History NightmareFuel / Animalcrossing

* Upon catching a sea butterfly in New Horizons, it wiggles around like all other fish. But then its head twitches and bursts open, revealing multiple tentacles. This is typical hunting behavior of the creature, but it’s unnerving and alarming when seeing for the first time and having a certain Franchise/{{Alien}} fresh in one’s mind.

* The ''City Folk''/''Let's Go To the City'' manual claims that Mr. Resetti might be this to younger players. Funnily enough, Resetti ended up being optional in ''New Leaf'' because according to Nintendo, he scared the younger players and even made a few cry in some cases. This can end up averted if you aren't the mayor, though. Even if you are not the mayor, this opens the Reset Center project FOR the mayor. And the devious siblings rejoiced.
* In the original [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] version the music that plays at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrEss6dcsc8 11:00 p.m.]] as well as the music that plays at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odZ-OV8JWNk&index=24 midnight]] can sound really spooky for such a lighthearted game like Animal Crossing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zriYPJvR45s 1 AM]] is fairly minimalist, but still similarly unsettling.

*** Made even emotional and urgent in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAjVUTMzTac this arrangement]]

* With ''New Leaf'' came the possibility to share dream versions of your town via the Internet. Inevitably, creepy places started popping up. Nintendo apparently didn't notice, as the only reason the towns were taken down is because ''all'' towns were taken down when the ''Welcome amiibo'' update was released, with all dream towns needing to be uploaded from scratch (which happened with at least one such town).
** Aika, a village that does something unlike any other: it tells a story. It's a horror story [[EpilepticTrees filled with more interpretations than this game has items.]] [[SurpriseCreepy It's all VERY unsettling and completely out of place in such a cute series as Animal Crossing.]] The dream address is 2D00-002A-49A0.
*** The aforementioned Hypno K.K., a song that is creepy in its own right, has been infamously used with Aika village to the point where the song can barely be brought up without any mention of the town. K.K. Synth also gets used in a maze in one of the houses. It balances NightmareFuel with being rather sad.
*** It is actually possible to become temporarily trapped in one of the player houses. One house's main room is a maze made up of barely visible blocks and stools that you have to jump on and rotate. When leaving the room at the end, it's possible for the player villager that owns the house to show up. Due to the layout of the house, the villager will spawn in such a way to block any exit from the house, forcing you to wait until they leave.
*** And now for a bit of FridgeHorror. Aika is a popular dream town that's visited by lots of players via the Dream Suite. After an update, it gained a new feature: various parts of blue and pink PJ outfits scattered throughout the town, [[spoiler:with creepy skeletons buried near some of said parts]]. [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou The implications here are terrifying, to say the least.]]
** Although the dream town is not completely empty, it still feels creepily vacant; main street is blocked off by a perpetually frozen train and the town hall is closed. However, the worst has to be Re-Tail, sounding almost post-apocalyptic; when interacting with the door to the shop, it reads,
--->''"Re-Tail: Temporarily closed forever."''
*** Though granted, every Re-Tail in the dream world says that. But Aika's atmosphere makes it feel like it just "shouldn't" be like that, despite being normal.
*** Every dream Main Street is also blocked by a train, softening things a bit... But, again, given Aika's atmosphere, it still works. It almost makes you wonder what Main Street ''would'' look like if it could be altered to match the rest of the town.
** Another horror village is Hitokui, the cannibal village. While it's not as ambiguous or well-known as Aika, it's very detailed and disturbing. You can find an in-depth walkthrough [[http://creepycool.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-cannibal-town.html here]]. %%Needs a Welcome amiibo dream code, if one exists
** There's also the town of Shachipanda, which features a little girl, a fallen superstar, a drug addict, and some very creepy basements. %%The dream code is 2100-0784-7385. [Dream code needs to be replaced, if possible.]
*** In a previous version of the town, the two girls were occasionally represented by two actual villagers -- Francine and Chrissy, a pair of rabbits who are popular to have as a matching pair and are frequently interpreted to be sisters. The things that were implied to happen to the girls of Shachipanda, mainly to Yamii/Chrissy, weren't exactly fun; imagine applying ''that'' to one's own Chrissy. The town has since been updated and lost most of the creepy rooms (aside from a special few), but [[http://fuckyeahassortedstuff.tumblr.com/post/62576512449/shachipanda-druggy-village-an-assortedstuff-dream tours of the previous version still exist]].
** There's a town called Aniville that gives off the boarding school of horror themes... as well as some ''Franchise/SilentHill'' feelings to it.... %%The dream code is 4800-2398-3734. [Dream code needs to be replaced, if possible.]
** This [[https://mellojun.tumblr.com/post/91238741882/totorocrossing-dreamcode-3700-2069-4814]]dream town themed around the smug squirrel villager Marshal is deeply unsettling. A story of stalking, the Mayor of the town is obsessed with Marshal. The wallpaper, furniture, and flooring has Marshal's face on it, there is a perfect replica of Marshal's house in the back room of the Mayor's house, there is a pattern of Marshal in a sexually suggestive pose on one of the beds (and in the same room there are a bunch of cribs with pictures of Marshal in front of them, the implication being that the Mayor and Marshal had many children), there is a telescope in a room of the Mayor's house pointed towards Marshal's house, if you rotate the wedding room there's an axe in the corner, and there are two graves side by side in the town, one with Marshal's Japanese name written on it and the other with the Mayor's name written on it. It makes you want to find Marshal and tell him to run for his life.
** Although not an actual Dream Town, with Animal Crossing Plaza for the Wii U allowing people to share Dream Town codes, VideoGameCrueltyPotential arose. Simply put, people could share these or even MAKE THEIR TOWN scary, and then people wanna just kick that Wii U controller.
%%** [[http://fuckyeahassortedstuff.tumblr.com/post/79438011770/an-animal-crossing-horror-towns-masterpost Here's an entire index of horror towns.]] Sweet dreams!
%%These codes no longer work as of Welcome amiibo's release
** In ''New Horizons'', it is possible to meet the human player inhabiting the island, or rather, their "dream" version, for a lack of better words; they behave similarly to villagers, but when we talk to them, [[WelcomeToCorneria they have only one line of dialog]], which is whatever they wrote as a short comment on their passport, making them extremely UncannyValley.

* If you tell a villager you're going to do them a favor, forget to (or couldn't find the other villager you were supposed to) and leave, then you return after a long time, then that villager you were doing the favor for is going to be MAD when you return. If you've forgotten about the favor in the first place, then this can be really alarming and confusing.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[NightmareFace You should remember to save.]]]]

* King Tut's mask. Where to start? You can buy it from the Able Sisters. And then you put it on. Normally, headgear does nothing but change your looks. But you don't hear the normal sound used for equipping an accessory. Instead, you hear a deeper, distorted version of the same sound, which is your first clue to the item’s true nature. Then you start running around town, and discover you begin to trip over. As long as you have the mask on, you're cursed. Now you start to wonder where the Able Sisters got this artifact of doom? In New Horizons, this item can instead be crafted. How does something you craft wind up with a pharaoh’s curse?!

* King Tut's mask. where to start. You buy it from the Able sisters. And then you put it on. Normally, headgear does nothing but change your looks. But you don't hear the normal sound used for equipping an accessory. Instead, you hear a deeper, distorted version of the same sound, which is your first clue to the items true nature. then you start running around town, and discover you trip. as long as you have the mask on, you're cursed. Now you start to wonder where the abel sisters got this artifact of doom? In new horizons, this item can be crafted. How does something you craft wind up with a pharohs curse?!

* ''New Horizons's'' 2.0 update introduces a lot of new items and decorations. One of them is the graveyard wallpaper, purchased from Sahara. It already looks eerie enough on its own... and then you turn off the lights and hit the button the final time in the cycle before the lights go on again- it may take a bit to notice, but that last press of the light button makes a shrouded white ghost appear in the distant background. Cycling through the lights again to bring back the ghost brings them back ''closer'' a couple of times until they're standing in one of the tree gaps right in the foreground.

* ''New Horizons's'' 2.0 update introduces a lot of new items and decorations. One of them is the graveyard wallpaper, purchased from Sahara. It already looks eerie enough on its own... and then you turn off the lights, and spot a '''REALLY''' creepy ghost standing among the gravestones. Even worse, it ''randomly changes position'' every time the lights are turned off and even '''GETS CLOSER TO YOU.'''

* ''Happy Home Paradise'' unlocks soundscapes for ambient audio to be played in rooms. One of them is "creaking", which is far-too-plausible unsettling creaky house noises that bring to mind intruders, ghosts, or monsters in the house, and not necessarily the light-hearted spooky option one would expect.

* The Gyroids are back as of the latest New Horizons update, and one of them is the Crumploid. It is a small one that looks to be made of battered metal. When active it blinks its eyes separately, as if flinching in pain as its body is apparently stomped by something unseen. It generally just looks to be in horrible agony, and makes pitiful noises.

** The new Gyroids introduced in ''New Horizons'' are weird, which is par for the course for a gyroid, but one that gains special notoriety is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kMRGkBxi2o Crumploid]] which, as the name implies, looks and sounds like crumpled paper. While it's considered to be the most UglyCute of the new gyroids, some people might find its battered appearance a bit unsettling.

* ''New Horizons''' new 2.0 update brings back Gyroids, for better or for worse. On one hand, they feel more alive and animated, but the key word is ''alive'', because the method for obtaining them is far creepier than before. You obtain them by locating gyroid fragments, burying them in the ground, and then watering them, to which the crack in the ground housing them will start to emit vapor, almost like a breath... These aren't just animate pottery, but they're animated pottery that can be ''regrown in the earth''.

* Upon turning the light switch on in the basement, the light flickers a bit before dimming and then fully turning on. It’s just a bit creepy considering what flickering lights can mean to some.

* ''New Horizons''' new 2.0 update brings back Gyroids, for better or for worse. On one hand, they feel more alive and animated, but the key word is ''alive''. You obtain them by locating gyroid fragments, burying them in the ground, and then watering them, to which the crack in the ground housing them will start to emit vapor, almost like a breath...

Welcome to the wonderful world of ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'', where everything TastesLikeDiabetes... [[NightmareFuel or not]]. Despite being one of Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s [[LighterAndSofter lightest and softest]] yet, players can still find reasons to be spooked by this seemingly harmless little series.

* Crazy Redd's ship in ''New Horizons.'' From the start, Redd is an incredibly shifty character who clearly isn't doing business by legal or ethical means - but the first time you encounter him, he's wandering around your island like everybody else. Explore a little before you talk to him, though, and you'll find a shabby, run-down old fishing vessel docked in the upper left corner of your island. The appearance is already reminiscent of haunted ships and the typical zombie apocalypse aesthetic, but try to interact with the ship and you'll get a message from your character stating that [[NothingIsScarier they have an uneasy feeling about the ship, and think that it's best if they don't board without permission.]] Being able to board after Redd invites you into the boat isn't much better, as the eerie music and dark lighting combine with the cluttered, damp room below deck to create a sense that this is not a safe place for you to be. You have to use a flashlight to see the details of any art you're interested in buying; Redd stands in the center of the floor commenting on everything you interact with, and when you decide to buy something his dialogue might make you wonder if he didn't just take more of your Bells than you agreed to pay. For a final creep factor, ''neither''of Redd's lines when you leave the boat are very comforting. If you bought something, he'll say, "You won't regret it." If you did ''not'' buy anything, he'll only look at you and mutter, "...Thanks." In both cases, the camera stops and swings around at an angle, with Redd and his unfriendly-seeming face dead center of the shot...

* [[SpidersAreScary The tarantula]] in Wild World onwards. Thankfully rare, if it sees you approach carrying a bug net, it [[BerserkButton flips out]] and attacks you. The horrifying part of this is that your character PASSES OUT and the screen fades to black. Luckily you end up in front of your house no worse for the wear, but it's still a horrifying event in a game where the seemingly worst fate for your character is [[ScaryStingingSwarm being stung by bees]]. The [[ScaryScorpions scorpion]] does the same. And in ''New Horizons''? They appear not in the summer, but from November to April! In addition, in ''New Horizons'', if you run, the tarantula goes after your sorry behind. And if you wish to catch it in that game, it's an exercise in nerve-wracking patience as approaching it while its legs are up will provoke it to strike, turning it into “red light, green light”. And that’s not helping that May is now the month the scorpion starts to appear, lasting until October.
** Speaking of them, the bees themselves aren't much better. When you shake the trees, sometimes a beehive falls. Your character gets an OhCrap expression and if you're not quick enough to capture one of them without missing or run into either your or someone else's house, the bees will sting you mercilessly, causing some rather severe wounds on your face. Where, exactly? On your ''eyelid.'' OW. Not helped that in ''New Horizons'', they're renamed to the deadlier '''wasps''' due to the previous name being a somewhat inaccurate translation. ''New Horizons'' even encourages you to get up in the face of the little pests more often for collecting wood and using the beehives in recipes. You even need to get intentionally stung to receive a DIY recipe for medicine from one of your neighbors in ''New Horizons''.

** According to this Animal Crossing Wiki article [[https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Wasp here]], the wasps are based on the '''Japanese Giant Hornet'''. [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/animalcrossing/images/6/6d/Mandarinia2.jpg This]] image alone Nightmare Fuel... when you '''think''' about it.

** According to this Animal Crossing Wiki article [[https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Wasp here]], the wasps are based on the '''Japanese Giant Hornet'''. [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/animalcrossing/images/6/6d/Mandarinia2.jpg This]] image alone is HighOctaneNightmareFuel... when you '''THINK''' about it.
** To make things ''even worse'', one of the islands you can travel to in ''New Horizons'' is absolutely '''''infested''''' with tarantulas. And [[SoundtrackDissonance the same soothing island music plays]], so [[ParanoiaFuel you won't know you've stepped into arachnid hell until you step forward and suddenly find the place swarming with those creepy little assholes]]. If you know an exploit, you can even turn an otherwise normal island into a tarantula-ridden "paradise". At least they sell for a LOT of Bells.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F3PyZTpJb0 K.K. Lullaby]] is a soft, comfortable sounding lullaby song. The creepy part is the [[LastNoteNightmare last few seconds of the song.]] [[BackMasking It does a creepy backmask effect,]] identically to, of all things, [[Music/JoyDivision "Isolation"]]. Some have argued it's simply the tape rewinding, except there's the fact [[FridgeHorror that your music usually isn't played on tapes]].

*** And, in a surprising and totally painful (literally) way, you earn Nook Miles for getting stung by wasps twice, and getting bitten by either the tarantula or the scorpion. What a revoltingly bad way to get Nook Miles.

* [[SpidersAreScary The tarantula]] in Wild World onwards. Thankfully rare, if it sees you approach carrying a bug net, it [[BerserkButton flips out]] and attacks you. The horrifying part of this is that your character PASSES OUT and the screen fades to black. Luckily you end up in front of your house no worse for the wear, but it's still a horrifying event in a game where the seemingly worst fate for your character is [[BeeAfraid being stung by bees]]. The [[ScaryScorpions scorpion]] does the same. And in ''New Horizons''? They appear not in the summer, but from November to April! In addition, in ''New Horizons'', if you run, the tarantula goes after your sorry behind. And if you wish to catch it in that game, it's an exercise in nerve-wracking patience as approaching it while its legs are up will provoke it to strike, turning it into “red light, green light”. And that’s not helping that May is now the month the scorpion starts to appear, lasting until October.

* In the Japanese versions of the original game exists a shirt called the [[https://nookipedia.com/wiki/Item:Tomato_Juice_Shirt_(Doubutsu_no_Mori%2B) "Tomato Juice Shirt"]]. While the shirt's design is supposed to be [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin self-explanatory]], the supposed "tomato juice" ends up looking like [[WhiteShirtOfDeath something else]]. It doesn't help that this is the default shirt of the rather {{Gonk}}-ish looking Tabby, thus unintentionally making her come off as an UncannyValleyGirl.