Whether it is a deranged murderer in a horror film or the looming tension of a ghost story,  fear takes many forms on Halloween. When fears assume the form of digitally animated characters, a new sense of dread fills people’s minds as they plug in their headphones and turn on their station controllers.

Hand-in-hand with horror movies, scary video games command the attention of audiences who yearn to taste true terror.

Japanese video game designer Keiichiro Toyama is a presence in the world of survival horror with the creations of the “Silent Hill” and “Siren” franchises.

“Silent Hill” is the name of  the series of video games that revolve around the tourist town of the same name. The first game in the series was released in 1999 and the inspiration for other horror video games that followed.

With twisted plots, monsters created by the main character’s’ subconscious and notorious characters such as “Pyramid Head,” players will find themselves deeply engrossed in “Silent Hill’s” dark history and mysteries of the human mind.

“Siren: Blood Curse” is the third installment in the “Siren” series in which teen Howard Wright finds himself in the village of Hanuda, a Japanese village that had vanished in 1976.  The game focuses heavily on stealth as the player needs to maneuver around monsters known as Shibito, zombie-like creatures that ruthlessly hunt down Howard’s character throughout the entire game. With an unsettling atmosphere, terrifying visuals and a complex storyline, video game lovers and horror enthusiasts are in for a treat with this one.

Photography lovers may reconsider using a camera again after playing the 2003 release of “Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly” in which twins Mayu and Mio Amakura find themselves trapped in “All God’s Village.” The village’s inhabitants are tortured souls who are forever bound to their places of death. Armed with a camera, the twins must fight their way out of the village alive. Players are sure never to point their cameras into an empty room lest a ghost appears in the frame.

The “Five Nights at Freddy’s” series will alter views of children’s pizza parlors. Created by Scott Cawthon, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” forces players to protect themselves from animatronic animals possessed by the souls of five murdered children. The franchise has a large fan base and extensive lore and theories which makes this point-and-click horror game have more facets than first perceived. With jumpscares that’ll have a player screaming and running away from their computer monitors, those who crave a good scare will have a “spook-tacular” time playing the game.

Gamers must escape the clutches of the Wendigo, cannibalistic creatures from Algonquin legend, to survive “Until Dawn,” one of the newest horror games on the market which introduces a twist on the basic scary video game. Player’s choices manipulate the story experiences as they are prompted to choose dialogue and discover totems scattered in the game. The main point of “Until Dawn” is to keep all characters alive until dawn, but fans will soon realize that in a sick game of life and death, anything can happen. The stunning visuals and sense of foreboding at every turn will be sure to cast all who play the game into a trance. Players just need to be sure to react quickly enough in case a Wendigo decides to creep into their rooms for a midnight snack.

Scary video games are a must-have on one’s Halloween tradition list. Playing a horror game is a fresh change from watching a film or attending haunted houses and will certainly place an individual’s heart and mind in a state of panic while celebrating the mysterious and diabolic holiday.