Halloween. Once an honored night where we lowly humans revered the powers of death and fear over our lives and celebrated (or cowered, depended on where you where geographically) our shared ignorance of life after death and all the spookiness that entails. Or maybe just a night to mark the end of a season or harvest (hey, I don’t know you and what your hypoethetical cultural past is).
Well whatever Halloween once was, it’s pretty clear what it is now; a night of costumes, candy, scary stories and drunken celebrations. It’s become a lot more niched over the last decades; some people trick or treat with kids, some people are kids, some folks hand out candy, some pass out toothbrushes of religious pamphlets, and some people dress up in over the top offensive and sexy costumes (last year I saw two suicide bombers and a sexy pencil…that’s right…sexy pencil) and get absolutely sloshed.
So for those of us who after the parties and trick or treating don’t want to spend the rest of the night just forking over delicious piles of candy (or religious pamphlets, I don’t judge) there will always be the scary movies and, even better, scary video games.
If you’re anything like me you bought five bags of candy last week, had to go buy two more this morning due to a lack of willpower, and are very excited to sneak out of your friend’s Halloween party early so you can come home early and enjoy some pumpkin ale as you pass out kit kats to a gaggle of whatever the newest Disney princesses are and some muscley two-year olds in Spider Man costumes.
But what to do between rounds of trick-or-treaters? You could go with a scary movie, but those really lose their charm and shock factor after the second or third pause (and some of those ok-for-children horror movies are downright terrible) which is why I highly recommend the horror video game (just not Resident Evil 6– that game is merciless with quick time events and literally will not pause throughout 75% of the game).
Luckily for you there are some legitimately great horror/spooky games available on Xbox Live right now. Here are my top five from a handful of categories.
Best Arcade Game for Friends/Couples:
The Walking Dead 
If you haven’t played this yet then be prepared for one amazing Halloween night. Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead series does cause and effect, gamer-decsision-defined-tailored storylines better than any game I’ve ever played. Surprisingly difficult during intense moments (especially if you need the Y inverted, the gameplay doesn’t allow for classic camera style!) The Walking Dead is four episodes long (with one more episode to come), extremely well written and (most importantly) as fun to watch as it is to play (and easy for first time gamers). If you’re looking for something to entertain a few people try the first episode, you couldn’t ask for a more fun and spooky Halloween Night game.
Best Arcade Game for Families:
Haunt 
If you want to play a spooky game with your kids try Kinect’s Haunt- it’s a silly, simple game that combines exploration and puzzle solving with a few spooky jumps in a great haunted house atmosphere.
It’s simple enough for kids to understand and enjoy, and just scary enough to get them into the Halloween spirit. It’s also very short (my nieces and I finished it in two rounds of about an hour each) and while the mechanics aren’t perfect (like a lot of Kinect games you’ll find yourself flailing around and marching hard instead of simply pointing and walking) it could be the perfect Halloween end of the night game for a family!
Best Arcade Game for Solo Play:
I Am Alive 
While not technically a horror game (more of an action-adventure set in a dystopian future) I Am Alive is the most engrossing, thrilling arcade game I have encountered so far. With bleak and chilling backgrounds, intense climbing sequences and fights, and an unpredictable storyline (one moment you’re climbing a building, the next you’re flying over the top of another, then you have a child with you, then you’re in a knife fight) I Am Alive is an immersive, excitingly terrifying game that you can leave and reenter without a hiccup. For anyone looking for a thrilling, chilling game for Halloween I would highly suggest spending a few hours with the challenging I Am Alive.
There are of course dozens of great games available on demand on Xbox Live today; Resident Evil 4 (arguably the best in the series) Resident Evil 5 (great if you’re spending Halloween with a friend) Dead Space, Dead Space 2, Bioshock, Bioshock 2-and of course Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 have over a dozen great campaigns (and the online lobbies will most likely be flooded with other gamers looking for some zombie thrills). And that’s just to name a few off the top of my head!
The three listed above are simply the best of the arcade games available and can all be purchased for under ten dollars (for those of us not looking to drop sixty on what could be one night of entertainment).
As for myself, tonight I will be beating Left 4 Dead 2’s Hard Rain on expert (the final campaign for my What Are You Trying to Prove achievement) with my little brother and boyfriend and then be heading online for some Left 4 Dead versus. Hope to see some of you online!
I hope all of you looking for a spooky thrill tonight find it, and of course, Happy Halloween!