Get the spooks in this Halloween
Ahh, it’s that time of year again when there’s a surplus of pumpkins in supermarkets, everything goes a bit more orange and you rummage around in your cupboard for the facepaint and vampire cape. It’s Halloween.
If you’re not venturing out of the house to get involved with any of the festivities, we recommend you spend a little dollar on a brand new game to scare the living excrement out of yourself.
Here we present the most frightening titles available on current and last-gen platforms.
Related: PS4 vs Xbox One
1. Project Zero: Maiden of Blackwater
Platform: Wii U
Although it’s not one of the Wii U’s strongest titles, Project Zero: Maiden of Blackwater certainly delivers when it comes to scaring you witless.
It’s clever use of the GamePad is really commendable, but it’s the dark and shocking storyline that’s the appeal here – it’ll really resonate with fans of Japanese horror movies.
Plus, some of the gameplay is so bad it’s scary too. Double win. 
2. Five Nights at Freddy’s
Platform: iOS and Android
There’s now a total of five Five Nights at Freddy’s games, with the final entry getting a special Halloween surprise on your mobile device.
All of them are worth a punt if you’re looking for something scary on your Android or iOS device. You’re the night security guard for a family-friendly pizza joint, which features a robotic animal band. During the day this furry band play music for the kids, but at night they are far more animated – and have a taste for murder.
3. SOMA
Platform: PS4 and PC
Soma is a sci-fi horror game that tells a rather unsettling story about identity and what it really means to be human.
When the radio’s dead, food is running out and the machines start to this they’re people, it all starts going to hell on the underwater facility. Soma is one of those games that tells an amazing story, but will also have you squirming in your seat for the fear of yet another insta-kill monster.
4. Until Dawn
Platform: PS4
Another win for your horror game library on PS4 is Until Dawn. If you’re looking for a horror game that’s got a touch of Heavy Rain to it, then you may not be disappointed by this entry from Supermassive Games.
It tells the tale of eight friends heading back to a remote mountain retreat the year after the death of their friends. The story will play out according to all the decisions you make in the game, and those that survive will be totally in your hands.
5. Dying Light
Platform: PS4, Xbox One and PC
Dying Light is a first-person, zombie apolcolypse survival sim that blends parkour traversal with good old zombie smashing. It’s packed full of scavenging, crafting and then using that to dispatch of the shambling, rotten dead that plague the city.
In the daylight, you’ll feel like a god, taking out zombies and owning the city with your parkour abilities. But, as the sun sets, the zombies get stronger and more plentiful meaning you’ll need to change tactics.
It all makes for a slick, zombie-slaying game that you deserve to play at least once.
Related: PS4 vs PS3
6. H1Z1
Platform: PC
H1Z1 is a zombie-survival MMO that’s currently proving extremely popular on Steam Early Access. And thanks to a special Halloween event, this is a better time than ever to get involved with H1Z1.
Align with your friends and take on enemies as you attempt to survive the worldwide infection.
7. ZombiU
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Wii U and PC
While it didn’t set the world alight in terms of sales, Ubisoft’s UK zombie apocalypse first-person adventure – ZombiU – is one of the Wii U’s more underrated titles.
Plus, if you don’t own a Wii U, Ubisoft re-released the game on Xbox One, PS4 and PC as the slightly renamed Zombi earlier this year.
8. Outlast
Platform: PS4
The PS4 is the only console platform where you can experience the likes of OutLast – Red Barrel’s scream-out-loud scarefest that riffs on cult horror flick like Session 9 and Rec.
You take on the role of a bold (read: stupid) journalist who breaks into an asylum after receiving a tip off that skullduggery was afoot on the premises. Once inside, they realise something has gone horribly wrong and that coming into contact with the asylum’s residents is a surefire way to get killed. Your only options here are to run and hide – use them wisely.
9. Alien Isolation
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Linux and Mac
Alien Isolation is one of the most terrifying titles we’ve played in a long time and probably the first Alien title in ages to do justice to the horror legacy of HR Giger’s most famous creation.
It’s full of tense, atmospheric sequences where you’ll feel your heart pounding in your chest so hard you’ll think it might pop out.
Take it to the next level with a Kinect or PlayStation Camera, where the Alien will not only react to your in-game movements but the noises and heavy breathing you’re making in real-life. You have been warned.
10. Resident Evil HD
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 and PC
If you didn’t play the original Resident Evil back in 2002 on the GameCube, now is the time to do it. Just this time around you can play it in full HD on more modern consoles thanks to Resident Evil HD.
Open that creaky mansion door and step nervously inside, as this horror pioneer is still heralded as one of the greats.
Related: Xbox One vs Xbox 360
11. The Evil Within
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PC
The Evil Within sees Resident Evil maestro Shinji Mikami treading familiar survival horror ground, but it has enough white-knuckled scares to send Wes Craven into orbit.
It’s one of those games with a cult following for the hardcore fans of survival horror, and just the sort of game you’ll want to whip out this All Hallow’s Eve.
12. Metro: Redux
Platform: PS4, Xbox One and PC
This is a remastered re-release of two excellent moodu post-apocalyptic shooters – Metro: 2033 and Metro: Last Light.
Both games are set in the monster-infested underground of Russia capital and are excellent examples of smart storytelling, with a mix of stealth and FPS gameplay.
13. The Last of Us: Remastered
Platform: PS4
Naughty Dog’s mind-blowing survival horror, The Last of Us or the revamped PS4 version The Last of Us: Remastered, are an absolute must-play at any time of year. But if you need Halloween as an excuse to buy yourself a new game, then The Last of Us should be top of your list.
It’s got one of the best storylines in a videogame, it’s intelligent, polished and grimly satisfying. Just watch out for the Infected – they’re clever and they’re mean.
14. Dead Space
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360 and PC
You can’t go wrong with Dead Space – especially at Halloween.
EA’s 2008 horror shooter tells the story of Isaac Clarke, an engineer on an ill-fated mission to a planet cracker cruiser called the Ishimura, which he finds is overrun with hideous creatures called necromorphs.
By turns frightening, disgusting and flat out disturbing, Dead Space burrows its way into the player’s cerebellum, leaving them drained and shaking by the end.
15. Condemned: Criminal Origins
Platform: Xbox 360 and PC
Condemned: Criminal Origins mixes visceral hand-to-hand combat with a layered and unsettling police investigation. It draws tension out like a blade, saving some of its most hair-raising moments for just when you feel you’ve reached your limit on what will terrify them.
16. Deadly Premonition
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360 and PC
For those who like their horror a bit more left-of-the-dial, Swery 65’s homage to Silent Hill and David Lynch, Deadly Premonition, is certainly worth a look. Funny, scary and batshit insane, Deadly Premonition sees FBI Agent Morgan on the trail of a killer in a small town whose inhabitants rival Twin Peaks for sheer weirdness.
17. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Platform: PS2, PSP and Wii
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a Western take on the original entry in this series that builds a hideous amount of tension out of the fact that most creatures in it can kill the player on sight.
It’s twisting plot, creepy soundscape and gruesome boo-scares will thrill you to the very end. 
18. Dead Space: Extraction
Platform: PS3 and Wii
Dead Space: Extraction serves as a prequel to Dead Space, and it’s arguably one of the best and most frightening rail-shooters ever crafted.
19. House of the Dead: Overkill
Platform: PS3, Wii, PC, Android and iOS
House of the Dead: Overkill runs a close second to Extraction in quality of shooter, but its grindhouse veneer infuses it with a level of sleaze that makes it glow in the dark – it also contains more f-bombs than most Martin Scorsese films.
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
