Lucky 13! We give you 13 of the scariest horror games to play this month.
October is known globally as Halloween month and as such many of us tend to let our darker side out this time of the year.
So, in the spirit of Halloween and all things spooky we have compiled a list of thirteen of the scariest horror games to grace our screens in recent years.
So, without further ado here are the thirteen scariest horror games in no particular order:
Resident Evil 7 (PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC):
Released on the 24th of January 2017 this game is synonymous with fear and horror and no list would be complete without it. Resident Evil is set in Dulvey, Louisiana where Ethan Winters is drawn by a message from his wife Mia, who has been presumed dead since going missing in 2014. You play as Ethan Winters from a first-person perspective as he searches the Baker house for his missing wife. Although Ethan is a civilian with few combat skills, he is able to arm himself with a variety of weapons including handguns, shotguns, flamethrowers, explosives, and chainsaws against the Baker family and a humanoid form of fungus known as the “Molded”. He can block attacks to reduce damage. Various sections of the game are spent being pursued by members of the Baker family, who, if engaged in combat, can only be temporarily incapacitated. However, these encounters are avoidable by means of stealth or running away.
Silent Hill 4 (PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox):
Silent Hill 4 was released on the 17th of June 2004, so it is an oldy but still a goody.
This game is set in the southern part of the fictional city of Ashfield and follows Henry Townshend as he attempts to escape from his locked-down apartment. During the course of the game, Henry explores a series of supernatural worlds and finds himself in conflict with an undead serial killer named Walter Sullivan.
Silent Hill 4 features an altered gameplay style with third-person navigation and plot elements taken from previous installments.
Someday You’ll Return (PS4, PC, Xbox One):
Released on the 5th of May 2020 Someday You’ll Return is a story-driven horror game that follows Daniel, a former camp counselor that has, for reasons he isn’t quite ready to share, chosen to keep away from the park that he used to run camps in.
However, when his daughter Stela goes missing in said park, he ventures in to get her and bring her home. All he has to do now is find her.
Of course, the fact that the woods are now full of mysterious horrors, an inky virus, a monster known as “The Beast” that hangs out in an old military bunker, and other supernatural problems? Well, that’s something Daniel will have to work his way through as well.
Slender: The Arrival ( OS X,PS3, PS4,Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch):
This game was modelled after the internet myths surrounding Slender Man was released on the 26th of March 2013. This FPS Survival horror game was developed by Blue Isle Studios and Parsec Productions and published by Blue Isle Studios Midnight City.
The majority of the game takes place in abandoned areas (house, defunct mine, etc.), each with different objectives. Slender: The Arrival uses similar mechanics to its predecessor, The Eight Pages.
The character is armed only with a flashlight. This limited defense forces a sense of helplessness, as the best way to survive in the game is to run whenever in danger. The Slender Man’s behavior changes slightly between levels. In the first level, the Slender Man can be seen outside the window, and after going through the gate outside he can be seen on the top of hills well away from the player.
In level two, he most often teleports off-screen or just out of the character’s line of sight, but is capable of appearing directly in front of the player. It is observed that his motion centers around following the player but consists largely of jumping from place to place, the inconvenience of which is increased as each of the eight pages are collected.
Amnesia: Rebirth (PC, PS4):
Ok so technically this game isn’t out yet but as therelease date is the 20th of October it still counts as part of our list. Amnesia: Rebirth is a sequel to Amnesia: The Dark Descent. In Amnesia: Rebirth, you are Tasi Trianon, waking up deep in the desert of Algeria. Days have passed. Where have you been? What did you do? Where are the others? Retrace your journey, pull together the fragments of your shattered past; it is your only chance to survive the pitiless horror that threatens to devour you.
Time is against you. Step into Tasi’s shoes and guide her through her personal terror and pain. While you struggle to make your way through a desolate landscape, you must also struggle with your own hopes, fears, and bitter regrets. And still, you must continue, step by step, knowing that if you fail you will lose everything.
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare ( PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One):
Released on the 25th of October 2010, this standalone expansion pack for Red Dead Redemption and adds a non-canonical zombie horror-themed single-player campaign, two multiplayer modes, and cosmetic additions to the environments and characters of the open-world Western action-adventure game. Set in an alternate timeline from the base game’s story, the plot follows returning protagonist John Marston, a former outlaw who sets out to find the cause and possible cure to a zombie plague that has infected his wife and son. Marston liberates towns overrun by the undead and assists non-playable characters with side quests along the way.
Carrion (Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PC):
Carrion was freshly released on the 23rd of July this year. In this Singleplayer horror, Players control a red, amorphous, tentacled monster (hinted at by the game as an unknown species of Tubifex worm).+ The monster must make its way through a facility, crawling through vents and killing scientists and soldiers. As the game progresses, players can obtain upgrades such as the ability to dash—which can be used to break through wooden barricades and access otherwise unreachable areas—and to grow in size.
Dead By Daylight (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Google Stadia):
Dead By Daylight was released on the 14th of June 2016. The game is played as a one versus four online multiplayer where one player takes on the role of the savage Killer, and the other four players play as Survivors, trying to escape the Killer and avoid being caught and sacrificed to a malevolent force known as the Entity.
Alongside several original characters, the game also includes downloadable (DLC) characters from several horror franchises such as Halloween, Left 4 Dead, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Saw, Evil Dead, Scream, Stranger Things, and Silent Hill.
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan ( PC, PS4, Xbox One):
This game is relatively new being released on the 30th of August 2019. Man, of Medan, is the first installment of The Dark Pictures Anthology series and is an interactive drama survival horror video game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.
This game is played from a third-person perspective in which single players or multiplayers assume control of five different characters that become trapped on board a ghost ship.
Players are required to make decisions based on their character’s “head” or their “heart” or can choose for them to do nothing, whilst selecting between different options when interacting with other characters. The selection of options are stylized as a compass, which is both representative of the characters’ “moral compass” and reflective of the game’s nautical themes.
The narrative changes and adapts to the choices that the players make, thus making it possible for players to keep all playable characters alive or to have some (or all) of them die. Choices also affect the characters’ personality traits (which affects subsequent cutscenes and dialogue options), as well as their relationships with each other.
Outlast ( PS4, Xbox One, PC):
Released on the 4th of September 2013, this game adds an element of extra spook that comes with any game based in a mental asylum. The game revolves around a freelance investigative journalist, Miles Upshur, who decides to investigate a remote psychiatric hospital named Mount Massive Asylum, located deep in the mountains of Lake County, Colorado.
Outlast has a sequel called Outlast 2 that was released on the 25th of April 2017, and has a new installment The Outlast Trials coming next year.
Little Nightmares (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia):
This cute and creepy game was released on the 28th of April 2017 and has become so popular that Little Nightmares II is set to be released soon too. It revolves around a little girl named six who after awakening from a dream and armed only with a lighter sneaks through the “Maw” which has become her prison. She encounters all sorts of creature’s ventures through this prison where children are being held.
You pretty much have to hug “nomes” and collect items until you get to the end boss fight which is against a “geisha” which appeared at the beginning of the game. Some say that the “Geisha” is actually your mother, but the games storyline explanation is so obscure that it’s up to you to figure out your own interpretation of it.
The Last Of Us Part II ( PS4):
This is one of the newest games on our list and was highly anticipated before its release on the 19th of June 2020. This action-adventure game is set five years after The Last Of Us. the player controls two characters in a post-apocalyptic United States whose lives intertwine: Ellie, who sets out for revenge after suffering a tragedy, and Abby, a soldier who becomes involved in a conflict with a cult.
The game is played from the third-person perspective. Players can use firearms, improvised weapons, and stealth to fight human enemies and cannibalistic creatures.
Dead Space ( PS3, Xbox 360, PC):
This Survival Horror was released on the 14th of October 2008. The game is set on a mining spaceship overrun by deadly monsters called Necromorphs, which were released following the discovery of an artifact called the Marker.
The player controls engineer Isaac Clarke as he navigates the spaceship and fights the Necromorphs while struggling with growing psychosis. Gameplay has Isaac exploring different areas through its chapter-based narrative, solving environmental puzzles, and finding ammunition and equipment to survive.
There you have it, our pick of the 13 scariest horror games just in time for Halloween and hopefully, these will satisfy your blood thirst for the month of October.