has ''two'' forms. Even after beating the second one, he molts his skin and begins growing despite Kate and James' bullets. The latter is forced to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice himself]] in order to destroy the beast and save what's left of humanity from destruction.

* The arcade version of ''4 Special'' utilizes a special cabinet with a screen on either side of the player, and a rotating seat. Meaning you could be heading down a hallway...and then your seats rotate and you have to deal with zombies behind you!

** The first level has a man trying to escape suddenly jumped and killed by a zombie, which actually bites into him, making it look more horrifying than zombies killing people in the first two games, [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness where they only died to]] [[Narm/HouseOfTheDead scratches, kicks, or simply a weapon]]. [[ForcedToWatch Sadly, just like the first civilians killed in the first two games, he dies no matter what after a zombie pounces on him.]]

* The arcade version of [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie zombie Sophie in the bad ending]] can be really terrifying and heartbreaking at the same time.

** To add to that, The World has ''two'' forms. Even after beating the second one, he molts his skin and begins growing despite Kate and James' bullets. The latter is forced to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrific himself]] in order to destroy the beast and save what's left of humanity from destruction.

* In one of the paths, you save a child from a [[FatBastard Fat Zombie]] and you enter a bar. Once you save the bar tender from a zombie, he asks you where his son is. Because you successfully saved them both, you can feel good about yourself. However, if you were a parent caught up in a zombie apocalypse and were separated, [[AdultFear you would immediately worry about your child's safety.]]

** Then, of course, there's the first of two original bosses for this game, The High Priestess. Imagine a mutated/zombified octopus/lamprey\eel hybrid that looks like something Creator/HPLovecraft would come up with and vocalizes like a whale. Now imagine that this thing can follow you out of the water, pursuing you with CombatTentacles while its mouth shows off a nightmarish nest of fangs.

* The Switch remaster managed to make some moments even scarier. Zombies now look much more realistic and behave in a more animalistic way. Remember the intro scene, where a zombie knocks a human scientist down before going to the player character next? In the remastered version, he outright ''bites into the poor sap's neck''.