12. Necromorphs - Dead Space

“There is no life beyond our solar system, only a trail of extinction, wrought by moons. And now it is right on our doorstep.”

In horror games, everything in outer space is trying to kill us. Like the shibito, necromorphs are technically reanimated human corpses. Also, like shibito, necromorphs are not mindless hordes. They possess a hive mind and are even intelligent enough to lay traps. They are rather fond of posing as corpses right in the player’s path. After the fourth or fifth time we all learn to see through this particular trick, but for some reason we still jump every time. 

This particular species of zombie is caused by an alien infestation which causes its host to mutate. A standard every-day necromorph has long spindly limbs tipped with deadly bone spikes. The mouth also splits down the middle, creating fanged insect-like mandibles. Is anyone else here reminded of Laura Victoriano? Also, if you have been honing your sniping skills for the zombie apocalypse you will be disappointed. Headshots are not effective against necromorphs. The only way to kill one of these monsters is to channel your inner Leatherface and saw off their limbs.

There a wide variety of mutations which occur depending on the host. Honorable mention for the creepiest zombie mutation in a video game goes to the crawlers, which are mutated corpses of human infants. Now that is disturbing.