Whether you favour spooky fairtales, satanic card games or infernal hijinks at the chip shop there are all manner of fresh top scarers at large this witching season
Tis almost All Hallows’ Eve and naturally, the thoughts of all good video game players are turning to horror. 2026 has already been a bloody good year for the genre with Resident Evil Requiem and Silent Hill: Townfall leading the rabble. But this autumn sees a festering surge of indie horror releases, featuring everything from cursed card games to Nazi-hunting penguins. Here are eight terrifying titles we think you should sample while jack-o-lanterns burn and spirits walk the moonlit streets.
Mixing dark fairytales with classic point-and-click adventure gameplay, Allogloom follows a young girl who must leave her isolated village alone to hunt for her lost mother. The game’s eerie picture book aesthetic and doll-like characters have the feel of a 1970s Czech animation, making for a surreal and disquieting experience.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival (PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox)
This latest extension of Barker’s seminal horror novella The Hellbound Heart received mixed reviews, but then so did the Hellraiser films, and they were largely awesome. You play as Aidan, looking to rescue his girlfriend from the nightmarish realm of the Cenobites and their S&M obsessed followers. Gory, kinky and ridiculous it is quite literally a hell of a ride.
You’re working in a quiet Scottish takeaway, frying and serving fish, chips and pizza, when your boss asks you to start serving a “special” dish. But what is it, and what’s that strange gurgling noise coming from the cellar? Created by lone developer James Muirhead with dialogue in Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), this is more of a short interactive horror movie than a game, but its glitch-ridden, low-poly visuals and dark humour keep you serving until the gruesome finale.
Based on the real-life witch-hunts of the 17th century, this atmospheric immersive adventure has you playing as a young woman accused of devilry and now running for her life through woods, rivers and abandoned mines as her hunters pursue. Poetic and strangely beguiling, fans of the classic folk horror movie Witchfinder General, will feel oddly at home.
The Killing Stone (PC, PS5, Xbox)
Fans of deck-building card battlers are spoiled for choice these days, but The Killing Stone is the perfect choice for Halloween. Set in a remote 17th-century mansion, you must play an ancient card game against the devil to win back the soul of your beloved mistress. The set-up is familiar but there are lovely occult touches, and you get to explore the gloomy house in first-person between bouts, leaning its dark lore. An engrossing fireside treat.
A Nazi base in the desolate Antarctic is beset by Lovecraftian entities, driving its inhabitants to madness. But in a neat twist, you play as a penguin observing the chaos and exploring the wilderness, discovering weird obelisks and winding labyrinths as the cosmic horrors threaten your colony. Read our review.
Silver Pines (PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch 2)
On the trail of a missing singer, troubled private investigator Red Walker finds himself in an abandoned town, but quickly discovers he is far from alone. Influenced by Twin Peaks, Silent Hill and Alan Wake, this haunting 2D adventure is rich in atmosphere and crammed with intriguing puzzles. Read our review.
Tenebris Somnia(Switch, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox)
When a young actor visits her estranged boyfriend, she discovers that his apartment has been trashed and he’s nowhere to be seen. Where is he and what are those weird symbols daubed on the wall? Heavily inspired by early 90s point-and-click adventures as well as interactive movie games such as Night Trap, Tenebris Somnia mixes beautiful pixelated visuals and FMV sequences to eerie effect.
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