John Carpenter’s Halloween and Ash vs Evil Dead are getting “fast-paced 90’s arcade style games” from the developer of Shantae

Boss Team Games has announced two 16-bit platformers based on John Carpenter’s Halloween and the Starz TV show Ash vs Evil Dead.

If you remember – and you should because it was only 24 hours ago – Evil Dead: The Game publisher Boss Team Games announced two new games based on the iconic Halloween franchise. We know one of them is being built in Unreal Engine 5 with collaboration from Carpenter, but we didn’t know anything at all about the other one until now.

Via IGN, RetroRealms: Halloween and RetroRealms: Ash vs Evil Dead are the result of a collaboration between Boss Team Games and WayForward, the developer behind the Shantae series, which began way back in 2002 and has a new entry in the works for release in 2025. The 16-bit Halloween and Ash vs Evil Dead games are the first titles in Boss Team Games’ new RetroRealms series.

“Everyone at Boss Team Games are huge fans of horror, and getting to work with these legendary properties is a dream come true,” said Boss Team Games CEO Steve Harris. “It has been an amazing experience collaborating with WayForward, and our licensors to create not one, but two, fast-paced 90’s arcade style games while remaining true to the original Halloween film and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ series.”

Curiously, the Halloween game puts you in control of the killer Michael Myers (just like the 1983 Atari 2600 Halloween game) as well as other characters from the 1978 classic horror movie, as you slash your way through familiar locales and “overcome the ultimate evil that has descended upon our world.” 

Meanwhile, the Ash vs Evil Dead game more fittingly lets you play as Ash Williams to do battle with Deadites and other monsters across various locations inspired by the Starz original series. 

“Taking a modern horror franchise and creating the kind of retro gameplay that WayForwardexcels at has allowed us to create something that we know fans of Pixel Art games, ‘Halloween,’ and ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ alike will enjoy,” said WayForward president Voldi Way. “We’ve designed a whole new kind of gameplay that is unique to the RetroRealms titles and highlights the over-the-top gore and special abilities of these characters.”

Both RetroRealms games are coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC on October 18 and can either be purchased separately for $25 or as part of a bundle for $50. Boss Team says there’s bonus content for people who buy both games, including the ability to bring characters from each game into the other. I won’t lie, facing off against The Kandarian Demon as Michael Myers is a horror fantasy I didn’t know I needed.

It’s never a bad time to peruse our list of the best horror games.