Whatever the time of year, there's always time for cozing up with a blanket, some fragrant candles, closed curtains, and terror in the dark. Be it horror games, movies, or TV, we love some scary content, but let's be honest, videogames are the best medium to allow true horror fans to get truly immersed.
Whether you're looking to kick back on your couch with your Steam Deck or play with the safety of a desk to cower beneath, we've dug deep to uncover the ultimate horror games to scare you senseless. From story-driven single-player games with buckets of gore, atmospheric terror, and alarming jump scares, all the way to asymmetrical multiplayer nightmares where another player is out to get you, this is our pick of the most fun - and most terrifying - horror games to play right now.
The best horror games in 2026 are:
1. Cronos: The New Dawn
The latest addition to our list, Cronos: The New Dawn is a stunning sci-fi horror game from Bloober Team. While we weren't as hot on its Silent Hill 2 remake as many others, the studio came back fighting with this single-player, post-apocalyptic adventure where our mysterious protagonist travels between the world-altering events of the past and the deserted wastelands of the future.
Perhaps the most remarkable and horrifying part of Cronos: The New Dawn is its mutating monsters. Just when you think you've defeated one of the shambling forms of flesh, you see its lifeless body absorbed by another as it merges into a deadlier form. This not only makes combat tougher, but forces you to decide which corpses to burn using your limited fuel and which areas to avoid or sprint through during a return trip. If this all sounds a little challenging for you or you'd rather just focus on the narrative, the new Temporal Diver difficulty is coming soon, easing up on the combat and leaning more into story than action.
Much like its nightmarish mutants, Cronos: The New Dawn is a terrifying amalgamation of multiple parts, lifting liberally from genre classics like Silent Hill and Dead Space while carving out its own identity with great success.
Check prices on Fanatical.
2. Silent Hill 2
Team Silent's Silent Hill 2 is, without a doubt, one of the all-time masterpieces of horror. The atmosphere. The tension. The monster design. The sound design. It's all there. Silent Hill 2, therefore, is a natural fit for our list of the top horror games around, but it's sadly not that easy to get your hands on these days, especially on PC. If you're hoping to experience James Sunderland's nightmarish descent on PC - and you really should - Bloober's 2024 remake might be your best bet.
As you can read in Danielle's Silent Hill 2 review, Bloober Team's efforts don't quite match up to the original. To be fair, they never could. She writes that "modern graphics clean up some of the grit and grime, while overextended exploration and frequent cutscenes take away from the original's claustrophobia and fear." However, if it's the only way you can experience this all-timer in some form, then it's certainly worth a play.
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3. The Outlast Trials
This multiplayer prequel to the previously single-player, story-driven Outlast series casts you as an unwitting trial candidate whisked off to a secret facility to be experimented on by the evil Murkoff corporation.
To escape the facility as one of many desperate subjects, you must complete a series of trials, a set of story-driven 'therapy sessions' and challenges created to test your stealth capabilities and teamwork. While you can take it on solo, The Outlast Trials is better experienced as a co-op game with up to four players. As Nat points out in her preview of The Outlast Trials, "As I was ferried back to the sleep room nursing my failure right at the eleventh hour, I couldn't help but think that this situation would have been far less painful with another person on hand - a hypothesis later proven when I succeeded in the same trial with a friend in tow." That's not to say you can't play The Outlast Trials alone. In fact, Nat also points out that, "Without the reassuring voices of my friends to drown it out, the sound design of The Outlast Trials takes front and center." Just be prepared for a challenge.
If it all gets to be too much for you, you might be better suited to some of our favorite single-player games. We promise there are still one or two scary entries on there to provide the thrills you're after.
Check prices at Humble.
5. Alien Isolation
Instead of terrifying monsters, intense chases, and challenging combat, the fear instilled by Alien Isolation is that of isolation. Don't get us wrong, there is a terrifying monster, there are intense chases, and there's even challenging combat with some unexpected foes, but those aren't the main source of terror here. It's the eerie stillness of the Sevastopol, the doomed spaceship on which you're stuck. It's the always-present fear that the alien could appear, even when it doesn't. It's the immersive first-person perspective combined with the heart-stopping creaks and clunks that may be the sounds of an old spaceship, but could also signal the presence of the Xenomorph.
As we expand upon in our Alien Isolation review from way back in 2014, "the alien is a constant, unscripted, and exhausting psychological threat that follows you throughout the game." This is what makes Creative Assembly's one - and so far only - horror game so special. When the alien is nearby, you can't simply kill it; a flamethrower can scare it away briefly, but even that only buys you a fleeting moment to run and hide.
While that's all incredibly exciting, what's even better is that Alien Isolation 2 is absolutely, 100% in the works. So, while we wait for news of an Alien Isolation 2 release date, there's no better time to play the original.
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6. Alan Wake 2
Atmosphere is a huge deal for horror games. While many play with your perception, Alan Wake 2 tap-dances (almost literally) on those expectations, particularly during sequences where you guide Alan deeper into The Dark Place, the mysterious, supernatural dimension in which art dictates reality. Alan Wake 2 is weird, it's wonderful, it's even funny, but it's also terrifying.
Our Alan Wake 2 review highlights that, while it's been 13 years since the original, Remedy hasn't missed a step in creating a disturbing horror game well worth the wait. Andrew even goes as far as to say that "Remedy has outdone itself here, delivering a truly remarkable experience," in which you investigate a spate of cult murders that have shaken the otherwise idyllic town of Bright Falls. You don't do it all as Alan, though, instead switching between him and FBI agent Saga Anderson in an exciting dual narrative.
While Andrew also says that this is a "twisty - and twisted - narrative that takes the original's premise to new heights," we've got a separate guide explaining if you need to play Alan Wake first before braving its sequel.
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7. Signalis
A tense and thrilling survival horror about a humanoid robot trying to find her friend on an isolated and abandoned moon base, Signalis makes for a terrifying and lonely experience. Add in a mysterious virus and some mutated and bloodthirsty murderers, and there's an inescapable sense that any discoveries you make won't be good.
We're still thinking about Signalis long after its 2022 release, when we argued it was unfairly shunned during awards season. After all, this is a classic survival horror that recaptures the primal fear of the genre's finest. Its 3D pixel art may not offer the realistic gore or the perfectly calibrated set pieces of a more modern horror game, but this is about atmosphere, story, and leaving just enough to the imagination. When done right, there's something about low-def horror games that can provide a special brand of discomfort. Like the classics it's inspired by, there's limited inventory space, complicated puzzles, and the option to use tank controls. It's a must-play for fans of the original '90s Resident Evil and Silent Hill games.
Check prices at Humble.
8. Scorn
Scorn's grim aesthetic of mutilated body parts and fleshy, dingy corridors makes it one of the most visually striking horror games we've played. What it lacks in traditional scares, it more than makes up for in atmosphere and gory goodness, and it's easy to see the inspiration of H.R. Giger and Zdzislaw Beksinski in Scorn's skeletal structures, blood-veined flooring, and mechanisms made of appendages.
Scorn uses flesh and gore to create moments of unease as you move through its non-linear levels, solving complex puzzles in near silence - other than the odd squelch. There are plenty of abominations to fight (or hide from) along the way, but like a quiet scream, Scorn becomes increasingly more unhinged as you start to unearth the secrets of its sci-fi world.
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9. Dead Space Remake
The original Dead Space had long sat on this list, but Motive's 2023 remake did such a good job with a fan-favorite that we swapped it out. That said, the original remains a must-play for horror fans, and, of course, much of the praise for the remake also applies to Visceral's classic.
In fact, in our Dead Space Remake review, Phil Hayton says, "Dead Space Remake is a gloriously grotesque glow-up that embraces the original horror game's robust formula." Whichever Dead Space you play, it tells the story of a cabal of ne'er-do-well cultists who bring a deep space mining ship to its flickering, malfunctioning knees. As Isaac Clarke, an engineer sent in to determine what's gone wrong, you're armed with a laser cutter capable of strategically dismembering legions of malformed alien creatures prowling the ship. Despite your powerful weaponry, you're never close to being at ease. Like all of the genre's best, Dead Space's brand of horror is disturbing and often lashes out at your psyche, subtly mixing violence and paranoia to create an atmospheric and unrelentingly bleak miasma of despair.
If you find yourself struggling, our Dead Space weapons recommendations and the best Dead Space suit upgrades can offer some protection from the Ishimura's terrors.
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10. Phasmophobia
Paranormal ghost-hunting game Phasmophobia saw its peak shortly after its September 2020 launch, when streamers and content creators picked it up over the Halloween period. Despite a console launch in 2024, it's never quite captured the zeitgeist in the same way since. Well, we're here to tell you it remains one of the best and most terrifying horror games around. If you tried it before, multiple massive content updates mean Phasmo plays like an entirely different game. Even if you haven't, grab your EMF machine and Spirit Box - it's time to hunt some ghosts.
The basic gameplay involves using your ghost-hunting gear to locate a presence in one of the game's gorgeous maps and then decipher which ghost type you're dealing with. In doing so, however, you're putting yourself in grave danger. From demons to banshees, goryos to wraiths, these terrifying spirits can all kill. When your flashlight starts flickering and you can hear the woeful moans of the dead, it's time to hide. Each hunt (and extended time in darkness) lowers your sanity, and the lower your sanity, the greater the chance of another hunt. In other words, the longer it takes to carry out your job, the harder it becomes. Full of jump scares and a level of fear seldom matched, Phamosphobia is the perfect horror game if you want to be truly scared.
Plus, if you're here for the most terrifying experience we can recommend, Phasmophobia also happens to be one of the best VR games for those brave enough.
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11. Dead by Daylight
The majority of the best horror games are single-player stories, survival adventures in which you're battling alone. It's the perfect way to heighten the feeling of terror. That doesn't mean you're left wanting if you prefer a multiplayer experience, though. In fact, asymmetrical multiplayer lends itself brilliantly to big scares thanks to the unpredictable behaviour of other real-life players.
As a survivor in Dead By Daylight, it's your job to evade a player-controlled killer, fix generators, open the gates, and escape. As the killer, well, you've got to kill. So much of the intensity comes from not knowing what the other players, even your own teammates, are going to do next. Playing as a survivor, there's also an element of being perhaps more immersed than any other horror game on this list. What would you do if a killer were chasing your friend? Would you try to save them, or would you hide to save your own skin? Is the main objective more important than saving one life? Then there are those heart-stopping moments when stealth killers like Michael Myers or Ghostface sneak up on you from behind - we still experience jump scares after 1,200 hours in-game.
DBD is also made for horror fans. All your favorite iconic characters are here: Leon Kennedy, Freddy Krueger, Alan Wake, Pinhead, Ashley Williams, Springtrap - the list goes on. In fact, with new DBD killers and survivors added every few months, it's hard to get bored. Take a look at who's set to arrive in the next DBD update and when it's coming.
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12. Amnesia: The Bunker
Amnesia: The Bunker is six hours of relentless survival horror set in a trap-filled underground bunker during the height of WWI. Blending the supernatural with the very real brutality of war, Frictional delves into real horrors, and does so respectfully.
Nat summarized what makes it such a special and terrifying experience, calling it WWI poetry in motion. She says, "Amnesia The Bunker [eschews] the grandiose to capture the sensory and emotional experience of the horror of trench warfare, echoing the prominent WWI poets that came before it." If the six-hour base game isn't enough horror for you, the October 2023 Halloween update added terrifying New Game Plus mechanics and two new modes, so there's plenty to keep you busy past your first playthrough.
Now, if you're ready to delve into the trenches for yourself, we can help with our breakdown of the Amnesia The Bunker map to help you find your way around in the dark.
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13. Layers of Fear (2016)
Sadly, we can't include Hideo Kojima's PT on this list as it's not technically available on PC, but the now-delisted, hour-long teaser for a Silent Hill that never came to be remains one of the finest horror games of all time. Instead, we recommend Bloober Team's original Layers of Fear, which is heavily inspired by PT and is a superb alternative, especially if you're just looking for a short, spooky, and mind-bending game to fill an evening.
Layers of Fear puts you in the shoes of a struggling painter as he deals with grief and loss while trying to paint his masterpiece. As you explore a vast Victorian mansion, things start twisting and changing, and nothing is as it seems. Like in PT, your surroundings change with every step as the protagonist slowly deteriorates into madness, taking you with them.
While there are many critics of the overall Layers of Fear series, this original, as a standalone entry, deserves your attention, if not just for the PT-inspired scenery, then for the engaging story of a young artist grappling with his inner demons.
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14. Resident Evil 2
We could easily fill this list with Resident Evil games, but we'll resist the urge. Many consider the first game from 1996 (and its excellent 2002 remake) to be the best of the bunch. For others, it's the original RE2. Leon fans may instead prefer his Resi 4 glow up (or maybe they like it for its heavier pivot to action combat). But we had to pick one.
It was a tough call between the first game and the second, but, for us, Resident Evil 2 is the embodiment of what makes Resident Evil what it is. It's the first game set in the Racoon City Police Department. It's got classic inventory management and puzzles. It's got Umbrella, lickers, and the haunting footsteps of Mr X. It's classic zombies and Marvin (RIP). Again, we're here with our usual caveat: play the original if you can by grabbing it from GOG, but the Resident Evil 2 Remake from 2019 is also a valid entry. In this case, rather than enforcing our own opinions on you, we'd say to choose based on your preferences. If you like a classic game with a fixed-camera and tank controls, go for the OG. For more updated visuals, modern controls, and an over-the-shoulder camera, the remake is the play. Either way, you'll be experiencing one of the best horror games of all time.
If you complete 1 and 2 and still want more, we've got thoughts on why RE3 Remake is actually better than people say it is, and why Zero should be the next remake. We've talked a lot about Resident Evil here at PCGN.
Check prices on GOG.
15. The Mortuary Assistant
Working on cadavers is far from the usual premise for a videogame, but The Mortuary Assistant adds a supernatural twist to the procedure. During a late-night embalming session, it soon becomes apparent that these bodies aren't normal, and a call with the local mortician confirms it: rumors of demonic possession are true, and now you can't leave.
In a similar premise to Phasmophobia, you must practice occult rituals to identify the demons and purge them. Banish these heretical spirits by gathering clues while still somehow performing your regular duties of embalming corpses, while creepy animations and the ever-present threat of jump scares make your job more difficult than ever.
This first-person horror game will take multiple playthroughs for you to see everything, but you can download a demo from the Steam page if you want to taste the terrors within before fully committing to your new job.
Check prices on Fanatical.
16. Soma
Soma is a sci-fi horror from the creator of Amnesia, taking the creepiest elements from the hit horror series and creating a whole new dark adventure deep beneath the ocean. Stranded in a mysterious underwater facility, you must solve puzzles, pore over documents, and unlock hidden passages to uncover the horrifying secrets onboard PATHOS-II.
Of course, like any horror from Frictional Games, you can expect plenty of scares, lurking monsters, and the constant fear that something follows. What sets SOMA apart, though, is its underwater setting. Not all of SOMA is spent exploring the ocean floor. In fact, most of your time is spent in the remains of equally deadly underwater ships and research facilities. It's akin to being abandoned in space - even if you get out, how long can you really survive without the right gear? Frictional, of course, nails this sense of claustrophobia even in the vastness of the ocean, leading to a truly suffocating horror experience.
If you want to take in your surroundings without any interruptions from monsters, there's even a Soma safe mode that lets the worldbuilding and Frictional's remarkable storytelling do the work.
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17. Hollowbody
Hollowbody is a true love letter to horror royalty, spliced with its own unique spins on what made the likes of Resident Evil and Silent Hill so iconic. Created by solo dev Nathan Hemley, Hollowbody sticks you in a slick tech noir spin on a British city with plenty of puzzles to solve and ghoulish creatures to batter.
PCGamesN alum and horror aficionado Ed Smith was particularly impressed with the game's design. In this story, he writes about how Hemley perfectly deploys 'non-mechanical' space to emphasize Hollowbody's destitute setting and create indifference to the player. "Not only does Hemley emphasize the destitution of Hollowbody's setting and the terror that naturally occurs from feeling that you're by yourself somewhere dangerous," Smith writes, "the developer also creates a sense that the game is indifferent to you, that not everything here is created to facilitate and smoothen your experience."
Since a major update in December 2024, you can also now play in either third or first person, so Hollowbody caters to your horror game preferences, whether you're a fan of, say, the original Resident Evil style or Capcom's modern remakes.
Check prices at Loaded.
18. System Shock 2
System Shock 2 kicked a particular flavor of first-person survival horror games into gear. It boasts an open-ended structure with an endless maze of decks and quarters that promote exploration and discovery. It is a lot like being stuck in a haunted department store, except with psychic death monkeys.
The faster-than-light Von Braun is a persistent world that appears to exist and unfold even while your back is turned - building a heightened sense of place aboard the scarcely populated starship. But it's the corrupted artificial intelligence SHODAN who makes System Shock 2 one of the greatest horror games to have ever graced our fair platform. Right up there with 2001: A Space Odyssey's HAL 9000 in the soothingly voiced yet subtly evil computer stakes, she torments and tricks you endlessly, transforming an already terrifying survival RPG into an isolationist horror classic.
Whether you're playing the original or the 2025 remaster, you're in for a treat. We don't often recommend remasters, but Ed deems Nightdive's rework more a "restoration" than a remaster, which is a perfect compromise. In this feature, he says, "The studio upscales the visuals, smoothens the performance, removes any compatibility blockades, and takes games that were once confined to the museum of PC esoterica and puts them on all platforms. After that, it gets out the way."
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19. Five Nights at Freddy's
Not many games on this list are too heavy on the jump scares. Most prioritize delivering a scary atmosphere and challenging you to survive in the worst conditions. If you're after the heart-stopping fear that jump scares provide, though, you really need look no further than FNAF.
The premise of Five Nights at Freddy's, and perhaps what made it one of the most successful horror game franchises of all time, is that the entire thing takes place in one room. You, as the protagonist, don't even move. Instead, your challenge is to stay alive for just five nights. Simple. After all, you're alone, right? Wrong. Those pesky animatronics are out for blood, and you must keep a close eye on the security cameras covering the Fazbear's Pizza interior and prevent them from reaching the office. You can't just close all the doors, keep the lights on, or monitor the cameras at all times; you don't have sufficient power. Instead, there's a certain amount of strategy required to survive a night at Freddy's, but that's the fun of it.
Fail, and the FNAF jump scares might literally force your soul out of your body. Even when you know they're coming, they really get you. Your neighbors may even call the police. When it gets to that point, you might want to switch it up to one of the most relaxing games around, and return your heart rate (and your neighbors') to normal.
Check prices on Steam.
New horror games
Once you're ready to get back out from under your desk, there are even more scares waiting in the wings. Some of the most anticipated upcoming games right now are fright-fests, and they may even make it onto this list - we're already making space for Hellraiser: Revival. There's also the new Halloween game, and Toxic Commando - and when something has John Carpenter's name on it, you know it's gonna be good.
Until then, you've got plenty to be getting on with with the 19 horrifying hits we've listed above. If you have any hot takes on our picks or think there are any glaring omissions, have your say over in our community Discord. Alternatively, you might find your favorite is on our list of the best zombie games. Plus, if you need time to let your heart rate come down a bit, some of the best PC games right now have considerably more chill.