5 Best Slots to Play This Halloween

Spooky Season

“Reader beware…you’re in for a scare.”

Quite possibly the most iconic line of my childhood that, arguably, began a lifetime-love of all things haunting and horror.

There was nobody else quite like R.L. Stein that could take childhood fears, play with young emotions and create a series of books so daunting and yet entertaining as Goosebumps.

As years progressed, I would find myself being drawn in more and more to the horror genre; always looking for a scarier movie, a spookier costume at Halloween, a more haunting location to visit and explore.

Now, of course, horror certainly isn’t for everyone, but the hidden beauty of fear is that a tone can be set within the genre to cater for individual limits.

Take Halloween for example…traditionally a once-a-year night, dedicated to enabling children to dress up in exaggerated, often humorous, ghoul-ish costumes and eat a year’s worth of sugar in a matter of hours.

It has only been in more recent years that the haunting holiday has began edging toward a more adult nature, seeing the opening of terrifying scare mazes and paranormal events, growing in popularity year after year.

Online Slots and Halloween

So what has all of this got to do with online slots?

Much like any other major holiday on the calender, Halloween and slots go hand-in-hand. It is a theme so broad that it allows game providers across the globe to really get their creative juices flowing.

To some, it paves way to new, exciting opportunities for fresh mechanics and creative visuals whereas, to others, it presents the perfect chance to dress up a classic release for a spooky-season remake.

However one goes about it, the thing for certain is that players are always treated to a great choice of hauntingly, spook-tacular releases come October, ranging from the old to the new, from the light-hearted to the down-right terrifying.

Let's take a look at 5 of our favourites.

1. Big Bass Halloween

Ahh Big Bass…some might say a haunting enough series in itself; packed full of countless titles and mechanics like the pick n’ mix of the casino world.

Clearly there is the audience out there, giving consistent boost to the series’ popularity, to warrant Pragmatic Play extending the list seemingly ever-more.

A fairly simple catch and collect mechanic across the board, 2023 saw Pragmatic and Reel Kingdom’s most infamous fisherman don his horror get up in true “I know what you did last Summer” fashion; a bonus point for me with that being one of my go-to Halloween slasher films.

A game of medium volatility and a max win capped at 2,100x bet, Big Bass Halloween certainly isn’t full of jump-scares potential-wise, but a full make-over with quirky in-theme symbols, including a dragonfly-devouring crow, certainly makes for some spooky charm that fans of the series are sure to enjoy.

Halloween is often associated with “cult classics” and although 2023 cannot yet be deemed a by-gone era of classic releases, Big Bass Halloween has certainly made its impression…so much so that October 2024 sees the anticipated release of the follow-on Big Bass Halloween 2.

I’m personally very excited to see how this latest saga is received in the spooky slots community.

Big Bass Halloween Free Spins

2. Dreadworks

From the light-hearted to the fear-injecting, let’s make a complete u-turn as we check out a new release for October 2024 with Print Studio’s heart-pounding Dreadworks.

Players of a more nervous disposition should probably scroll down to the next game in the list but, for those that particularly enjoy a great, immersive experience that plays on of one’s greatest fears, I’m certain this is one for you.

You know you’re in for a treat when the first job on the list is to choose your preferred level of brightness for a game within the horror category.

After doing so, you will be transported into a dank, abandoned factory with a new scare around every corner including dolls, sinister toys and a certain jack-in-the-box from your worst nightmares.

With an intense soundtrack to compliment further, Dreadworks is a close relation of the cult-inspired Darkness where summoning Lucifer through his five chanting Druids activated a secondary bonus round.

Similar in Dreadworks, Print has certainly upped the ante with fresh features and mechanics and provided a level of realism that will make players question the limits of gaming and reality.

For those that dare to enter, you will be met with high-volatility game play with rewards up to 20,000x bet…but you may just want to think twice before turning out the lights!

Dreadworks Big Jack Bonus

3. BOO

From the old, to the new, to the something borrowed…this is BOO.

Getting in on the holiday action and making this year’s list is the “new” release from Big Time Gaming.

Now I have to say “new” with a slight pinch of salt, as even lesser-sharp-eyed players out there will see all of the comforting familiarities to a certain Pop.

But this is no day at the fun fair…this is Halloween, so it’s out with the balloons and candy floss stalls and in with the ghouls, the graveyard and the haunted mansion.

Big Time Gaming has done a spook-ishly charming job with BOO, it has to be said; a complete themed release consisting of all of the necessary jack-o-lanterns, almost-Casper-inspired ghostly symbols and a classic beat for a soundtrack as good measure.

I mentioned in the introduction that a major holiday in the year can give providers a chance to refresh a past release and that’s just what we have here; no major mechanical changes to particularly note other than the addition of a “Super Bonus” buy feature.

Playing out on a high-volatility model with a huge max win potential of 47,050x bet to sink your fangs into, yes BOO may not be one of Big Time Gaming’s most innovative concoctions, but fans of the provider and lovers of all things Hallowed should certainly be checking this one out for 2024.

Boo Free Spins

4. Immortal Romance

It’s not just early-risers that “Wake before the dawn”…

I started this piece with a famous one-liner from the literacy world, but is there a line that get’s the excitement flowing more than in the original Immortal Romance that sends an entire chorus through the online slots community?

2011 saw Microgaming flex with the release of a game of pure ingenuity; mixing a tale of romance, the supernatural and plenty of features along the way.

It was one of the first times that players were not only treated to great game play and bonus features, but an immersive story line with a now-famous soundtrack to pull them deeper in still.

As a provider, you know you made the elusive “A-list” of game releases whereby, even more than a decade on, conversations still spark up within the slots community about character progressions, story lines and music.

Of course, vampires and Halloween go together like werewolves and a full moon and no “spooky slots” list could be complete without Immortal Romance, literally carved into slot game immortality.

What I particularly enjoyed about this release is that Microgaming didn’t need dancing features and volatility to draw you in…all-singing yes, but a medium level of volatility was more than enough to grab the attention and whether or not you came close to achieving the 12,000x bet potential, you always had fun – and most likely still do – trying.

We mustn’t forget that Immortal Romance was given a brand new level of storyline this year with the follow-on Immortal Romance 2 but, as it usually is with movies within the horror genre, you can’t beat a classic!

Immortal Romance II Michael Free Spins

5. Bloodthirst

If there was ever a slot game that’s title gave you everything you needed to know about it, surely Bloodthirst would be up there.

Visuals playing on your greatest perceptions of darkness and demons, no Halloween night could be complete without a fear-inducing few spins on Hacksaw Gaming’s ghoulish game.

A release that based its prime mechanic around expanding “Monster Reels”, this title oozed (and still does to this day) exceptional visuals and immersive gameplay.

Released early in 2023, Bloodthirst was never created to be specifically for the haunting holiday season, but finding yourself pitted against fiendish creatures of the night, I couldn’t leave it off my list and, nearly two years down the line, this “Hacksaw Horror” should once again prove to be popular this October.

Those that find themselves with enough curiosity can test their nerve in high-volatility action, testing nerves on the way to achieving a potential 10,000x bet max win potential.

When it comes to horror, I love to see providers letting their imaginations run wild with an ominous level of realism.

Whether you believe in ghosts, ghouls and everything in between, you have to respect the level of creativity that has gone into Bloodthirst and it is for that reason it completes my top 5.

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