A Virtual Lesbian Life: Halloween Horror

What better time of the year to check out hot horror games than the Halloween season? From capturing ghoulish ghosts to battling mutated monsters, here are seven ghastly games sure to please any horror-loving gamer.

BioShock (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

Get shocked as you travel back into an alternate history set in 1960 with plane crash survivor Jack. Fight off scary mutated beings and creepy drones to keep yourself alive in this first person shooter game set in the underwater dystopian city of Rapture. The PlayStation 3 version of BioShock was just released and a mobile phone version of the game is under development. BioShock 2 and BioShock 3 sequels are already in the works.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (Windows PC, Xbox)

Based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft, Call of Cthulhu is a first-person adventure game inspired by Lovecraft’s story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". Private Detective Jack Walters battles murderous monsters and aliens while fighting off his own impending insanity. When Jack gets too disturbed, he starts experiencing crazed visual and audio hallucinations, which might just make you wonder if you’re losing it a bit too. Sequels were originally planned, but so far they are sadly hanging in limbo.

Doom 3 (Windows PC, Linux, Mac OS X, Xbox)

Sci-fi and horror combine to make Doom 3 one of the scariest and most fun games out there, even though it is an older title (first released for Windows in 2004). Set in 2145 on Mars, this first-person shooter pits the gamer against demonic zombies and creatures from Hell bent on destruction and murder. A dark and dismal atmosphere lends to the creepiness of the Doom 3 experience and copious amounts of blood and body parts give it that extra icky edge. Add on the Resurrection of Evil expansion pack for more enemies and more bloody fun. A Doom 4 sequel was announced earlier this year and is in development.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GameCube, Wii)

Originally released for the Nintendo GameCube, Eternal Darkness is also compatible with the Wii. Eternal Darkness is widely considered to have been a critical success, but did not do very well commercially. Too bad really, this game is hot! And seriously spooky! Another Lovecraft-inspired creation, Eternal Darkness follows protagonist Alexandra Roivas as she seeks to unravel the mystery of her grandfather’s murder. Magic and mayhem ensue in Darkness, which leans more toward the psychological side of horror than the blood and guts of games like Doom 3. Denis Dyack, designer of Eternal Darkness hinted earlier this year that a follow-up to the game might just be in the works.

Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly(Xbox, PlayStation 2)

Fatal Frame (also known as Project Zero in Europe) is a series of survival horror video games. The series encompasses four games total with an additional spinoff. Somewhat annoyingly, the various sequels to the game are spread across different game platforms, but they are all quite enjoyable if you are a horror game fan. The best, in my humble opinion, is Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, available on PlayStation and Xbox. In specific, the Director’s Cut edition for Xbox is a cut above the rest of the series. Fatal Frame IV: The Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, released this year exclusively for the Wii, is a close second favorite. The object of the game is to solve a mystery connected to Japanese folklore. Your main weapon of defense against the evil ghosties out to get you? A camera that lets the player capture the ghosts and trap them in the film! Corner-of-your-eye creepy crawlies and spooky noises will keep you on the edge of your seat in this one -- not for the faint of heart!

Resident Evil 4 (GameCube, PlayStation, Windows PC, Wii)

While I generally prefer to give praise to less ‘commercial’ successes in the gaming world, Resident Evil 4 has definitely earned the dozens of ‘Game of the Year’ titles it has received. Fast-paced, filled with kick-ass action and plenty of ‘scare’-factor, Resident Evil 4 is arguable the best episode of the entire RE franchise. As you battle off parasite-controlled zombie humans, you’ll be glancing over your shoulder to make sure there isn’t one creeping up behind you!

Silent Hill 2 (PlayStation 2, Xbox, Windows PC)

Fans of the Silent Hill horror game series will argue back and forth about which installment is the best, but I am firmly behind Silent Hill 2 as the standout. The installment is on the older side, first released in 2001, but still well worth hours of playtime today. The game follows protagonist James Sunderland as he explores Silent Hill after receiving a mysterious letter from his dead wife. Monsters and corpses and scares abound and the creepiness factor is an eleven on the 1 to 10 scale. Truly one of the ‘scariest games of all time’ as G4TV called it in 2006.

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