Smith, MG., 2017.

'The Pre-History of Survival Horror: Horror in games before Resident Evil'

Since it was first coined in a written caption during the loading screen of the Capcom game Resident Evil (1996), the term 'survival horror' has been used to describe a whole genre of games that share aesthetic and thematic similarities with horror cinema while placing deliberate restrictions on player agency to make the core aim of the game- survival- more challenging. However, recognisable elements of the horror genre from other mediums can be seen in games before Resident Evil. This paper aims to explore the pre-history of Survival horror by briefly tracing pre-Resident Evil trends and historical cycles in the use of elements of horror in games, such as the spate of horror movie adaptations during the 1980s. The paper will then offer a comparative analysis of Resident Evil and Haunted House (1982), arguably the first horror game, to explore the extent to which the conventions of survival horror can be identified before the term itself became popularised.