I played Blumhouse Games’ debut title, Fear The Spotlight (developed by Cozy Game Pals), back during Summer Game Fest. The truth is, it took forever to write something up because while it was one of my favorites of the event, it also triggered a migraine that stayed with me well into the night. Balancing the accessibility aspect of the game with my love for what I saw has been hard. Despite just wanting to put the game in the rearview, I absolutely could not stop thinking about it. More specifically, Fear The Spotlight scratches the horror itch I have wanted in games.
Fear the Spotlight is an atmospheric third-person horror adventure. You follow Vivian and Amy as they sneak into their high school and attempt a séance, With ouija board in hand, the best friends find themselves needing to survive the night when the séance goes wrong. Separated, you must find Amy and keep out of the spotlight.
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Sunnyside High has a dark history. When Vivian enters the deserted corridors for a seance with the rebellious Amy, she suddenly ends up alone and at the mercy of the monster who wanders the halls. Vivian must avoid its gaze, find her friend, and uncover the disturbing, murderous truth of a decades-old tragedy. Fear the Spotlight is a creepy love letter to classic 90s horror experiences with a focus on rich storytelling, puzzle solving, and a tense atmosphere. This is a perfect narrative horror game for those new to the genre.
Wrapped in nostalgia in the best way, Fear The Spotlight will hit those who loved A24’s I Saw The TV Glow. Similar to the film, the Blumhouse Game embodies a specific time in horror and what it meant for young adults at the time. A little bit of Buffy and a little bit of Are You Afraid of the Dark? but with more danger, Fear The Spotlight reminds me of my past. Walking through the school library that is expertly rendered despite the limited polygons, I remember my high school and with it the emotions that came with it. But I also remember the safety that my favorite series and the horror genre gave me, the home it created when I didn’t fit in with everyone else.
Vivian is your standard preppy teenage girl, and Amy is the perfect goth. The two of them aesthetically balance each other, and as you learn through the demo, you will see that their friendship means a lot to them. So much so, that it seems that there may be something more, at least for Vivian. While I only got an introduction to how much they care for each other, it was palpable.
Everything about the game, from the fashion to the high school itself, feels pulled from the 1990s. But the period element of the game doesn’t feel like a gimmick. Instead, it’s a clear love letter for 90s horror and the way it was central in young adult media as well. Fear The Spotlight uses its environment and the player’s knowledge of 90s horror that happened in high schools to make everything feel like it’s on the brink of scaring you. And it doesn’t always.
I keep thinking about Fear The Spotlight because I keep thinking about how scared I felt when there wasn’t even a known threat. It was just me looking at school portraits, walking around the library bookcases, and just exploring, and I never felt like something wasn’t going to happen. That oppressive environment may be exhausting for some, but for me, I felt like I was on the Hellmouth, just waiting for something to go wrong, and I thrived on that fear.
The retro-90s 3D art style is gorgeous, even if the framerate and visual distortions (even when turned to the lowest setting) can trigger vertigo and migraine. Despite that discomfort, I felt I couldn’t wait to play again, even if I had to come back in 30-minute blocks; fear The Spotlight has been at the center of gaming thoughts, and I don’t think that will change any time soon.
The core gameplay is to stay out of the spotlight. When the seance goes wrong, you’re transported to another plane, another version of Sunnyside High. It’s filled with fire and an ominous, oppressive presence, too. Stealth is central to the game, and the darkness becomes a character all its own. In addition to avoiding the light, you must solve first-person puzzles, aided by your ability to investigate the school around you.
In addition to game mechanics, its story harkens back to a classic 90s horror story. A fire happened at Sunnyside High, but there is too much mystery to know the how, the why, and the who behind it all. You aim to build a picture of the tragedy, understand it, and solve the mystery.
I want to go back to the intrigue, style, and narrative we got in the 90s and early aughts horror. The focus is on high school, romance, coming of age, and the things that go bump in the night. Sunnyside may not be on the Hellmouth, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the Scoobies solving a mystery and defeating a ghost who was bullied, a zombie of someone’s brother, ghosts that possess you on prom night, or even fighting a giant snake-thing on graduation day.
Originally released in 2023, with Blumhouse Games support, Fear The Spotlight will feature 1-2 hours of additional content for those who found this horror gem the first time. For me, I keep asking myself why I didn’t come to this game sooner, and I keep thinking about when I’ll get to play it again.
