Phasmophobia's newest ghost is a terrifying Santa Claus

Phasmophobia is getting a new spooky surprise this winter, and he's here to get you where you've been naughty or nice. 

That's right: not satisfied with merely inflicting Slender Man on us during Halloween, the team at Kinetic Games has now unleashed a Creepy Claus alongside its latest update, Cursed Possessions. You can track his movements by listening out for those oh-so-festive sleigh – or should that be slay? – bells.

Although he's not been formally introduced by the developer - the patch notes only make mention of a "strange new ghost type" - here's Spooky St. Nick in action, courtesy of streamer OtterLady:

"Several sightings have been noted of cursed objects, in locations where a ghost is haunting," Phasmophobia's update v0.5.0 teases (thanks, PCGN). "These must be the cause of ghosts being trapped there. You might be able to use these to your advantage, but be careful, we don't know what they're capable of."

As for those aforementioned cursed possessions? One of six items will spawn at random at the start of your mission: a tortured voodoo doll, a summoning circle, a music box, haunted mirror, tarot cards, or an ouija board.

Not played Phasmophobia just yet but wondering if today's the day to get involved? Find out how it turned GamesRadar's self-professed scaredy-cat Alyssa Mercante into a fear junkie. And if you're home alone this holiday season and in the mood for tricks rather than treats, don't forget that Phasmophobia now has a single-player mode.

Phasmophobia launched on Steam Early Access in 2020 and became an instant hit with streamers and horror fans, to an extent that surprised developer Kinetic Games and led them to change and expand their plans for future updates, including an expansion to the team in order to keep up with the ghost game's popularity.

"Over the past few years I have been developing Phasmophobia on my own however due to how much it has grown in both popularity and its future content plans it is now time to expand the team," they explained at the time they announced a recruitment drive.

Horror is for life, not just for Halloween, you know. Here are our tips for the very best horror games you can play all year round...