I loaded up these horror games to get in the Halloween mood — you should too

Typically, October is the month I associate with horror games or titles with generally eerie vibes. That said, I think this September might have been an even better month for spooky games than October will be.

Throughout September, several high-profile horror games were released. I played two of them — Dying Light: The Beast and Cronos: The New Dawn, and really enjoyed what they had to offer.

Throw in other games from this month like Silent Hill f and Hollow Knight: Silksong, and you have no shortage of new games to play as we approach Halloween.

2025 might go down as one of the best years for horror games in a while, and many of September’s new releases will be the main reason for that.

Cronos: The New Dawn is the perfect choice for Dead Space fans

It’s also one of your only options on Nintendo Switch 2

If what you’re looking for is a tried-and-true horror experience, I recommend playing Cronos: The New Dawn. It’s the latest game from Bloober Team, the studio behind The Medium and Silent Hill 2’s excellent remake.

The game is an intense sci-fi third-person shooter that feels like it’s carrying the horror game torch first lit by now dormant franchises like Dead Space.

It’s mostly set in a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by a virus, occasionally traveling back in time to 1980s Poland to find the information needed to prevent “The Change” from happening.

It’s a thematically relevant horror game for a post-COVID-19 pandemic world, and the gameplay only supports that atmosphere with its slow pace and heavy-feeling melee attacks.

At times, I found the game’s combat a little frustrating, as some of the enemies are a little too fast and aggressive for the pace at which the game otherwise moves.

Still, that tension also adds to the tense feelings I got while playing this game. It also looks and runs great on Nintendo Switch 2 as the platform’s sole horror game.

I was definitely bummed when EA decided not to greenlight any sort of follow-up to Dead Space’s remake. As such, I’m more than happy to see Cronos: The New Dawn keep this style of game alive. In the horror genre, nothing is ever truly dead.

Consider picking Cronos: The New Dawn up on Switch 2 if you’re going to be traveling throughout October.

Dying Light: The Beast is the best choice if you like zombies

It’s not super scary, but it’s still quite intense

The other horror game I played and enjoyed this month is Dying Light: The Beast. Some may consider it more of a zombie game than a horror game, considering that it’s a pretty action-focused open-world game.

Still, I found playing this game pretty intense and frightening at times, especially when I was sneaking around at night trying to avoid more powerful zombies.

I never felt truly safe when venturing through Dying Light: The Beast’s open world, as I was constantly scavenging for resources and better weapons to use.

The over-the-top Fury abilities the player can use and gruff dialogue can make this feel more like Army of the Dead than 28 Days Later at times, but sometimes I’m in the mood for popcorn-blockbuster horror rather than more intimate and intense experiences that will make me truly scared and anxious.

I also think Dying Light: The Beast is a testament to one studio being given the opportunity to iterate on a single franchise over time.

I think it combines the best parts of the first and second games in the series, while introducing some new ideas of its own, to create the ultimate Dying Light game.

I wish more studios had the opportunity to do with their own series what Techland has done with Dying Light.

If zombie games are your thing, you don’t have to wait for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 in November. You can check this out in October and even play it in co-op with friends.

Released

September 19, 2025

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Use of Drugs

Developer(s)

Techland

Publisher(s)

Techland

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op

Franchise

Dying Light

PC Release Date

September 19, 2025

Xbox Series X|S Release Date

September 19, 2025

PS5 Release Date

September 19, 2025

There’s no shortage of great new horror games to play this October

Get a head start on playing some of those games now

While Cronos: The New Dawn and Dying Light: The Beast are the two horror games from September that stuck out to me the most, they aren’t the only horror or horror-adjacent games that came out in September that you have to choose from.

The most obvious alternative that I haven’t had a chance to play yet is Silent Hill f. The latest entry in Konami’s iconic horror game series, Silent Hill f, has been met with critical acclaim, with particular praise being given to its story and 1960s Japan setting.

I’m not sure when I’ll have a chance to play it, but it’s something I know many horror fans should consider checking out in October.

If you like games that aren’t explicitly horror but sometimes have spooky vibes, then Hollow Knight: Silksong and Hell is Us are great options as well.

While we still have games like Little Nightmares 3, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, and Mina the Hollower to look forward to in October, it’s clear that there are already plenty of great horror games to choose from.