8 Best Horror Games That Are Unique For Halloween

Think of the last time a video game left you trembling with fear—a game that sunk its claws into your hapless subconscious and refused to let go. It could be anything, really. From the desolate Ishimura and its winding, blood-soaked corridors to the psychological terror coursing through the veins of Silent Hill 2, the horror genre tends to conjure up more nightmare fuel than you can shake a DualShock 4 at. And that’s the beauty of it.

At its dark, putrid core, this is a genre that is arguably one of the most innovative and, by effect, fascinating in the entire industry, and regardless of whether you consider yourself to be an avid gamer or causal passerby, it doesn’t take long to recall those long nights spent tip-toeing around a haunting, pixelated environment.

That’s a line of thinking that steers me in the direction of Dead Space, Visceral’s blood-curdling space thriller that borrowed elements of Alien and Event Horizon to produce a modern-day cult classic. Toss in a mute protagonist and a singular, downright haunting setting (the aforementioned USG Ishimura) and few would dispute Dead Space’s horror credentials—even if subsequent sequels leaned more toward blockbuster action.

But for the purpose of this feature, we want to whittle down horror’s grand roster of weird and wonderful titles to those games that tried something truly innovative, be it the blind protagonist of Perception or Resident Evil 7 and its end-to-end VR support. So without further ado, let’s get to it:

With Halloween right around the corner, we thought it’d be rather fitting to compile a list celebrating those best horror games with a difference. They may not be the latest, nor the greatest, but we’d be damned if they didn’t think outside the scare box.

However, perhaps there’s one we missed? Or a horror game that was give short shrift? If so, you can chime in with your best horror games via the usual place.

Essential Reading:

8 unique horror games 2017

8 Unique Horror Games

Because oftentimes jump scares just aren't enough...
Perception

Imagine a game in which you’re controlling a blind protagonist, one forced to unravel the mysteries lurking within a dark and desolate house. That is, in a nutshell, the premise behind Perception, a riveting, downright spooky horror title from the minds at The Deep End Games. Despite a solid premise and a likeable protagonist in Cassie, the blind character who relies on echolocation to manoeuvre around her environment, Perception was somewhat flawed in its execution. Repetition and wonky storytelling marred and otherwise great experience, but you can’t fault The Deep End Games for breaking off and trying something genuinely novel.
Among the Sleep

If player vulnerability is one of the core pillars of the modern horror genre, then Among the Sleep took that concept to a whole new level in 2014. For in Krillbite’s first-person adventure game, players assumed the role of a curious two-year-old toddler with only Teddy, a sentient stuffed bear, for company. Truth be told, the grand finale failed to live up to the potential of its unique concept, but as it is, the creative minds at Krillbite deserve recognition for Among the Sleep and its ability to warp everyday, infantile environments beyond recognition.
Until Dawn

For a long-in-development horror game that launched under the looming shadow of The Phantom Pain, Supermassive’s Until Dawn defied all the odds in its journey to becoming one of 2015’s bona fide sleeper hits—no thanks to Sony’s dubious marketing strategy.

Without much of a push from the Powers That Be, Until Dawn ultimately gained its blistering momentum through glowing reviews and positive word of mouth, and you can’t say Supermassive’s new IP wasn’t worthy of such praise. Loosely inspired by old-school horror gems in the vein of Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer, Until Dawn is perhaps one of the few modern horror games that is instantly replayable thanks to its branching narrative, which in turn opens up countless story permutations for players to explore. So it’s small wonder why fans are still longing for a sequel.
Resident Evil 7

Despite falling on some hard times and middling instalments, Capcom brought Resident Evil into sharp focus with the release of its seventh numerical title earlier in 2017. And, well, talk about a return to form.

Stripping away most, if not all of the action sensibilities and blockbuster set-pieces of Resi 5 and 6, Resident Evil 7 whisked players off to an old, decaying mansion, one which belonged to the Bakers, a twisted bunch of sadistic cannibals residing in America’s Deep South. You play as Ethan Winters, a wandering civilian who journeys to Louisiana in order to find his wife Mia, who has been presumed dead…for three years. What follows is a truly riveting descent into madness, as you peel back the grotesque layers of the Baker Mansion. And as if that wasn’t horrifying enough, Resident Evil 7 is one of the few AAA titles that can be played from start to finish via PlayStation VR. Scared? You should be.
Stifled

They hear your fear. Let me just repeat that tagline to drive home the point: they hear your fear. As if tip-toeing around a horror game wasn’t nerve-racking enough, in Stifled, the sounds made by your in-game character—not to mention your own chirps and squeaks, thanks to the game’s mic-enabled setup—reveal the otherwise hidden world through ‘echolocation'. Make too much noise, and your cover is immediatley blown, so it’s no wonder Gattai Games’ genre oddity caught the eyes of Heath Hindman at BitSummit 2017. Oh, and did we mention it’s playable via VR? Let’s just hope you packed the brown pants.
P.T.

Three years on from the unveiling and subsequent cancellation of Silent Hills, and Konami’s decision to pull the plug on Hideo Kojima’s horror reboot, one made in collaboration with Guillermo del Toro, still leaves a sour taste in the mouth. It was, after all, a franchise reset bursting with promise, not least because of the talent behind the pixels. But before Silent Hills came P.T., a carefully calculated descent into madness that had players wander through a dog-leg corridor over and over and over again, with each new cycle opening up a whole new can of worms. From gnarly foetuses to ghostly apparitions, P.T. is a riddle wrapped in a mystery, nestled inside a stomach-curdling enigma, and Kojima’s horror gem arguably deserves a place on this list for that last puzzle alone.

Oh, what could have been.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

The GameCube is often championed for its diverse rosters of software (and righty so!), but if there’s one game that lives long in the minds of horror fans, it’s Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. While similar to Capcom’s Resident Evil series in the gameplay department, Sanity’s Requiem strayed off the beaten path with its multi-generational story and those so-called “sanity effects,” resulting in one of the most memorable additions to the GameCube catalog.
F.E.A.R.

You’ve heard of it, haven’t you? The First Encounter Assault Recon? Before Monolith Productions touched down in Middle-earth, the studio conjured up F.E.A.R., a first-person survival horror experience that thrust you into the grubby boots of the Point Man. Your mission? To confront a mysterious operative known as Paxton Fettel, who has seized control of a battalion of telepathically controlled clone supersoldiers. Yikes!

This, coupled with your superhuman reflexes and the John Woo-styled violence, helped separate F.E.A.R. from the pack. Hell, there are those who believe Monolith and Sierra’s cult horror hit is just as engaging as a little-known sci-fi title called Half-Life. And if that isn’t enough to pique your interest, we don’t know what will.