20 Horror Games to Play in October
(Image credit: Capcom)
Get Your Scare On
It’s the spooky season again, and The Load Screen has compiled a list of fifteen horror games to play this October. Some of the games have made the list for being truly scary or psychologically disturbing, while others help relive fond memories of frights during prior Halloween seasons. The list is given in random order and not meant to imply importance. This page contains affiliate links that we earn from qualifying purchases.
1. Resident Evil 7
Capcom made so many Resident Evil games worth playing, but Ethan’s crazy tale in Resident Evil 7 is the scariest in the series by far, and it should be on any horror game list. After receiving a disturbing video message from his missing wife, Mia, he decides to head into the swamps of Louisiana in hopes of finding her. In this first-person shooter, Ethan finds more than he bargains for, and the moldy mutations that await are indeed the stuff of nightmares. Welcome to the family!
2. Chernobylite
A creepy setting helps psychological horror games, and Chernobylite has one of the best with maps made from 3D scans of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The horror amplifies with dimension jumping monsters and ruthless soldiers bent on shooting anything that moves in the open-world environment. The mix of exploration, survival and building mechanics are layered well so that this creepy sci-fi indie from The Farm 51 is worth playing at any time.
3. The Last of Us Remastered
Ellie’s journey starts in the post-apocalyptic future, where a virus has infected most of the population, turning them into parasitic zombies who hunt down those that remain. Ellie is humanity’s last hope, and Joel must get her across the destruction left in the United States and into the hands of the Fireflies. The remastered edition includes the Left Behind DLC, which gives Ellie’s back story on how she was infected. Together, the main game and expansion are worth replaying for this Halloween season.
4. World War Z: Aftermath
The recent update for the Saber Interactive hit pushes the third-person zombie shooter further with additional levels and a first-person mode option in World War Z: Aftermath. This horror survivor game will have players dumping bullets at an unending horde of zombies. Watch as they pile up and then run when they make it over the barriers since there is no safe zone from their desire to kill.
5. Layers of Fear 2
A Hollywood actor gets tricked into starring in the film of his life in the psychological horror called Layers of Fear 2. Darkness and horror await as the enigmatic director gathers his cast on the remains of the Royal Atlantic Line ship. Developer Bloober Team takes horror to the high seas, and this story-focused first-person game is perfect for the season.
6. Back 4 Blood
Zombies are fun most months of the year, but they deserve an extra look in October. While not a direct sequel to the slaughter-fest Left 4 Dead franchise, Warner Brothers Interactive puts out the spiritual successor in Back 4 Blood. Gather up to four players online or play single-player in this FPS action shoot’em up that is dropping this month.
7. Dark Souls Remastered
Stuck in a hellish prison, the only escape for the recently deceased is battling other tortured souls through brutal and unforgiving combat in Dark Souls Remastered. There is a reason that this game is the standard for difficulty, and the remaster by From Software does not make the gameplay any easier. The terrible nightmares and twisted abominations layered throughout this third-person horror action title make it a good feature for the Halloween season.
8. Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water
Specters and ghosts haunt Mt. Hikami, and the only weapons available are a flashlight and camera in Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water. Follow three protagonists as they search for lost souls across the mountain of death. While the original game was available on consoles, the updated remaster is available on modern platforms, including PC, when it debuts later this month.
(Image credit: Naughty Dog)
9. The Last of Us Part II
Five years later, Ellie lives on, but the hope for humanity has died long ago. The survivors have learned to contain the viral apocalypse, but warring factions look to finish what the zombies started. Ellie struggles with her and Joel’s past, but life moves on, and the clickers keep on coming. The sequel adds an expanded arsenal and gameplay that fans of the first game will treasure. The Last of Us series is so good that both are worth playing this season.
10. Alan Wake Remastered
Remedy Entertainment has updated their Pacific Northwest action-thriller with Alan Wake Remastered with more atmosphere and better lighting. Since this updated game just came out with 4k graphics, the intensity of the darkness stands up to the characters’ quirkiness in the cutscenes. The Remastered version also includes The Signal and the Writer expansions with the same visual treatment.
11. Until Dawn
Eight friends are stuck on a remote mountain, but something worse lingers in Until Dawn from Supermassive Games. Fear grips the Hollywood cast, including Hayden Panettieri and Academy Award winner Rami Malik. This story-heavy game will have the player questioning everything, and player-made decisions change the outcome and who survives. This game is worth replaying with how many twists it has, and during the spooky season, it is perfect.
12. The Evil Within
Both games in the Tango Gameworks series are great, but the plot of The Evil Within is more straightforward, and the twisted story is worth replaying for the creepy factor. Even the calm moments of this game are unnerving in an abandoned hospital, and the psychological horror amplifies as the ill-fated detective searches deeper into the nightmare.
13. Little Nightmares 2
The sequel from Tarsiers Studios follows the dark story of Six further into the twisted world of Little Nightmares 2. The warped citizens hunt the new hero Mono and Six through the city and a demented school. The third-person puzzle platformer improves from the original by adding puzzles that require both heroes to escape new horrors, including the tall man. Both games in the series bring unique experiences for the Halloween season.
14. Dead by Daylight
Dead by Daylight scratches a lot of itches for those wanting nostalgic and iconic horror villains. The one versus four multiplayer survival horror action and its DLCs features icons like Pyramid Head and the newly added Hellraiser’s Pinhead, Jason from Friday the 13th, Freddy Kreuger, Leatherface, and more. Crossovers show up in purchasable expansions such as Stranger Things, including the Demogorgon plus survivors Nancy and Steve in Hawkins National Laboratory: The Underground Complex. This horror-filled game contains so many October classic villains that it is perfect for the season.
(Image credit: Supermassive Games)
15. The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
Spooky story-focused games are an excellent addition to any horror game list for October. Supermassive Games is releasing the final title in the Dark Pictures Anthology with House of Ashes. Coming out later this month, House of Ashes follows a military unit that finds something deadly buried in a Sumerian Temple. Ashley Tisdale leads the cast down a subterranean labyrinth haunted by an evil presence, but personal issues threaten to break the group before the creatures get them.
16. Resident Evil 2 Remake
How can a horror game list leave out a classic setting like the Raccoon City Police Station featured prominently in Resident Evil? With the Capcom Remake, players can relive the reimagined third-person survival horror on modern consoles and PC. Leon and Claire make their return, but the developers modernize the action and camera, making this Remake the version worth playing during this Halloween season.
17. Inside
While this indie classic from Playdead may not be considered a horror game by some, the dystopian world and dark story that the boy escapes are full of psychological dread and hint at horror in this 2D puzzle-platformer. At every step of the way, the boy in the red shirt is in imminent peril and is always vulnerable. This Halloween, play through the unique art style of Inside and experience the boy’s traumatic adventure firsthand. Will you survive?
18. Little Nightmares
Help Six escape a demented cruise ship full of twisted creatures bent on eating her and conquer the mysteries that lie in wait for the doomed child. This third-person puzzle-platformer from Tarsiers Studios uses a creepy art style that adds psychological drama within each section, providing the right mood for this season.
19. State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition
Zombies wander the land, and society has collapsed, but a few survivors linger on, gathering supplies and reinforcements from the wastes in State of Decay 2. This survival horror game by Undead Labs has seen many updates since its original release, and the reworked enemies offer improved and intense action than ever before. Team up with friends online to defend and expand the pack. Every character is vulnerable in this game, and anyone can die, so the gameplay can change in a heartbeat.
20. Alien Isolation
Stuck alone in Sevastopol space station while it is falling apart because an Alien is on the loose is a playable nightmare experience in Sega’s Alien Isolation. While early ratings for the gameplay mechanics and the survival of Amanda, Ripley’s daughter, were poor, the developers have expanded and adapted the title with better AI and additional maps.
