The Best Halloween Horror Games to Play With Friends This Year

October hits different when you've got a group

Solo horror games are scary. Co-op horror games are chaos. Someone's screaming into their mic. Someone else is hiding in a closet refusing to move. The person who said "I don't get scared" is the first one to quit.

If your group is looking for something to play this Halloween season, here's what actually works and what you need to know about platforms and group sizes before you commit.

Phasmophobia

The ghost hunting game that started a whole genre. Four players investigate haunted locations with janky equipment, trying to identify what type of ghost is stalking them. The tension comes from the ghost actively hunting you, and from your teammates being completely useless when it does.

Works on PC only. No crossplay to consoles. VR is supported but not required. Four player maximum, which makes it perfect for smaller groups.

If your group hasn't played it yet, October is the time. The developers have added a lot since launch, including new ghost types, maps, and difficulty options.

Lethal Company

Take Phasmophobia's energy and add a corporate dystopia twist. Your team lands on alien moons to scavenge junk for a faceless company. The moons are full of things that want to kill you. The quota system means you can't just play it safe forever.

PC only, up to four players. The mod community has expanded the game significantly, with custom moons and creatures that keep it fresh even if you've played through the base content.

Devour

Smaller and scrappier than the other two, but surprisingly effective. Teams of four work together to stop a possessed cult leader before they summon something terrible. Each map has different mechanics, and the difficulty ramps fast.

PC only, four players. Matches are short, usually 15-20 minutes, which makes it a good warmup game before you commit to something longer.

The Forest and Sons of the Forest

Survival horror that works as a genuine co-op experience. You crash on a peninsula full of cannibals and mutants. Build a base. Explore caves. Try not to die. The story is actually worth following, which is rare for survival games.

The Forest supports up to eight players on PC and PS4. Sons of the Forest is PC only, also eight players. If your group is bigger than four, these are some of the few horror games that accommodate that.

Dead by Daylight

The asymmetric option. One player is the killer, four are survivors. It's more competitive than it is scary at this point, but the Halloween events usually add limited-time content and cosmetics.

Crossplay between PC, PS5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch. That's a big deal if your group is split across platforms. Five players total, one killer and four survivors.

Left 4 Dead 2

Still holds up. Four-player co-op zombie shooting with campaigns that have actual pacing. The AI Director adjusts difficulty based on how well you're doing, so runs feel different each time.

PC only at this point, but it runs on basically anything. If you've never played it, it's cheap and it's good. If you've played it before, the community maps and mods give it infinite replay value.

Finding the right fit

The real question isn't which game is scariest. It's which one works for your group. How many people do you have? What platforms? Does everyone need to buy it, or does someone already own it?

Run a quick vote on PickThe.Games. Set up your group's platforms and let everyone swipe through horror games. You'll get a ranked list of what actually works for your specific setup, crossplay included.

You can also browse horror games on the site to see what's available on your platforms before setting up a vote.

Happy Halloween. Try not to scream too loud.