The scariest games to play right now

It's the spookiest time of the year, so why not indulge your darker side with some of the best horror games on Xbox.

The horror genre is a diverse place, so there's something for everyone. There are survival horror games like the Resident Evil series for people who love the tension, pure horror experiences like Outlast for the real thrill seekers amongst you, and even action horror games like Dead Space 2 for those of you that need to feel the comforting warmth of a shotgun in their hands before they can face their fears.

Our list has a good mix of every corner of the horror spectrum, so whatever your preference when it comes to scares, we've got you covered. We've also bulked it up with some new entries, as a Halloween gift to you all. Now, let’s dive in to the best Xbox horror games.

15. Silent Hill: HD Collection

• Release date: March 30, 2012
• Developer: Hijinx Studios, Vatra Games, Konami Digital Entertainment

Although they’re showing their age a bit at this point, it’s well worth checking out the Silent Hill: HD Collection for a romp through the fantastic survival horror classics, Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3 — especially since Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 remake will be a PlayStation console exclusive.

Although the first game is missing from the bundle, the Silent Hill: HD Collection offers both new and returning players a fantastic entry point into the survival horror genre. Whether you’re attempting to find James’ dead wife in Silent Hill 2 or escape Heather’s monster-filled nightmare in Silent Hill 3, you’re sure to get a good jump scare or two along the way. Just mind the scary framerate drops that can appear every so often too!

14. Amnesia The Bunker

• Release date: June 6, 2023
• Developer: Frictional Games

Amnesia: The Bunker is the latest entry in the Amnesia series, and launched earlier this year. It’s a first-person horror game where you, a French soldier by the name of Henri Clément, are trapped in a WW1 bunker and armed only with a single bullet and your desperate attempt to keep the lights on.

You’re left to figure out what happened to everyone else while facing unimaginable horrors — something that reacts to every decision you make — entirely on your own.

13. Soma

• Release date: December 1, 2017
• Developer: Frictional Games, BlitWorks

Then we have Soma, which manages to pack in a load of horror despite being shorter than some of the others on here (with an estimated completion time of around six to eight hours). It’s set in an underwater facility which is rapidly running out of food and which is full of violent robots, a cryptic AI, and a myriad of other threats.

As if this wasn’t enough, you aren’t just trying to survive but also to become immersed in the question of “what it means to be human.” So, physical dangers and existential terror alike, all tied up in a truly horrifying bow.

12. Layers of Fear

• Release Date: June 15, 2023
• Developer: Anshar Studios, Bloober Team

Layers of Fear is essentially a walking simulator with a creepy theme and jump scares, but offers interesting puzzles and a fantastic story.

We take control of a disturbed painter who's on a mission to complete his magnum opus while exploring a Victorian manor that reveals secrets of his past in some of the freakiest ways possible. It's a great game that can be both relaxing and unnerving at times, offering interesting scenes and memorable encounters.

11. Blair Witch

• Release date: August 30, 2019
• Developer: Bloober Team

Unlike the namesake movies it's based on, Bloober Team’s crack at actually making the Blair Witch frightening is actually a solid effort. Set in Maryland, we play as a police officer, Ellis, who is investigating the disappearance of a boy within the Black Hills Forest. What begins as a routine missing persons case soon turns into a battle for sanity as Ellis battles with his troubled past via nightmarish visions and encounters with the Blair Witch.

Not only will you handle Ellis’s constant battle with losing his sanity, but you’ll also find yourself lost in the tree-lined mazes of the Black Hills Forest and the mind-bending halls of the Blair Witch’s cabin. Unlike some others on this list, though, Blair Witch offers you a defence against the darkness with a flashlight, which is used to fend off dark entities, and Ellis’ dog Bullet, who if anything, acts as a small reprieve when you interact with him.

10. Martha is Dead

• Release date: February 24, 2022
• Developer: LKA.it

Martha is Dead gives this list a break from adrenaline-fuelling terror, and instead offers up an immersive and disturbing tale filled with some fairly grotesque imagery and a foreboding atmosphere. Developers LKA.it went with a slow burn on this one, as we traverse a small piece of beautiful Tuscany to uncover the truth behind our sister’s death. Martha is Dead sees you exploring local folklore, playing around with a pretty awesome camera simulator, and wielding tarot cards to communicate with the mysterious, and slightly creepy, spirit known as The Lady.

Set in 1944, the sounds of war loom over the backdrop of Martha is Dead, but if you’ve played LKA’s previous game, The Town of Light, you’ll know that an ongoing war is the least disturbing thing you've got to worry about. There are some pretty heavy scenes of dismemberment, mutilation, miscarriage, and more here, so it's not for the faint-hearted.

9. Signalis

• Release date: October 27, 2022
• Developer: rose-engine

One of the more recent games on our list is 2022’s psychological survival horror game Signalis, which takes place in a future where androids, known as Replikas, live alongside humans. Signalis revolves around one of these — a Replika called Elster who wakes up on a strange planet and has to figure out the horrors of the unknown all while managing resources and solving riddles.

It's a fantastic throwback to older survival horror games, with fixed camera angles, limited resources, and plenty of head-scratching puzzles.

8. Alan Wake Remastered

• Release date: October 5, 2021
• Developer: Remedy Entertainment

Then we have a remaster and a whole different type of horror with 2021’s action-thriller Alan Wake game. Alan Wake Remastered sees Alan Wake himself setting out to find his missing wife, only to find a horror story which he can’t remember writing, before grappling with his own sanity and the darkness.

The Remastered version also comes with two story expansions, The Signal and The Writer, so you have even more content to keep being terrified.

7. Visage

• Release date: 30 October 2020
• Developer: SadSquare Studio

Visage is yet another horror game that equips you with... well, nothing, as you attempt to survive the ghastly inhabitants of an ever-changing house. Our role in this story is to experience many of the dark events that plague the house’s history, so expect to be thrown into scenarios of insanity, family members murdering each other, suicide, and more.

No matter what you do or where you go in Visage’s house, you’ll be dogged by the many entities left haunting the abode after their lives tragically came to an end. You’ll die a lot, but using the environment and your smarts will give you the edge you need to survive the horror house and hold on to your sanity.

6. The Evil Within 2

• Release date: October 13, 2017
• Developer: Tango Gameworks

A follow-up to 2014's The Evil Within, The Evil Within 2 came with some lofty expectations aimed at it, which the game exceeded. You'll reprise your role as detective Sebastian Castellanos who, after the events of the first game and the apparent disappearance of his family, is on a journey back into a failing STEM to save his missing daughter, Lily.

The Evil Within 2 is an action-horror game at heart with a large focus on gunplay and stealth mechanics, but features plenty of frightful creatures that'll keep you entertained throughout.

5. Alien: Isolation

• Release date: October 7, 2014
• Developer: Creative Assembly

Creative Assembly’s fantastic attempt at bringing the horrifying Aliens universe to our screens as a true horror experience. Alien: Isolation was a hit when it was released due to the game’s continuous tension and the feeling of being hunted. You'll be in the not-so-enviable shoes of Amanda Ripley as she attempts to outsmart a ruthless Xenomorph while she learns the fate of her mother, Ellen, aboard the Nostromo.

Alien: Isolation is mostly played out though stealth, with no real way to protect yourself. It's a clash of willpower, pitting you against a relentless adversary that'll have you feeling helpless at times. There’s word of a new single-player Aliens action-horror game in development, but for now it’s Alien: Isolation which sits on our list.

4. Resident Evil 4

• Release date: March 24, 2023
• Developer: Capcom Entertainment

The excellent Resident Evil 4 remake very much deserves a spot on this list. Six years after Leon’s Raccoon City adventures, Leon sets out to a remote village to search for the president’s daughter. Capcom’s Resident Evil games are always good at creating a tense atmosphere and tricking you about where its jump-scares might be (I always fall for the tricksy human-shaped shadows which turn out to be nothing more than a lamp).

The remake has a number of changes throughout, so you can’t even rely on well-remembered or favorite approaches to certain situations. Plus, it means you can never be sure where a new jump-scare might be thrown in, making the game highly tense to play whether it’s your first time playing it or your tenth.

3. Outlast

• Release date: 19 June, 2014
• Developer: Red Barrels

While Outlast 2 is by no means a bad game, the tight quarters of Mount Massive Asylum give the first Outlast the edge when it comes to horror experiences. Outlast puts us in the shoes of Journalist Miles Upshur, who breaks into the Mount Massive Asylum to investigate the activities of the Murkoff Corporation, a private multinational company which has reopened the asylum after many years of abandonment.

Armed with a video camera and the ability to hide in and under many objects, Upshur sneaks into the asylum to come face-to-face with the terrifying offspring of religion and science. Outlast is atmospherically dark, as well as visually, so turn off your lights if you want a truly monstrous experience here!

2. Dead Space 2

• Release date: January 28, 2011
• Developer: Visceral Games

Visceral Games’ sci-fi horror sequel to 2008s Dead Space has you reprise your role as Isaac Clarke, who’s awoken from a coma in the huge space-city called The Sprawl. From there, it’s a battle for survival against some of the ugliest creatures known to man, and one you won’t soon forget. You'll be tearing through beasties using advanced mining tools, sloshing around in gore, left screaming from the jump scares, and questioning every life decision that brought you to the moment you played.

Although Dead Space 2 brought more action to the party than its predecessor, it's still worth packing your brown pants for this adventure.

1. Resident Evil 2

• Release date: January 25, 2019
• Developer: Capcom Entertainment

This is one of the big daddies of horror and one that often takes the crown when it comes to offering players a frightfully good time. Resident Evil 2 originally released in 1998 and then made a full return in 2019 when Capcom completely rebuilt the game using its RE Engine (yes, we know the E stands for engine) so we could experience the terrors of Raccoon City all over again, but this time in 4K.

It’s a terrifying journey that sealed the franchise's place in the horror hall of fame and spawned myriad sequels and spin-offs that to this day continue to entertain millions. We ummed and ahhed about where Resi 2 and Resi 4 should be, but ultimately decided that while Resi 4 might be the better game, Resi 2 is the better horror game.