From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Video Game Horror

Scary games may have entered the mainstream with the likes of Resident Evil and Silent Hill in the PlayStation era but interactive entertainment has always been drawn to its darker side. From Ants to Zombies is a showcase for the remarkable range horror gaming has achieved, across six decades, from the 1970s to the 2020s, and over 70 hardware platforms, from the ZX Spectrum to the Xbox Series X. More than 130 horror titles are analysed and contextualised across thirteen thematically-divided chapters, covering a variety of genres (from rail shooters to open-world RPGs), settings (from haunted mansions to infested space stations) and shades of fear (from creeping existential dread to stomach-churning outbursts of violence). The discussion is enlivened by exclusive commentary from pioneering horror developers such as Keiichiro Toyama (Silent Hill), Jane Jensen (Gabriel Knight), Ken Levine (System Shock 2), Sandy White (Ant Attack), David Riordan (It Came from the Desert), Paul Norman (Forbidden Forest), Graeme Devine (The 7th Guest), and many more. Spanning 600 beautifully-illustrated pages, From Ants to Zombies offers an opportunity to revisit venerated classics and discover unfairly overlooked gems, tapping into the inexhaustible riches of six decades of video game horror. From Ants to Zombies comes as a hardback, with a unique glow-in-the-dark logo and text. As with all our publications, we print lithographically on high-quality paper to showcase the gorgeous visuals as the games deserve. We also use thread sewn binding for extra durability and the ability to lay the book open flat. The cover features a specially created artwork by artist Vasilis Zikos. About the publisher: Bitmap Books work with the world's most experienced writers, designers and gaming experts to create meticulously researched, visually ambitious retro gaming books. As a design-led publisher, visual quality matters to us. We don't just obsessively pursue the best printing quality currently available. We want to constantly push the envelope when it comes to expectations about printing techniques.