Spooktober is here. Time to start carving jack-o’-lanterns and plotting out your Halloween costume. As the cold fall air begins to take over and the season transforms the world around us into a desolation of what was once a lively summer, people begin to transition indoors. Some prefer to celebrate the ominous ambiance of Spooktober with some form of scary media to get them in the mood, like a movie or perhaps even a video game. Here’s a list of five horror games to freak you out this Halloween.
Resident Evil 2 Remake (2019)
Starting off with a modern spin on a classic horror franchise, Resident Evil 2 Remake revamps the mechanics of the original while keeping the story and characters faithful. Many games in the series could take this spot since they pioneered and defined the survival horror genre, but I happen to like this one specifically. The gameplay follows the familiar formula from other entries, but with some looming twists. In this game, you’ll be exploring the Raccoon City Police Department and solving puzzles to unlock hidden areas of the building, all while shooting through hordes of zombies and avoiding a giant stalker-type enemy who relentlessly follows you through the halls.
The remake uses the same setting, enemies, and story as its predecessor but with modern graphics and controls that run on current hardware. Delving into the halls of the RCPD while scraping together just enough bullets and healing items to make it to the next room feels like a stress-induced nightmare. Top it off with being constantly hunted by a menacing giant who only gets angrier and faster when attacked, and you’re forced to think quickly and plan your routes carefully.
Resident Evil 2 Remake is a great choice for a horror game. It’s campy but carries a unique flavor of bio-horror that exists within this brilliant world, one I enjoy every single playthrough.
Signalis (2022)
Signalis is another great take on the survival horror genre. It implements sci-fi elements while drawing heavy influence from giants like Resident Evil. You play as a cyborg in a retrofuturist mining colony in space. The aesthetics are fantastic—all the tech (except for the cyborg characters) operates like old analog machinery, with CRT screens, wires, and tubes powering the computer terminals that store key information on floppy disks. The characters also exist under a totalitarian regime reminiscent of a 1970s–80s Eurasian communist state that focused its technological advancements on creating androids and colonizing the stars.
Gameplay consists of top-down shooter mechanics as you fight through the horrors of decaying colonies and rotted civilizations. Inventory space is extremely limited and you can only carry up to six items at a time. So resource management is crucial. You’ll often find yourself clearing out rooms or solving puzzles, only to head back to the safe room to rearm or grab key items before continuing. The weapons feel slick, the sound design is incredible, and the horrors you encounter are gnarly. The story can be quite obtuse, requiring extra exploration or research to fully understand its deep narrative. But diving into the lore and uncovering the world-building is half the fun.
Crow Country (2024)
Crow Country is the most recent game I’ve played from this list. You play as a special agent investigating the secrets behind an infection spreading through the amusement park that gives the game its name. As you dig deeper, you’ll uncover the dark history of the park and the unethical motives of the family that runs it. The story works best, in my opinion, as you slowly unravel the mystery piece by piece until the grand finale.
The gameplay borrows from familiar survival horror formulas but puts extra emphasis on uncovering hidden secrets throughout the map. Rushing through without solving puzzles can leave your character underpowered against the roaming monsters and bosses that plague Crow Country. Many secrets aren’t hard to find and often involve clever uses of key items you’ve already collected. Your rewards include better weapons, upgrades, speed-boosting running shoes, and more.
This game is definitely tougher than most others on this list. Guns take some getting used to, traps are scattered everywhere, and dying resets you to your last save. More than any other entry here, it’s best not to push your luck—evade as many ghouls and amalgamations as you can, because direct encounters can mean certain death. The puzzles are where this game truly shines, offering fun and clever interactions with the world and its inhabitants.
Dead Space Remake (2023)
Another dose of sci-fi in this lineup, Dead Space Remake is a terrifying journey following Isaac Clarke, an engineer aboard the USG Ishimura mining vessel searching for his partner, Nicole. Throughout the story, you’ll battle horrifying necromorphs while repairing the ship enough to progress and uncover the fate of the rest of the crew.
Puzzles often involve trade-offs. For instance, turning on a power generator might activate three circuits, but only two can run at once. One might open a door, another could power the lights, and the last might enable healing stations or save points. You have to decide which to prioritize, often forcing yourself into scarier situations to survive or escape.
Combat is brutal, featuring an arsenal of upgradable weapons that let you creatively dismember enemies in a gory, satisfying fashion. But like other survival horror titles, resources are limited, and you’ll need to adapt and use everything at your disposal to make it out alive.
The ambience and setting are where this game truly stands out. Navigating the Ishimura feels like stepping into Alien, with heavy inspiration from the USCSS Nostromo. The sound design is phenomenal; deeper and bass-heavy during intense moments, then eerily quiet and clicky during puzzles. Combined with the oppressive space atmosphere, this game isn’t just great horror, it’s great science fiction.
Silent Hill 2 Remake (2024)
Anyone who knows my taste in video games knew this one had to be on the list. I could write an entire article on how much I love this game and the original Silent Hill 2 on PlayStation 2. This remake does incredible justice to the source material, not only retelling the story in a new light but improving on it in meaningful ways, like expanding certain endings and adding more notes that deepen the backstories and world-building.
The scares in this game come primarily from the environment itself. Along with Signalis, it’s the best example of psychological horror on this list. Everything feels personal to James Sunderland, the main character, as though the town itself is tailored to his torment. Other characters might not even be experiencing the same horrors, each trapped in their own personal hell. The fear doesn’t come from what you can see, but what you can’t. Being lost in the fog, hearing phantom noises, and piecing together the cryptic narrative leaves the player tense and paranoid from start to finish.
After playing both the remake and the original multiple times last year, this title quickly became one of my all-time favorites. Even a year later, I still can’t shut up about it. The deeper you fall down the Silent Hill 2 rabbit hole, the more you appreciate its staggering attention to detail. I won’t spoil anything, but I highly recommend this game to any horror fan.
Conclusion
The survival horror genre continues to deliver some incredible titles, perfect for Spooktober gaming sessions. Of course, any remake mentioned here carries just as much love for the original, and I’d recommend those just as strongly. I can only hope future entries from these developers live up to the same quality as the ones I’ve mentioned.
Happy Halloween to all my readers—I hope at least one of these games manages to scare you as much as they scared me.
Screen Falcon 