Ghoulish games

Take a look at a selection of some scarily good games that will send a shiver down any adult's spine for Halloween.

As the nights draw closer, with the falling of darkness comes Halloween and its spookily ethereal excess. But in the midst of blood curdling-creatures, costumes and trick or treating, there's the adrenaline rush enjoyment of playfully scaring others, and having the wits scared from you. While movies try to discover new techniques of frightening the audience, games are already offering such experiences with the power only an interactive medium can provide, putting you right in the action.

So in celebration, here's some of the best spine tingling games on PlayStation® to make your Halloween more treat than trick.

Resident Evil

The long-running franchise has been disturbing players for years with its creepy brand of action adventure that breathed new life into the survival horror genre. With its wide mixture of zombies that range from gormless flesh eaters to terrifyingly quick creatures of the night, Resident Evil has stunned players everywhere, regardless of whether it's the suspenseful conspiracy story of the main series or the fast paced first-person action of the Gun Survivor spin offs.

Resident Evil 4 on PlayStation®2 brought it all together, adding invisible acid spewing beasts and face ripping werewolves (to name a few) to the large catalogue of monsters encountered over the successful franchise, maintaining Resident Evil's pedigree of being an unmissable ride of shocks and scares.

Folklore

Exclusive to PlayStation®3, Folklore is an eerie dose of action adventure that takes you to the Netherworld - the world of the dead - to solve a murder mystery that has drawn in an occult magazine journalist called Keats, and a young lady named Ellen. Taken into this strange realm of faeries and nightmarish creatures called Folk, you take control of either Keats or Ellen to solve the crime, helped by capturing a number of Folk and harnessing their powers.

Folklore's dark fantasy tone makes for an intriguing adventure into the rarely explored dominion of occult Irish legend, its intelligent humour mixed with a genuine sense of foreboding. The unique use of the SIXAXIS™ Wireless Controller to capture and reel in Folk only adds to the sense of wonder and involvement in this ominous world of the paranormal.

MediEvil: Resurrection

The skeletal frame of Sir Daniel Fortesque may not be the prettiest of sights, but his charismatic PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) debut allows for a gothic look into the horrors of the kingdom of Gallowmere. Battling against the evil sorcerer Zarok, Sir Dan's quest has him fighting undead hoards to bring peace back to his home - even though Dan himself is a reanimated corpse, striving for the heroism that eluded him in life.

With its careful blend of gallows wit and a sense of dread, MediEvil: Resurrection is an ideal choice for those who like their ghoulish action adventure experiences on the move.

Forbidden Siren

Faithful to some of the classic Japanese horror films such as The Ring and The Grudge, the Forbidden Siren series ranks among the scariest games ever created. Mixing a heavy measure of stealth to the survival horror genre, the franchise recounts several characters trapped in various spooky settings, each telling their side of the story. But unlike other games of its type, Forbidden Siren doesn't encourage conflict, as many of the ghostly and demonic entities, such as the Shibito, cannot be truly killed, leading to moments which can literally leave your character petrified.

Forbidden Siren 2 on PlayStation®2 ramps up the frights of its predecessor with a number of pulse pounding set pieces that will likely jangle the strongest of nerves, making both titles ones that you may well have to play behind the sofa...