Blumhouse Games' debut project Fear the Spotlight seems like it could be the unpredictable survival horror/cozy game mash-up of my dreams

Ashley Bardhan
·2 min read
A screenshot shows the Fear the Spotlight protagonist hiding under a desk.
A screenshot shows the Fear the Spotlight protagonist hiding under a desk.

Blumhouse Games, a new publisher from Five Nights at Freddy's movie producer Jason Blum, has released a trailer at Day of the Devs for its debut title Fear the Spotlight. The lo-fi narrative horror game looks like what would happen if The Baby-Sitters Club held a seance, and I can't wait to find out what mystic mouse trap teen girls are getting themselves into this time.

"Sunnyside High has a dark history," a press release explains. "When Vivian enters the deserted corridors for a seance with the rebellious Amy, she suddenly ends up alone, and at the mercy of the monster who wanders the halls. Vivian must avoid its gaze, find her friend, and discover the disturbing, murderous truth of a decades old tragedy."

In the trailer, developer Cozy Game Pals uses Sunnyside's unassuming corkboard beige rooms as spine-tingling juxtaposition for its hidden corridors and supernatural beings. I always thought that high school bathrooms were scary enough on their own, but the press release at least promises that Fear the Spotlight is jumpscare-free.

Fear the Spotlight's seemingly casual puzzles and story-driven gameplay remind me of the unsung PlayStation 2 survival horror game ObsCure, which also follows teenagers trapped in their high school with ghouls. Fear the Spotlight also recalls cult classic teen movies like The Craft and Blumhouse Productions' Happy Death Day.

I've always found that tonally light, female-led horror serves me as a comforting reminder of my own strength (in fact, I've watched Happy Death Day every year since it came out on my birthday, just to encourage some frosted contemplation of mortality. No big deal!). So I'm looking forward to playing Fear the Spotlight, which seems like it could be a rare thing: a cozy horror game about misguided girls claiming their power.

Fear the Spotlight was previously available on Steam in 2023, but Cozy Game Pals say they removed it in order to add game content, languages, and to adapt the game for consoles. At the moment, Fear the Spotlight does not have a release date, but it should be out on PC, Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox later this year.

Do you want to get scared sooner? Check out the best horror games to play right now.