The Last Crown: Midnight Horror conjures up Halloween scares

We've waited a long time for a new game from Jonathan Boakes, and now that the time has come, it's both a different game than we expected and caught everyone by surprise, with the sudden and previously unannounced release of Midnight Horror, an "intermezzo" between The Lost Crown and The Last Crown: Blackenrock.

Appropriately set on Halloween, when the "veil between our world and the 'other side' is at its weakest", Midnight Horror returns players to the English coastal town of Saxton, in which "something is haunting the guest rooms above the local harbour-side pub." Ghost-hunter Nigel Danvers is the only one (or at least the only one brave enough) to probe the mystery with the help of his "ghost-hunting gadgets, a séance and use of the Dark Arts." But he'll have to be quick, as he has just one night to find out before Halloween passes and the veil between worlds returns to full strength for another year.

Although a "standalone ghost story," Midnight Horror also serves as a prologue for the upcoming Blackenrock, re-introducing gamers to the townsfolk of Saxton first visited back in 2008. In keeping with the spirit of its predecessor (and its upcoming successor), the new game features the same third-person perspective and black-and-white design aesthetic with touches of colour for special effect.

After so many years of (im)patiently waiting, you don't need to wait a minute longer, as The Last Crown: Midnight Horror is now available for PC on Steam.