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Pyschedelics and horror games?

E

EHPTango

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May 11, 2015
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Has anyone ever had experience with psychedelics and horror games? Games like Deadspace and Amnesia maybe? I'm just curious on what the effects would be during the experience in detail if possible. Not just "It was scary," etc.
 
Not something I'd recommend for a first-timer, but it can be interesting. The best horror fiction delves into our own very real fears and uncertainties. In the right context and with the right mindset, a horror film or game can help create a compelling dark trip, if you feel like exploring the shadow. It can help you confront and understand your fears.

You'd want to choose the right game, know your limits, be ready to switch off if it gets too much, and have something to distract your mood if things get hairy. Personally, I wouldn't go for anything too gorey, unless you're trying to confront your aversion to gore or something. Start with weed for a sample and see how you go. Respect your substance, take a light dose. Most people would probably say "HELL NO, BAD IDEA" to this whole thread; I just happen to think it's not what you do so much as how you do it, anything can be done right.

I would NOT recommend SCP: Containment Breach unless you want to spend the rest of the trip too scared to blink.

EDIT: if you're looking for more of an account of what it's like, for me, it just made me far more involved with the characters and what they must have been feeling. Shooting a mutated zombie on the misty streets of Silent Hill felt... impactful. I dunno quite how to explain it, words and LSD have a tricky paternership. Simultaneously I was analysing my own reaction to what I was seeing, the collective imagination that spawned these horrors to begin with and its cultural background and paradigms, the digital revolution that allowed me to play the game to begin with, etc. you know how it goes, really.
 
I remember watching a friend play some weird video game where he had to kill people in gory and violent ways. It was pretty cool. I think if your prepared for it then its fine its just another level of an experience. As you develop in your usage you will be experienced enough to play around with some crazy shit if you want (horror video games, seeing a scary movie, or whatever) but you need to wait until your able to handle the situation.
 
Flickering said:
In the right context and with the right mindset, a horror film or game can help create a compelling dark trip, if you feel like exploring the shadow. It can help you confront and understand your fears.
Click to expand...

I agree, playing a horror game could be useful if you're trying to explore the dark side of your mind to gain deeper insight about that part of you, however any time I've tried to play ANY game on psychedelics, it gets confusing and disorienting really fast. I tend to get distracted by what's going on in the background and forget what the objective of the game is, or more so, what I'm even doing playing a video game. If you feel comfortable doing so, I'd say go for it, but for me video games and movies just aren't conducive to tripping.

I've met some people who seemed to imply that they had a strong will because they were able to "handle" a horror movie or whatever on psychedelics, but to me it just seems like a distraction from what these drugs can teach you about yourself. That is to say, the scariest thing I can imagine is my own mind =D
 
Thanks for the replies guys and being on topic about it. Probably would have been a good idea to say i'm not fully inexperienced with psychedelics, although not extremely experienced. Largest dose I've ever done was an eight in chocolate form and that was intense for me. I don't really know how to explain my intentions other then wanting to have a more full horror experience. I feel like these games would benefit from drug a drug induced experience, like we don't really see say a necromorph as very impact-full or significant when it jumps at us on our screen. It scares us because we aren't expecting it, but it doesn't really scare us (Or me at least) because of what it is. I get a more conscious created fear. Like the regenerative necromorphs only scare me because they don't die, not because its actually scary. So maybe a psychedelic would help create a gaming experience of more significance and maybe some fear to a game i know like the back of my hand lol. What would be some other games that would be good for this? Sorry if my explanation is confusing or disorganized, i'm pretty bad at explaining things.
 
Not a game and not strictly horror per se, but for me watching Twin Peaks on LSD/Shrooms/4HO-xxx was an unforgettable experience. Crying like a child, feeling really lost, and feeling really loved at once. Powerful stuff.
 
This could be interesting, if you're able to find a very story immersive game.

I watched films on psychedelics and the immersion is seriously something else.. you feel as though the characters are speaking to you, everything that is happening is actually happening in real-time. The time distortion with psychedelics can make the experience extremely surreal, for example a suspenseful scene can seem to drag on indefinitely until you come to a sort of psychological synchronic realization between yourself and the film.

I think with psychedelics, a game with a more linear style would be better.. because it would rule out to many variables that would be distracting and confusing while tripping. Open world games like Fallout, Elder Scrolls or Dragon age would be too complex.. first-person would be the most immersive; and if it's rich in dialogue and story it would be perfect.

If you want a really full on experience, check out Alien: Isolation.

It's just you and a single Alien, you have no weapons and no way of defending yourself.. all you have is a motion sensor, it's a PURELY atmospheric experience, which would be amplified with psychedelics. -

2 min gameplay clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQasTT0tdcU

I can barley watch that short trailer, i can't handle that kind of tension and suspense.. i think it would blow my mind apart on psychedelics.
 
One of my favourite hobbies is playing Elder Scrolls online while tripping on lower doses of psychedelics. Basically, any state where I can still comprehend how a computer works is fine, as I have enough experience with the game to operate under pretty warped conditions. While eso is not a horror game, there is plenty of mature content that involves some really dark subjects, and some tough moral and ethical decisions to make that do have consequences. Psychedelics for me, add another layer of immersion to the game that draws you in far deeper than otherwise would be the case. The boosted senses and reflexes don't hurt either as it is very action oriented.

The amazing part of a game like this for me is that after fighting some ancient evil in the depths of a hellish cave, and you climb back out victorious into a glorious dawn. The effects of everything under a psychedelic amplify not only the horror and darkness, but also the renewal that the victory brings and the beauty of the dawn as you walk out into the land you just fought for.

This experience is about as close to the mythological Journey of the Hero as described by Joseph Campbell, as most of us will get in terms of the psychological archetypal experience.
It should also be noted that a game like this allows you to explore the nature of the anti-hero to a fair extent as well, if that is your desire.

Based on my experiences, something like Deadspace on psychedelics is going to be -really- intense. Slowly wading into those waters is good advice.
 
Wow thanks for all the replies guys, been gone for a little while. I have seen a large portion of Alien: Isolation from Pewdiepie and Markiplier but I actually hadn't thought about it for playing while tripping. I was also thinking of some Silent Hill games although those are pretty fucked up and could probably end up leading the experience to be more bad then good but hey its worth a shot.
 
In my experience, the things which seem scary normally aren't really the same as the things which seem scary while tripping. Horror games and horror movies always seem mostly fascinating and/or strange to me, rather than legitimately scary, while tripping.

It's an experience worth trying if you haven't before--but keep in mind that your mileage may vary.
 
Yeah, why would anyone play a game... better yet a a fucking horror game on acid? To explore the "darker side" of your brain.

I find the idea to be horrifying, why waste one of the most beautiful chemicals in the world... on a horror game?

Tune into some good music like Floyd or Hendrix or Gong if you want to explore...

Or "Om" by Coltrane... if darkness is where you want to go.
 
1394 said:
Yeah, why would anyone play a game... better yet a a fucking horror game on acid? To explore the "darker side" of your brain.

I find the idea to be horrifying, why waste one of the most beautiful chemicals in the world... on a horror game?

Tune into some good music like Floyd or Hendrix or Gong if you want to explore...

Or "Om" by Coltrane... if darkness is where you want to go.
Click to expand...

Yeah if you're going to trip you HAVE to listen to pink floyd or you are WASTING your drugs. Seriously?
 
Hecticus said:
Yeah if you're going to trip you HAVE to listen to pink floyd or you are WASTING your drugs. Seriously?
Click to expand...

I basically said playing a horror game would be a waste of acid -_- but one abstracts what one wants.
 
Psychs can make me feel very eerie and sometimes straight up creepy. I feel like ive seen ghosts and spirits of real people before on LSD and I always have aliens on the mind too and I swear one time I saw the shadown of what id imagine an lien would look like slowly walking up my staircase. I also once went to the bathroom tripping and didn't bother turning the lights on and when I washed my hands I saw two little heads pop up from the bottom of the mirror(in the dark still) and I almost ran out of there. So anything scary or negative I don't want to know about, I don't want near me and I don't care about when im tripping coz I either trip to have fun, to see myself or something else from a different perspective or to see how far I can delve into my psyche and hopefully discover new things I never knew were there. TV, books/mags, movies, sober/drunk ppl, meth and a few other things are things I make sure to stay away from if I plan to trip. TV is one thing I just cant wrap my head around people enjoying while tripping, why watch TV when you can watch the world around you doing much more interesting things. I find TV sobers me up!
 
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