Best Horror Games to Play for Halloween 2026: New Releases and Proven Scares

Updated October 3, 2026. The best horror games to play for Halloween 2026 are a mix of brand-new October releases and proven classics. On October 8 you get two fresh options, Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival and Silver Pines, while Silent Hill: Townfall landed just last week. If you want something with reviews already behind it, Resident Evil Requiem, Silent Hill f and Alan Wake 2 are the safest bets for solo players, and Phasmophobia and Lethal Company remain the go-to picks for a group.

All 13 Halloween horror picks at a glance

We picked 13 games, which felt right for the season. The first three are new or very recent; the rest have launched long enough ago to have proper reviews and patches behind them. Platforms are as listed by the publishers and store pages at the time of writing.

New horror releases for October 2026

October is busy for horror this year. These are the two headline launches arriving before Halloween, plus a Silent Hill entry that came out just in time. For everything else launching this month, see our October 2026 release calendar.

1. Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival (October 8)

Platforms: PC (Steam), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2. Best for: solo players who like gore and spectacle.

Developed by Saber Interactive and Boss Team Games, this is a single-player, first-person survival horror action game. You play as Aidan, who uses the Genesis Configuration puzzle box to descend into the Labyrinth and rescue his girlfriend from the Cenobites. Saber pitches it as "the first true Hellraiser game," with Clive Barker involved and Doug Bradley back as Pinhead for the first time in nearly two decades.

What should make it scary is the franchise's trademark body horror. The box gives you powers such as pyrokinesis, telekinesis and the Hell Chains, alongside ordinary weapons, so expect it to lean more toward action than slow dread. On Steam it costs $39.99 for the Standard Edition and $49.99 for the Deluxe Edition. Reviews aren't out yet, so we would wait for them before buying.

2. Silver Pines (October 8)

Platforms: PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2. Best for: solo players who prefer mystery and puzzles to jump scares.

Silver Pines is the debut from Wych Elm Games, published by Team17. It's a side-scrolling survival horror Metroidvania. Private investigator Red Walker searches the half-abandoned town of Silver Pines for missing musician Eddie Velvet. The developers name Twin Peaks, The X-Files and classic survival horror as influences. The rotoscoped character animation and 2D sprites set in 3D environments give it a look that stands apart from everything else on this list.

Expect the familiar survival horror loop: limited resources, map-based exploration, puzzles, and both melee and firearm combat. A PC demo released in June 2026 drew praise for its puzzles and art direction, though critics said its combat needed work. Silver Pines is also the only new release on this list that runs on the original Switch.

3. Silent Hill: Townfall (September 24)

Platforms: PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PS5. Best for: solo players who want slow, psychological dread.

Technically a September release, Townfall is the newest horror game here that has already been reviewed, and that makes it a strong Halloween pick. Screen Burn Interactive's first-person entry is set in 1996 in St. Amelia, a fictional Scottish coastal town. You play as Simon Ordell, relying on stealth, melee weapons and a handheld CRT device called the CRTV that shows nearby enemies. There are five endings, shaped by small choices rather than obvious branching decisions.

The restrictive first-person view makes you rely on sound and the CRTV instead of what you can see, and critics say that's where the tension comes from. It scored 81 on Metacritic. Most praise went to the atmosphere and story, though several reviewers called the stealth clunky and criticised the backtracking.

Best single-player horror games still worth playing in 2026

These games are proven: they're reviewed, patched and often discounted. If you only have one weekend before Halloween, start here.

4. Resident Evil Requiem

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2. Best for: solo players who want survival horror and action in one package.

Capcom's ninth mainline entry launched on February 27, 2026, and is the year's horror benchmark. It received universal acclaim and became the fastest-selling Resident Evil game. You switch between two leads. FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft defaults to first-person and plays as tense, under-armed survival horror. Leon S. Kennedy defaults to third-person and leans into action. You can change the camera for either character.

Grace's sections are the scary part. Critics called the game "a masterful bit of suffocating horror." The return to Raccoon City gives long-time fans extra reasons to look around.

5. Silent Hill f

Platforms: PC (Steam, GOG), PS5, Xbox Series X|S. Best for: solo players who want something unsettling and unfamiliar.

NeoBards Entertainment's Silent Hill f leaves the American town behind for Ebisugaoka, a fictional rural town in 1960s Japan. The script is by Ryukishi07, writer of Higurashi When They Cry. You play as high school student Hinako Shimizu as fog swallows her hometown. Its horror comes from body-horror imagery and a "disturbing beauty," as Konami describes it, not from cheap jump scares.

Be aware that combat is melee-only and soulslike-inspired, built around dodging, parrying, and stamina and sanity meters. Some horror fans love that; others find it more demanding than they expected. It scored 86 on Metacritic (PS5), and its sales passed two million by April 2026.

6. Silent Hill 2 (2024 remake)

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S (added November 21, 2025). Best for: solo players new to Silent Hill.

Bloober Team's remake of the 2001 classic is the easiest way into the series. James Sunderland goes looking for his late wife in Silent Hill, and the game spends most of its runtime making you doubt everything you see. Reviewers praised its faithfulness, its atmosphere and its music. It averaged around 86–87 on Metacritic, though some critics found the combat clunky and the backtracking tiresome. It turns two years old on October 8, which makes it a natural Halloween pick.

7. Alan Wake 2

Platforms: PC (Epic Games Store only), PS5, Xbox Series X|S. Best for: solo players who like story-heavy, cinematic horror.

Remedy's sequel moved the series into full survival horror. Two campaigns can be played in any order: FBI agent Saga Anderson investigates ritual murders, while novelist Alan Wake tries to escape the Dark Place. The flashlight is your main defence. Focusing it strips enemies' protection, but drains the battery, so you're always rationing light.

It won Best Game Direction, Best Narrative and Best Art Direction at The Game Awards 2023. Two expansions, Night Springs and The Lake House, add more. PC players should note it is still not on Steam, so you'll need the Epic Games Store.

8. Dead Space (2023 remake)

Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S. Best for: solo players who want sci-fi horror in tight corridors.

Motive Studio's remake puts you back aboard the USG Ishimura as engineer Isaac Clarke, surrounded by Necromorphs. The new "peeling" system lets you strip flesh from enemies before you cut off limbs, which suits a game where dismemberment is the core mechanic. It scored 87–90 on Metacritic depending on platform. If you missed it at launch, it's a good October pick: the audio design does a lot of the scaring.

9. Resident Evil 4 (2023 remake)

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS VR2, and iPhone/iPad/Mac (Apple A17 Pro chip or newer). Best for: solo players who want horror that's more fun than frightening.

Leon's trip to a cult-ridden Spanish village is the least scary game on this list and possibly the most replayable. It scored 91–93 on Metacritic. The paid Separate Ways DLC adds an Ada Wong campaign. It's a good fit for a Halloween party, or for anyone who wants creepy atmosphere without lying awake afterwards. It also runs on more platforms than anything else here.

Best co-op horror games for Halloween with friends

Group horror works differently: the scares come from your friends' screaming as much as from the game itself. All four picks below also support solo play, but they're at their best with a group.

10. Phasmophobia

Platforms: PC (VR supported), PS5, Xbox Series X|S. Best for: groups of up to 4.

Kinetic Games' ghost-hunting game is still the Halloween standard. Your team uses equipment to gather evidence and identify a ghost. Speech recognition means the ghost can react to certain words you say out loud, so talking in the dark becomes part of the fear. Console versions launched on October 29, 2024. A Switch 2 version has been announced for 2027.

11. Lethal Company

Platforms: PC only. Best for: groups of up to 4 who want laughs with their scares.

Zeekerss' indie hit sends up to four players to abandoned moons to scavenge scrap and meet the Company's rising profit quota. If you aren't back on the ship before midnight, you lose your haul. Proximity voice chat means a teammate's voice fades as they wander off, which is often how a run ends badly. It launched in Early Access in October 2023 and costs $9.99, which makes it the cheapest pick here.

12. The Outlast Trials

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S. Best for: groups of 2–4, or brave solo players.

Red Barrels' prequel puts you in a Cold War-era Murkoff experiment in 1959. You can't fight back: survival depends on stealth, night-vision goggles, throwable distractions and ability devices called rigs. Being defenceless is what makes it scary. Reviews were mixed to positive (69–75 on Metacritic), but it's one of the most intense co-op horror games available.

13. Little Nightmares III

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Switch 2. Best for: two players, or solo with an AI partner.

Supermassive Games took over the series and added online co-op for the first time. You play as Low and Alone, two friends trying to escape the Nowhere. Low carries a bow and Alone a wrench, and you solve puzzles together. Reviews were mixed (around 69–72 on Metacritic): critics loved the atmosphere and visuals but found the gameplay weaker than earlier entries. It's still the gentlest scare here and a decent choice for a younger or more nervous co-op partner.

Other October 2026 horror launches to watch

Several more horror games are due before Halloween, but none had been reviewed at the time of writing:

• Tenebris Somnia (October 16): PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2.
• Remothered: Red Nun's Legacy (October 27): survival horror set in Sicily, on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
• Invokyr (October 8): a PC co-op horror board game for up to six players.

Treat these as wait-and-see. Release dates can still move, and there's no reason to pre-order any of them.

How to pick the right horror game for your Halloween

• You want the best reviewed new game: Resident Evil Requiem, or Silent Hill: Townfall if you want something released this autumn.
• You're on a budget: Lethal Company, or wait for sales on the 2023 remakes. Also check our Epic free games roundup for October 1–8 and our list of the best free games on Steam.
• You're on Switch 2: Resident Evil Requiem, Hellraiser: Revival, Silver Pines and Little Nightmares III are all available. See our best Switch 2 games for more.
• You're playing with friends: Phasmophobia for investigating, Lethal Company for chaos, The Outlast Trials for pure tension.
• You're on older Xbox hardware: our best horror games for Xbox One list covers games that still run on last-gen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources checked on October 3, 2026 against Saber Interactive, Team17/Wych Elm Games, Konami, Capcom, Remedy, Steam store pages, Nintendo Life, GameSpot and Wikipedia.