Fear the Spotlight

Fear the Spotlight delivers an incredibly impactful and unsettling story that will linger in my memory long after the credits roll.

Blumhouse Games is off to a great start with Fear the Spotlight. A creepy PS1-era horror game with a great story, incredible atmosphere, and puzzles that will make you remember those fun times back in the day.

Fear the Spotlight is an excellent narrative horror experience that proves to be the perfect companion for Halloween season. It's a game loaded with atmosphere and dread throughout, with immersive, tactile puzzles and an overarching storyline that is engaging and tragic in equal measure. Encounters with the main enemy won't prove particularly challenging, but they're always nerve-wracking thanks to its creepy design and accompanying spooky audio. Rare, minor performance hiccups aside, this is a must-play for horror fans and an approachable entry point for newcomers.

Fear the Spotlight may be brief, but thanks to its tense atmosphere, basic but enjoyable stealth and rewarding puzzles, it keeps you glued to the screen from beginning to end. If you do play it, just make sure you don't overlook the unlockable second story, which is perhaps even better than the first.

Fear the Spotlight is a fantastic, albeit short, horror game that is a wonderful experience on the Steam Deck.

Fear the Spotlight relies on tension and atmosphere, delivering a quick gaming experience that's reminiscent of 90s slasher movies. It's appealing to both newcomers and seasoned horror fans, making it an impressive little game.

Blumhouse Games’ publishing debut, Fear the Spotlight, is a perfectly enjoyable time delving into the psychological after-effects of a seance gone wrong.

A creepy YA horror romp that blends a low-poly retro aesthetic with tense stealth sequences and tactile puzzles to create one of 2024's most unsettling games.

The horror studio is taking its formula to a new medium, and the debut is a solid and spooky ghost story.

The junction between the old and the new is the common haunt of indie horror games, but few are positioned at the crossroads as perfectly as Fear the Spotlight is. First released in 2023 by Cozy Game Pals, Fear the Spotlight's 2024 relaunch adds an extra layer to the experience while serving as the debut of film production juggernaut Blumhouse's dip into game publishing. The game mixes a modern approach to storytelling and presentation with a gratuitous serving of analogue fuzz, calling horror titles from the original PlayStation to mind while never quite mimicking them.

“Fear the Spotlight is an imperfect, but sincere lo-fi horror debut for Blumhouse Games.”

Fear the Spotlight is the least scary horror game you'll likely ever play, but there's a tenderness to its storytelling that cannot be overstated here, even if some of it's a bit muddled.