Alien Isolation and Amnesia screenshots. (Image credit: Creative Assembly/Frictional Games)

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Last week, I asked PC Gamer readers to nominate the scariest PC games they could think of. I've collected the top 16 submissions from that comment section (with some editorial discretion) and randomly seeded the bracket below.

Yesterday, readers voted to pick the first round winners, narrowing the field to eight games. Now it's time to half the competitors again with another vote-off. We'll select the final two games on Thursday, and then they'll face off on Friday, with the winner crowned on Saturday morning.

The bracket

round 2

(Image credit: Future)

Nothing too unexpected so far. The winners by the biggest margins in the first round were Alien: Isolation, which defeated SOMA with 85% of the vote, Dead Space, which beat out Fatal Frame 2 Remake with 78% of the vote, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, which beat S.T.A.L.K.E.R. with 79% of the vote.

Amnesia: The Bunker vs Cry of Fear

The Bunker vs Cry of Fear

(Image credit: Frictional Games/Team Psykskallar)

F.E.A.R. vs Amnesia: The Dark Descent

The Dark Descent

(Image credit: Monolith Productions/Frictional Games)

Silent Hill 2 vs Dead Space

Silent Hill 2 vs Dead Space

(Image credit: Capcom\EA)

Dead Space refers to the 2008 original. Silent Hill 2 can refer to the PC version of the original, Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams (2002), or the recent remake, Silent Hill 2 (2022). We'll say that Silent Hill 2 is a vote for either or both versions; you can specify in the comments if you like.

Alien: Isolation vs Darkwood

Isolation vs Darkwood

(Image credit: Creative Assembly/Acid Wizard Studio)

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Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.