You all know that I absolutely love doing my weekly Wanna Don’t Wanna broadcast. Any of you that have watched me play know that I’m just riveted by games like Slender: The Arrival and Layers of Fear. But, did you know that I played my first ever horror game just a week before my first broadcast?
It’s true. My first horror game was The Park and I played it just a week before you all watched me play it, in order to see if I could handle our show idea. I found that not only could I handle it but also that I’d become addicted to horror games.
Before, I stayed away from horror video games. I always thought that playing was worse than watching because you’re more engaged and it becomes more real. Now, I watch horror Let’s Plays on YouTube, I’m always looking for new horror games to play on Twitch, and I spend my days combing through YouTube channels for new game ideas. I can’t get enough of it.
Playing horror games is different than watching horror movies or horror gameplay on YouTube. Not only are you more engaged, so you’re more likely to jump or scream, but also, when it’s finished, you really feel a sense of completion. At the end of a horror movie, I’ll see the villain defeated (most of the time), but I’ll still have trouble sleeping that night because I can’t help but think, “But maybe it’s still alive!” When I play a horror game, however, I play a roll in defeating the villain, so I leave the game knowing that I’m okay.
Also, being a huge horror movie fan and the co-writer of 9th Circle of Horror’s 15 Rules to Survive a Horror Movie, I have a sense of comfort knowing that I’m able to control the actions of the main character. If I’m in control, things are more likely to turn out okay in the end.
Not to mention, I get a huge rush from the jump scares. Yay, adrenaline, right?!
-Vanri the Rogue
Real Women of Gaming 
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