1. Cry of Fear

Another game that originated from a Half-Life mod, Cry of Fear has managed to achieve independence, and is now available for free on Steam.

From the get-go, this is a game that makes you feel uneasy. Placing you against an isolated, urban sprawl, the game does a great job of making you dread to progress. Even when your character is clutching a gun, it feels like the smallest of comforts when placed against unsettling enemies and an environment reminiscent of Silent Hill. 

For a game with a main campaign that takes hours to complete, Cry of Fear is possibly the perfect choice if you want something scary that won't cost you a dime.

2. Afraid of Monsters

Alright, I might have cheated with this game. Technically, you do have to pay to play it. Not for the games itself, but for the game you would need to run it: this is a mod. Luckily, in the case of Afraid of Monsters, you only need to own Half-Life in order to play this game, and let's be real here, everyone owns Half-Life.  

The writing in Afraid of Monsters isn't anything to write home about, but this game gets everything else right. Guide drug-addled David Leatherhoff through his own personal Hell in a mod with atmosphere that will keep your knuckles white and your spine chilled.

If you need a good, old-fashioned scare without the whistles and bells, Afraid of Monsters is the perfect game.

You can grab the mod here.

3. Ao Oni

The free-to-play game that somehow managed to land a movie deal over in Japan, Ao Oni starts with your run-of-the-mill horror plot: a group of teens are locked in a haunted house.

If the picture above is any indication, things get more than a little strange from there, and while Ao Oni might not be the scariest of horror games out there, it's definitely one of the most polished and cleverly executed, with a menagerie of monsters that somehow manage to look both ridiculous and horrifying at the same time. 

Download the latest version here. 

4. Imscared - A Pixelated Nightmare

I can't spoil what makes this game a truly unique experience, but rest assured: Imscared goes above and beyond to make you think you are playing a game that is genuinely haunted. It's relatively short, but like so many others on this list, it's an experience that is absolutely vital for horror enthusiasts. 

You can download the game via GameJolt.

5. The Witch's House

Yet another RPG Maker horror game, this time with both story and atmosphere that's a cut above the rest. You take on the role of young Viola as she explores (shocker) a witch's house. Survive, solve puzzles, and try not to alt + f4 out of sheer terror, this is an excellent horror game, and it has a story that might surprise you.

The Witch's House is available for free here.

And please, do yourself a favor, don't spoil the ending(s) for yourself.

6. Deep Sleep 

Short and sweet while still managing to create a creepy and intriguing setting, Deep Sleep is a browser game available on Newgrounds featuring point-and-click mechanics that allow you to navigate a minimalist, yet relentlessly creepy environment.

Explore a lucid dream that might be more than it seems while you come to understand the nature of the unsettling world you've stumbled upon in your sleep.

You can play part one here, and once you're finished with that, here's part two, titled Deeper Sleep and part three, unsurprisingly titled The Deepest Sleep.

7. Covetous

Another very brief game. In fact, it's so short, you can probably play it and then come back to this article. If you haven't played it already, click here to run it in-browser. I can't really give you the details without spoiling it, but if you have a couple of minutes, check it out and revel in its strangeness.

8. my father's long, long legs

Not a game in the strictest sense of the word, more a piece of interactive fiction; rest assured, for something that stays strictly on the browser, this is scarier than it has any right to be.

You can "play" through this story on its homepage. It isn't that long, but it's undoubtedly an experience you won't soon forget.

9. Ib 

A staple in RPG Maker horror games, in Ib, you take on the role of a young girl of the same name, who suddenly finds the art exhibit she was visiting with her parents eerily empty. 

Exploration-based horror with puzzles and an awesomely surreal environment that only gets weirder, horror fan or not, you should check out Ib. 

You can download Ib here.

10. Spooky's House of Jumpscares

You're probably too tough to get scared by this ghostly little girl - but with a thousand randomly generated floors for you to explore, she might just be hiding a thing or two.

Why not check it out? After all, what could possibly go wrong? 

Of course, since it's on this list, I'm sure you can infer: a lot.

The game is free-to-play and available on Steam. 

11. Yume Nikki

This game is at the bottom of the list for one reason: it isn't really a horror game. Why is it here, then? Because it gets weird, disturbing, and yes, at times, it can definitely scare you.

But again, it isn't a horror game. 

Yume Nikki is a free-to-play exploration-based game made via RPG Maker 2003. You can spend hours on end in the surreal dream world of the protagonist, Madotsuki. Now, this game doesn't do much to hold your hand, so sitting down to play Yume Nikki is a commitment; I promise you, it's worthwhile.

You can download the game here.

Want to get scared this Halloween? A bit strapped for cash? Tired of spending thirty to fifty dollars on the newest horror games and finding them more than a little uninspired? Same here. Luckily, the horror genre has a longstanding tradition of offering its enthusiasts tons of free content.

Sometimes, you don't need to open your wallet to find great horror games. In fact, some of the best are just a Google search away.

Let's take a look at eleven awesome horror games that are bound to entertain, terrify, or just weird you out.

In all, these horror games simply scratch the surface of the genre. Sure, they may be some of the very best recently released, but there are always plenty more to get your hands on for a couple of cheap thrills or horrifying nightmares.

Halloween is less than a week away, so if you truly want to be scared, then turn off the lights, close the blinds, toss on some headphones, and enjoy one of these titles.

The Forest

If you've ever been looking for a video game version of the film The Descent, with just a bit more added in, then The Forest is what you're looking for. Surviving alone on a deserted island after a plane crash is bad enough, but adding in flesh-eating cannibals and horrific deformed creatures is a bit overkill.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what this Steam Early Access title accomplished. It's an unsettling player-driven adventure that could last you days in-game, or you could last for all of ten minutes. The enemies are smart, they hunt you down after seeing you once, so staying on the move is a good idea.

Spooky's House of Jumpscares

Spooky's House of Jumpscares doesn't look like it would scare anyone, let alone a child, but you'd be dead wrong in thinking that way. Ten minutes into the game and I was already on the edge of my seat as little monsters and creatures popped up in the hallways and random rooms.

The spoopy horror game boasts 1000 rooms of "cute terror" that the player must survive. Cuteness fades quickly and gives way to hideous creatures. It's unsettling.

Alien: Isolation

There are very few games that truly scare me when it comes to the horror genre, but Alien: Isolation was the most recent to do so. I played late at night, enjoying the dark expanse of space for a time before things turned into a living nightmare aboard the spacecraft.

If you want the perfect horror atmosphere, then look no further than Alien: Isolation. This is the game everyone was waiting for when the Alien franchise turned toward the gaming world.

Outlast

Outlast, although it is an older game, remains one of the very best survival horror titles in the entire world. The first-person perspective, the terrifying location, the creepy enemies, and more all lend their hand to ensure this tale sticks with you long after you complete the campaign.

With the most recent release of Whistleblower, there has never been a better time to enjoy the world of Outlast.

Honestly, Whistleblower features one of the very best antagonists seen within the video game world, and not just within the horror genre. See for yourself!

Bloodborne

Thanks to developer From Software, the creators of the Dark Souls franchise, the world of Gothic Horror has been brought down upon gamers' heads in Bloodborne; another PS4-exclusive title.

The game may not be scary in the same sense as SOMA or Until Dawn, but it certainly has its moments. The setting is the scariest of all, as is the difficulty, where if you die you start back further away. It is unforgiving.

SOMA

SOMA, the most recent sci-fi survival horror game from developer Frictional Games, has combined some intense scenery with an unsettling story about being a human being.

Set in an underwater facility, SOMA is tosses the player into this dilapidated world filled with robots who fancy themselves humans. The team at Frictional has created terrifying encounters with twisted creatures and insane AI, only you get to determine how to handle the situation on hand.

Until Dawn

Until Dawn, one of the most recently released horror games, albeit one exclusively on the PlayStation 4, is in the running for the best horror launch this year.

While the game is primarily about the story - much like TellTale's adventures - you can still control your character and put them through life or death situations. Every single choice you, the player, makes will alter the course of the story. Main characters will live or die depending on whether or not you take the left path or the right, or if you decide to hide or confront the killer head on.

It's terrifying and interesting all wrapped into one package.

The horror genre is easily, in this writer's personal opinion, one of the best genres to exist within the video game world. The simple act of being afraid of a game has ensured millions of people are too terrified to turn off the lights at night.

However, there is another breed of gamer out there who bathes in the fear, who loves to get their hands on the latest horror games and sit afraid in their living room or at their computer.

For those gamers, here are some of the very best horror games to enjoy this Halloween.

Secret endings are always nice, and the one in Spooky's House of Jump Scares is definitely hard to figure out, since there are no clues to getting the bad ending.

If you simply want to know what the bad ending is, check out the video in the header and skip to the 3:00 mark to feast your eyes upon it. It's hard to just call it the "bad ending", because the normal ending isn't exactly "good". That said, it is different -- and the ending you get is based off how much you liked to whack on stuff with your axe.

How to get the bad ending

Getting the bad ending is simple: wield your axe like you mean it! Once you get the axe, you need to hit minor enemies and Specimen 1 enough to trigger the ending. 

Fan speculation is that there is a secret counter that keeps track of what you hit with the axe and how many times. Once you reach 20 points on the counter, you will get the secret ending at the end of the game.

Each time you hit a Specimen 1 with your axe, it will add one point to the counter. All of the cardboard cut-outs are Specimen 1.

Each time you hit a Violent Deer, it will add four points to the counter. These aren't as common as Specimen 1, but easily rack up those points.

You won't be able to tell you've hit the 20 point mark until you reach the end of the game, but you can count the points yourself as you play. If you haven't been counting, just make sure to kill the Violent Deer when you come across them and whack on every Specimen 1 you come across to unlock Spooky's bad ending.

And that's it! Good luck pushing through in Spooky's House of Jump Scares and try your best to not get too scared by Spooky's Specimens.

Spooky's House of Jump Scares is surprisingly scary, despite the game's simple graphics and the mansion's dubiously adorable host.

There are three passwords you can use before you really start to play the game to send you to particular floors deep within Spooky's house. These let you start further in, so you don't have to do the earlier rooms. They're great if you want to get proper spooked, but don't feel like slogging through the first couple hundred rooms.

The passwords are:

• Room 250: PUMPKIN
• Room 500: CHEESE
• Room 750: CAKE

Just like half of the rest of the game, the passwords are pretty adorable.

So where do you put them in? That's easy enough. Go to the wrench and cog icon at the bottom right of the screen..

.. then choose the room you want to skip to and input the password.

Getting chased around a mansion by a bunch of monsters has never been so easy.