Best Indie Horror Games (October 2024)

Happy Halloween, Gamers!

Five Spooky Games For A Spooky Month

Trick Or Treat

October has rolled in, and with it comes the spooky season of Halloween. Jump into the world of the supernatural and all its eeriness just in time for the season with these new recommendations from us here at Indie8!

Mouthwashing

Don’t be fooled by its humorous title—it’s anything but that. Mouthwashing is a new first-person psychological horror game that takes place in the vast emptiness of space. After a long journey through the stars, five crew members of the space freighter Tulpar are stranded after a particularly bad crash with an asteroid. With no way to contact the outside world, the doomed group is fated to succumb to madness. Players will follow their agonizing journey through the last few months of their lives, managing their meager supplies, the bleak future of death in isolation, and giving into their delusions. This atmospheric horror with PS1-esque visuals is sure to give one a terrifying experience. As the space freighter industry in-game saying goes, “Hope to die, or for goodness sake, pray that everyone else did.”

Mouthwashing is now available to purchase on Steam and Itch.io for $12.99 USD, and is planned to come to consoles sometime in the future, said the developers.

Cry Of Fear

Despite being over a decade old, Cry of Fear still delivers a bone-chilling psychological horror experience to many thrill seekers, and it surely deserves a spot on your list. You will play as a young man finding his way through the cold Scandinavian city of Fäversholm in search of answers as he feels his sanity slowly slipping away. Will you be able to find the answers you seek before you fully descend into madness?

Starting out as a Half Life 1 mod, it was then worked on for 4 years until it was released as a standalone game for anyone and everyone to enjoy. It has a huge single-player campaign that promises over 8 hours of gameplay, while also having a co-op campaign that can accommodate up to 4 players. And thus being true to its roots, it offers strong modding support with 12 custom campaigns, and an active modding community constantly updating it.

Best of all, Cry of Fear is free-to-play on Steam! Just hit that download button, grab some friends (or not) and jump right into the thrill.

That’s Not My Neighbor

Welcome to the Doppelganger Detection Department (D.D.D. for short)! You are now employed as the doorman in your apartment in the year 1955 where doppelgangers are a strangely common occurrence, and your job is to screen the people seeking entry into the building. Seems easy enough…but these doppelgangers are getting quite good at mimicking humans. Don’t overlook any single details because that might just cost the life of one of the residents…or even yours.

The game plays out similar to hit indie game Papers, Please, where players will be looking at the documents and appearances of the people who wish to be granted entry. Use your powers of observation and memory to fully examine and interrogate each person, calling your colleagues in D.D.D. for assistance if needed. It’s not as horrific and flashy as other titles on this list, but the paranoia and suspense, wondering if the person behind the window is a doppelganger or not, still manages to give a thrill.

That’s Not My Neighbor is available to purchase on Itch.io for $2.99 USD or higher.

Crow Country

Take a trip back memory lane with Crow Country, a modern game that is the love letter to 90’s horror games with its PS1 visuals and an interesting plot. Playing as protagonist Mara Forest, you will arrive at the abandoned theme park, the titular Crow Country, in search of answers. Strangely enough, Mara has more of a connection to the park and its origins. What exactly is the connection between Mara and Crow Country? Delve right into this dark horror adventure this Halloween and immerse yourself in its story.

Crow Country is available to play on PC via Steam right now for $19.99 USD, while the Switch and PlayStation 4 release is set for October 16th should you wish to play it on console instead. For more information, check out Indie8’s article on Crow Country’s console release!

The Mortuary Assistant

As Rebecca Owens, a fresh graduate of mortuary sciences, you immediately take on an apprenticeship at the River Fields Mortuary. This worked out well for you, as this would help you learn the tricks of the trade through hands-on experience, assisting the Mortician in his daily tasks. Sounds perfect…until one particular night, you’re called into work to handle some embalming. What was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill work day turns into a nightmare as you find yourself caught in a sinister plot of a demon attempting to possess your body…until you give in. Spend your days performing embalming tasks while also trying to keep the demonic forces at bay, and also finding a permanent solution to your predicament. Will you be able to get out of it unscathed, or will the demon find its way into your soul?

The Mortuary Assistant is available to play on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One for $24.99 USD.