Spooky season is just around the corner, everyone.
There won’t not be much fanfare this year (again) so you might want to save the creepy costumes and the trick-or-treating for 2022. But that doesn't mean you can't get your Halloween buzz elsewhere. Thankfully, there are plenty of virtual reality games ready to give you the frights and jump scares you've been craving for all year.
We've put together a list of the best VR horror games to indulge in during this Halloween. Enter at your own peril...
1. The Exorcist: Legion VR - Oculus Quest, PSVR, PC VR
The Exorcist is perhaps the scariest movie of all times, so the bar for this VR horror game is, of course, high. Fortunately, the experience is worth every single fright. This supernatural game unfolds over the course of five episodes based on based on the acclaimed franchise from William Peter Blatty, where you'll be able to learn about demonic exorcism, experience forms of religious horror and face your hidden fears along the way.
Developer's description - The Exorcist: Legion VR is an episodic VR experience set in the academy-award winning world created by horror maestro William Peter Blatty. Each chapter features a unique demonic entity that will test your courage and resolve. Not for the faint-hearted.
2. Phasmophobia – PC VR
Get your yearly dose of Halloween scare with Phasmophobia, one of the most skin-crawling titles out there. This four player game will take you through a full-on virtual horror ride through a paranormal world with plenty of haunted places, nightmarish ghosts, an Ouija board system and wildly different weather types. Make sure not to get caught during the Hunt phase if you want to survive Phasmophobia.
Developer's description - Phasmophobia is a 4 player online co-op psychological horror game with both VR and non-VR support. Paranormal activity is on the rise and it’s up to you and your team to use all the ghost hunting equipment at your disposal in order to gather as much evidence as you can.
3. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Oculus Quest, PSVR, PC VR
If you thought The Walking Dead TV series was spooky, try imagining a version 10x times more intense. That's what this VR games is all about. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners lets you enter missions to kill zombies, collect weapons, find rations and learn how survive in this horror-filled experience.
Developer's description - Travel through the unforgiving world of The Walking Dead in the flooded remains of New Orleans. Explore, fight, and make impossible choices to stay alive. When every decision is life-or-death, will you live as a Saint or Sinner?
4. Five Nights At Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted – Oculus Quest, PSVR, PC VR
Five Nights at Freddy’s VR has a mini-game format, but don't be fooled by this simplicity because this us still a great VR experience to kickstart your annual October jump scares. There will be plenty of screaming, frights and heart racing moments as you'll find yourself trapped in a creepy restaurant being chased off by a group of not-so-cuddly figures. This title has become a cult favorite and no doubt that that you'll find it the perfect survival horror video game for this Halloween.
Developer's description - FNaF: HW is a collection of classic and original mini-games set in the Five Nights universe. Survive terrifying encounters with your favorite killer animatronics in a collection of new and classic FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S experiences. “Where fantasy and fun come to life!”
5. Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood - PSVR
Until Dawn might be a rather old title (it was released way back in 2016), but it remains a top VR horror choice. The game features a simple storyline, where users are made to ride a rollercoaster to hell with so many horror-inducing twists and turns that you'll sure never to forget it.
Developer's description - Revisit the world of Until Dawn and strap yourself in for the most terrifying roller coaster ride you'll ever experience.
6. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard - PSVR
Another old but gold title, Resident Evil 7 remains the go-to jump scare title for Halloween (as with previous fan favorite titles like Resident Evil 4). This utterly scary game will offer you 12 hours of raw horror and creepiness, with every encounter being a life or death situation. You'll have to work up your survival skills with this game because the exploration and mind-bending puzzles tasks that you must complete while fighting off grotesque figures isn't definitely for the faint of heart.
Developer's description: The latest game in the Resident Evil series takes Ethan Winters to a run-down plantation house in Dulvey, Louisiana, in search of his missing wife, Mia. Not all is well at the old Baker house, however; the entire mansion seems to be falling apart, nobody’s heard from the residents in years, and there have been several reports of people going missing from the surrounding area, never to be heard from again.
7. Half-Life: Alyx - PC VR
There's hardly any list that won't mention this acclaimed VR game. Not just for the high level quality of the graphics and the impressive attention to detail, but this title is a step up from the previous games in the Half-Life series, putting a horror spin on the usual action-driven narrative. You might come across some familiar horror villains, but Half-Life: Alyx is for the most part a bold and fresh experience that is sure to put the fear of God into your heart.
Developer's description: Half-Life: Alyx is Valve’s VR return to the Half-Life series. It’s the story of an impossible fight against a vicious alien race known as the Combine, set between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Playing as Alyx Vance, you are humanity’s only chance for survival.
8. Layers of Fear - Oculus Quest, PSVR
If you're looking for a truly disturbing Halloween experience, look no further. When it comes to VR horror games, Layers of fear is a straight-up horrifying game, mixing the psychedelic with streaks of insanity, this critically acclaimed horror title will freak the hell out of you. Enter a Victorian mansion where you'll be an insane painter uncovering fears, horrors and madness as he tries to complete his long-delayed masterpiece.
Developer's description: Enter a tangibly horrifying Virtual Reality and explore a mansion of horror as an artist falling into the depths of insanity. Will you find the muse for your masterpiece... or madness?
9. Cosmodread - Oculus Quest, PC VR
Sci-fi fans rejoice for Cosmodread is here to make sure your Halloween scares take a whole new meaning. This titles takes you to a creepy looking spaceship where alien monsters lurk in the shadows, ready to hunt you down. In a fight for survival, you'll be given a weapon but not much else to fend off attackers in an environment of pure suffocating terror.
Developer's description: Cosmodread is a VR survival horror roguelike about escaping a dying spaceship filled with nightmares. Stranded in a hostile universe, you must explore, survive, and find your way back to the safety of Earth.
10. Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife - Oculus Quest, PSVR
Unlike other games, Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife leans toward a murder mystery solving story, only that the death you must investigate is your own. You'll be playing as a photographer who dies during a mysterious seance and becomes a restless undead spirit with unfinished business in the among the living - a Wraith. You'll be able to use supernatural abilities to try and solve the mystery of your death but that won't be an easy task as you'll still have to avoid hostile spirits in your quest.
Developer's description: You died in a mysterious seance and have become a Wraith, one of the restless undead. In this VR horror game, use your supernatural abilities to solve the mystery behind your death. But beware of the sinister Spectres lurking in the shadows...
11. Lies Beneath – Oculus Quest, Rift
A solid single-player survival horror, Lies Beneath is not short on heart-stopping twists along its 20 levels. Perfect for this October season, this game takes place in the fictional town of Slumber, Alaska, and you'll be taking on the character of a college student going on scary and torturous adventure to save their father from hordes of mysterious creatures taking over the town.
Developer's description: Lies Beneath is a single-player survival horror game with a heavy dose of action! Something's gone horribly wrong in the sleepy town of Slumber, Alaska. Now, returning college student Mae must fight to save her father (and her sanity) from the terrifying townsfolk and creepy creatures infecting her hometown. Experience a living comic book full of frightful scenarios as you uncover the secrets of Slumber… and Mae's past. With a full arsenal of melee and ranged weapons, Mae will fight monsters across the menacing remnants of her hometown. Along the way, she'll need to solve puzzles in her surroundings and find lore objects that uncover hidden truths. Lies Beneath features several difficulty levels and comfort options so you can tailor the experience to your preferences.
12. Edge Of Nowhere - Oculus Rift
Breaking from the tradition set by the majority of VR horror games, Edge of Nowhere uses a third-person perspective but that in nothing diminishes the level of VR scares you'll get from it. The game's storyline centers around a man looking for his missing fiancée in the barren landscapes of Antarctica while having to escape from the grips of monsters and unforeseen challenges.
Developer's description: Edge of Nowhere is a 3rd-person action-adventure from renowned developer Insomniac Games. Travel to Antarctica in search of a missing expedition team and discover a monstrous world that tests your wits and sanity. Nothing is what it seems and the unexpected lurks from all sides.
13. Affect: The Manor - Oculus Quest, PSVR, PC VR
This was a title released in 2016, but it definitely remains a great spooky game for Halloween. It follows a walkthrough horror experience through an abandoned house where nothing is what it seems and hidden creatures lurk in the dark ready to take you straight to spooky hell. Your goal is to find a way escape from the manor, but it won't be an easy feat for sure.
Developer's description: Only the brave may enter! Experience horror unlike anything you’ve known before as you try to escape The Manor. Terror lurks around every corner as you venture deeper into the abandoned house and find that the only thing keeping you alive is your sanity. Or lack thereof...
