Top 10: Horror-Themed Video Games to play on Halloween

Starting off our list on the silly side is this light-hearted 2-player adventure to save the neighborhood from bizarre creatures and brain slurpers. Not only a great co-op scavenger-hunt with a spooky atmosphere, this retro classic, available on Nintendo’s virtual console, contains some of the catchiest Halloween-themed music we’ve ever heard.

Looks like we already have a tie! Both of these games are zombie-focused, and both let you customize weapons from your surroundings. This is done, all while taking on large groups of horrific enemies. While Dead Island has you survive a vacation retreat with others online in 4-player co-op, Dead Rising is a much less serious single-player affair that includes such memorable weapons as the paddle saw.

A graphic adventure game from a simpler time, this horror B-movie spoof has you guide a group of teens through a mansion filled with dangerous inhabitants and puzzles. With its focus on laughs over scares, this iconic adventure not only provides a unique atmosphere of horror and mystery, but also has you tip toe around a mad scientist and a gaggle of aliens.

Another tie! Here, two of the most terrifying survival horror series ever created, give players a good scare by having them rip apart alien-hybrid Necromorphs in zero G, or take on mansions, cities and villages infected by the T-Virus. Too afraid to play alone? Than the arcade-style rail shooters Dead Space Extraction, and The Resident Evil Chronicles will surely entertain you and a buddy.

While we have a preference for the pre-32 bit era and portable installments of the series, there’s no denying the allure of Castlevania. Centered on a family’s timeless quest to defeat Dracula every hundred years, this is some of the most atmospheric platforming outings ever created. Where else can you literally whip flying demon heads or confront Medusa?

A downloadable add-on turned standalone disk release; this top-rated wild-west game merges Red Dead’s open world environments with hordes of zombies. There’s nothing like riding off on an undead horse to burn graves and save towns from the infected with a revolver by your side.

For the scariest experience on Earth, you sometimes have to go to Mars. The gates of hell have opened up and you need to wield such iconic weapons as the BFG, which is short for the Big F*cking Gun, to take out hordes of demons. Of course, we still can’t get enough of Doom’s Death-match mode.

It’s true, we not only have a soft spot for Zombies, but also online coop and a lack of realism. Here you and 3 other survivors must man-up and take on chapters filled with creatures who not only want to eat you, but vomit on you. Moment for moment, few other gaming options give you this much opportunity for carnage, unintended laughs and teamwork.

While the second entry and 2011’s remake are the clear choices, this entire tournament series is the best horror-themed party game for the holidays. What other series offers undead ninjas, monsters from another realm, an apocalyptic setting, and gore-filled finishing moves in one blood-soaked package?

Rounding out our list is the arcade shooting series filled with scares, laughs and awkward situations. Of the bunch we can’t get enough of Overkill, a game that not only sought out a Guinness World record for swear count, but showcased the most bizarre enemies and bro-mance ever created.