Put down the popcorn and leftover Halloween candy, dim the lights and pick up a controller, mouse or keyboard. You might be pleasantly surprised to discover just how gripping and terrifying video games have become.
Over the past few years and even just over the course of the past few months, there have been a plethora of games that retain an extraordinary propensity for being terrifying - causing some horror film fanatics to change the medium that they get their scares from.
Although some do it better than others, there are plenty of games in recent memory that are guaranteed to be full of thrills, chills and downright petrifying moments.
Outlast
Release date: Sep. 4 for PC, early 2014 for PS4
'Not for the faint of heart' is a gross understatement when it comes to this psychological thriller. Outlast isn't just a game, it's a test of mental endurance and has quickly become praised as one of the scariest gaming experiences ever created.
In Outlast, hiding under a bed or in a locker will only save you for so long. Trapped in Mount Massive Asylum as a defenseless journalist equipped with only a video camera makes this game petrifying from start to finish.
Slender:The Arrival
Release date: Mar. 26 for PC and Mac
The infamous Slender Man may have started as a meme, but that doesn't stop him from being terrifying and creating his own fair share of scares. As a full-fledged version of Slender: The Eight Pages, The Arrival evokes a sense of helplessness that few other games can match.
The series started with wandering around the woods, collecting pages, dodging Slender and praying the flashlight's battery didn't run out. Slender: The Arrival takes this tried-and-true scare fest to a whole new level. Though it may get a bit repetitive in the end, it doesn't detract from the scare factor.
Doom 3:BFG Edition
Release Date: Oct. 16, 2012 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC
When it was first released in 2004, Doom 3 proved it doesn't take the player feeling helpless in order for the game to be bloodcurdlingly scary. Despite providing the player with loads of firepower, the renowned first person shooter remains terrifying.
Known for its grim atmosphere, superb soundtrack and excellent game play, Doom 3 was recently digitally re-mastered into the BFG Edition. The timeless collection of the revolutionary game series by id Software is just as frightening now as it was nine years ago.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Release Date: Sept. 8, 2010 for PC and Mac
Memory loss is the least of Daniel's problems when he awakens in a mysterious Prussian castle with a note telling him to kill the castle's owner, Alexander. Soon, Daniel's sanity becomes something the player has to manage as they evade enemies in this critically acclaimed horror-adventure game.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent's combination of ominous atmosphere, ambience and game play will keep players coming back for more, all the while providing an unforgettably horrific experience. The sequel, A Machine for Pigs, launched in September and while it is quite scary, it pales in comparison to its predecessor in its propensity to create terrifying situations.
Dead Space
Release Date: Oct. 14, 2008 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC
There are few places more isolating than an abandoned mining vessel on the fringes of space. Trapped on an enormous "planet cracker" with only a handful of mining tools and a picture of his girlfriend, engineer Isaac Clarke must face off against droves of mutated humanoid "Necromorphs."
As a third-person survival horror shooter, Dead Space spends a lot of its time encouraging players to maim and dismember their foes. Despite this, everything from the sound, atmosphere and setting, to the lighting and boss fights, turns Dead Space into a bleak, pulse- pounding and all around terrifically terrifying experience.
Resident Evil series
Before they turned into generic action-adventure games with an affinity for explosions, violence and hordes of zombie cannon fodder, the Resident Evil series was groundbreaking and it defined the survival-horror genre.
With a legacy spanning almost 18 years and nine games, the series constantly reaffirmed its dominance in a genre it practically invented. The original Resident Evil in 1996 had an atmosphere and story of a B-grade horror movie. Over time and through the release of Resident Evil 4 in 2004, the series retained its scare factor despite growing more action oriented.
Although recent iterations like Resident Evil 6 and Revelations have failed in their commitment to dedicating sections of the game to being scary, that still leaves almost a decade of scary games worth checking out.
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