Creepy video games debut for Halloween

— -- Halloween may be a time for trick-or-treating, pumpkin-carving and costume parties, but for millions of video gamers, it's also a perfect opportunity to curl up with a daunting digital diversion with the lights turned off.

A few new scary games have debuted in October, each one created to make your hands sweat and heart race. The following are two recommended picks to play alone, late at night and preferably with headphones.

A word of caution: Due to graphic images of violence and gore, both of these games are rated "Mature" by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (www.esrb.org), and therefore are not suitable for players under 17 years of age.

'Dead Space'

A refreshing change from all the video game sequels these days, "Dead Space" is a new thriller that combines a sci-fi story line with "survival horror" game-play elements. It's no surprise the game makers refer to it as a cross between "Alien" and "Resident Evil."

"Dead Space" takes place 500 years in the future, when a rescue team travels to deep space to investigate a mining ship that abruptly ceased contact with Earth while orbiting above an ominous-looking planet. You play as an engineer, Isaac Clarke, tasked to restore the Ishimura's communications systems. While roaming the ship's eerie corridors, Clarke discovers vicious aliens have decimated the crew. And they're still here.

As you play from a third-person perspective, you navigate Clarke around gorgeous, high-definition environments with no icons, numbers or maps on the screen to remind you this is a video game. Instead, you'll keep an eye on the back of the protagonist's spacesuit because it tracks his health (indicated by a glowing turquoise meter). There's also an air supply timer (ideal for zero-gravity sequences), and on the back of most weapons, such as pulse rifle or contact beam, you'll see a digital number that counts down how much ammo is left. The only things that ruin the suspension of disbelief are pictures of floppy disks you'll find strewn throughout the spaceship, which is where you can save your progress during the game.