Mundane Horror: A Budding Genre

 Mundane Horror

Mundane horror is a subject that I've wanted to discuss for a long while, ever since discovering the sub-genre and my own love of it. But first let's quickly define it so everyone can be on the same page of what it actually means.

Mundane horror is a depiction of a seemingly every day scene, something we're used to and might even take comfort in. Yet the closer you look, the more you start to pick up on little things that might be "off" about the situation.

This image from TV Tropes is a great example. While at first everything seems to be normal, the closer you look the more little things seem to be off about the situation.

The coffee is going to be the first thing most people notice and if it were just that then it would almost not even be enough to qualify as Mundane Horror because it could just be some funky latte art. Yet when you start to look at the background is when things get... strange. A bloody handprint on the wall, the extra sharp knife, and even the distorted tilt of the image itself. All of these combine to leave you feeling unsettled. And this is only scratching the surface of what's happening with games right now.

There's been a heavy uptick in mundane horror games and I'm absolutely living for it!

Perhaps the most notable is the Chilla's Art series. These games showcase every day things like working at a convenience store, going to karaoke with your friend, or even working at a traditional bath house. Yet the further into these games you go, the creepier everything seems to get.

This is The Bathhouse, a story about a girl who takes a summer job working at a traditional Japanese bathhouse and the horrors that unfold there.

At the beginning of the job, everything is slightly off but also mostly normal. Sure, your boss is a little weird and the guy staring at the apartment next to you is unsettling, but it's not like they're causing you any extra work. Yet as the days pass by, the people around you get more unsettling and a strange person seems to be appearing at the end of your work day, playing a creepy game of catch.

Overall, the game starts so seemingly mundane but just continues to get weirder and weirder. This is by far the most popular series in this genre, but there are two more I also want to bring up that have helped to solidify my enjoyment of the genre.

Click here if you want to check out the entire Chilla's Art series! These games are all standalone so check out whichever appeal to you most!

Now I want to move onto a game a played at the last Steam Next Fest. This game is called Creepy Shift and I immediately fell in love with it!

The premise of this game is that you're a new employee at a roadside diner but when you show up for your nightshift, you learn that there are some strange rules you need to follow. This game is based on a Creepy Pasta and despite the fact that it starts off creepy, the actual actions you take for the first part of the game are nothing short of mundane.

At the start of the game you restock shelves, clean dishes, mop, and clear the tables. It's actually relatively soothing if not for how the wind is howling and the very haunted juke box that keeps tormenting me.

Creepy Shift fits the sub-genre of mundane horror well because of how the first two in game hours go. In fact, it isn't until the final two hours of the game that things stop focusing on the mundane and instead go completely haywire with the haunting going on. And, as a final act of the mundane, you do in fact get paid at the end of the night and can try to top your high score each time!

If you would like to watch my playthrough of Creepy Shift click here. If you would like to wishlist/ purchase the game for yourself click here.

The final game I want to talk about is called Closing at 2, an indie game that I played at Magfest 2025. This game features you as a bartender, fixing drinks for your regulars. All you're trying to do is making it to the close of the bar yet such a mundane and simple task could never be so easy! Not in the mundane horror genre.

The main focus of the game is making drinks with a fun little minigame to help you mix them. Then you serve them to your regulars. It's not a super long game, but it certainly gets it's point across very quickly. 

As your regulars keep coming up, they get more and more deranged in both appearance and their requests. And you, as the bartender, are just counting down to the end of your shift, hoping you survive it. It's mundane yet so very, very creepy. And oh how the scare got me when I first saw it!

If you would like to try the FREE game yourself click here. 

Overall, mundane horror is such a fun sub-genre to cover because you have to get creative with how the scares work. And you have to make sure you're balancing the completely mundane with horror elements so it doesn't sway too far in either direction. All three of the games I've mentioned are fantastic blends of these elements and create an experience that keeps me coming back for more.

If you know any mundane horror games, leave them down below! I want to play each and every one of them!

💛 Memento