Kitty Horrorshow

Kitty Horrorshow is the pseudonym of an independent video game developer. Releasing her games on the distribution platform itch.io, she specializes in the psychological horror genre, often surrealistic and atmospheric with an art style reminiscent of video games in the 1990s, specifically early 3D games.

Career and style

Horrorshow gave up on her initial attempts to become a game developer after finding it too complex. Years later, she became interested again after playing a Twine game. Horrorshow's art style is influenced by early 3D video games, such as Doom, Hexen, Thief, and EverQuest, citing their ability to create immersive worlds while still remaining unmistakably computer-generated.

Owen Vince of Kill Screen compares the stylistic, low-polygon graphics in her games to that of German Expressionism, specifically The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Her games often lack characters with whom to interact, but focus instead on dreamlike scenes to explore. She avoids jump scares and player death, as she finds them uninteresting. To scare players, she uses elements of psychological horror, such as leaving disturbing scenes unexplained and open to interpretation. Commenting on the lack of jump scares in her games, Brendan Caldwell of Rock, Paper, Shotgun wrote, "These games creep up on you slowly and rattle your brain, not your instincts."

Games

• Dust City
• Chyrza
• Sunset Spirit Steel
• Rain, House, Eternity
• Here Is Where I Carve My Heart
• Sigil Valley
• Anatomy
• Haunted Cities