Here Are All The New Horror Games You Can Play For Halloween Season

Date: 2025-09-30 21:51:00

Horror games and October. They just fit so nicely together, don't they? Last year, I built out a calendar of all the horror games launching in October, and people seemed to really enjoy it. Since it was useful to our readers and a blast to write, I'm back at it for another year. If you've read my work on GameSpot, you may already know I'm a horror obsessive. If you're like me, this calendar of new horror games should fill up your schedule since you've probably already done well to play the best horror games to play in 2025. Perhaps some of these will end up on that list soon enough.One difference between last year's list and this year's is that I'm expanding it to include some of this year's more notable horror games that launched earlier in the year, which will mean there's an added mix of recent hits and under-the-radar gems listed before we get into what's actually launching this October. I'm also highlighting some new horror demos, in case you want something to add to your wishlist beyond October. With that said, here are all the new horror games to play in October 2025. Horror games 2025: major releasesFirst, if you're trying to catch up on what you've missed so far this year, there's a lot.Major horror releases were quiet for much of the year, but in the last few weeks, we've seen a few of them launch and create some buzz. First, there was Cronos: The New Dawn, the first game post-Silent Hill 2 remake for Bloober Team. You can read our Cronos: The New Dawn review to see why it's helped make Bloober Team a trusted name in horror.Then, Dying Light: The Beast launched and became, in my opinion, the best Dying Light game to date, because it's the scariest and most unforgiving. You can read our Dying Light: The Beast review to learn more.Perhaps biggest of them all is Silent Hill f, which moved the series out of the US and transported it to 1960s Japan for a story that feels like a classic in the series but does so much in its own way too, as you can read in our Silent Hill f review.Just at the end of September, we got a new Alien game, too--well, sort of. Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition takes the formerly VR-only game and reimagines it for traditional screens. I had qualms with the VR edition on Meta Quest earlier this year--mainly its visual downgrade and enemy AI that left me wanting--but both have been touched up for this new version, so I feel much more comfortable recommending it today. Horror games 2025: hidden gems and indies If you're one to keep up with all the biggest horror games and you're looking for something a bit more under-the-radar, here's a rundown of some choice indie horror games I've enjoyed this year. They didn't wait till spooky season to debut, but if you've not played them yet, they'll still make great picks for when the sun goes down.Luto finally debuted and arguably out-Kojima-ed his own similar work, P.T., giving players a strange haunted house story that goes places you can't possibly see coming.Pigface is a grimy horror-action hybrid akin to Leigh Whannell's Upgrade that will leave you feeling yucky, but uncomfortably satisfied.No, I'm Not a Human imagines something like Papers, Please in a world of creepy monsters disguised as humans, and it's up to you not to give the impostors entry. As if a knock on my door wasn't unnerving enough as it is.Heartworm is a love letter to PS1-style horror games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Where many retro-style horror games look to the PS2 era, Heartworm went back even further and built out a killer soundtrack to keep you there in spirit.White Knuckle is a game I previewed earlier this year. Like Pigface, it's far from a traditional horror game. Instead, it's essentially a climbing sim, only you're trapped in a dystopian facility that would seem to want you dead.Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days is basically 2.5D State of Decay. For some who may feel like I do, that's enough said. This is a tough and immersive zombie sim that expects you to die.The Night Shift is an isolating horror story that drops you into a department store alone in a storm with entities that move only when you're not looking at them. It taps into one of horror gaming's most effective feelings: that someone, or something, is right on your heels.Dead Take is a partially live-action horror story about being an actor, and if that doesn't seem like you could relate, it does well to put you into the mind of its main character, thanks to some terrific acting and a harrowing story.Eclipsium is a cosmic horror with a retro look that left me chewing on what it all meant. It plays like a fever dream, and though it's not scary in the traditional sense, the short but trippy game is evocative and nightmarish.Of course, we couldn't leave off the many notable Lethal Company-likes that have debuted in 2025. This year has seen a slew of co-op horror games that send you to explore creepy places together, all stemming from the late-2024 rise of Lethal Company. Your favorite may depend on your preferred setting, visual style, or maybe just where your pals gravitate. Darkwater sends you and your buddies to operate and repair a submarine; R.E.P.O. sends you into haunted houses to collect scrap to sell; The Headliners casts you as a photojournalist during a Cloverfield-like alien attack.Each of these is a ton of fun, and you really can't go wrong playing any of them. For my money, R.E.P.O. is the best of them, but they all scratch slightly different itches, and I find myself returning to all of them (and Lethal Company) at different times. New horror demosThough we're about to get on to the actual new releases coming in October 2025, there are a few more games we wanted to highlight. These games won't be ready for full release this Halloween, but you can play a portion of each of them thanks to their free demos on Steam.Sleep Awake is a psychedelic horror story set in a dystopian city where people who fall asleep tend to disappear. It's coming from the creative partnership between Cory Davis, of Spec Ops: The Line fame, and Nine Inch Nails' Robin Finck.Beneath reminds me of F.E.A.R., with its mix of monsters and first-person gunplay. The game is said to have something like a military sim-level dedication to its combat tactics, which makes for an intriguing horror premise.Dead Format is a concept I truly adore. You'll explore a series of VHS tapes in a creepy apartment abandoned by your brother. Each tape leads you into a different era of horror movie history, pulling you through time.Shift at Midnight is a co-op game where you run a convenience store and have to keep out the monsters disguised as humans. It's maybe not a good sign of a healthy political discourse when so many of our games are now about discerning humans from monsters, but at least this one is both very creepy and fun.Crisol: Theater of Idols is a first-person shooter baked in Spanish iconography. It feels a bit like the middle ground between Resident Evil 4 and BioShock, which is maybe a blend of games you didn't know you were looking for. Bye Sweet CaroleRelease Date: October 9Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, SwitchBye Sweet Carole has been on our watchlist for a while. The incredible art style evokes classic Disney animations, but the fact that there's a horror story at the root of it all makes it feel more like a Grimm's Fairy Tales chapter. This one is finally set to debut in the first half of the month after years in waiting. Little Nightmares 3Release Date: October 9Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PS4, Xbox OneIt's been four years since Little Nightmares 2, but we're finally getting the next one in the super-creepy series, and this one adds co-op so a friend can quiver with you. Little Nightmares 3 will be the first not developed by Tarsier Studios, but thankfully Supermassive is taking over, so it seems the series may move from strength to strength. The LaceratorRelease Date: October 9Platforms: PCAnother one of those especially nauseating horror games DreadXP likes to publish, The Lacerator traps you in some kind of dungeon with a killer, then routinely removes your limbs one way or another on your escape. Good luck! Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2Release Date: October 21Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, Xbox OneAn RPG long in the making, this one is more "horror-adjacent" than truly a horror game, but I find that's enough a lot of the time. Bloodlines 2 has gone through development hell to get here, but it's been taken across the finish line by Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs veterans The Chinese Room. Set in moody Seattle, the game is billed as one part vampire action-RPG and one part neo-noir murder mystery. Days Without IncidentRelease Date: October 22Platforms: PCDays Without Incident offers a rare look at a video game's development process. It's partly a prototype for In Sound Mind, a horror game that came out in 2021, but it plays so differently and tells its own story that it should merit its own playthrough, too. Before the release of Nightmare House, the next game from developer We Make Stuff, you can see where the studio originally came from. Escape the BackroomsRelease Date: October 23Platforms: PCThere are so many Backrooms games on Steam, but Escape the Backrooms is perhaps the most popular, and it's getting its 1.0 launch just in time for Halloween. The co-op horror game takes players to dozens of iconic locations from the liminal horror and Backrooms-specific subgenres, which is a big deal for many horror fans these days. Tormented Souls 2Release Date: October 23Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|STormented Souls was heavily inspired by classic Resident Evil games, and its sequel, Tormented Souls 2, looks to offer a lot more of those specific experiences and moments, including its fixed camera angles, combat soaked in desperation, and ammo conservation. The first game garnered a cult fanbase, so it'll be telling to see where the series goes next as it tries to further establish itself in the survival-horror history books. The Seance of Blake ManorRelease Date: October 27Platforms: PCThis detective game is set in a creepy hotel where everyone is a suspect. Its distinct art style looks like a classic cartoon or comic book full of all things paranormal, occult, and macabre. The Seance of Black Manor also unfolds on a timer, meaning you'll catch some clues you're present for, but risk missing other goings-on elsewhere in the manor. Ire: A PrologueRelease Date: October 28Platforms: PCIre: A Prologue should appeal most to players who enjoy things like Alien: Isolation or Amnesia: The Bunker. You're trapped on a ship with a roaming monster that will react to your actions. It's a deadly game of hide-and-seek, and it's meant to set up a wider story universe, too, so you can expect more to uncover in years to come. Five Nights at Freddy's - Secret of the Mimic (physical release)Release Date: October 31Platforms: PC, PS5 (exclusive physical edition)There's always something coming out on Halloween itself, right? This year, that's Five Nights at Freddy's: Secret of the Mimic. Though this one is already available digitally, you'll have your chance to grab this one on disc for PS5 on the last day of the month. Unlike the original FNAF games, this is one of just a few entries in the series that switch perspectives to become a first-person horror game.

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