Creating the “13 Pixel Horror Items” Pack

Hey everyone!

Today I'm releasing something I’ve wanted to make for a long time — a small but tightly polished collection of 13 pixel-art horror items. This pack began as a simple personal exercise, but quickly grew into a focused exploration of dark fantasy iconography, limited palettes, and the gritty texture of classic 16-bit games.

🎨 Why Horror Pixel Art?

I’ve always loved how horror translates into pixel art.
When you strip everything down to tiny shapes and a handful of colors, you have to rely on silhouettes, contrast, and suggestion rather than detail. That limitation creates a unique atmosphere — one that feels retro, raw, and slightly unsettling.

This pack was built around that exact idea:
small, readable icons that still carry a heavy, eerie mood.

🔧 The Process

I started by defining a restricted color palette inspired by old DOS and SNES-era horror titles.
Deep reds, dirty browns, desaturated purples… colors that feel dry, cold, and a little poisonous.

Then I broke the items into three groups:

• Ritual / occult objects

e.g., dagger, forbidden tome, candle skull

• Alchemy items

e.g., bottles, vials, mysterious black liquids

• Symbolic artifacts

e.g., antique key, preserved heart

Each object had to work as both a 32×32-style RPG icon and a 256×256 showcase sprite, so I focused heavily on silhouette clarity and pixel-level texturing.

No glow.
No blur.
No smooth edges.

Just clean, committed pixel art.

📦 Preparing the Final Pack

Every item was exported in three sizes:

• 256×256

• 128×128

• 64×64

with nearest-neighbor scaling to preserve the crisp pixel look.

I also created a dedicated cover illustration to match the mood of the items — dark dithering, clean layout, and a retro occult vibe.

🔥 What’s Next?

If this pack performs well, I’d love to expand the series with:

• Horror Weapons Pack

• Occult Alchemy Set

• Pixel Skulls Collection

• Cursed Relics & Artifacts

or even a large RPG Horror UI bundle.

If you want more in this style — let me know in the comments!

❤️ Thanks for the Support

Thank you all for checking out my work, downloading the pack, or simply following my itch.io page.
Your support helps me create more high-quality pixel art for indie devs.

Stay spooky — and enjoy the assets! 👁️🗝️🩸