Best co-op and multiplayer horror games to play this Halloween

If you're hoping to play some games with your pals this October, you'll need a good selection of frightening horror games to indulge in, in which you can work with - or torment - your friends in both a co-op and multiplayer format. Below we've listed ten scary games you can enjoy online with friends this Halloween.

Best Co-op and Multiplayer Horror Games

The best horror games to play with friends are those that put an effort into building upon what's truly scary. Isolation, fear and making sure that you feel like the odds are against you at every turn. All the while still ensuring that the co-op and multiplayer elements are essential. Bearing that in mind, we've made this list to pick from, and we'll go into why below.

• Left 4 Dead 2
• Dead By Daylight
• The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies
• World War Z
• Friday the 13th
• Resident Evil 5
• The Forest
• Dying Light

Left 4 Dead 2 (PC)

Let's start with a classic: Left 4 Dead is one of the great zombie-killing games, in which you and three other players have to work together to survive streaming, swarming hordes of undead. Failure to cooperate will see you dead before long, but careful planning will have you make it through with your organs still in your abdomen. Left 4 Dead 2 is basically a full upgrade on the formula, with an emphasis on melee weapons that allows you to smash your way through zombies with a machete, axe or electric guitar. Nice.

Dead By Daylight (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Dead By Daylight rules. It's a splattery slasher-horror game that has one of you play a deranged murderer while four more players creep around trying to find an escape. It's tense and well-balanced, designed to keep both teams on their toes and sneaking about until a sudden terrified confrontation. And not only that, but numerous tie-in deals and DLC have basically made it Smash Bros. for horror characters - there's Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, Michael Myers, Jigsaw, Ash Williams, and many more to pick from, turning every confrontation into a crossover slaughter. If that's not worth it, what is?

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Until Dawn was popular enough among streamers, lets players, reactors and just folks who want to watch teenagers get butchered with their friends that the developers included co-op modes in their follow-up, Man of Medan. It's a creeping ghost story about several teenagers stalking about an abandoned warship, trying to work out - perhaps understandably - why the crew keeps rising from the dead to murder them. The new co-op modes allow two players to work (or fail) together online, or up to five players working from the same living room.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Call of Duty might not be anybody's idea of a horror game per se (unless you're a foreign nation watching several platoons of burly American thugs bearing down on you with cutting-edge killing machines), but Zombies mode was always the exception. Play as a team of four to battle off unending waves of corpses with a variety of classic and new weapons, in various locations ranging from the Titanic to Ancient Rome. No, seriously.

World War Z (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Taking Left 4 Dead's torch and running with it, World War Z is all about having as many zombies in one place at one time, vast cities of undead that four players have to wade through using every weapon at their disposal. At times it feels less like you'd die from bites and more from drowning, as screeching corpses surround you on every side, pouring down from every ledge and threatening to overwhelm you at any moment.

Friday the 13th (PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch)

Very similar to Dead by Daylight in form but overwhelming focused on one of the industry's most famous killers, Friday the 13th is another asymmetrical multiplayer game in which one of you is the Camp Crystal Lake killer and the others are all hapless teens, trying to unlock one of several escape routes before Jason bends your head back between your ankles. Friday the 13th boasts a phenomenal atmosphere and several clever features, such as your friend's voice chat getting quieter and quieter as their character moves away from you. Sadly there's no inclusion of the cyborg Uber-Jason from the tenth movie, but what's here is still very solid.

Resident Evil 5 (PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch)

Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 both have co-op action in which you battle off enemies with your friends across Zombie-infested terrain, but here's the important distinction: RE5 is actually fun to play. It's a refined action experience designed to push you to the limit, and despite having a story that's as inept as any Resident Evil game before it, it's got an enjoyable gameplay structure that's even better when shared.

The Forest (PS4, PC)

The Forest is goddamn terrifying. I don't know how to put it better than that. It's an ominous story about being a group of survivors on an abandoned island after a plane crash - only to realise that the island isn't as abandoned as they'd hoped. During the daytime you'll all have to work together to build a shelter and find supplies, maybe even go hunting for clues on how to escape or what caused the plane to crash. But when night falls and things start emerging from the shadows of the Forest, the only thing you can do is fight to survive - and pray your defences hold up until morning.

Dying Light (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Continuing with the day/night theme, Dying light is an open-world zombie game with an emphasis on free-running and Parkour, allowing you to vault and dive around the world and even introducing a grappling hook in the later stages. There's also the ability to craft all manner of improvised weapons from items you find around the map, and the aforementioned night cycle means that the zombies are replaced with more aggressive monsters after dark, forcing you to run for your life. It's a superb gameplay model that's enhanced by sharing it with somebody.

That's our full list, but there's no shortage of other content or suggestions here at Jelly Deals. Feel free to take a look at our Twitter for up-to-date deals and bargains across the internet!