Halloween News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

There’s something to be said about this time of year. Developers put a lot of effort into some creepy content, in game events, and in the case of Perfect New World’s recently released Halloween teaser, some wacky videos.

It’s time to get spooky in Final Fantasy XIV with the return of All Saint’s Wake. The annual holiday is back, with event quests and fun rewards to get your hands on.

Chrono Odyssey, the space-time bending open world game developed by South Korean developer NPIXEL, has released a series of monster models that border on the freakish, just in time for Halloween. We’ve compiled each of the short teasers in one place so you can get your fright on with a look at some of the fearsome enemies you’ll be facing when you set foot on Setera.

Each week, we scour the internet for all things indie MMO-related, so you don’t have to. This week, it’s all about Halloween in the Indie MMO Universe. Multiple indie MMOs will be holding events to celebrate the holiday, and just in case that isn’t enough of a treat, I also put together a Halloween event guide that covers the major MMOs (shameless plug). In addition to holiday events, Foxhole heads to the seas, Ember Sword goes deep, and Palia opened up dedicated EU servers. Plenty of other stuff is also going on, so let’s quit wasting time and get started with this week’s Indie MMO Spotlight.

Halloween is still going strong in Grand Theft Auto Online , and this week offers some of the final opportunities to enjoy the eerie atmosphere, grab themed cars and liveries, rake in bonuses, and earn yourself some more seasonal masks.

Rift is in a celebratory mood, with a Steam anniversary and the return of the Autumn Harvest and Halloween. 

The world of Black Desert is getting spooky and rewarding, a fun blend of Halloween celebrations that extends across different celebrations PC, console, and mobile. 

It’s Halloween once more in Guild Wars 2 , with the return of the Shadow of the Mad King festival, starting today. Enjoy returning favorites and new stuff for 2023, including a new variant of the Mad King's Clock Tower, new achievements, and more.

 Star Stable Online is now available on Android, completing the planned cross-platform releases. The game is also in the Halloween spirit.

recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, with the multiplayer mode still going incredibly strong. But now it’s time to turn our attention to its latest seasonal events, and as it is October, you know what that means—Halloween event goodies, and plenty of them.

A year has passed since David Gordon Green completed his trilogy, which began with 2018’s Halloween and culminated with 2021’s Halloween Kills and 2022’s Halloween Ends. The last time I watched the series was last October, and I was eager to give it another go to see if my opinion might have changed after the long hiatus.

‘s Fortnitemares event will bring seasonal skins of The Nightmare Before Christmas’ and Halloween’s to the game.

The Halloween season is ramping up across a number of games, and Grand Theft Auto Online is up next. GTA Online is bringing back Halloween themed modes, extra bonus opportunities, a free gift, and more.

Just like us, Sims celebrate a variety of familiar and downright bizarre occasions throughout their calendar years. However, one holiday that doesn’t really show up on the Sim schedule of annual events is Halloween.

Pre-registrations have gone live for Konami's Silent Hill: Ascension, an interactive drama for mobiles - I know, shush, I'm sure it'll come to PCs eventually - which follows a cast of characters around the world who are being tormented by monsters from the eponymous Town of Woe.

Silent Hill and Halloween go together like James Sunderland and existential guilt. With Konami’s iconic horror series returning, many will be wondering when we’ll get to experience this new era. As it turns out, perhaps to the surprise of no one, Silent Hill: Ascension may be heading to our screens for the spooky season.

The GTA Online weekly update for October 5-12 2023 is here, and that can only mean one thing. That’s right, spooky season has officially begun – all your favorite GTA Online Halloween event modes are back, including the likes of the Slashers, the Halloween Bunker series, and the Alien Survivals mode. There’s also a free gift for you to celebrate, along with the usual raft of free cars, bonus rewards, and discounts, so pull out your pumpkin spice and tuck into the full details below.

The horrifically frightening indie horror game Stray Souls just got a new trailer as well as a release date, and let us warn you, it's not for the faint of heart. 

Diablo 4’s second season, Season of Blood, is all about vampires. Players will be able to jump in on Oct. 17, gather up their own vampiric powers, and use them to decimate hordes of blood-sucking undead.

Humble Choice is going big on scares and spooks this month, just in time for Halloween.

Lost Ark is all about the fashion, the spectacle, and the glamor. Beyond the complexities and nuances of its Guardian Raids, Legion Raids, and other such endgame activities, the Amazon Games MMO is filled with ways to celebrate in style and look great while doing it. So with the spookiest month of the year now underway, it should come as no surprise to find plenty of Halloween-themed specialties in the Lost Ark October update.

The Forest Cathedral is an environmental thriller that hit Xbox Series X/S and PC earlier this year in March. Now, Game Informer can exclusively reveal it hits PlayStation 5 on October 31, making this a great spooky experience for the holiday. 

If there’s one thing we love here at Polygon, it’s the Halloween season.

PUBG: Battlegrounds' Halloween event is back.

The Foglands was announced back in February as a PSVR2 title. It's a rogue-lite FPS that looks pretty promising from what little has been shown so far. It finally has a launch date, releasing on 31st October 2023. And there's even better news — it no longer requires the headset.

In their newest Devstream, Warframe developer Digital Extremes revealed details for the MMO’s upcoming Abyss of Dagath update. The update, which will be released on October 18, will add the 54th Warframe to its ranks. The legendary headless horsewoman Dagath can conjure spectral sickles and projectile cursed energy from her faceless head. The appropriately-themed update will be released just in time for Halloween and comes with more content including a Prime form of the Warframe Grendel as well as reworks to companions and the Warframe Hydroid.

P hantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis is getting in gear for October updates and the return of Halloween celebrations.

The iPhone and iPad will be extra spooky this October.

Many of us probably didn’t envision a future in which we could play AAA games on mobile devices. Well, these days are upon us, and horror fans will be pleased to know that Resident Evil Village is coming to Apple products this Halloween.

By Wes Davis, a weekend editor who covers the latest in tech and entertainment. He has written news, reviews, and more as a tech journalist since 2020.

Resident Evil Village is coming to Apple-flavoured smart devices just in time for Halloween on 30th October, 2023.

Supermassive Games' second instalment of the Dark Pictures Anthology, Little Hope, is coming to Nintendo Switch on 5th October 2023.

Modern Warfare 2 is getting an autumnal makeover during Season 06, which means spooky characters, map updates, and a smorgasbord of new content. Call of Duty has always been reliable for a good seasonal switch-up, but between multiplayer and Warzone 2, 2023’s Halloween update is one of the franchise’s biggest makeovers ever.

Infinity Ward, Raven Software, and Activision today revealed what players can expect from Season 6 of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Warzone, including the return of The Haunting event.

Peacock is adding all kinds of horror movies to its already impressive lineup of spooky fare. The streaming service is taking Halloween extra seriously this year, with over 500 scary movies (and TV episodes) available to watch throughout October.

Harvest Island caught my eye as soon as I saw it. Yobob Games’ debut release arrives just in time for Halloween, making for a seasonally fitting spooktacular cozy experience. If you’ve ever wished that some of the more wholesome games out there came with a mysterious, wicked streak, then the upcoming Harvest Island launch date may just be one to keep your eye on.

Funko Pop! figures aren't just for superheroes and video game characters. McDonald's has been around long enough and somehow has a big enough cast of characters to have a few Funko Pops of its own. Earlier this year, Funko and the fast food chain revealed four McNugget Pop! figures that would be released in time for Halloween. That promise has been kept and all four of the chicken-based collectibles are now on sale at GameStop.

This spooky season A24 is giving fans the chance to see their favorite indie horror classics on the big screen once again. The independent studio is taking over AMC theaters every Wednesday in October with A24 Presents: October Thrills & Chills Film Series.

Characters from various movies, TV shows, and video games have been immortalized as toys in a number of ways. Action figures, Funko Pops, even plushes. However, none of those collectibles are quite as adorable as Fisher Price's Little People Collector sets. Shrinking famous characters from various series down to pocket size along with the famous locations you'd usually find them in, Mattel has shown off two official Disney sets perfect for the spookiest season of the year.

It’s almost Halloween time, and that means every streaming service is preparing its best horror programming for a month full of scares. And just like every year, The Criterion Channel has put together a unique and fantastic selection of spooky movies you may not have seen before. Criterion Channel is adding 14 movies as part of its Halloween celebration this year, including 11 that will be released on Oct. 1 — so you’ve got no excuse for not getting to all of them by the end of the month.

The adorable farming and creature collecting game Ooblets finally has a Steam release date, over a year on from its exclusive Epic Games Store PC launch.

PSVR2 fans, rejoice! Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord is coming our way very soon indeed, and it looks like pretty good fun too. A new trailer confirms the multiplayer ghost-catching title is coming to Sony's headset on 26th October, 2023.

If you’re a Kingdom Hearts fan, you’ve likely thought about buying yourself a replica Keyblade at one point or another.

If you already find moving around the claustrophobic confines of Amnesia: The Bunker difficult, brace yourself – horror master Frictional is introducing a new Shell Shocked mode, and it's about to make an already unsettling experience even more terrifying. 

Frictional Games fans could be forgiven for thinking the horror-focused studio has been getting a little soft in recent years, having introduced death-free and monster-free modes in post-launch updates for its acclaimed SOMA and Amnesia: Rebirth. This year, though, it's going in completely the opposite direction, and its recently launched WW1 horror Amnesia: The Bunker will be getting even more nerve-frayingly horrifying, just in time for Halloween.

Despite a couple of delays, Frictional Games finally released Amnesia: The Bunker in June, representing a return to form in the iconic Amnesia series. Now, get ready for an even tougher time in this WW1 setting, as an even tougher difficulty mode is on the way.

I've only played an hour or so of Frictional's horror sequel Amnesia: The Bunker, partly because 2023 is stacked with huge games, but also because I find it incredibly intense. Its ingenious combination of, player-driven objectives, self-induced time pressure and a big, nasty something that stalks you dynamically through its First World War bunker setting, makes for a dreadful experience in the truest sense of the word. It's so unrelenting that I struggle to muster the courage to leave the game's central safe room.

Slasher movie mainstay Michael Myers is leaving Haddonfield this Halloween season and venturing into a new town, chock full of fresh-faced teens ready to feel the wrath of his bloodlust: Riverdale.

Footage is being shared from Universal Studios’ newly opened The Last of Us experience.

Between Ghost-types and dressing Pikachu up as a pumpkin in as many ways as it can possibly think of, Halloween might well be the holiday The Pokemon Company celebrates more than any other. Since 2023's spooky season is right around the corner, or already here if you're a true Halloween fan, Pokemon has now revealed the new products fans can buy to celebrate October 31 in true Pokemon style.

The full title is a bit of a mouthful, but the new book Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Beyond Halloween Town: The Story, the Characters, and the Legacy is now available. The 168-page hardcover book from Epic Ink is a great look at how The Nightmare Before Christmas has impacted pop culture and has captivated a fandom for decades. With new quotes from Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, Catherine O’Hara, and more, it’s a great look for fans looking to further their appreciation of the 1993 film.

Remember ol' Slender Man? The dapper, faceless, tall drink of water that more than likely inspired your nightmares a decade ago? Well, he's coming back in a big way with the release of an Unreal Engine 5 overhaul of the 2013 cult classic horror game Slender: The Arrival for current-gen platforms, and now we have a release date.

The Lenovo Legion GO is now officially a thing, and the chonky Steam Deck rival is scheduled to arrive this Halloween. That feels appropriate given that its price point could give you a fright, as the extra large 8.8-inch gaming handheld will cost more than both Valve’s portable powerhouse and the Asus ROG Ally. There also won’t be any spooky surprises in terms of specs, as we seem to be in the loop thanks to previous leaks.

The 7th Guest VR is such an unexpected project it virtually demands attention. Based on the original, ground-breaking 90s FMV adventure game, this updated version transposes the plot and puzzles of the original to virtual reality headsets, like PSVR2. Announced earlier in the year, developer Vertigo Games confirmed today that the title will launch on 19th October.

The new Hellboy video game, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd, finally has a release date, and it's coming up fast - October 4, to be precise. And along with the announcement of Web of Wyrd's release date, developers Good Shepherd Entertainment have released a new trailer, highlighting the story of the game, seen above.

Back in 1993, developers Trilobyte made history when they released The 7th Guest, one of the first computer games to only be released on CD-ROM. An adventure game about navigating a haunted house and solving puzzles in order to solve a mystery, its use of full-motion video, 3D graphics, and its soundtrack by George “The Fat Man” Sanger helped it stand out and become a massive hit back in its day…even if by today’s standards, it can feel rather dated in certain areas. But now Vertigo Games are bringing back The 7th Guest, and to another revolutionary bit of gaming technology: VR. The 7th Guest VR was showcased at Gamescom Opening Night Live’s pre-show, and you can check out its trailer below.

The delay may help Remedy's sequel breathe a bit better in a crowded month.

Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando will be hosting a The Last of Us theme park ride, and actors Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson will reprise their roles as Joel and Ellie respectively for it.

The original actors who portrayed Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us are reuniting for Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights event.

The Exorcist: Believer is joining The Last of Us and Stranger Things as one of the big attractions in this year's Halloween Horror Nights from Universal Studios.