Whilst not the scariest game on this list, it’s certainly one of most polished and enjoyable of the bunch. Until Dawn is essentially an interactive slasher movie. You’ve got your archetypal (yet attractive) characters, a creepy setting and a psychopath in a clown mask. Taking most of its mechanics from the David Cage school of video gaming, Until Dawn constantly bombards you with choices and scenarios that require fast action and cool headed thinking. The characters are likeable and you’ll soon find yourself doing everything in your power to keep them alive.

It has all the ingredients of top-shelf nineties slasher silliness but translates them perfectly to the gaming medium. Giving players multiple pathways to traverse and plenty of high-risk quick-time events to keep them on edge, Until Dawn is a surprisingly potent mix of tension and thrills.

A firm favourite of the staff here at VGU, Until Dawn was a surprise hit on release and has found favour with gamers. Earning itself a reputation as one of the best exclusives on the PlayStation 4 in the process. Some complaints may be aimed at a sudden left turn in the game’s final act but it remains fun and addictive right until the very end.

Perhaps this one is a slightly obvious choice, but we’ve got to fly the flag for PlayStation 4 exclusives. Primarily known as a game that made people shriek on their YouTube channels, Outlast is often dismissed due to its reputation. Don’t be put off by that though, Outlast is a truly intense experience that is worth your attention. 

Outlast tells the story of Miles Upshur, a freelance journalist who investigates a psychiatric hospital located deep in the mountains. Having only his trusty nightvision camera to hand, Miles must sneak around the hospital and avoid detection by the orderlies, or even the worse, the patients.

Forgoing combat for stealth based gameplay, Outlast is a white-knuckle experience from beginning to end. No corner of the asylum is safe and you’ll never feel like you’re truly alone, you must run, hide and rely on your camera’s in-built night-vision to survive your descent into the bowels of the hospital

Perhaps the most surreal entry on the list, Among the Sleep has  you control a toddler who roams around his house at night with the aid of his sentient teddy bear. As one would expect, you are alone in your house and things are lurking in the darkness. Soon you’ll move into surreal dream-world full of both horrors and wonders, playing on a child’s biggest fears and anxieties about the world around them.

Making you feel vulnerable from the word go, the developers make the most of the unique concept. You are defenceless and will spend most of your time slowly crawling around areas trying to avoid detection. It is possible to run, but you’re likely to fall down as your tiny legs struggle to support the rest of your body. It’s the little touches that serve to remind you that you are indeed a small child, resonating with the player on multiple levels. Pushing you to run and stay alive as long as possible. Thankfully the game isn’t particularly mean spirited, but it’s surreal and spooky enough to be a stand-out of the current generation.

Are you psyched for Resident Evil 7? If so then you should do yourself a favour and pick up the Resident Evil: Origins Collection to get you in the mood for some real survival horror. Serving as a reminder of what the franchise once was, the Origins Collection takes Resident Evil 0 and the truly sublime remake of RE1, gives it a HD face-lift and new control schemes.

It’s back to basics with tank controls, fixed camera angles and nonsensical puzzles galore. Not to mention hordes of twisted monstrosities that relentless attack and stalk you for the majority of the playtime. Of the two games, the remake of RE1 is undoubtedly the scarier of the two. It’s thick and musty atmosphere is only worsened by the onslaught of tough enemies. Some of which get back up if you don’t properly dispose of them, making the inevitable backtracking even less appealing. Resi 0 is still a tension-filled challenge though, with more diverse enemy types and unique character-swapping mechanics but it does pale in comparison to its sister game.

The original GameCube iterations of both games still hold-up well, but aren’t as easy to come across in the wild, making this version worth seeking out. In my useless opinion, this game is an essential purchase for any system you may own. Two great games, remastered in glorious HD at a reasonable price. It’s a no brainer really.

A slightly obscure pick, but a deeply disturbing one indeed. Neverending Nightmares is one of the most visually interesting and unnerving horror games to have surfaced in recent years. Inspired by the creators own battles with mental illness, Neverending Nightmares is bleak from the word go. You play as Thomas a man who awakens from one nightmare and is plunged into another. You must traverse each nightmare, with each being increasingly more surreal and horrific.

The Gothic hand-drawn art-style is one of the games real draws. The stark black and white design stands out enough but when blood and other fluids are brought Into the mix, they truly leave a mark upon one’s psyche. There’s little else that can be really be said of Neverending Nightmares, it’s a game that must be experienced to be understood as descriptions don’t really do it justice.

By far and away the most terrifying and anxiety ridden experience you’re likely to experience on Sony’s sleek black box. This is the game that the Alien franchise has always deserved and it’s a shame it has taken so long for a developer to get it right.

Taking the series back to it’s roots, Alien: Isolation places you in a creepy space station and a hulking great Xenomorph in front of the exit and tells you to escape. There’s very little combat or action heavy segments, just stealth and rock solid tension. Every pore of Alien: Isolation is dripping with a cold atmosphere that never fails to make one’s hairs stand on end. The visuals are stunning, capturing the low-fi seventies look of the films perfectly. Complementing the game’s challenging difficulty by making every environment you visit feel hostile and cold.

Even outside of the Halloween season, Alien: Isolation is a title I’d recommend to anybody with even a passing interest in either horror games or the Alien franchise as a whole. It’s a beautifully constructed nightmare that pulls the player in before locking them in a locker as a slimey creature rubs up against it in the hopes you’ll scream. It’s tense, scary and genuinely quite brilliant.