Junji Ito has become one of the most popular and influential creators within the modern horror landscape, with his style permeating across continental borders to make him a household name among the fandom. Unsurprisingly, many creators have become inspired by the twisted visions of Ito and his work has become influential across various mediums.
Enter NextDoor, a 2D pixel art visual novel developed by Sijbren Schenkels, Yun Ying Hu, Bjorn Dingeldein and Clément Panchout. The title gets its namesake from Ito’s The Woman Next Door, which inspired the project.
The game has excellent use of sound, with a beautiful midi soundtrack that also embraces terrifying ambient sounds to heighten the tense story. Visually, the use of 2D pixelated graphics benefits the extremely creepy tone allowing the player’s imagination to fill in the graphical gaps.
With a run time that matches the short story, (taking around 10 minutes to complete) NextDoor is a ideal spooky little gem.
Experience the game yourself for free at NextDoor’s ich.io page, or check out our full game playthrough here:
More Video Game Reviews
The sixth-generation era of video games is often regarded as the pinnacle of survival horror, having granted us titles such as Silent Hill 2, Fatal Frame, Forbidden Siren, and the… Kuon, developed by FromSoftware, is an atmospheric survival horror game released for the PlayStation 2 in 2004. Set in the Heian period of Japan, the game presents a gripping, eerie… Hello, everybody, this is Anthony and in this article I will explore the ghostly video game series ZERO, a.k.a Fatal Frame in North America a.k.a Project Zero in Europe and… Bramble: The Mountain King is a single-player adventure platformer video game, developed on the Unreal 4 engine by Swedish game developer Dimfrost Studio and published under Merge Studio. Dimfrost Studio… Berserk and the Band of the Hawk, known in Japan as Berserk Musou, is a 2017 hack & slash Musou game developed by Omega Force and published by Koei Tecmo… Recovering from trauma caused by the Louisiana incident of 2017, Ethan Winters now attempts a peaceful life with his wife, Mia, and his newborn daughter, Rosemary, in the faraway continent…Ikai (2022) Game Review – A Treat for Fans of Japanese-Inspired Horror Games
Kuon (2004) Video Game Review – A Forgotten Survival Horror Classic
PROJECT ZERO – A retrospective of the terrifying Fatal Frame series
Bramble: The Mountain King (2023) Video Game Review
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk (2017) Game Review
Resident Evil Village Review – Capcom’s Return to Form
Hey there, I’m Jim and I’m located in London, UK. I am a Writer and Managing Director here at Grimoire of Horror. A lifelong love of horror and writing has led me down this rabbit hole, allowing me to meet many amazing people and experience some truly original artwork. I specialise in world cinema, manga/graphic novels, and video games but will sometime traverse into the unknown in search of adventure.