The Best Horror Games to Play This Halloween That Aren’t Resident Evil or Silent Hill

Halloween means trick-or-treating, costume parties, and haunted houses. But not everyone feels like venturing out. Some of us would rather stay inside and play video games—and that’s okay. Horror games are an easy way to get your spooky season fix. 

While Resident Evil and Silent Hill have long dominated the genre, plenty of other titles are worthy of a Halloween gaming session. Whether you’re looking for hair-raising scares to brave solo or creepy co-ops to play with friends, here are seven of the best horror games to check out this Halloween and beyond. 

The Forest

The Forest puts you in the shoes of Eric LeBlanc, the sole survivor of a plane crash. Now stranded on an isolated peninsula, Eric must use the resources he finds in the forest around him to survive while searching for his son and fighting off cannibalistic mutants. The Forest falls into the survival horror subgenre, but not the same way games like Silent Hill do. Here, you’re literally living off the land in order to build shelter, hunt food, and craft weapons. The cannibals remain a problem, but so do your hunger, thirst, and stamina bars. In other words, there’s a bit of resource management involved.

By combining the best of open-world survival games with creature feature horror, Endnight Games Limited delivers an engaging experience. The Forest also offers multiplayer, which makes those grindy survival chores, like gathering wood, a little easier. The sequel, Sons of the Forest, features similar gameplay with improved graphics. However, The Forest still reigns supreme when it comes to spookiness and scares. 

Available on PC and PS4 

Sker Ritual

If you like horde mode games, Sker Ritual is for you. Wales Interactive’s indie FPS drops you smack dab in the middle of a zombie-esque outbreak with increasingly challenging (and terrifying) enemies to defeat. While you can play Sker Ritual alone, it works best as a co-op experience, where up to four online players can tackle objectives and fight off the Quiet Ones. Think Call of Duty‘s zombie modes but with clearer objectives that keep gameplay moving. 

Replayability is Sker Ritual’s big selling point. All maps have their own objectives and easter eggs, making each play-through unique, especially when messing with difficulty settings. Sure, you could get Black Ops 6 for zombies, but at this point, Sker Ritual offers more bang for your buck. A free shipwreck-themed map with new challenges and twisted tentacle-wielding enemies dropped just in time for Halloween. 

Available on PC, PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX/S

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse might not be the best entry in this legendary horror franchise, but it’s the easiest to play on modern consoles. No, nothing comes close to the sheer terror of Fatal Frame 1 and 2, but Mask of the Lunar Eclipse offers a healthy dose of creepiness as you navigate the neglected shores of Rogetsu Island, where a serial killer once kept five girls captive. Years later, three of the girls and their rescuing detective return to the island to uncover mysteries about their pasts. 

Mask of the Lunar Eclipse originally dropped on Wii in 2008 before a next-gen console remaster in 2023. Modern graphics make up for some gameplay clunkiness, and the unsettling atmosphere helps with the rest. If you like the creeping terror of Japanese horror movies like Ringu and The Grudge, you’ll find something similar in the hallways of Roguestu Island’s abandoned sanatorium.

Available on PC, NS, PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX/S 

Dredge 

Don’t be fooled by Dredge’s innocent-looking graphics. Beneath the low-poly art style is a slow-burn tale of Lovecraftian-inspired horror. You play as a fisherman, forced to explore the surrounding bay in a rickety tug boat after capsizing on an island. By day, Dredge is largely an exploration game involving puzzle solving, quest completion, and fishing. Take advantage when you can. Come night, your priority becomes surviving eldritch beings and otherwordly monsters. 

Developed by Black Salt Games, Dredge delivers on its horror adventure promise in about 12 to 16 hours. That might seem short, but you’ll explore five islands with unique tasks and secrets. More importantly, the game offers a certain amount of flexibility. Shy away from darkness if you’re looking for lower-level scares, or run into it for full-throttle madness.

Available on PC, NS, PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX/S

Cult of the Lamb

Developer Massive Monster calls Cult of the Lamb “adorably dark,” and honestly, it’s the best descriptor. Think Animal Crossing meets satanic cult. That’s right. Cult of the Lamb lets you step into the hooves of a lamb-turned-cult leader who sets out to worship the dark deity that saved their life.

You’ll indoctrinate new members, destroy non-believers, and spread enlightenment on your journey to becoming the ultimate leader. Venture out on roguelike crusades in the surrounding regions and return to upgrade your camp and manage the faith of your followers. Whether you choose to lead with fear or mercy is up to you.

Available on PC, NS, PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX/S

Vampyr  

While Life Is Strange garnered critical acclaim, Dontnod Entertainment’s follow-up title, Vampyr, flew under the radar. The action RPG has you play as Jonathan Reid, a doctor-turned-vampire struggling with his new bloodlust. Set in the early 1900s, Jonathan navigates the gloomy London streets during the Spanish flu pandemic while fending off other vampires and vampire hunters. 

Choosing to embrace your vampire persona and feeding off NPCs results in quicker level-ups but comes at the expense of your humanity. Likewise, not killing results in a happier story but more challenging combat. Your decisions change NPC interactions and influence which of Vampry’s four endings you receive. While Vampyr has a “best ending,” it’s really about how you look at it. Jonathan can range from a restrained doctor to a bloodthirsty monster or something in between. 

Available on PC, NS, PS4, XBO

Darkwood

Like The Forest, Darkwood has players navigating a dense forest chock full of nightmares. Daylight offers a chance to scavenge, craft, and fortify your hideout before nightfall—and you better do it well. With the darkness comes a barrage of gnarled and mutated creatures hellbent on destroying you. And despite unfolding from a top-down perspective, the game manages to cook up its own special blend of dread. 

Darkwood extends beyond the typical survival horror fare with choice elements. How you interact with NPCs influences how certain subplots play out and dictates which of Darkwood’s two major endings you get. 

Available on PC, NS, PS5, PS4, XSX/S, XBO

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