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Six classic horror-iffic games for Halloween



Turn out the lights and turn up the volume, it's time to scare yourself silly with some good, old Halloween-y games. Enjoy!

Escape from Hell via Abandonware Dos

Think of Diablo, in reverse, with really, really low-fi graphics. That might still not be an accurate description of Escape from Hell, but it's as close as I can get to a modern comparison. It's an RPG, and you'll have to fight your way out of Hell, meeting up with all kinds of evil nasties along the way.

Watch out, there's even a (very) little CG nudity (!) in this one.


The Lurking Horror via House of Games
I can't remember how much time I spent playing Infocom's excellent interactive fiction games when I was young. I'd almost forgotten about this one, though.

In The Lurking Horror, you're a university student trying to complete a term paper following a massive snowstorm. As if term papers weren't horrifying enough, you witness sacrificial rites and encounter terrifying creatures on your way to the lab. The kicker: the computer have turned on you, and destroyed all your hard work! Aaaaaaaa!!!!!!!


Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus via C:\dos
What would Halloween be without an Elvira reference? Our favorite horror hottie is in trouble, and it's up to you to save her! Watch out, though - the movie studio is overrun with monsters and evil magic. You'll need to keep your wits about you if you're going to be the hero.

Splatterhouse / Splatterhouse 2 via RomNation
I still remember when this one came out for the awesome Turbografx 16. West Mansion was once home to deranged doctor, who performed gruesome experiments in his secret lab. Hideous creatures roam it halls, and you're going to have to fight your way out using the power of the Dr. West's terrible Horror Mask. Grab your chainsaw!

You'll need emulators for these two, but RomNation's got you covered.

Heretic via XTC Abandonware
Doom with a crossbow? Oh, hell yes. I wasted a lot of time as a university freshman playing this one. Heretic is classic FPS action set in the Dark Ages, and it's a lot of fun.

Happy Halloween, DS readers - and have fun!

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

CiviballsI have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

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