Happy Halloween: Prepare to Flinch—Every Soulsborne Game Ranked by Jump-Scare Intensity

FromSoftware games are basically comfort food for spooky season. Even when they are not straight horror, they drip unease, dread, and the occasional gotcha that launches your controller into orbit. So let’s settle it: which Soulsborne game actually delivers the most jump scares? Here’s my ranking from least to most, looking at both how often the game tries to startle you and how well those moments land.

1. 7. Elden Ring (2022)

   Miyazaki’s big open-world opus is bleak, sure, but it is way more about exploration and world-building than pure horror. The freedom of movement and wide-open spaces bleed off a lot of the tension you get from the older, more claustrophobic designs. You will still get creeped out in places like Caelid and in various catacombs, but genuine jump scares are rare. Bottom line: least frightening of the bunch, even if the vibes are pitch black.

2. 6. Dark Souls 2

   It has unsettling zones for days — the Shrine of Amana and Black Gulch practically hum with dread — but DS2 leans harder on environmental gloom than sudden shocks. Ambushes and sneaky enemy placements can still make you yelp, they are just not the main delivery system for the fear here.

3. 5. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)

   Different flavor, same studio. Sekiro trades gothic rot for Japanese folklore and razor-duel tension, but it still knows how to make your skin crawl. The creature design does a lot of heavy lifting — think the Headless or the Corrupted Monk — and the sound design plus stealth systems squeeze your nerves at just the right moments. Not the same type of horror as Souls, but when it wants to shock you, it absolutely can.

4. 4. Dark Souls

   The blueprint. The original Dark Souls hardwires unease into every corridor. Areas like the Catacombs and Blighttown are built to make enemies feel like they are materializing out of darkness. It is not a horror game, exactly, but it thrives on unpredictable encounters and a constant low-level dread you never quite shake.

5. 3. Demon’s Souls (2009)

   The one that started the whole thing. Demon’s Souls is brutally moody and loves psychological fear over cheap jolts. Odd enemy placements and the long, eerie silence between fights get in your head fast; after a while, a single audio cue can make you flinch. If this was your first Soulsborne, this is likely where your trust issues began.

6. 2. Dark Souls 3

   DS2 didn’t have Hidetaka Miyazaki at the helm — he was tied up on another project — and DS3 has the unmistakable feel of a return-to-form finale. In horror terms, it refines the series’ bag of tricks: zones like the Cathedral of the Deep ooze menace, and the game loves to lull you into safety before snapping the trap with an ambush. The pacing keeps you just tense enough that you never fully relax. Of the three Dark Souls entries, this is the most Halloween-ready.

7. 1. Bloodborne

   All hail the nightmare king. Bloodborne’s Victorian-Gothic nastiness is oppressive in the best way, with every alley and arena strung tight with unease. The pacing is ruthless, the sound design is weaponized, and the game can hit unforgettable scare beats without leaning only on jumps. Built in collaboration with Sony, it sustains a level of dread that keeps you on edge from opening hunt to final moonlit scream. If you want pure terror in a FromSoftware package, this is the top of the mountain.

Alright, your turn: what are you booting up on Halloween night? Tell me which Soulsborne still gets under your skin.