Horror games can offer so many different experiences, depending on your mood and what you’re looking for. Where some titles use atmospheric storytelling to construct horrifying narratives, others conjure up disgusting monsters to explore layered meaning. Meanwhile, some titles are just plain built to make you jump. With so many options out there, you can pick your poison from just about anything.
With 2026’s release calendar spanning from promising-sounding indies to debuts from new studios and releases from some of the genre’s biggest franchises, there’s going to be plenty of horror games coming out to keep your hands busy and thrills on tap.
And that’s without even accounting for any as-yet unannounced titles or games without release dates locked in yet. I’m looking at you, DarkwebStreamer and Becrowned.
Whether you’re into survival horror, platformers, or even cosy-horror hybrids, there’s going to be a few games ready to keep you up at night after you reach Game Over. Here are my picks for the ten most promising-sounding releases coming to the genre in 2026.
9
Welcome to Doll Town
13th February | Bad Wish Games | PC
Welcome to Doll Town takes you through a rotting town in rural Japan to uncover a bleak secret. Not so long ago, the area was known for its artisan dollmaking business. Naturally, as this is a survival horror, the dolls aren’t so happy to have been abandoned, and it’s up to you to find your way out of town unscathed.
Something that caught my eye about Welcome to the Dollhouse is the map’s eerie, monotone atmosphere. Following in the terrifying animatronic footsteps of games like MiSide, it looks like it’s going to bring bad vibes in boatloads with its grainy, PS2-inspired, low-poly aesthetics and ghostly color palette.
The story underlying the retro-styled survival horror is equally compelling. In addition to navigating through the decidedly creepy titular town, you’re also going to need to get to the bottom of why Doll Town was left completely derelict by figuring out puzzles and engaging in combat where necessary. This might sound awful, but I already can’t wait to smash up some mannequins and crack the mystery myself.
8
There Are No Ghosts At The Grand
2026 | FridaySundae | PC, Xbox Series X/S
Ever flipped a haunted house? No? Well, according to the title of this upcoming creepy-cosy game, you’re not about to either. But some of The Grand’s long-term guests may beg to differ. And, as someone with a penchant for both horror and simulation games, I’m looking forward to finding out if the title really is accurate.
Something promising about the upcoming There Are No Ghosts At The Grand is the in-game day-night cycle, which sounds like it will effectively split the two modes into two totally different styles of gameplay. Personally, I’m not sure which mode I’m looking forward to more.
During the daytime, you’re a certified decorator, doing your House Flipper-best to makeover The Grand Hotel and fix up any nearby derelict buildings throughout the town. Meanwhile, at night, The Grand starts to look a little more like the Overlook Hotel.
With only Mr. Bones the Bastard Cat by your side (yes, that’s really his name), you need to fight to stay alive, fix up the hotel, and somehow get to the bottom of the mystery behind your missing father.
7
Love Eternal
19th February | Brlka | PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Switch
After being kidnapped by a vengeful God, Maya finds herself far away from her family, and in a lot of trouble. Or, more specifically, she’s trapped in a prison created out of her own traumatic memories.
Using precision and a lot of problem-solving, you need to navigate – and survive – more than 100 levels of peril to help her escape in the upcoming indie platformer Love Eternal.
As a fan of quirky platformers like Celeste and Journey of the Broken Circle, I’m personally looking forward to seeing how Love Eternal’s curious cocktail of hand-drawn pixel graphics, high-narrative storytelling, and zero-gravity platforming pans out on release.
6
Lily’s World XD
2026 | SonderingEmily | PC
The old internet is full of ghosts: dead accounts, abandoned websites, and people who haven’t logged on for long enough that you could probably submit a missing person’s report. In the case of Lily’s World XD, those ghosts might just be literal.
Your role is to rifle through a teenager’s laptop from the early 2000s, completing puzzles while learning more about Lily as you flick through her old webcam snaps and instant messages. It all sounds very A Normal Lost Phone at face value – up until you find messages addressed directly to you.
I love highly story-driven games in general, but even moreso when they offer an innovative take on narrative design. If the overview trailer is anything to go by, then Lily’s World XD definitely looks like it has a lot to offer in that department.
5
Neverway
2026 | Coldblood Inc. | PC, Switch
One of my most anticipated releases in the horror genre this year also pulls double duty as one of the most anticipated indie games of 2026. If you’re into 2D titles or pixel art at all, then Neverway might already seem familiar to you, even if you haven’t heard of it before. That’s because the upcoming dark life simulator is actually a co-creation between Pedro Medeiros, who’s best known for his work on indie platformer darling Celeste, and software engineer Isadora Sophia.
Besides the visuals, Neverway also looks equally promising on the sonic side of things. Horror royalty Disasterpeace composed the game’s soundtrack, who you might know from titles like Fez and Hyper Light Drifter – or, if you’re like me, you probably recognize the name from the soundtrack for major horror films like It Follows and Bodies Bodies Bodies. With that crew behind it, Neverway is definitely one I’m looking out for in 2026.
4
The Florist
2026 | Unclear Games | PS5, Switch 2, PC
Enjoyed 2025’s The Blue Prince, but hoped that the grounds would rear up to try and kill you? The Florist might be just what you’re looking for. Unclear Games’ stylistically beautiful The Florist is set to borrow from classic survival horror elements to share what promises to be a fresh take on the genre.
Meet Jessica Park: a florist on a gig that brings her to the town of Joycliffe. Not long after her arrival, the town’s plants go rogue by growing at an unprecedented rate – and taking over human bodies to turn them into aggressive monsters.
The Florist’s story already sounds compelling, but that isn’t all that’s exciting about the forthcoming release. The forthcoming release also looks like it picks from an assorted grab bag of some of the genre’s best parts – puzzle-based gameplay, fixed-camera angles, and, of course, some completely gnarly-looking creatures – while putting a new spin on them.
As a survival horror frequent-flyer, I’m keen to get my hands dirty tending to Joycliffe’s mutant shrubbery.
3
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss
16th April | Big Bad Wolf | PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
There’s no shortage of Lovecraftian video games out there, from the more obvious examples like the Call of Cthulhu series to titles that take subtler inspiration, like Dredge or Bloodborne. For that reason, it’s tough to make a new Lovecraft game that doesn’t feel overdone, without straying too far from the source inspiration. However, Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss looks like it’s going to manage to pull off exactly that.
In Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss, you’ll play as Noah, an investigator who sets out to find out why deep-sea miners are disappearing from an underwater mining station in the Pacific. As you might’ve guessed, the ocean is hiding a lot of secrets underneath the surface – and most of them aren’t pretty.
From the trailers alone, this investigative thriller looks equal parts sinister and sleek, thanks to its compelling character designs and impressive graphics. I definitely don’t envy Noah for being the one coming face-to-face with all of those dreadful-looking Eldritchian creatures lurking in the abyss, but I am looking forward to picking this one up on launch.
2
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake
12th March | Koei Tecmo | PC, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
One of 2026’s most anticipated horror releases isn’t technically a new title at all. Instead, it’s a remake of a Makoto Shibata classic from 2003. Fatal Frame II follows sisters Mio and Mayu as they face up to malevolent spirits using a mystical Camera Obscura while exploring a forgotten village beside the Stream of Memories (which definitely isn’t a subtextual reference to anything awful).
Much like the recent re-release of Silent Hill 2, the Fatal Frame II remake is a full rebuild of the original game. Koei Tecmo shared that their Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Remake features an overhauled gameplay system, along with all-new visuals and audio.
Rebuilding a fan favorite is no small feat, so expectations are going to be high for this one. But, from the promotional teasers shared so far, it looks like the remake is going to have some real finesse to it.
Plus, it’s actually pretty expensive to pick up an original PS2 copy of Fatal Frame II, so being able to finally enjoy it in all its restored glory for a fraction of the price is an opportunity not to be missed.
1
Resident Evil: Requiem
February 27th | Capcom | Switch 2, PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S
The Resident Evil series holds something of a trump card any year that it has a new release. It’s hard to beat one of the biggest horror franchises in gaming when it comes to building hype pre-launch, after all. As well as that, Resident Evil: Requiem has something else going for it to get fans excited: Leon Kennedy as a silver fox.
What’s perhaps more exciting than Leon Kennedy’s makeover is the introduction of Requiem’s new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft. Resident Evil doesn’t exactly get new main characters often, so it’s exciting to welcome someone new into the fold. And, she looks like she’s going to come with quite the backstory.
Requiem won’t all be about a new character who feels disconnected from the series’ lore, though. Thirty years after the events of Resident Evil 3, FBI analyst Ashcroft is knee-deep in investigating the death of her mother in Raccoon City. Meanwhile, a much-older Leon Kennedy is off looking into some suspicious ongoings tied to Umbrella Corp. Throughout the game’s events, you’ll flip between assisting Grace or Leon on their respective cases.
Switching between each character’s storylines is an interesting premise that could help to mix up gameplay by contrasting combat-focused play with stealth-style mechanics, depending on who you’re playing as. You’ll also have the option to flip between camera perspectives, with a choice of either first or third-person view, in a move that evokes the hallmarks of earlier Resident Evil games, and other classic survival horror titles like Silent Hill 2.
The combination of these gameplay mechanics and Resident Evil’s iconic worldbuilding (and terrifying monsters) means that Requiem could easily end up being one of the best horror games of the year – and, as a result, it’s also undeniably one of the most anticipated upcoming releases of 2026.
