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Halloween: The Video Game showed me that I would not survive in a horror movie

Halloween is a franchise built around the ineffectiveness of just running and hiding, so why did I insist on trying?

News by Trent Cannon, Senior Contributing writer

Published on Sat Mar 28 2026

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Nearly five decades after John Carpenter slapped some white paint on a William Shatner mask and set Michael Myers loose on an unsuspecting town, Halloween remains an iconic horror franchise. While at PAX East, I managed to sneak into a demo of Halloween: The Video Game, which dropped me into the role of survivor in the sleepy town of Haddonfield, Illinois. As it turns out, it is something I’m entirely unsuited for.

Part of this was down to poor luck on my part. I joined the game and, within a few moments, turned a corner and found myself face-to-face with Michael Myers himself. Being the slow, lumbering brute that he is, I managed to flee – for a time. The beauty of the Halloween franchise, and what Halloween: The Video Game captures, is that Michael Myers doesn’t need to be fast to kill you because he is always coming.

For the next five minutes of gameplay, I was utterly trapped. No matter where I went or how I hid, he was always there. I tried to hide in a car, only to be dragged out a moment later by the murderous giant. I locked the door to a house, and he just kicked it in. I found a shed that I thought surely must be safe, only to open the door and have him stab me like a murderous jack-in-the-box. I’m convinced that the only reason I survived to the end of the game was because I was so entertaining to chase for the player controlling the killer.

If you want to find out how you’d fare in a horror movie and think you’d do better than me (which seems likely), you can try Halloween: The Video Game all weekend at PAX East, or you can wait until September when the game finally gets released.

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About PAX East

PAX East is a celebration of gaming and gaming culture featuring thought-provoking panels, a massive expo hall filled with the best publishers and studios, new game demos, musical performances, tournaments, and a community experience unlike any other. No matter your preferred genre or platform, if you love games, welcome home.