The concept of monsters predates the written word itself. Largely the product of folklore, culture, and humankind's primal fears, monsters are instrumental to horror. Having appeared in mediums such as literature, films, and television, monsters are, of course, no stranger to the world of Video Games. In celebration of Halloween, here's a list of the five monsters who deliver the scares better than anyone else.

To be on this list, the monsters had to make their debut in the realm of gaming. While they may have appeared in video games, horror icons such as Dracula, Jason, and the Slenderman are disqualified for their origins in other mediums.

5. 'Scissorman'

Arguably gaming's first slasher villain, Scissorman made his debut on the Japanese Super Famicom title, "Clock Tower." What makes every encounter with Scissorman nerve-wracking is the absolute helplessness of the characters you control. Since Jennifer and the rest of the cast can't fight back, their only option is to run and hide. Whether or not Scissorman finds your hiding place and kills you is entirely up to chance. Some might call that frustrating trial and error game design, and they'd be completely right. Others might call it stress inducing and terrifying gameplay. They'd also be completely right.

4. 'The Splicers'

"Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?" That's the question posed by Andrew Ryan in the 2007 title, "BioShock." Ryan sought to provide the rich and powerful an underwater utopia called Rapture with Its founding principles fueled by objectivist philosophy.

Enticed by promises that the "great would not be constrained by the poor," many wealthy elites flocked to the city beneath the sea to enjoy the sweats upon their respective brows without the intervention of taxes, religion, or the government.

However, the creation of a drug called ADAM, a criminal mastermind known simply as Fontaine, and the unforeseen problems of a Randian society turned Rapture into a nightmarish dystopia.

To survive, Jack was forced to do battle with the many drugged out inhabitants whose minds were twisted by broken promises and genetic mutation. These hostiles were known simply as "splicers."

3. 'The Baker Family'

After a slew of titles that strayed far from the series' horror roots, the Baker Family in "Resident Evil 7" reminded fans why the term "Survival Horror" originated with this franchise.

Part campy, part psychological, part mutated, and all unhinged, each member of the family uses different methods to induce fear.

Jack, the patriarchy of the family, is more straightforward; chasing Ethan across hallways with a nasty tendency to survive whatever's thrown at him. The mother, Marguerite, requires patience and stealth lest her legion of insects do reckless players in. Finally, the problem child of the family, Lucas, subjects Ethan and others to "Saw"-esque mind games where the stakes are high and human life is expendable.

2. 'Pious Augustus'

Once you boot up "Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem" for the GameCube, you're treated to the Silicon Knights logo accompanied by a voice who promises that "You too will come to understand fear as I have." That voice belongs to Pious Augustus, a once-renowned centurion who abandoned his humanity and allied himself with horrifying deities that called to him through a mysterious tome.

His skills as a warrior and military tactician prove to be invaluable in the Darkness' evil ambitions as he becomes instrumental in the death of Charlemagne the Frank, the first World War, and countless other cataclysmic events in human history.

What seals Augustus' place on this list is the sheer revelry and passion he puts into serving his dark masters. Whether he's taunting an eldritch abomination who's fallen from grace, manipulating men of the cloth to do his bidding, or spitting on a corpse who's perished by his hand, he's as amusing as he is frightening.

1. 'Silent Hill'

With a dark past, concealing fog, and a frequency to lure in the weak and emotionally worn down, the eponymous town of the "Silent Hill" series is psychological horror personified.

What makes Silent Hill stand out among other haunted towns is the ambiguity and duality within. In each game, players can never be too sure if what they're seeing is real, the protagonist's imagination, or the town itself playing tricks on them. The lack of a clear transition between reality and the sinister otherworld of the town made the first few titles especially unnerving. Areas that were once familiar become twisted and warped while the threats become more cerebral.

Each character who dares venture through the town must confront creatures that represent their inner demons. In "Silent Hill 2," James Sunderland's repressed sexual feelings take on the form of ghoulish nurses and feminine looking creatures with many appendages.

In "Shattered Memories," the appearance of the creatures change based on the answers you give during the therapy sessions that serve as a breather between the horror segments. If Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud designed a video game while watching a David Lynch marathon between breaks, the end result would look a lot like "Silent Hill."
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