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As Halloween approaches once again, many are looking for fresh ways to sate their thirst for all things dread and death. After years of the same tired —yet admittedly classic — movies and shows, those searching for something new and unfamiliar should look no further than the massive variety of horrifying experiences video games can offer. No matter what players are looking for — whether it be gore, jump scares, psychological horror, or anything in between — there is certainly a game out there to fulfill their needs.
“Darkwood”
The most straight-forward horror game on this list, “Darkwood” demands the player survive dangerous nights in a dark, corrupted forest. Several malevolent forces threaten the player, from homicidal doctors to grotesque figures deformed by a mysterious plague. In order to survive, the player must collect resources during the day while injecting fungal cocktails to mutate into a stronger yet more monstrous form. Oppressive gloom, dissonant music, and repulsive mutations ensure an experience that ranges from deeply disturbing to absolutely petrifying.
“Bloodborne”
Those looking to sate their bloodthirst this Halloween can get their hunt on in “Bloodborne,” set in the Gothic-inspired city of Yharnam haunted by Chthonic horrors, vicious werewolves, and worst of all, Londoners. Players can find sweet, grotesque catharsis in letting loose gratuitous showers of blood and viscera using anything from a serrated bone cleaver to the severed arm of a fiend too horrifying to even see until you’re sufficiently insane — an in-game mechanic! As the player journeys through Yharnam and beyond, they’ll get their fill of jumpscares as mutilated devils drop from ceiling beams to ambush them from above and lunatic hunters train their crude guns on the player’s fragile form.
“Phasmophobia”
Players can cooperate with up to four friends to put their ghost hunting skills to the test in this game of profiting from paranormal activity. Contracts will lead players’ spooky squads to creepy haunted houses nestled in a homogenous bed of middle-class residences that will chill the player to the bone with their horrifying reminder of the soulless monotony of American suburbia. After strapping up with flashlights, crucifixes, cameras, and more, players make their way into a dark suburban space replete with ectoplasm, mysteriously flashing bathroom lights, and objects falling seemingly out of their own volition. Using tools to investigate these anomalies will lead the team to important — and profitable — conclusions about the nature and taxonomy of the ghost. Push too far, however, and one could find themselves hunted and slaughtered by a vengeful spirit.
“Pony Island”
After playing so many video games that feature ghosts and paranormal activity, players may relish the chance to play a game that’s actually haunted. What starts out as a cutesy side-scroller game in which the player controls a charming little pony soon reveals itself as a deeply disturbing metanarrative that draws on elements of psychological horror to achieve its effect. Players find themselves locked in an arcade cabinet that’s been taken over by Lucifer himself, and eventually meet “h0peles$0ul,” a hapless victim who’s been trapped inside of the machine. Progression will find the player navigating a series of increasingly difficult puzzles that involve fiddling with the simplified code of the game itself while “1U©iF#r” inhibits their progress by taking over the controls and hurling childish insults.
“Darkest Dungeon”
In this game, players travel to their family’s desecrated estate as they control a team of amateur adventurers to scavenge for valuable artifacts while purging the gangrenous filth that has come to defile their ancestral grounds. The game’s journey will take players through the most abhorrent settings imaginable — from exhibitions that will surely find the beloved heroes rotting in sulfurous marshes or caught in the teeth of putrescent pig warriors — that will literally push the player’s party to its limit. Stress will ravage the minds of the player’s once valorous heroes until they are little more than blubbering messes, actively fighting against their orders so as to drag their friends into an early shared grave. This game is perfect for Halloween as players get to cosplay the worst monster of all — generational wealth!
