Best Halloween Video Games

The best Halloween games are all you need for the spooky season, so deck the halls with boughs of spider-covered cobwebs, jack-o-lanterns, and creepy plastic bats on a string. There are an endless amount of horror video games out there but surprisingly, few of them are actually set around Allhallows Eve, despite it being the spookiest time of the year. However, there are some video games which embrace the Halloween spirit and get us in the perfect pumpkin-carving mood. Here are our picks for the best Halloween video games:

Best Halloween Games: Jack Bros. (#10)

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Image: Atlus

This game is the perfect Halloween aesthetic for players who love their 90's video game nostalgia. If you've never heard the tale of Jack Bros. it's because the game was only released in North America and Japan for Nintendo's Virtual Boy console, which sadly was a bit of a failure. At the beginning of the game, the player can choose to play as one of three brothers: Jack Frost, Jack Lantern, or Jack Skelton. The gloriously red trio visit the human world on the night of Halloween and have to navigate their way through a series of obstacles to return to the fairy world before the portal connecting the two worlds closes forever.

Best Halloween Games: Monster House (#9)

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Image: THQ

2006's creepy animated horror movie, Monster House, gave us a fantastic PS2 game as well as an instilling an ingrained fear of our own homes. Much like most of the glorious film-based PS2 game adaptations of the time, the plot of the game follows closely with that of the film. Three schoolkids; DJ, Chowder, and Jenny must fight their way around their freaky neighbours haunted house with their trusty water guns to destroy the man-eating dwelling for good. However, whilst the whole idea was for the haunted house to be the 'monster' of the game, it's the terrifying motion-capture animation of the film and the game which still sends up a chill up our spine each Halloween.

Best Halloween Games: The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge (#8)

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Image: Capcom

Another movie-inspired PS2 game here. The jury's still out on whether The Nightmare Before Christmas counts as a Halloween or a Christmas film, but this dark stop-motion animation was initially released in October and it's in the style of Tim Burton so of course it's a Halloween film! The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge is a sequel to the events of the film, where Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, has to stop villain Oogie Boogie from becoming the Seven-Holidays King. If you still have your Game Boy Advance still on you, you could have a go at the prequel game The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King. 

Best Halloween Games: The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror (#7)

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THQ

Where would Halloween be without The Simpsons: Treehouse Of Horror re-runs scaring the life out of us each October. If watching the horrifying images of Groundskeeper Willie being burned alive or Bart and Lisa being pushed into a food processor by Principal Skinner wasn't enough, you could play the game version! The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror is a side-scrolling platformer that was released for Game Boy in 2001. Each level in the game is based on one of the Treehouse Of Horror tales, including Marge in a zombie-themed tale and Maggie taking a leaf out of Jeff Goldblum's book to complete her level as a fly.

• If you're a fan of The Simpsons check out how a fan-made Simpsons Hit & Run game was pulled.

Best Halloween Games: Cauldron (#6)

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Image: Palace Software

We're bringing the witch out of her coven with Cauldron. As the oldest game on the list, Cauldron certainly shows the young ones how Halloween gaming is done. The 2D shoot 'em up game was released in 1985 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Amstrad CPC computers. Beginning as a game based on the classic scream-fest film Halloween, the game's developer decided to tailor the game more around the spooky season. The objective is to guide the broomstick-riding witch around the world collecting keys and ingredients to defeat the Pumpking whilst dodging Halloween-themed characters.

Best Halloween Games: Haunt the House: Terrortown (#5)

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Image: SFB Games

This game screams Halloween; everything from the autumnal colour palette to creepy, disjointed music score is truly dedicated to get players in the spirit of Allhallows Eve. Whilst some of the games mentioned above may be a little more difficult to get your hands on given their age, Haunt The House: Terrortown is readily available. The story is that the player is a ghost, whose abandoned home town has been invaded by new human inhabitants. The objective is to scare people out of various buildings before the end of night to reclaim your territory.

Best Halloween Games: Ghostbusters: The Video Game (#4)

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Image: Saber Interactive

It's one of the best Halloween films of all time - how can you not hear "Ghostbusters!" without singing the iconic tune - and it got its very own video game version in 2009. If you're a fan of the 80s classic, it's safe to say you will love this version because the original screenwriters, Dan Ackroyd and the late Harold Ramis, both returned as script doctors for the game, as did fellow cast members, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson. The game is set two years after the events of Ghostbusters 2 with the player taking the role of a new recruit to the phantom fighting team. If you're wanting to have your very own ghoul-getting experience, who you gonna call? Well, turns out this classic original got remastered in 2019, so you can pick it up on modern platforms.

Best Halloween Games: MediEvil (#3)

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Image: Sony

The 2019 remake of MediEvil may have brought better graphics and improved character design, but the 1998 original PS1 game is what inspired it all, including two sequels, MediEvil 2 and a PlayStation Portable remake titled MediEvil: Resurrection. Taking inspiration from Tim Burtons The Nightmare Before Christmas, the game is set in the medieval kingdom of Gallowmere. The charlatan protagonist, Sir Daniel Fortesque, must battle hoards of Halloween-themed baddies to thwart the evil sorcerer, Zarok, and his invasion of the kingdom. If you've got your eye on the original game but only have a PS4, it can be unlocked in the 2019 remake by completing special objectives.

• Are you a fan of spooky game revivals/ remakes? Konami is apparently  'moving forward' with a Silent Hill Revival.

Best Halloween Games: Night In The Woods (#2)

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Image: Finji

Night In The Woods may be full of zoomorphic characters, but it actually explores some very human emotions and important themes, which might prove particularly poignant in current times. It might not be swimming in pumpkins and ghouls, but it is set during the Halloween festival of the game's setting, Possum Springs, and the rustic oranges and browns of the colour palette is very autumnal. The story is set around Mae Borowski, a 20-year-old college dropout, who returns to live with her parents only to discover a dark and troubling secret about her hometown. Night In The Woods also had a very sweet beginning after earning over 400% of its $50,000 funding goal on a crowdfunding platform to help towards the game's development.

Best Halloween Games: Costume Quest (#1)

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Image: Double Fine

Now, this is a game that understood the assignment. Sure, a lot of Halloween-themed video games can be all about gothic, fantastical landscapes and horrifying monsters. However, Costume Quest is one of the few which centres around an autumnal activity which has become a definitive part of our childhood: trick-or-treating. The game centres around two young siblings who are encouraged to go trick-or-treating to make new friends in the neighbourhood. After one of them gets kidnapped by a monster, the remaining sibling embarks on an adventure to save them, making new friends and picking up cool Halloween costumes which give the player cool powers along the way. There's all the classic spook-tober items dotted around the game's setting but, more than anything, it's just incredibly wholesome and sweet.  

Now you've read all of the best Halloween games, why not get truly scared with the best Horror games?