10 Video Games Perfect for October

Released for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis in 1993, this classic is filled to the brim of classic movie monsters. With great sense of humor, players battle their way through shopping malls, neighborhoods, castles, pyramids, and more as they take out every monster imaginable, from chainsaw wielding maniacs to Tremors-like snakezoids and everything in between.

Currently available on PC , the aptly titled retro style game could not be more perfectly themed for October. Playing as Pumpkin Man, you vomit candy corn at your enemies in this action platformer. Spooky bats, tons of skeletons, undead sorcerers and more through three themed worlds, you’d be hard pressed to find a more Halloween appropriate game.

Released last year, and soon to be making its way to PS4 this year, this first-person horror adventure game is unique in that you play as a toddler. Yup. A small defenseless child whose mother has been abducted and your only ally is a sentient Teddy Bear. Playing on basic human fear and childlike anxieties in an increasingly surreal environment, Among the Sleep is both touching and terrifying.

A terrifying survival horror series that began on Playstation 2, in which the player must explore the eeriest of abandoned settings in Japan while fending off aggressive ghosts with only a Camera Obscura as a weapon. While the concept of looking through the lens and capturing a spirit on camera may not sound inherently terrifying, Tecmo delivered one of the most tense survival horror series to date. The games’ plots are often tragic in nature, and the level of detail is amazing. Never has a game series gone so far to make even the smallest of inconsequential background minutiae a means to scare. That doesn’t even cover the in-your-face ghost antagonists that would make even Sadako pee herself.

Ok, so this game isn’t actually complete yet. Still in early access on Steam, this game still frightens while not even finished. A first person exploration type game, you play as a painter who has gone mad in his pursuit of achieving a masterpiece. The entire game takes place in a house, which at first seems quite ordinary, but it doesn’t take long for the house to take on a mind of its own. It’s impossible to retrace your steps as the house is continuously changing. It quickly becomes a maddening, psychological experience, as your never sure if you can trust what you’re seeing. The more you play, the more your past resurfaces to give clues and haunt you as well.

An adventure game in the first person perspective, you play as a protagonist Daniel, and must explore a dark castle while avoiding monsters and solving puzzles. That’s right, avoiding monsters. The inability to fight back against your attackers heightens your anxiety level tenfold. You must quickly find a hiding spot or secure yourself behind a barricade if you wish to survive. Very Lovecraftian in terms of visuals and storytelling, Amnesia is easily one of the most terrifying games ever. It inspired a multitude of survival games that followed.

Similar to Amnesia, this first person narrative has you exploring a dilapidated psychiatric hospital as Miles, an investigative reporter that’s received a hot tip. Of course, poor Miles quickly discovers that this hospital has been overrun by its patients, and some are very, very dangerous. Again, weapons are nonexistent here so utilizing your environment to escape is paramount. Complicating matters is the need to conserve batteries, lest your camera with night vision go out, leaving you vulnerable. Enemies vary in intelligence, and the overlying mystery grows increasingly freaky.

An action game that emphasizes stealth, the player controls Amanda Ripley, daughter of fan favorite Ellen Ripley. Set 15 years after the events of the 1979 film, Amanda is offered a place on a Weyland-Yutani expedition in hopes of receiving closure on her mother. She proves just as tough as her mother, when a xenomorph begins stalking her throughout the space station. The creature’s movements are not scripted, therefore making it impossible to discern any pattern. If it hears you, it’ll charge. If you die, the xenomorph won’t do the same thing twice. Oh, and did I mention that it’s weapon resistant? The unpredictability is a great asset to achieving spooky, tension filled atmosphere. As is the sound design that feels straight out of the film series.

The creators of Amnesia are behind this recent release, so expect a very similar game play. Only this time you play as protagonist Simon, who agrees to a medical experiment after a car crash leaves him with brain damage and wakes up to find himself in underwater research facility, PATHOS-2. With no knowledge of how he got there, he must explore the dilapidated environment to piece together what happened. Of course, he’s not alone, but his company isn’t human. Exploring philosophical themes of mortality, Soma prefers psychological fear over jump scares against the backdrop of the creepy, isolated ocean floor. Players must make horrific choices if they wish to survive, but at what cost?

A beautifully designed game in which eight friends become trapped on a remote mountain cabin, and soon discover they’re not alone. Co-written by horror writer, director, and actor Larry Fessenden, that alone should be telling of the well-crafted plot the player will unfold. Your choices in the game affect later outcomes, including who lives and who dies. This gives the game a high re-playable factor, as there are quite a few various endings and scenarios. High on jumps scares but short on playing time, this is one fun love letter to horror movies. Look for in game references to other horror films, such as movie posters on the wall for Ti West’s House of the Devil.