From the creator of A Short Hike, it's the annual Ghost Town Pumpkin Festival! Make a jack-o-lantern to share with the internet then wander around a little town to look at everyone else's pumpkin creations. I love little online art galleries like this. You don't have to make a pumpkin to view the pumpkins, but it's fun to participate.
Instant classic. Teen girl sleepover horror. The vibes are just-right. Set aside half an hour to play; play with sound on for the music; keep a list of command words if you're new to text adventures; multiple endings; if you get stuck, read the comments on the game page! The creator has lots of helpful responses.
Upbeat, clever, unique bitsy+ game made by multiple collaborators. Putting aside how wonderful a collaborative bitsy game is as a concept in itself, this game takes advantage of having multiple creators by building a spooky tower out of several detailed and individually flavored stages for your character to navigate.
This game is only a puzzle insofar as solving a maze or labyrinth is a puzzle, but the music, creatures, dialogue, and scenes keep it interesting.
Set aside maybe half an hour for this game, then check out AYolland's page for more spooky-adjacent bitsy games.
Funny, charming, dark little bullet hell-ish boss game. Go through your family home (haunted mansion) to kill your eldritch aunties and, of course, mom. The pleasure in playing this game truly comes from the dialogue. Set aside 20-30 minutes for this game, depending on how good at boss fights you are.
What can I say? If we're talking about PS1 graphics, I probably should have put the Haunted PS1 Demo Disc (amazing, iconic, a brilliant concept, a community success) on this list. But this stupid little game has made me think about it on and off for years since I've played it, plus it makes me laugh. Five minutes. Two endings. Have fun.
Not explicitly a Halloween game, but you're a monster interacting with monsters, so I say it counts. This is a sweet, simple fetch quest game where the writing and character designs really shine. Twenty or so minutes. Make sure to knock on doors a second time for extra dialogue.
There's a short, snowy holiday sequel, too: Devil Express: Soulstice. If you like charming dialogue and unique monster designs and are willing to spend $3, try the Monster Pub games by alex ilitchiv.
Scary, lovely, wonderfully written, atmospheric little story of a game. Half an hour; check the game page for content warnings. Why watch a movie when you could play this?
(I know most of the games on this list are text heavy; that's just how it goes for games I like!)
Make creepy little images with freehand drawing, stamps, backgrounds, and dithery/staticy effects. I want a variety of different game types for this list, so adding in a cute little art tool seemed fun.
If you like the idea of a spooky doll game and want another option, check out Sleep Paralysis Demon by Henry Fuseli on DOMINO CLUB.
A bit of historical fiction for the list, this short Twine game gives a stressful retelling of the story of Mary Toft. Takes about 10 minutes. As always, mind the content warnings.
If you're interested in Twine and/or in eerie stories retold in interesting and even eerier ways, I also recommend the even shorter, even grosser single-choice game Eurydice Exhumed by sweetfish.
