There are some things that just naturally send chills down our spines. A creaky floorboard in the middle of the night, a closet door slightly ajar, and a black haired ghost crawling out of your television set. Don't turn around now! Japan gave us horror beyond our wildest nightmares. They created great horror movies, such as The Ring, The Grudge, and One Missed Call. Their horror games aren't anything to scoff at either, giving us great series such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill. However, it doesn't take fancy graphics to make you pee your pants. Try out these great indie games created by some very talented individuals!

One of the very first indie horror games translated into English, many fans of this genre start by playing Yume Nikki(ゆめにっき, lit. Dream Diary). In this game, you play as a shut-in named Madotsuki. You can walk around her room, but the real crux of the game is when she goes to bed. She experiences lucid dreaming and you can control what she does in these dreams. The main goal of this game is to collect the 24 effects scattered around Madotsuki's dream world. However, nobody in the game tells you to do that and you can simply wander around, meeting the strange residents of the world. You can meet an alien who plays a piano in his spaceship, a girl with five arms and a melting face, and if you flick a light switch on and off enough times in a a pony-tailed girl's room... Well, let's just say you can find out if you try it.

One game that earned a huge following is Ib (イヴ). In this game, you play as the titular Ib (pronounced like eve), a 9 year old girl. On a regular museum trip with her parents, she suddenly finds herself alone and trapped in an alternate world. With the help of Garry, another museum patron, she must try to solve puzzles, and find her way back to the real world, bumping into friends and foes on the way. This game is very puzzle-oriented. Without using your brain to solve them, you won't be able to guide Ib, Garry, and the friends they meet along the way out of the museum. It also has multiple endings, so you can replay it and find out the many different outcomes. Can you get the true ending and lead everyone to happiness?

Another game that became quite popular is The Witch's House (魔女の家, Majo no ie). You play as Viola, a cute little girl who is stuck in the woods. With the exit of the woods blocked, the only way she can go is up into the witch's house. This one is different from the previous two: while it is puzzle-heavy like Ib, it has a lot of the aspects that one would expect from a straight-up horror game. There are sudden jump scares, black screens, and monster chases galore! Will you be able to guide Viola through the mansion to unlock the secret of getting out of the woods and back home to her dad?

A fan favorite, Ao Oni (青鬼, lit. 'Blue Demon'), features a group of friends exploring an abandoned, haunted mansion. What could possibly go wrong? There answer is a lot, because this mansion is haunted by blue demons. You play as Hiroshi, and you have to get out of this mansion before they get you! With this game, there are currently six versions. Each version has a different ending, so you may want to try out more than one.This game features puzzles, though not as many as Ib or The Witch's House. The main event of this game are the chases you get into with your good ol' demon friend. Here's a warning: he's very fast and Hiroshi is not very agile. Can you defy the odds, and escape the mansion with you and your friends in one piece?

Nice graphics and huge development teams can be great, but the little things and visible pixels can pack a punch in the scary department. These four games can scare you, but they'll also make you cry just a tad. One of the greatest aspects of these types of games are the stories behind them. But don't forget that there's a world of other Japanese indie horror games, such as Mad Father,The Crooked Man, Misao, Corpse Party, and The Forest of Drizzling Rain. You can find all of these with a simple Google search, so go on and scare your pants off!