It’s everyone’s favorite time of the year: the brief window where it’s socially acceptable to dress as a goblin or a ghoul! While children and their loving handlers will be busy trick-or-treating or carving pumpkins, the rest of us may find ourselves looking for something else to do to celebrate the occasion.
Trophy hunting naturally comes to mind. Why not spend your Halloween playing some of the best horror games out there, and nab yourself a rare platinum trophy while you’re at it?
In this article, we’ll talk through 9 different PlayStation games that would make for an excellent spooky treat for just about anyone. Whether you’re easily scared or require great thrills, one of these games will likely speak to you.
Table of Contents
9. Resident Evil Village
There’s no better way to start a list of horror games than with Resident Evil. This juggernaut series is responsible for so many tropes in the genre, whether by initiation or popularization.
Just to name a couple of important contributions, Resident Evil 2 and 3 introduced the concept of an unbeatable, stalker-like enemy that would become a genre staple, and Resident Evil 4 played a huge role in the surge of quick-time events in titles of all styles over the next generation.
With such a promising history, it follows that the series’ latest original entry, Resident Evil Village, would be an incredible game for horror enthusiasts. This cleverly named title represents the 8th numbered entry in the series. It continues the story of Ethan Winters, the protagonist who was introduced in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.
In Village, you must explore a snowy setting in Eastern Europe, perfectly fitted with a small-town feel, a castle looming overhead, and more. And, of course, monsters. In this case, you are primarily fighting vampires and werewolves rather than zombies. Your primary objective is to locate your kidnapped infant daughter.
The game may be more action-oriented, but that doesn’t mean the title lacks in spooky moments. Various narrative beats are likely to send shivers down anyone’s spine, and the enemies act very erratically until you learn their patterns. This is especially important on the speedrun and hardest difficulty playthroughs.
As you might surmise from my platinum trophy screenshot, the last achievement that was earned was not from the game’s story. Indeed, the rarest trophy in the entire game is unlocked by getting an S rank on all stages of the Mercenaries Mode, a completely separate gameplay experience.
In a nutshell, Mercenaries involves speedrunning remixed stages from the story to get a high score. There are RNG elements that can make or break your run, such as which power-ups are offered to you and not completely consistent enemy spawns.
When all is said and done, you will likely spend 30-40 hours getting this platinum trophy. Note that there was one additional DLC stack with a very similar trophy set. I spent about 80 hours playing Resident Evil Village, between hunting for trophies, lazing about, and exploring the VR mode.
Resident Evil games too scary or time-intensive for you? There are a plethora of movies, novels, and comics within the universe that may scratch that same itch for a fraction of the mental energy.
8. Dead Space Remake
Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to go to space? The idea might be tainted for you for the rest of time after you play this entry.
In Dead Space, you play as Isaac Clarke, an accomplished systems engineer investigating the USG Ishimura in search of answers about his girlfriend’s disappearance. While exploring the ship, Isaac begins to realize that this anomaly is bigger than he realizes.
The Dead Space Remake takes what made the 2008 original a phenomenal horror experience and ratchets it up to the eleventh degree. Atmospheric tension, realistic gore, and improved character designs all add to this title’s classic charm.
It’s the only game that’s ever made me legitimately jump out of my skin; I’ve never been more paranoid playing a video game than when I have to walk by a vent in Dead Space. Truthfully, this game was incredible when it was originally released, and the remake helps it hold up even better to scrutiny today.
Trophy hunters need not worry. The Dead Space Remake is very forgiving in its trophy set, despite its game design philosophy of scaring players within an inch of their lives. The most challenging trophy is likely “Untouchable,” which asks players to complete the game on the hardest difficulty: Impossible Mode.
While there are a variety of gameplay effects for this mode, the most notable difference is the fact that a single game over wipes your save file. In other words, this difficulty setting introduces permadeath.
When you’ve finally overcome the impossible, you will earn the platinum trophy, “Concordance Officer.” This will take anywhere between 40-50 hours for most players. For my part, I spent 47 hours playing the Dead Space Remake.
7. Outlast 2
The Outlast series is not for the faint of heart. Between some genuinely haunting sequences and detailed depictions of nudity, it will almost certainly find something to unnerve you.
In Outlast 2, you play as a cameraman named Blake Langermann who is investigating the unusual death of a pregnant woman in the rugged wilds of the southwestern United States.
You are accompanied by your wife, Lynn, a journalist. But don’t get too comfortable; the two of you are quickly separated, and you must navigate your way around unfamiliar territory filled with cult activity.
One of the most unique aspects of the Outlast series is its lack of combat options. In Outlast 2, you are equipped with your trusty recorder, and that’s it. That means you have to treat any encounter with a hostile cult member very strategically. In other words, you must run and hide.
A lot of players find that this lack of a defensive option enhances the horror. However, the game is not without its share of controversy. Outlast 2 was extreme enough to have led to a number of scenes getting censored. Beware of spoilers, however, you can read about some of these changes here.
In my experience, I found that the game flickered between triggering feelings of horror and disgust. If you are sensitive to problematic depictions of women and how they should be treated, you should definitely skip this entry.
On the other hand, if you want to celebrate Halloween with a game that will test your limits, Outlast 2 might be for you. The trophies for this title are generally lauded in the completionist community due to their difficulty.
Of particular note is the requirement to beat the game on the hardest difficulty. Not only are the enemies more aware, but you also have to skirt by without dying at all. That’s right: Outlast 2’s platinum trophy requires completion with a permadeath setting.
Outlast 2 is a title that I did not play on a PlayStation console. I actually played it on the Nintendo Switch a few years ago. It’s not a game I am interested in revisiting. For that reason, I don’t have a personal estimate for time to completion. However, trophy guides generally place it somewhere between 20-30 hours.
6. Little Nightmares II
Perhaps the most bite-sized entry on this Halloween-themed list, Little Nightmares II is a horror game best served for those with a low tolerance for thrills.
The game’s diorama-like camera view means that you are less likely to project yourself onto the character. That means when scary things happen, you’re less likely to feel it viscerally as if it were happening to you. Plus, deaths happen very quickly and lead to a fade-to-black sequence, such that you never see anything too alarming.
Little Nightmares II is also ideal for players with less proficiency in video gaming. Platforming challenges are simple and well-telegraphed. For that matter, the achievements are very straightforward to complete, too.
The story for Little Nightmares II is remarkably complex for such a short game. In a few words, you explore the Pale City while uncovering a larger power at work. Can you really trust anyone in such a cruel world?
We spent almost 8 hours on our journey to get the platinum trophy for Little Nightmares II. On average, most players land somewhere around 5-10 hours.
If you’re looking for something a bit more challenging, check out the trophy set for the first Little Nightmares game. It requires beating the game in under an hour without dying!
Another title that focuses on one gaming genre but moonlights in platforming is Little Noah: Scion of Paradise. It’s a roguelite game with a cute aesthetic. Check out our tips and tricks for it here!
5. Alan Wake 2
After an incredible dry spell of 13 years, Alan Wake 2 was released in October 2023. You’ve likely heard of this series due to its popularity, but if you haven’t, the developers Remedy Entertainment are also responsible for the eponymous Max Payne series.
In Alan Wake 2, you play as dual protagonists Alan Wake and Saga Anderson. The former is a famous author who is trapped in a supernatural realm known as the Dark Place, and the latter is an FBI agent investigating a series of strange murders in Bright Falls.
You must use both characters’ unique skill sets and perspectives to save them from a grisly fate.
It cannot be overstated just how incredible the sound design of Alan Wake 2 is. This feature adds so much to the atmospheric tension in the game, greatly enhancing the effectiveness of its horror.
Not only that, but the title also incorporates an experimental blend of live-action footage and animated cutscenes. This leads to a sense of the uncanny valley that is rarely achieved in gaming as a medium. It really impacts what you perceive to be reality and fiction.
Alan Wake 2’s trophy set is actually quite generous. The developers added a chapter select option after its release, making it even easier to complete its requirements. There are collectible and combat trophies to keep in mind, but otherwise, the platinum trophy can be had in one playthrough.
Over the course of the main game and DLC trophy sets, we spent about 45 hours in Alan Wake 2’s world. Most players can probably manage it in 30-35 hours, depending on how much they explore.
4. Until Dawn
A group of young adults stay at a remote cabin in the mountains. What could go wrong?
A lot, apparently. Following a tragic event, 8 friends return to this very same snowy mountain lodge on the anniversary of their late friend’s passing. As if in divine retribution, the friends are being stalked by a masked killer and accompanying supernatural phenomenon.
You must help guide these 8 people through the second-worst night of their lives. As the name implies, they must survive the entire night before they can get help.
Unlike the other entries on this list, Until Dawn is primarily controlled via a choice-based system. You must decide how the characters interact with one another and what they do in stressful situations.
While the story beats themselves add credibility to the claim that Until Dawn is a proper horror title, there are other details to discuss.
One of the coolest game mechanics Until Dawn utilized was the haptic inputs. To put it simply, your game controller would sense if you were being noisy or fidgeting through the built-in speaker and motion controls.
That means if you screamed from a sudden jump scare, you’d get caught by an enemy immediately and be punished. For celebrating Halloween, it’s an incredibly cool way to get authentic scary moments.
The trophy set for the game is very reasonable. You simply have to find some collectibles, see certain events, and beat the game under a number of conditions (certain people surviving the night, no one surviving the night, everyone surviving the night, etc).
All of the above points come with a big disclaimer. I played the original Until Dawn that came out in 2015, not the remake from 2024. From my limited understanding, there may be significant changes between the two. That said, I’d argue that either entry would still make a great Halloween-themed game.
All the way back in 2018, I played Until Dawn for 23 hours to earn its platinum trophy. I remember failing the final quick-time event and feeling bummed I had to redo a playthrough. This was before I truly got into trophy hunting, so I didn’t look at any guides for it.
3. The Evil Within
The Evil Within was a 2014 survival horror experience developed by the no-longer-defunct Tango Gameworks. Buckle up, because the developer’s history is a cautionary tale all its own.
Outside ofThe Evil Within series, this studio was responsible for Ghostwire: Tokyo and Hi-Fi Rush, two titles that were widely praised by critics and fans. As far as anyone can tell without access to their actual accounting figures, they had seen significant success in their recent works.
However, just 3 years after the much-debated ZeniMax acquisition of 2021, Microsoft decided to shutter the studio. Gaming enthusiasts everywhere were shocked by this move. Yet, thankfully, the studio survived when Krafton formally acquired Tango Gameworks the very next month. As of October 2025, they are working on an undisclosed action title.
Long story short, you have to be careful who you trust—both in business and personal matters. Otherwise, you might find yourself navigating a nightmare. I can’t imagine how horrible it must have felt for management to share the news about the studio’s impending closure with their staff.
Tango Gamework’s debut title, The Evil Within, is no less of a nightmare. You are Sebastian Castellanos, a police detective responding to a call originating from a mental hospital. Things quickly go off the rails, though, as you must defend yourself against eerily human-like enemies in an otherworldly setting.
There is no better time to play this game than for Halloween. The boss designs are top-notch with creepy features, and the suspenseful atmosphere leads to even more intense spooks. You would not believe the number of times that I stepped on a bear trap I didn’t expect and yelped. That’s the kind of spontaneous fear that only a good horror game can accomplish consistently.
With that said, I must warn trophy hunters about this game’s completion requirements. To get the platinum trophy in The Evil Within, you must complete the game on the highest difficulty: Akumu. This playthrough is an absolute gauntlet, as any hit at all kills you. That includes the traps I alluded to before. By the way, there are literally a dozen different types of traps in the game.
All that to say: don’t judge my Akumu difficulty death tally (pictured above) too much. I’d wager that at least a quarter of those deaths were from traps. Which I stepped on purposefully, because I just wanted to make everyone else feel better about their statistics, obviously. Definitely not because I am lacking in situational awareness at all.
The Evil Within is a staggering undertaking for any trophy hunter. But if you’re not satisfied yet, the game has additional DLC content with more lax requirements.
Over the course of my trophy hunting efforts and casual playthroughs, I spent 111 hours in the game. Trophy guides place the main game at around 50 hours all-in, and the DLCs combined at 10-20 hours.
2. Alien: Isolation
Remember back at the start of the article when I mentioned how Resident Evil spearheaded the idea of stalker-like enemies? Well, Alien: Isolation was the title that nearly perfected the idea.
You play as Amanda Ripley, an engineer searching for answers about her mother’s disappearance aboard the Sevastopol Space Station. Yet, she soon finds herself to be an object of interest for another being entirely… And that’s far from her only problem.
If Amanda’s name sounds familiar, that’s because she’s Ellen Ripley’s daughter, the very same woman who played a pivotal role in the Alien movies. It’s a really cool tie-in for long-time fans of the series.
As you explore the space station, you will encounter a few different types of enemies: humans, androids, and of course, the Xenomorph. For the uninitiated, that’s the fancy Greek-based name for the iconic Alien.
While the human and android fights play out similarly, encounters with the Xenomorph are far different. It’s no longer a back-and-forth power struggle, but rather a prey animal desperately avoiding getting hunted by a superior lifeform. Your weapons are almost entirely pointless when wielded against the Xenomorph.
As a result, your main way of progressing through the game is to run and hide or set up distractions to capture its attention. Be warned, however, that the Xenomorph isn’t dumb.
It will learn your tactics over time and begin countering your favored strategies. That means you can’t overuse flares, lest it begin to ignore them. That also means you shouldn’t rely on lockers as your primary hiding spot, as it will learn to search them first.
As you can imagine, watching the Xenomorph edge closer to your location while you are powerless to do anything builds an incredible amount of tension. It’s also not unusual to get jump-scared by a sudden grab by the Xenomorph.
The combination of these traits all make Alien: Isolation a standout option for celebrating Halloween. The trophy list is fairly straightforward and includes some hard difficulty, no-death, and pacifist trophies. With careful routing, the platinum trophy can be had with just two complete playthroughs.
Like Outlast 2, Alien: Isolation is another title that I have not played on PlayStation consoles. I actually played it on the Xbox 360 when it was originally released. Since I can’t quote my own numbers, I’ll give you the community’s collective estimate for the platinum trophy: 20-30 hours.
1. Silent Hill f
We’ve saved the most recent release for last. Silent Hill f is only a month old at the time of this article’s writing. It’s the latest in a very long-running series that is known for its psychological horror themes. While many entries take place in the small town of Silent Hill, it is not a requirement. In fact, the entry we’ll be discussing today, Silent Hill f, does not take place in Silent Hill.
In Silent Hill f, you play as Hinako Shimizu, a teenage girl in 1960s Japan at odds with oppressive familial expectations and a society that refuses to make space for her.
While Hinako contends with this battle within, her fears manifest to haunt her in reality. You must guide Hinako through this tumultuous time in her life as she decides which path her life should take.
One of the most interesting parts about any Silent Hill game is trying to discern what each enemy symbolizes for the protagonist. In Silent Hill f, enemy designs are incredibly reminiscent of the traditionally female experience, viewed from the lens of a woman who’s not thrilled with any part of it.
Without giving too many specifics that would warrant spoiler warnings, think of themes related to childbirth, self-harm, and sexual coercion. The more you relate to or empathize with feelings of disgust for these things, the better the game’s horror will land for you.
In addition to the unique enemy designs, Silent Hill f also has some truly chilling sequences in its cinematic cutscenes. There were a couple of moments where I had to look away from my display because of how distressing they were. It’s the perfect, white-knuckle experience for a scary holiday.
The trophy hunting scene for this game is still evolving. By the time you read this, there are likely expansive resources out there to help you have a more seamless experience than I did. However, with a good guide, I don’t see Silent Hill f posing any credible threat to trophy hunters.
The most challenging aspect is probably the fact that you must see all 5 different endings. There are also a handful of difficulty trophies that don’t stack, so you have to play multiple times through for them as well. This isn’t very difficult, just time-consuming.
Silent Hill f was how we decided to celebrate Halloween in our household this year. Its platinum trophy took us nearly 50 hours to complete, over the course of about 5 distinct playthroughs.
I suspect that the required time for completion for most people will be less, because I personally rewatched the cutscenes on several subsequent playthroughs, even when they were repetitive. I wanted to glean every detail I could about the inner workings of the narrative.
Conclusion
Halloween is generally seen as the start of the holiday season in the West. After Halloween, we quickly run up on Thanksgiving, then the Winter holiday of your choice, and finally New Year’s Eve.
Not to mention all the other wonderful cultural holidays I’ve neglected to mention. It’s a festive time of year, and we should make sure to give each holiday we celebrate its own time in the limelight.
Do you celebrate Halloween where you’re from? What horror games did we forget to mention? Ready to yell at us about picking action-oriented games over fully authentic horror experiences? Jump to the comments section and let us know your thoughts!
If you’d like to read more seasonal content, check out our article on LGBTQ+ friendly titles for Pride Month, or our list of silly achievements that are a perfect fit for April Fools’ Day. It doesn’t have to be topical to be worth hunting for!
Leave a Reply