It’s officially spooky season, the time of year when folks are looking for some scary fun! While I tend to lean towards more romantic stories here on Blerdy Otome, I’m also a huge lover of horror! From atmospheric masterpieces, to psychological thrillers, to episodic urban legends and myths, and yes even the cheesy low-budget scares—I consume it all. There’s just something fun about scary stories! So for this recommendation post I wanted to combine my love or romance and my love of horror, to bring you a curated list of horror romance otome games that will get your heart racing with a different sort of doki doki!
Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly | Idea Factory
Game Details
Scares: 💀💀💀💀💀 (5/5)
Love: 💗💗💗💗 (4/5)
Play Time: 40+ hours
A group of teens trapped in a nightmare mansion full of monsters all out to kill you… and as an added bonus, you have no memories of who you are or how you got there! A dark twisted tale about love, loss, and moving on Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly is the perfect game to kick off the spooky season. Emotional and bittersweet, this is a romance story that delivers on the doki dokis while also keeping you on the edge of your seat with its engaging mystery.
Twisted Carnival | Terra Essence Dreams
Game Details
Scares: 💀💀💀💀💀 (5/5)
Love: 💗💗💗💗 (4/5)
Play Time: 10+ hours
Carnivals are supposed to be fun—games, exciting performances, delicious snacks, but in Twisted Carnival there’s something darker secrets lurking within the Carnival of Curiosities. Follow Catalina as she finds herself trapped in a nightmare carnival, meet the alluring performers and survive unexpected horrors both psychological and monstrous.
7’scarlet | Toy Box & Idea Factory
Game Details
Scares: 💀💀💀💀💀 (5/5)
Love: 💗💗💗 (3/5)
Play Time: 30+ hours
Small towns often hide BIG secrets. Visit the remote town of Okunezato, a place shrouded in dark myths and legends and uncover the truth behind your brother’s sudden disappearance. Along the way meet a group of mystery enthusiasts investigating a series of mysterious disappearances and strange rumors of the dead walking among the living… and for extra spice, there’s a serial killer on the loose and they seem to have their sights set on YOU!
A Date with Death | Two and a Half Studios
Game Details
Scares: 💀 (1/5)
Love: 💗💗💗💗💗 (5/5)
Play Time: 10+ hours
We’ve all heard of tempting fate, but have you ever considered teasing death? Well in A Date with Death you can tease and flirt with Grim, a babygirl coded grim reaper out for your soul in this hilarious chatsim romance. Enjoy making the grim reaper blush as you tease him relentlessly in a private chatroom to win a bet over the fate of your soul. Who knows you may wind up winning his heart instead!
Virche Evermore Error Salvation | Otomate & Aksys Games
Game Details
Scares: 💀💀💀💀💀 (5/5)
Love: 💗💗💗💗 (4/5)
Play Time: 40+ hours
Virche Evermore: Error Salvation is infamous for it’s dark, heart wrenching story and trust it earns it’s reputation. Follow Ceres a young woman cursed by death as she struggles just to live her life on an island where everyone mysteriously dies at the age of 23. Fall into the depths of despair as you attempt to fight against a cruel fate. Virche Evermore really makes you work for your happy ending forcing you to experience several bad outcomes before unlocking the slightly less depressing salvation ends. But, trust me when I say those endings aren’t always sunshine and roses…
Keepers of Astraela |
HMoon Publishing
Game Details
Scares: 💀💀💀 (3/5)
Love: 💗💗💗💗 (4/5)
Play Time: 10+ hours
Everything is all fine and well when you can enjoy a fantasy story from the comfort (and safety) of home. But for Eva, that safety net is gone when she finds herself pulled into her own fantasy adventure story and now has to fight to survive the dark forces that threaten the world she created! Keepers of Astraela is a dark fantasy that pulls you into it’s immersive world of magic, mystery, and danger. To sweeten the pot, there’s a fiery hottie to help you along the way… so it’s not all bad.
9 RIP | Otomate & Idea Factory International
Game Details
Scares: 💀💀💀💀💀 (5/5)
Love: 💗💗💗💗 (4/5)
Play Time: 40+ hours
9 R.I.P. is an otome that’ll get your blood pumping, blending horror and romance for a truly heart racing experience! Follow Misa, a high schooler who gets spirited away to the spirit world, navigate the intricacies of the other realm with the help of hunky specters and try to find your own way home. Uncover the truth behind their untimely demises and help them cross over to the other side but be warned one misstep could lead to your own death. 9 R.I.P. has it all romance, mystery, and just enough nightmare fuel to keep you on the edge of your seat!
Bloody Painter Dating Sim | DeluCat
Game Details
Scares: 💀💀💀 (3/5)
Love: 💗💗💗💗💗 (5/5)
Play Time: <2 hours
A romance game based on a Creepypasta story, what’s more Halloween than that?! NOTHING! Romance a terrifyingly HOT serial killer in this romantic(?) reimagining of the popular story. Will you be his latest victim or will you manage to win his heart. Your choices will determine your fate!
Get Your Heart Racing with these Scary Otome Games!
That’s it for my picks! Whether you’re looking for traditional scares or psychological thrills each of these games will get your blood pumping and your heart racing this spooky season (and beyond)! Of course there are plenty of scary fun romance games out there to play, so I want to hear from you! Tell me some of your favorite scary romance games!!
Aaaaah, Spooky Season is approaching! Definitely one of my favourite times of the year. <3 Thank you for sharing in the festive(?) spirit, I love this!
This is a fantastic list, and I'm gonna bookmark Twisted Carnival right now, it looks really dope. As for my own favourites…
– Parasite in Love (otome): I know you've gone through this one, and holy moles I still pause and think about on a regular basis. As a hypochodriac it got under my skin like nothing else.
– Anything by Melancholy Marionnette. When it comes to yandere and assorted psychos she's really unrivaled, I love her work. Her characters are among the only ones in the trope I genuinely enjoy, plus she has a knack for narrative and imagery when it comes to horror. I'll nominate Dawn of the Damned (otome) because it's not the most widely known of her games and yet it goes to some wild, WILD places.
– ITYH: A Horror Otome: Amiralo is another dev whose work I've loved for ages, so I'm super biased – but this game broke me into a thousand little pieces and built me back up. It's a very, very toxic relationship between two bad people (to very varying degrees, though) against a backdrop of body horror and deep trauma, and yet I felt for both of them (and cried like a lil baby playing it). The characterization is among the best I've ever read, but caution: there's a metric ton of triggers and I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. It was a genuinely harrowing experience even as someone used to psychological horror, but it's also a fascinating piece of work.
– Slay the Princess (non-otome): My favourite game of last year and a real love letter to the medium of interactive games. Not saying anything more because it's best experienced blind, but it's really friggin good and the level of artistry on display are astounding. It is indeed a romance game 😉
– Witches x Warlocks (amare): Okay, so this is skewing quite heavy, so here's a palette cleanser: WxW is a comedy before anything else. The LIs are lovely and have a lot of depth for such a short game, and a lot of the jokes hit for me. Plus some resource-management action if that's your thing!
… Also I realized that the 2024 Spoktober Jam was in session! Haven't looked at any of the entries yet but I can't wait! Maybe you'll have even more list material soon :)))
Thanks for the spooky recs! I like games with dark themes so this is perfect for me. Also I’m excited to play 9 R.I.P when it comes out and I def need to add Virche Evermore to my wishlist <3