The Unrated Edition of Dread received 9 reviews on RPG.net, with an average score of 8.56, making it one of the highest-rated games ever reviewed on the site.

"I think the game is damn near perfect for a lot of folk who want to play horror games involving humans with supernatural gifts, especially if they're focusing more on the monster take down."
(Christopher W. Richeson, RPG.net, August 2008, rating: 10/10)

"Dread is METAL, like the incarnation of classic 80s and 90s heavy metal album covers... Get your gun, warm up the pick-up, check your spell books one last time... GO!"
(David Artman, RPG.net, May 2008, rating: 8/10)

"It's easy to pick up, easy to understand, yet designed well enough you don't feel cheated. Unlike other "simple" systems it doesn't put a lot of work and resolution back on the DM's plate. This leads towards fast action, and a really nice pace overall."
(Hayley Dawson, RPG.net, February 2008, rating: 9/10)

"Dread is an A-Team episode written by Clive Barker and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It's the characters from Sin City in the world of Kult. It's Whispering Vault, but dirtier, and with testicles."
(Kobayashi, CasusNO review, December 2007)

"Dread is one of the best traditional RPGs I've seen. It's rock solid entertainment with rules that are easy to grasp, cool to play with, and make play fun."
(Matthijs Holter, RPG.net review, October 2007, rating: 8/10)

"Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium the sort of game that requires very little prep work prior to the gaming session... If you're a fan of splatterpunk and you're looking for a game that'll deliver a lot of flavour while requiring a bare minimum of prep work, Dread: The First Book of Pandemonium is a game that might very well belong in your collection."
(Jocelyn Robitaille, RPG.net review, September 2007, rating: 9/10)