With the holly jolly crap of Christmas thankfully behind us -- forgive me, I’m a scrooge -- I’m in the mood for a scare. Well, that’s not really accurate, as I spent a portion of winter break playing through the delightfully conceived Dead Space. Despite its flaws, it is probably the best survival horror game I’ve played since the Gamecube remake of Resident Evil. With Electronic Arts’ nice new IP behind me though, I want more! As such, for my own purposes and the purposes of our beloved Bargain Bin, I’ve tracked down a few eerie games that will spook you without scaring you into poverty!

F.E.A.R.  (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

While it may seem a bit silly to invest in the original F.E.A.R. with the sequel not too far off, for those of us with light wallets or endowed with that oftentimes annoying desire to be utter completionists, F.E.A.R. is a choice shooter. Notable both for its Japanese-style use of spiritual horror, and for its aggressive and intelligent enemy AI, F.E.A.R. boasts a number of unique and excellent qualities in a genre that often spawns far too much stuff that can be labeled derivative.

Best of all, used copies of the game are relatively available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. There are some things to mark about each version, the ports most especially. The PC version was the original and stands as the best. The Xbox 360 version comes in second place due to the fact that it maintains the quality visuals of the PC edition, but suffers from sometimes clumsy controls. The PS3 version is the worst of the bunch, maintaining many of the better elements of the PC version -- the atmosphere and AI are all intact -- but at the same time suffers both from the control problems of the 360 version and visuals so badly downgraded they appear more in line with the last generation of video games rather than the current.

Overall though, whichever system you choose to play it on, you’re in for a good time, or at least a few good scares made to remind you of creepy flicks like The Ring and The Grudge.

Amazon (Note: Used Amazon.com prices are subject to change)

PC - $17.50 (New) $8.99 (Used)

PS3 - $29.99 (New) $14.67 (Used)

Xbox 360- $31.15 (New) $9.99 (Used)