Rogue Recommends: Steam Scream Fest 2026
The Steam Scream Sale is full of spooky games, just in time for Halloween, and the sale runs until Nov. 2
It’s spooky season, and so Steam is running a sale of some scary games. There’s a bit of everything here: scary mascots, survival horror, job simulators with alarming twists, classic titles and newer games. If you’re looking for something to play this Halloween, and you’re a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of titles on sale, Rogue has gone through the list to pick out the best deals and most interesting games before the festival ends on Nov. 2.
Resident Evil 2
The Resident Evil 2 remake is one of the strongest games in the entire storied franchise, reimagining the original journey of Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy through Raccoon City. At 80% off, it comes in at under ten bucks, which is a great deal. Other Resident Evil titles are on steep sales, including the original games, the remakes of Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4, as well as Biohazard, Village, and Requiem. But if you had to pick one game to pick up, I’d go with the Resident Evil 2 remake.
Barotrauma
Barotrauma is a co-op survival horror game that takes place aboard a submarine, and it’s an interesting formula that stands apart from your Phasmophobia-alikes. Each player is a specialized crew member, playing a crucial part in deep sea operations on dangerous jobs to earn a profit. A medical officer might have to deal with bleeding, broken limbs, and alien parasites, while the security team battle back beasts in the lower levels. The captain and engineer might be working together to keep the ship from imploding through all this chaos. It’s a game that’s great for emergent stories, including madness, murder, and mutiny. The base game is on sale for 50% off at under $20, and an expansion called Home & Harbor is due to launch on Dec. 2, so now’s a great time to pick it up.
I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
What a blast from the past to see I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream as a headliner! This old-school point-and-click adventure based on the Harlan Ellison story of the same name was released in 1996, and it still holds up today. An absolutely grim journey through the psychology of a handful of human survivors, stranded in a dystopian future ruled over by the master computer AM. At 85% off, this game is just over a dollar, and it’s still worth your time twenty years after its original release.
System Shock
System Shock is another classic, a terrifying tale of sci-fi horror that was remade by Nightdive Studios in 2023. The bones of the 1994 original are here, updated with new HD visuals, sharper controls, and new sounds and music. SHODAN, a homicidal AI, has taken control of Citadel Station and intends to extend her reign to Earth. You’ll need to fight, hack, and sneak your way through the station in order to terminate the AI and save the world. 70% off, available for around $12.
Welcome to Elderfield
Welcome to Elderfield is one of the newer games on this list; it originally released in September 2026, so it’s exciting to see it’s on sale for 20% off. It’s one of the many games that asks the bold question of “What if Stardew Valley was scary?” So, you play as a farmer in a new town, and inbetween fishing and farming, you start making friends with the locals. What appears to be a lovely bucolic adventure quickly falls apart as hand-drawn monsters emerge and the farmer stumbles upon Lovecraftian mysteries. There’s an optional cozy mode, or you can dive into the depths of the game with dangerous combat that requires careful strategy.
Reanimal
Tarsier Studios proved themselves with the Little Nightmares series, but Reanimal builds off that pedigree and creates a uniquely oppressive atmosphere. You play as a pair of children, a brother and sister trying to rescue their friends. It’s a daunting task that requires them to work their way through dark, warped environments filled with hideous, malicious beings. The game can be played alone, or with local or online co-op. One of the best games of 2026, available for 25% off — including The Prisoner DLC chapter, which tells a new story starring a Soldieer and a Prisoner.
The Quarry
Supermassive Games can be hit or miss, but The Quarry is one of their stronger titles, especially if you’re playing it with pals and enjoying it like a movie night. A group of teen camp counselors are enjoying an extra night in Hackett’s Quarry, unaware that they’re being watched. The celebration is interrupted by werewolves in the woods, and the players must make choices to determine who survives, who walks away traumatized, and who doesn’t make it out at all. There are a couple of narrative swerves that don’t work in retrospect, but at 90% off and just over $5, this is absolutely worth picking up.
Mouthwashing
When Mouthwashing came out in 2014, it immediately became a hit. A trippy, non-linear game, Mouthwashing tells the story of the crew of the Tulpar, a stranded ship that is drifting through space after an unexpected collision. The ship is out of supplies, so the survivors crack open the cargo, only to find a treasure trove of mouthwash. While waiting for rescue and trying to keep the ship’s charred captain alive, the crew slowly spirals into madness. It’s only a few hours of game time, but it’s 40% off, and around $7, and the story is guaranteed to stick with you long after the credits play.
Still Wakes the Deep
Still Wakes the Deep is a horror game set in 1975, on an oil rig off the coast of Scotland. You play Cameron “Caz” McLeary, an unlucky electrician who fled to the Beira D oil rig after getting into trouble at home. When the rig drills too deep and unleashes an eldritch force, Caz is lucky enough to survive the initial disaster, but he still needs to make it home to his wife and daughters. An incredibly tense, atmospheric game with memorable monster design and a surprisingly heartwrenching story. It’s 75% off, or you can pick up The Oceanic Horror Collection and get both Still Wakes the Deep and SOMA, another existentially terrifying tale of survival beneath the deep sea, for under $7.
Forgive Me Father 2
Forgive Me Father 2 is an old school boomer shooter game with beautifully animated weapon animations that go beyond simple rifles and revolvers. If you’ve ever wanted to wield and eldritch minigun that shoots weird little fish, or a weapon of spinning crystals and destructive beams, this is the series for you. You play as a sole survivor going toe to toe with the worst creatures from Lovecraftian lore, and while I wouldn’t say these games are scary in the traditional sense, the vibes are excellent for Halloween. It’s 60% off, or you can get both games in the series for just over $10.
Look Outside
Look Outside is my favorite game from 2025, and a wonderfully innovative take on turn-based RPGs. You wake up in an apartment building, and get the strangest urge to look outside. There’s just one problem — anyone who does that, even if it’s just through a reflection, mutates and deforms into a hideous new form. You make your way through the apartment building, which is rapidly changing and growing beyond what should be architecturally possible, gathering allies and trying to survive in an increasingly bizarre world under the gaze of a cosmic visitor. It’s 40% off, so you can pick this up for just under five bucks, which is a wickedly good deal for such a replayable game packed with secrets and mysteries.
The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series
Telltale Series broke new ground with narrative games, and while we can see some flaws in their formula in retrospect, their library is still absolutely worth playing through. Their entire take on The Walking Dead is available in The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series, which includes all four seasons and side campaigns. You follow Clementine, a little girl growing up in the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. Your choices determine how her story plays out, and every decision has the potential to hurt someone. The entire series is 90% off, so just under $5, and this is such a ridiculously good deal for such an influential series that still resonates today.
Slay the Princess — the Pristine Cut
Black Tabby Games is one of the best horror developers in the business, creating beautifully intricate visual novels with gorgeous hand drawn art. Slay the Princess — the Pristine Cut is a smaller, more contained story than their magnum opus Scarlet Hollow, and it’s 60% off. You’re on a path in the woods, and at the end of that path is a cabin, and in the basement of that cabin is a princess. You have to slay her, and if you don’t, it’ll be the end of the world. Easy, right? Well, she’ll wheedle, and beg, and fight, and that encounter spirals off into a number of bizarre and unsettling scenarios.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: House of Ashes
The Dark Pictures Anthology is a series from Supermassive Games exploring a series of scary scenarios, and the strongest one narratively is House of Ashes. Similar to the other games in Supermassive’s library, you are put in control of a narrative starring a small group of survivors. Your choices determine who lives and who dies. This time, the scenario is pretty novel: a small group of American soldiers are dragged underground to an ancient Sumerian temple full of ravenous monsters, and forced to ally with an Iraqi lieutenant trying to get home to his son. It’s a wild premise, and the best game Supermassive’s put out since Until Dawn. It’s 67% off, or you can grab it with Still Wakes the Deep for just over $15.
Crow Country
A survival horror game set in an abandoned theme park in 1990. You play as Mara, a girl exploring the park in an attempt to uncover what happened to the missing founder, Edward Crow. Crow Country takes tons of inspiration from classic titles, both in the retro, low-res graphics and the mix between combat and puzzles in gameplay. Crow Country isn’t as straight-up scary as some of the games on this list, but it’s intriguing and there are a few moments that made me jump, and I definitely recommend it at 50% off.
Immortality
Sam Barlow and Half Mermaid are known for games where you pore through footage, searching for clues hidden in the background or mentioned in dialogue. Immortality is the most ambitious of these games, telling the story of the missing actress Marissa Marcel. Marcel starred in three films before she vanished, and you have access to that footage. By digging through her reels, and the behind-the-scenes footage associated with them, you find that the mystery goes much deeper than you could have imagined. Immortality is 50% off, which puts it at just under $10 — a great price for a meaty mystery.