I didn't think that Dead Space was scary at all. The only frightening games that I can think of are Silent Hill 1-3 and System Shock 2 with SH3 being by far the most frightening.

I wouldn't say it is the scariest game ever, but if you want to play it the way it was meant to be played, do it on HARD. Never have I seen such a difference between medium and hard before. I played it on medium the first time my friends and I cracked it open, and was constantly having to drop or sell stuff from overloading my inventory. My friend played on hard, and has yet to come close to maxing his inventory. Also, pretty much all of the issac death animations are awesome, and I maybe saw one on medium, while you are going to see them all on hard.

Played it back on its day.  Way better as a scary game than RE, IMHO.  Still not enough.  Probably the best is Doom3, and it's not one of these survival horror games.

the only game I ever thought scary was... errr

you thought Doom3 was scary? I found it redicules - "ohh there is a new room - the chances are 90% that monsters spawn directly behind me in an awfully weak attempt by the level designer to 'scare' me"

Like I said, I think developers fail at making scary games.  But yes of all of them I think the one that gets closer to fear is Doom3.  If you found it 'redicules', it's fair enough. :)

I thought the game was scary as shit, it really depends on who you are and what scares you personally because having a game take you out of your comfort zone of stealth and strategy and putting you in a situation where you can't use stealth and sneak up on enemies and also being forced to think fast scares me in a game. Especially when dealing with the horrifying alien/zombies like the Necromorphs.

A lot of the games known for being scary like Silent Hill, Condemned (so far), Resident Evil, etc. I didn't really find scary. So far only two horror survival games I have played has made me want to stop playing the game out of fear and there called Dead Space and Amnesia The Dark Descent. So what is scary is all subjective to the person.

P.S. One thing I love about forum sites like this is learning about new horror games, I'm definitely going to give Enemy Zero ago after reading about it here.

It's not scary. But I found It's atmosphere phenominal. And psychological thriller-ish elements in it too imo. It's my favorite survival horror game along with Silent hill 2 though it wasn't even the scariest silent hill..

It's not so much scary, as it is creepy/atmospheric, with unique gameplay, light. IE you don't go for headshots... you cut of their limbs etc.

Probably my 4th favorite game this gen.
That said, I found it more scary than resident evil... which isn't scary at all.

F.E.A.R is the creepiest game ever !

No one played F.E.A.R 1?

That was scary as hell!