Hello everyone! You better be somewhere safe and comfy - because today we’re going over the top 5 mods to scare your socks off this Halloween! We’ve chosen from projects post-2013 and up to ensure your horror experience has a good chance of being novel. Viewer discretion is advised for this article - the mods on this list are definitely not for the faint of heart, and one or two are especially freaky. If you enjoyed this list, comment down below what mods you reserve for a Halloween game night. Now - let’s get spooky.
Total Conversions will be a running theme on this list, and Alchemilla is a strong starting point. Set in the classic Silent Hill continuity and taking inspiration from the games in that series, Alchemilla sees you exploring both common and uncommon environments, with the former always tinged with a sense of unease. Many throwbacks to Silent Hill tropes and enemies appear, and the sheer level of custom asset work in play helps sell this experience as something unlike anything else on offer when it comes to horror on the Source Engine. Alchemilla is, admittedly, more of a slow burn and a great warm-up to tense atmosphere, as although the environments are well-detailed and certain setpieces excellently scripted, there aren’t the usual spread of monsters and difficult survivalist combat to keep you on your toes. Alchemilla cultivates a quiet terror, but if you’re someone who doesn’t like having their back to the wall and prefers keeping horror in the mind, this mod’ll still keep you greatly entertained this season.
The SCP continuity is a very unique ‘franchise’ - in that it isn’t really one at all. The SCP story - and all of its associated creatures, iconic or lesser known - have been pretty much solely in the hands of the community for years. This “free ownership” has given way to lots of games, movies, and extra bits of fiction that always helped keep interest alive. The entire concept of anomalous creatures ranging from sentient jellies to world-ending satanic demons is ripe for the picking, and SCP: Containment Breach was one of the very early examples of an SCP game, combining many of the most popular entries in the series and forming a difficult, extensively replayable game around them. Now, years later, Ultimate Edition combines numerous mods from around the community with their own improvements and adjustments to expand the content on offer. More SCPs, more paths, and more detailed visuals all make this one of the definitive ways to play this community triumph. The team involved is also in the process of creating a ground-up remake of Containment Breach which will be open-sourced, allowing people to develop new mods with greater depth than ever before. Containment Breach: Ultimate Edition could take you a whole evening to map out, but it’ll be fraught with constant close scrapes with death along the way.
Resident Evil has seen a lot of different directions as a series. Starting off as a survival horror whose clunky controls were part of why combat was so intense, transitioning into an action horror with a lot more bombasticity than quiet terror, and then once more receding into the realms of survival horror again. Mortal Night is a totally new story set in one of the classics, Resident Evil 2, or more specifically, the “Sourcenext” PC release from 2000. Gone is fast-paced and frenetic combat - one enemy is enough to outmatch an unsuspecting player, and two enemies begets a lot of ammunition, or running away. Mortal Night ups the challenge and replayability with randomisation in enemy and item spawns, rewarding veterans of Resident Evil 2, but quickly beating new players over the head with the ropes. Every encounter will demand a certain level of gamesense and even players familiar with Mortal Night will find unforgiving scenarios around every corner. However, players with a sharp eye will also find more supplies, and clever players will know some areas to “refresh” enemy types if they’re not looking forward to the upcoming encounter. Mortal Night is every bit as difficult as the classic Resident Evil games, and more, but its randomised nature gives it insane replayability and a surprising amount in common with a roguelike. As long as you learn from every run, you’ll always be a foot up for the next one.
The original Half-Life has seen its share of historically famous horror mods. From They Hunger in 1999 onwards, modders have been using Goldsrc as a vehicle for spooks and horror. Cry of Fear is one of the most outstanding achievements in this field, combining an already formidable portfolio from the creator (Afraid of Monsters) with technological improvements from around the community. The culmination is an experience that feels distinctly unique, different, and deserving of its own standalone recognition. Cry of Fear’s story is dark, full of twists and with no truly happy ending to pick from. Every level is packed with tension, lower difficulties playing as an action horror and high difficulties seeing you praising every solitary magazine of ammunition you come across. A vast array of unlockables for repeat players and numerous endings reward memorisation and commitment, and dozens of custom campaigns - some endorsed officially by the mod creators - keep you playing long after mastering the base game. An official SDK, and a built-in co-op campaign, mean there really is no shortage of content in Cry of Fear. A true stand-out example of a total conversion that definitively changes the game.
DOOM is perhaps one of the most recognisable franchises in gaming, up there with Super Mario, Call of Duty, and the rest. Whilst most of the games take the demonic invasion of our reality with a kickass tone, DOOM 3 was a notable exception, driving the game into action horror (and on higher difficulties, survival horror) territory. Whilst this experiment was famously polarising, the creator behind Total Chaos sought to create their own deeply immersive and frightening horror experience, using DOOM 2 as a basis (with the very popular sourceport, GZDoom). Operating very easily right out the box, Total Chaos is a frightening, tense, and unrelenting experience. From the moment you start the game you’re thrust into a bleak environment with no effective way to defend yourself. Many survival mechanics like hunger, thirst, and radiation will add an extra level of meta-stress to resource management; that stimpack might be necessary right now to squeeze through a difficult encounter, but the bleeding you’ll suffer will create issues in the long-term if you don’t find bandages, too. A crafting system will reward keeping an eye on your surroundings, but even being able to make your own weapons, you’re probably better off avoiding most encounters where possible. Luck is hard to come by and mercy non-existent; every encounter in Total Chaos will test both your resolve and your wits. Play it alone, with the lights off, if you dare - but even having a captive audience will have the lot of you jumping at every sound and tensing up at every shadow. Total Chaos is a remarkable feat of creation and a terrifying monument to the power of mod creators.
Conclusion
That’s enough pants-wetting for one day. If you enjoyed or were terrified by this countdown, leave a comment down below about what mods get your hairs standing on end. Happy Halloween!
Mega deserved bro, absolutely phenomenal mod!
Great article, however I think I would include here "Penumbra: Necrologue" as well.
I have to agree with the lad who mentioned Penumbra:necrologue.
Having played Alcemilla, I will say that its atmosphere is spot on, but very soon you will find out that there is no actual threat for you to face, which will be the moment the game transforms into a mere spooky slideshow with puzzles.
Penumbra does not have these problems. The danger is real. Apart from resident evil mod, I have played them all and I do say the list is quite accurate, but I'd put CoF first as it is slightly more terrifying than Total chaos.