“Horror fans have never had a definitive fighting game, and we probably never will due to licensing issues.” Co-founder of Dread Central and Terrifier 2 producer Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton said this to me when we were chatting about the custom creations he’s been hard at work putting together for the new video game WWE 2K26. And he’s right. A Mortal Kombat-style fighting game filled with horror icons is likely never going to become a reality, but that hasn’t stopped fans from doing what they can to get as close to that reality as possible.
One of those fans is Barton himself, who has been bringing his favorite horror icons into WWE’s annual video game for the past several years. He’s already made over 30 of them for 2K26, using the game’s advanced create-a-wrestler capabilities to essentially turn the WWE video game into his own personal horror fighting game. And his customs are available for YOU to download, allowing you to pit CM Punk up against Jack Torrance; Oba Femi up against the Tall Man from Phantasm; or even make Rhea Ripley duke it out with Regan from The Exorcist.
But he’s not just focused on the big name horror icons. “Everyone makes Jason, Leatherface, Michael Myers, Freddy, and rightly so,” Barton explains. “There are some absolutely amazing versions of them on Community Creations. Some are so good I have zero to add to them. That’s why I focus on the more underserved horror characters. Monsters from the ’50s like The Colossal Beast and the original The Fly. My creations span several decades of the horror genre.”
“I like seeing how far I can push the in-game creation suite,” Barton continues. “I try to make stuff that should NOT be possible. Like my tribute piece to John Carpenter’s The Thing. I had absolutely no clue what that would even look like as a consolidated wrestler, but it sure was fun figuring it out!”
And Barton isn’t just making custom skins, he’s also deeply customizing the move sets and entrances to make sure these feel not like fan customs but full-blown playable characters.
He explains, “Each creation can take anywhere from 2 hours to 10 hours. It depends on the design and the complexity of the face modeling needed to make it sing. You can’t just slap an image onto a random head and expect it to REALLY look like the person you’re trying to capture. I look at reference material from all angles, including profiles and close-ups. Sometimes, my wife Danielle, will sit next to me and help me see things I may have missed. Once the design is complete, I work on specific move sets, entrance elements, and taunts to help sell the characters. It’s a labor of love, and I love this genre more than just about anything.”
“You can create your own custom universe mode and fill it with nothing but slashers, maniacs, demons, and monsters, who do promos, have gimmick matches, make teams, and foster rivalries. That’s pretty damned cool,” Barton adds. Now there’s an idea we can get behind.
To find Barton’s horror creations on PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series consoles, search the following creator names within WWE 2K26: Uncle Creepy or BaddestMonsterParty#44907.
“Every now and again, I post links to other talented artists on X, where you can follow me @UncleCreepy,” Barton ends our chat. “Some of these people create things that will blow your mind. They’re INSANELY talented. I’m honored to be counted among them.”
Check out some of Barton’s best horror superstars down below. How many can you name?
