We can speculate about why there are a lot of horror games nowadays, versus barely any at all about 10 years ago. Maybe horror games are less expensive to make and thus more viable for smaller developers, especially when the unheimlich effect of early 3D graphics is so suited to the genre, not to mention the benefits that darkness and repetitive labyrinthine interiors may have on smaller development budgets. Maybe it's an unconscious push back against the brash, saccharine vibe of most popular contemporary videogames; if the Fortnite-ification of everything sets your teeth on edge, maybe an unrelentingly violent game about psychopathic nuns will act as salve. OR: maybe people are just generally more messed up in the 2020s, and love to watch horrible things and be scared.
I like to speculate but I don't know why there's nearly a dozen new horror games on Steam every week, not counting the extremely low-effort entries. But I do know that Withering Rooms enters a crowded indie horror market. And despite ticking a lot of horror cliche boxes, it manages to be interesting all the same. It's set in an ailing Victorian-era mansion which has devolved from coal baron's home to cholera hospital to mental asylum. I reckon horror games don't always need to be set in filthy old mansions, but I may be in the minority.
