ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the musicological analysis which argues the Gothic dark play of psychological horror games is an eminently sonic descent into the pitch-black dungeons of player sanity. It explores the role of sound and music in the development from survival horror to psychological horror. Psychological horror game soundtracks are often highly rated and assessed as vital parts of the games' frightening effect. Music is an active agent in psychological horror dark play. Survival horror games could be considered a form of dark play for two reasons. First, their audiovisual design is geared towards horror and scare effects, with eerie surroundings, gory details, uncanny soundscapes, and dissonant stingers. Playing these games has the inherent darkness of interacting with a horror movie. Second, survival horror games present ethically problematic content, as they prompt players to take immediate decisions about life and death that more often than not result in the killing of other beings.
