The best Halloween 2022 treat? I think it might be Xbox Game Pass

Halloween is right around the corner, and I don’t know about you, but it’s definitely one of my favorite holidays of the year. Mainly because, unlike Christmas (where I rarely get to relax, let alone start a game), it’s the perfect excuse to kick back and relax with my favorite game genre, and that’s horror.

Admittedly, I jumped on the Halloween bandwagon quite late this year. I have failed to decorate my flat with cardboard bats and fake cobwebs, and I still have to go candy shopping for any trick or treat.

That said, I dove into Xbox Game Pass recently to line up some games for Halloween weekend; It seems that while the kids knocking on my door might not get any treats, I certainly already have one with the gems that are on Game Pass right now.

Without further ado, here’s a rundown of some of the big titles on Game Pass that are just Perfect for this Halloween weekend.

Let’s start with the October additions to Game Pass. In addition to Signalis, Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery, and Persona 5 Royal, we enjoy some of the best horror games of all time. This includes not just one, but four Amnesia Titles. The newly added Amnesia collection features The Dark Descent, A Machine for Pigs, and Justine. Then on top of that, Amnesia: Rebirth has also been added to Game Pass.

The Amnesia series hails from Frictional Games, and both The Dark Descent and A Machine for Pigs hold a special place in my heart. These games are first-person survival horror titles that are honestly pretty minimal compared to games like Resident Evil Village. However, with the use of a sanity mechanic and reliance on your senses, Amnesia is both immersive and horrifying in equal measure.

The next step in Game Pass, which arrived this month, is SOMA. Interestingly, SOMA was also developed by the minds behind Amnesia at Frictional Games. Another brilliant survival horror title, SOMA perhaps becomes even more psychological than Amnesia; it’s a game that most won’t find half as terrifying as Amnesia, but it will certainly find a way to fill you with dread. Since then, Frictional Games has also added a safe mode to the game for those who fear constant threats the most!

A day one release on Game Pass is the incredibly visceral Scorn. Scorn is a game for players with guts of steel, as well as a lot of patience. It’s slow and difficult, but developer Ebb Software has near-perfect ambient storytelling. If you fancy a slow burn and don’t mind a challenge, Scorn is a feast for the eyes.

Moving on to some of the older additions to Game Pass, we still have plenty to choose from! For multiplayer scares, there are 7 days to die. This is an open world survival game, where you and your friends are tasked with surviving hordes of zombies and must gather, craft and build your way to safety. It’s a lot like Rust, except you have zombies instead of toxic players (sorry Rust fans).

Then there’s also Dead by Daylight, which is an asymmetrical multiplayer title that pits four survivors against one killer (some of whom are familiar faces like Ghostface and Michael Myers).

For a more sci-fi infused horror experience, Dead Space is worth checking out. Sure, we’ve got the new version just around the corner, but that makes this the perfect time to check out the original game and get acquainted with the various Necromorphs.

Failing that, there’s also Alien Isolation, which is another one of the best horror games of all time. With a Xenomorph stalking you, more interested in scaring you than killing you, Alien Isolation is what it says on the tin: deeply isolated. Try playing this solo in the dark, I dare you.

Last but not least is The Evil Within and its sequel, which I have yet to play. So visiting these two games is on my to-do list over Halloween weekend.

There’s certainly more to Game Pass that’s perfect for Halloween that I haven’t mentioned, including plenty of non-horror games that didn’t fit the bill, like Hollow Knight, for example. Either way, I’m spoiled for choice this weekend and desperately want to revisit Amnesia. Although, there is only so much time in a weekend.

What are your plans for Halloween? Will you see any of the aforementioned games? If so, I want to know everything.