Grand Theft Auto Online is dangerous enough all year round, thanks to arseholes and rocket bikes. But now, it’s even more dangerous and spooky, thanks to new Halloween-themed content added to the game via the latest update. If you head into GTA Online, be on the lookout for UFOs, deadly ghost cars, creepy supernatural serial killers, and even scary clowns.
Phantom cars in GTA Online are ghostly vehicles that have no driver, and will drive around Los Santos or the surrounding countryside at night, stalking players. You might not even notice the phantom car at first. But once you step out of your car, the ghosty automobile gains bright, red headlights and becomes covered in flames. Then you’ll notice it, which is good, because in this demonic mode it will try to run down anyone on foot. The phantom cars appear to be directly inspired by the 1983 horror film Christine, an adaptation of the famous Stephen King story about a deadly vehicle.
Also stalking the nighttime streets are new supernatural serial killers. These include, coulrophobiacs be warned, the killer clowns. These grim villains can be spotted in Los Santos only, and seem to be inspired by that time when creepy clowns were(n’t) popping up all over the place in real life. You’ll need to be on foot or in a car to encounter these bastards. Other Halloween slashers added in this update include a flaming murderer who seems directly based on Freddy Kreuger, and a masked killer with a machete who menacingly walks towards you and is nearly unkillable, which sounds a lot like famous slasher Jason. Many of these killers have creepy sound effects attached to them, and to be clear: they will kill you the moment they spot you unless you drive away or kill them first.
If you want to experience all this new Halloween open-world content, you’ll need to log in to GTA Online and enter a public or invite-only session that has at least one other player in it. Then hang around for about 20 minutes and only walk, or drive around in cars. (If you are in a plane or helicopter this stuff won’t spawn for you.) GTA Series Videos has created a helpful video showcasing all of this new content, if you aren’t brave enough to enter the dark world of GTA Online yourself.
Less deadly, but still spooky, are UFOs appearing in the skies above Los Santos. These have been popping up for a few days now, seemingly to tease this big Halloween update, but now they’re more common and can be found in various locations around the GTA Online map.
Finally, a new arcade game has been added to GTA Online. Camheadz is a light gun shooter that appears to be directly inspired by Rockstar’s controversial Manhunt series. Dataminers had known about this final arcade game buried in the files of GTA Online for some time now, so it’s nice to finally see it available officially. A bit of trivia: Camheadz is a direct nod to a gang from Manhunt that was ultimately cut and not included in the final release. I remember this stuff but not my own parent’s birthdays. I have a problem.
Anyway, all of this cool Halloween content is only around for a short time. Rockstar hasn’t said when it will all be removed, but I’d guess by early November all the creepy killers and deadly ghost cars will be patched out of the game. So if you want to experience any of this stuff, go play GTA Online sooner than later.