Valve have launched a special Left 4 Dead offer, allowing Xbox 360 and PC owners to pre-order the game with a $5 price cut and at the same time gain early access to a demo. Sadly, by early access we don’t mean today, but November 6.

The rest of you will have to wait until November 11 to get your hands on the demo. The full game will launch on November 18, so try and be a little patient.

Valve’’s press release then explains that they believe this is their best game yet, earning itself their most costly advertising campaign ever.

Additionally, Halloween is just around the corner, and Valve want you to celebrate with them via another one of those contests, which seem to be a new trend.

Fans are tasked with taking a "creative" photograph of themselves in front of one of the many outdoor media pieces created for the game’s promotion. The top 25 entries will receive a free copy of Left 4 Dead, while one even luckier zombie will be rewarded with a brand new AMD gaming PC.

"All entries will be reviewed and judged by Gabe Newell" claims the press release, and we have no reason to doubt that as our spies have often reported that Newell is a huge fan of zombies, contests and photographs.

Visit the contest page for more information.