There’s something oddly captivating about horror that creeps in during the holidays. This time of year is meant for warmth, family, and festive cheer, which makes it all the more jarring when—say—a knife ends up in Grandma’s back. The holidays feel sacred, like a period that should be off-limits to the gruesome and grotesque. Yet that very contrast is what makes holiday horror so effective: it catches you off guard. The clash of comfort and chaos draws me in like a moth to a flame.

That brings me to Still Wakes the Deep, a game that Shot, one of my followers on Twitch and a great friend, chose for me to stream. Although I had already watched CJUGames play through it, this was my first time actually diving in myself. Despite being terrified for most of the experience, I genuinely had a great time.

The game takes place on an oil rig off the coast of the North Sea during Christmas 1975. Our protagonist, Caz McLeary, is heading down to the canteen when he runs into several coworkers. Through these casual conversations, I slowly got a sense of their personalities and dynamics. Things shift once Caz talks to his friend Roy, after which he’s summoned to his boss Rennick’s office. There, Caz learns he’s being let go due to an incident on the mainland involving a bar fight, one he fled to the rig to escape. As Caz prepares to board the helicopter home, chaos erupts. An explosion tears through the rig, sending him plunging into the North Sea. Though he’s rescued, it quickly becomes clear that safety is no longer an option.

Let’s talk about our unlucky hero. Caz isn’t armed to the teeth or trained for combat. He’s just a regular guy who’s “good with lecky,” equipped with little more than a screwdriver, a flashlight, and sheer willpower. That makes him instantly relatable. He’s very much in the vein of Ethan Winters from Resident Evil 7 and Village. I genuinely cared about Caz and rooted for him to return to his family. His dry humor, scattered throughout the game, helped cut the tension at just the right moments. I found myself laughing at his commentary, especially during the scene with Brodie and the miserable task of lighting the manual flare. In those rare moments of levity, it felt like Caz was giving himself, and us, a much-needed pep talk.

Gameplay-wise, Still Wakes the Deep is a departure from what I’m used to in survival horror. I usually rely on weapons and manage ammo. Not here. Instead, the game forces you to depend on stealth, distractions, and environmental awareness. Tossing cans to lure enemies away or hiding until the coast was clear became essential. Anytime I spotted a throwable object, my anxiety spiked—I knew something awful was nearby. The abundance of hiding spots gave some breathing room and allowed me to observe enemy patrols, but I struggled with aiming projectiles to push the abominations away from Caz. I kept hitting what felt like invisible walls, causing objects to bounce back and draw enemies straight toward me. To be fair, aiming has never been my strong suit in games or real life.

The monsters themselves heighten the unease. Some still resemble the crew they once were, their human forms slowly being overtaken by the entity. While we never see the initial outbreak, it becomes clear that drilling awakened some kind of parasitic presence. The exact nature of the parasite is left ambiguous, but its effects are everywhere. We also witness Caz’s own infection after his time underwater. As the journey progresses, the infection begins to manifest as proximity to the tentacle-like growths or monsters causes Caz’s left eye to display mismatched, cell-like colors, resembling a petri dish.

Now let’s talk about Addair.

We first encounter him post-infection while attempting to reset the rig’s protective relay, and this section nearly broke me. I’m not exaggerating when I say it took me hours to get past. The environment is a maze of identical metal corridors, and no matter how confident I felt, I could never find the right path forward. I resorted to walkthroughs, YouTube videos, and just everything I could find. At first, Addair’s holiday greeting of “Merry Christmas, ya cunts” was amusing. After the fiftieth time, not so much. Eventually, through some stroke of video game luck, Addair glitched and got himself stuck, letting me finally progress. A Christmas miracle, indeed.

Another frustrating, though less soul-crushing moment was the swimming section. As the rig rapidly floods, you’re forced to find an escape route with almost no visual guidance. I drowned repeatedly before Ratty (shoutout to you, buddy) in my Twitch chat pointed out the correct direction. By the time a later swimming section appeared, I was relieved it wasn’t nearly as punishing. I still failed a few times, but it was manageable. Water levels and I have a long-standing feud dating back to Sonic the Hedgehog and Uncharted 4, so I was grateful this wasn’t a recurring mechanic.

The music and sound design deserve special praise. The score subtly guides your emotions, lulling you into moments of false safety before urging you to get the hell out. One moment you’re acclimating to the sounds of the rig and crashing waves; the next, everything drops into an oppressive silence. One of the most harrowing moments occurs shortly after being rescued from the sea. You enter a dark corridor with only your flashlight and the eerie quiet. It felt like you could hear a pin drop. Then, as I squeezed through a narrow opening, the silence shattered into violent thrashing and screams. I pressed myself against the wall, frozen, as the sounds continued. When I finally moved on, that sense of peace didn’t last long. This moment was just a preview of what the game had in store, and the sound design played a massive role in amplifying the fear. By contrast, the ending song nearly brought me to tears, offering emotional closure after Caz’s harrowing journey.

Still Wakes the Deep is a captivating holiday horror experience that masterfully blends dread with the warmth typically associated with the festive season. Its Christmas setting on an isolated oil rig creates a striking and unsettling contrast between familiar cheer and grotesque chaos. Overall, the game delivered a refreshing and deeply unsettling experience, balancing horror, humanity, and even humor in a way that stuck with me long after I logged off. Terrifying? Absolutely. But also one of the most memorable horror games I’ve played in a long time.

Have you played Still Wakes the Deep yet? Drop your thoughts in the comments and tell me which part made you scream the loudest.