10 horror games to play for a truly spooky Halloween this year

Trick-or-treating, witches’ brooms, black cats and white cloaks – a number of things come to mind when one thinks of Halloween. Celebrated on the eve of All Saints Day, it is a day dedicated to remembering the dead and the departed.

While trick-or-treating and watching horror movies are among the few ways one can celebrate this festival, we thought we’d put together something a little different this year – a list of 10 horror games one can play to have a truly spooky Halloween.

1. Resident Evil 4 (2023)

Available on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows, in Resident Evil 4, one plays the protagonist, U.S. federal agent Leon S. Kennedy. The objective of the game is simple – to find and rescue Ashley Graham, the daughter of the president of the US, from the Los Illuminados cult.

The residents of the village where Ashley is, happen to be plagued by the Las Plagas parasite, turning into zombies. Players must combat and evade them, and also occasionally solve puzzles to reach certain stages.

2. Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach (2021)

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach follows a young boy named Gregory, who is trapped in a large mall and must evade scary animatronic characters as well as the night guard.

What’s more, S.T.A.F.F robots also keep patrolling the area and can alert the antagonists about Gregory’s location, as and when he is spotted. The game is available on Windows, PS4, PS5, and Xbox One.

3. Alan Wake 2 (2023)

Available on PS5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S, Alan Wake 2 is a third-person horror survival game. One can play either Alan Wake, a thriller novelist, or Saga Anderson, an FBI agent, who comes to Bright Falls to investigate a string of murders.

Wake and Anderson must find and battle enemies, as well as investigate the murders occurring in the town. All of this, while trapped in a supernatural horror story written by Wake to escape an alternate reality, he has been trapped in for nearly 13 years.

4. Silent Hill 2 (2001)

Silent Hill 2 follows James Sunderland, a widower trying to navigate through the monster-riddled Silent Hill town. The player, who can view their characters’ health parameters only when the game is paused, must refer to maps, explore locked doors, and so on while searching for their deceased wife, who according to a letter, is waiting for him there. The game is available on Xbox, Xbox 360, Windows, and PS2.

5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2023)

Based on the 1974 film of the same name, one plays The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the form of a match with seven players. One either becomes a family member or a victim, attempting to escape from a family of cannibals who have captured them and plan to kill them.

What’s cool is the game features Kane Hodder as Leatherface, as well as Edwin Neal as The Hitchhiker, from the original film series. The game is available on PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

6. Soma (2015)

Soma is a dystopian survival horror game, set in an underwater research facility by the name of PATHOS II, in the year 2104. Playing as protagonist Simon Jarett, one must use stealth to evade monsters in the facility, while also finding clues such as notes and audio tapes to uncover the story behind the facility.

What’s more, the facility happens to be maintained and controlled by the Warden Unit (WAU), an artificial intelligence program present on all computer systems in the facility. The game is available on Windows, PS4, Linux OS X, and Xbox One.

7. The Last of Us (2013)

The Last of Us is a third-person action title, set in a post-apocalyptic United States. One plays Joel, who escorts a young girl, Ellie, across the country in a variety of environments, including hills and forests, abandoned houses, sewers and more, battling cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus.

The player can use a variety of firearms and handheld weapons, as well use stealth to combat and evade the creatures. What’s more, for one segment of the game, the player also plays as Ellie, the young girl. The game is available on PS3 and PS4, and a remastered version can be played on the PS5.

8. Visage (2020)

Visage takes place in a large home in the suburbs, in the 1980s. The player, through a first-person perspective, controls Dwayne Anderson, a man who committed suicide, after murdering his wife and children.

Dwayne, who is trapped inside, must find a way to evade the supernatural entities in the house and escape. At no point must the player be caught by the demons that reside in the house. The game is available on Windows, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

9. Carrion (2020)

Carrion is a slightly offbeat game, different from the ones on this list anyway. This is because in this game, players are not evading zombies, ghosts, monsters or demons. Instead, the players themselves take on the character of a red, tentacled monster.

They must escape a research facility run by a company called Relith Science, killing and devouring the scientists and soldiers that get in their way. As the game progresses, the creature, simply called “The Monster” keeps gaining newer abilities and grows in size. The game is available on Linux, macOS, Xbox One, as well as PS4 and PS5.

10. Limbo (2010)

Limbo sees the player take on the role of a young, unnamed boy, who they control and navigate an eerie, silent, (quite literally) black-and-white world, in search of his sister. It is a two-dimensional game, and the player’s character can run either left or right, jump, as well as climb up short ledges and ropes. In addition, they can also push and pull objects.

Littered throughout the world are dangers, such as bear traps on the floor of the forest, monsters, and even glowing worms that can attach themselves to the boy’s head and control the direction in which he moves. The game is available on Android devices, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Windows, Linux, and the PS Vita.

Well, these were our recommendations, which we believe, will ensure you have a truly spooky Halloween! Which one are you choosing?