Watching a horror movie on Halloween is so '90s. Why not take in some interactive scares instead?
While there aren't a ton of video games out there with the holiday as their central theme (though there are some), horror games abound every year. Here are some mostly-recent releases to help you get in the trick or treating mood.
Updated on Oct. 30 to add the just-released Call of Cthulu: The Official Video Game.
Luigi's Mansion
He may not have the heroic reputation of his brother Mario, but Luigi is the more experienced ghost buster -- even if the job terrifies him. Armed with vacuum cleaner -- err, I mean, the Poltergust 3000-- and a Game Boy Horror, you'll catch specters, solve puzzles and uncover secrets in a haunted mansion that's creepy, but not too creepy.
Luigi's Mansion first debuted on the Nintendo GameCube in 2001 and was praised as a family-friendly "horror" alternative to the likes of Resident Evil. This month, it returns on the Nintendo 3DS (where you can also find a sequel, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon), which will help players get ready for the 2019 release of Luigi's Mansion 3 on the Nintendo Switch.
Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
The casual observer might not realize that one of the most popular modes in many Call of Duty games -- a series that focuses on military combat with at least some semblance of realism -- revolves around the undead. CoD's Zombies mode allows players to team up and work together for survival as hordes of monsters do their best to murder you.
A lot of energy appears to have gone into the series' latest entry, Black Ops 4, offering Zombies fans a ton of content that can keep them busy for a long time. If you want to spend your Halloween gaming with friends, this could be a great reason to get a group together.
Yomawari: The Long Night Collection
Even the small, quaint neighborhood you live in can be terrifying when the sun goes down -- especially if you're a little girl looking for her lost dog (and then, later, her lost sister). Yomawari: Night Alone and its sequel, Yomawari: Midnight Shadows are simple adventures that emphasize exploration and light puzzle solving, rather than combat.
But when you're only armed with a flashlight the things that lurk in the shadows are just that much scarier. Creatures inspired by urban myths in Japan walk the streets, and some cutesy character design is no guarantee that you won't dread every step you take.
While both games have been available on other platforms for awhile, a collection featuring both hits the Nintendo Switch the day before Halloween, Oct. 30.
Doki Doki Literature Club
This free PC game looks like it's a typical Japanese visual novel -- one designed to appeal to young men hoping to vicariously flirt with attractively-drawn schoolgirls. The game's description starts innocently enough: "It's always been a dream of mine to make something special out of the things I love. Now that you're a club member, you can help me make that dream come true in this cute game!"
But then you boot it up and get a content warning: "This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed."
Before long the game starts subverting your expectations for a dating simulator, becoming increasingly disturbing and messing with you in ways that you might not expect (and that I'd rather not spoil).
The Missing: J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories
The creator of The Missing, who goes only by the name Swery, has a reputation for creating games that are so weird that even die-hard Twin Peaks fans might find them confusing. The Missing is no exception, starting as what seems to be a simple side-scrolling game that soon asks you to solve puzzles by... cutting the main character into pieces and then having her roll her own head through specific areas, regenerating her entire body once she's done.
It's... really, really bizarre. It can also be frustrating in spots. But you can't accuse it of being exactly like other games you've played before. It can easily be completed in under 10 hours, but you might want to set aside some extra time just to stare at the scream and ask, "Wait, what?"
Castlevania: Requiem
The games packed into this collection, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, are not new. The latter, in fact, is considered a classic and is usually referred to as one of the best games on the original PlayStation.
But they're being bundled and up-scaled for the PlayStation 4, and what better way to celebrate Halloween than whipping your way through vampires, bats, Frankenstein's monster, Death himself and other classic horror creatures on your way to a showdown with Dracula?
As an added bonus, season two of Netflix's Castlevania animated series also debuts on the same day as Requiem: Oct. 26.
State of Decay 2
While not exactly scary, the zombie-filled world of State of Decay is still thematically appropriate for the holiday. Survival is the primary objective here, but you're not going to live long if you try to do it alone. Managing both resources as well as the people who move into your safehouse (or the people who you refuse to shelter) is key to success, which means your stress may come less from the walking dead than it does from the fact that you're running out of food.
Little Nightmares
The world of Little Nightmares has some of the whimsy of a Disney or Studio Ghibli film... if those films were made by disturbed individuals who were way too obsessed with what might lurk in the dark. It's all about a hungry (and tiny) little kid who's trapped on a ship filled a grotesque, long-armed janitor, chefs with giant knives and high-class, gluttonous ship guests that would love nothing more than to eat another child as she skitters across their dinner table.
Oxenfree
A relatively short, creepy story that's easy to pick up but hard to put down, Oxenfree follows a group of young friends that are hoping to enjoy a vacation in and around a local island town... until a couple of them stumble onto a supernatural force that begins haunting them.
One of biggest draws of Oxenfree is the choose-your-own-adventure nature of its story. While many of the biggest beats of the plot are the same no matter what, the main character's relationships with her friends (and their ultimate fates) often comes down to dialogue choices you make throughout the adventure. You will never see a "Game Over" screen, but you might inadvertently make a virtual friend hate you, which is almost worse.
Costume Quest
A favorite Halloween suggestion since its debut in 2010, Costume Quest is a charming, lighthearted roleplaying game all about Halloween. When monsters take over their neighborhood, a group of kids has to fight back by becoming whatever they dressed up as, whether that's a robot or the Statue of Liberty. Every time you knock on a door to trick-or-treat, you're not sure whether you'll be met with candy or a turn-based battle.
The more recent Costume Quest 2 follows in the same vein and is also great.
Trick & Treat
A relatively simple game made with RPG Maker, Trick & Treat is a short and free game in which you explore a creepy mansion, solving puzzles and collecting candy while you look for your missing friend. It can be surprisingly spooky, given its cutesy anime style, and can be a fun game to experience in a single sitting with the lights turned low.
Call of Cthulu
Coming in hot the day before Halloween (Oct. 30), the latest in a long line of games based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft does its best to evoke not only the unsettling atmosphere of the Cthulu mythos, but also some of the roleplaying elements that have latched onto that universe over the years.
The game starts slow (and, frankly, you could argue that it never really speed up) and stays methodical, putting you into shoes of a troubled 1920s detective that's been asked to look into the events behind a suspicious fire that killed a family. The game, like its protagonist, is a bit rough around the edges (character animations aren't always great, and dialogue options can make it feel like conversations are happening out of order), but if you're a big fan of Lovecraft stories, this is a good way to get close to the source material for Halloween.
Rusty Lake: Roots
This simple but effective puzzle/adventure game is one of the most macabre stories you can get on your phone. It looks innocent enough at the onset, but disturbing imagery will quickly weave its way onto your screen and into your brain.
