Horror publishers have collectively decided October 2026 is a land grab: there is a major release almost every week of the month, with September setting the table. From legacy icons returning with their original actors to a cosy fishing game hiding something awful under the water, these are the ten upcoming horror games we rate most, ranked.

10. Grave Seasons (2026)

Perfect Garbage's narrative farming sim, published under the Blumhouse games label, hides a supernatural serial killer somewhere in its cosy little town. Farm, romance and investigate: Stardew energy with a body count, and a wholesome art style that makes the dread land harder. The window is 2026, and we are watching the neighbours like every one of them is a suspect.

Grave Seasons official Steam art, a farmer with a bloodied spade (Perfect Garbage / Blumhouse)

Links: Steam page · Blumhouse page

9. Tenebris Somnia (16 October)

A hybrid of 2D pixel-art survival horror and live-action cutscenes shot by an Argentine film crew, about escaping a nightmarish parallel universe. It is the strangest formal experiment on this list, and early footage suggests the film segments amplify the pixel dread rather than deflate it.

Tenebris Somnia official Steam art, a screaming pale face beside the red title

Links: Steam page

8. Saw: Genesis (Fall, early access)

Broken Mirror and Anshar Studios drag the trap franchise into asymmetrical multiplayer: three Accused versus one Judge in 1920s escape scenarios. Asymmetrical horror lives or dies on its community, but the premise fits Saw better than most licences fit their genres.

SAW: Genesis official Steam art, a victim in a mechanical head trap (Broken Mirror / Anshar Studios)

Links: Steam page · official site

7. Halloween: The Game (8 September)

Michael Myers arrives early, in a game drawn straight from the 1978 original. Licensed slasher games are a coin flip, but the source material is untouchable, and Haddonfield deserves a good game more than almost any horror setting going. An 8 September date means you will know whether it is worth the mask well before Halloween itself.

Halloween: The Game official Steam art, Michael Myers looming over a night street

Links: Steam page · official site

6. Dreadmoor (late 2026)

A gothic fishing game set in a submerged world where the catch gets stranger the deeper you go. Dredge proved the fishing-horror formula has teeth; Dreadmoor looks like it wants to take the idea somewhere darker and wetter. No firm date yet beyond late this year.

Dreadmoor official Steam art, a tentacle rising beside a fishing boat near a lighthouse

Links: Steam page · official site

5. Silver Pines (8 October)

Wych Elm's detective horror follows Red Walker into a forgotten town on the trail of a musician named Eddie Velvet, and finds monsters and worse truths waiting. The Twin Peaks energy is unmissable and entirely welcome. Sharing a release day with Pinhead is either brave or doomed; we respect it either way.

Silver Pines official Steam art, detective Red Walker in sunglasses under red title cards (Wych Elm / Team17)

Links: Steam page · free demo · official site

4. Gears of War: E-Day (6 October)

The Coalition's prequel drops Marcus Fenix into Emergence Day and leans harder into horror than the series ever has: scarcer resources, closer walls, and Locust as monsters rather than targets. More action than pure horror, sure, but if it keeps the dread of its reveal footage, October's biggest budget belongs on this list.

Gears of War: E-Day official Steam art, Marcus and Dom under a monstrous Locust silhouette (The Coalition)

Links: Steam page

3. Control Resonant (24 September)

Remedy hands the story to Dylan Faden and warps New York in the process, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Control has always been horror wearing an action game's coat, and everything about Resonant suggests the coat is coming off. The Remedy connected universe is the most interesting long game in AAA right now.

Control Resonant official Steam art, Dylan Faden with a makeshift weapon over a red warped city (Remedy)

Links: Steam page

2. Silent Hill: Townfall (24 September)

No Code, the Glasgow studio behind Stories Untold, takes Silent Hill to a Scottish island: first-person survival horror navigated by a hand radio, with defence tools instead of an arsenal. After Silent Hill 2's remake rebuilt trust in the brand, a studio this good going this weird with it is the most exciting thing Konami could have done.

Silent Hill: Townfall official Steam art, a man in a beanie lit by a red glow (No Code)

Links: Steam page · Konami site

1. Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival (8 October)

Saber Interactive's first-person survival horror brings back the Cenobites with Doug Bradley himself returning as Pinhead, in a story built around the puzzle box, elemental magic and imagery as grotesque and transgressive as the licence demands. Horror games rarely get the original icon back. This one did, and everything shown so far says it knows exactly what it is holding.

Links: Steam page · official site

Also Lurking

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is still pencilled for 2026, cosy-horror farming mystery Grave Seasons and time-looping Fractured Blooms are dateless but promising, and Resident Evil Veronica waits in 2027. October will be expensive; sleep is optional. We will keep this list updated as dates shift.