History NightmareFuel / Doom

** And those aren't even the worst of it. You want the definition of unsettling ambiance, have the theme for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsZP80NKbBA Breakdown]].

* ''Doom 2'': at the end of the first major episode (MAP11), the room containing the master control switch has walls entirely comprised of stitched together corpses.

** And that's only the half of it: as soon as the noclip cheat reveals the [[EasterEgg True]] [[JohnRomero Big Bad]], whose head is actually residing in a small room, while its' hanging on a stick... Hey, the hint to the beast's real identity is even here, in his only spoken quote [[SubliminalSeduction (consider reversing that)]]:

** The areas that take you through Clown Hell (which is also slowly encroaching on the town itself) are no less horrific. Bright, cheerful, flashing colors in extremely low light conditions produces a highly unsettling effect, and the heavily distorted circus music sometimes heard in these places doesn't help one little bit.

* Less so with the original ''Doom'', but the ''[[Film/{{Alien}} Aliens]]'' custom mod is certainly scary. When you're holding a Pulse Rifle, and there's a dark corridor lit only by a sporadically blinking light, and you hear strange sounds coming from potential corridors in that darkness, willing yourself to press the "forward" key is an exercise in futility.

* The final level of the first episode of ''Doom'', "Phobos Anomaly", ends with your marine stepping on a teleporter that plunges him into a black abyss where you are constantly losing health either from simply touching the floor or being assaulted by a barrage of barely-visible monsters. You stay there being barraged by these things until you run out of health, at which point the next episode begins. Truly becomes NightmareFuel if you only have the {{Shareware}} version as this is where the game would end, leaving you to wonder what exactly happened to your hero when he stepped on that teleporter.

* The final level of the first episode of ''Doom'', "Phobos Anomaly", ends with your marine stepping on a teleporter that plunges him into a black abyss where you are constantly losing health either from simply touching the floor or being assaulted by a barrage of barely-visible monsters. You stay there being barraged by these things until you run out of health, at which point the next episode begins. Truly becomes NightmareFuel if you only have the {{Shareware}} version as this is where the game would end, leaving you to wonder what exactly happened to your hero when he pulled that switch.

* The final level of the first episode of ''Doom'', "Phobos Anomaly", ends with your marine pulling a switch then being plunged into a black abyss where you are constantly losing health either from simply touching the floor or being assaulted by a barrage of barely-visible monsters. You simply stay there until you run out of health, at which point the next episode begins. Truly becomes NightmareFuel if you only have the {{Shareware}} version as this is where the game would end, leaving you to wonder what exactly happened to your hero when he pulled that switch.

* The (sadly unfinished) ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}} Doom'' GameMod for VideoGame/{{Doom}}, which recreates scenes from the movie, fulfills this trope with its first level - the haunted library. After wandering around the dark, labirynthine, completely empty library you suddenly come across the ghost, who is standing motionlessly, with its back turned to you. But when you use your equipment on it... [[spoiler:it instantly turns into a screaming, twitching...thing]]. Watch it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3_oat_4plA here, if you dare.]]

* ''Unloved'' is the mod that you always wanted to play but hoped no one would ever make: it's a high-res megawad that borrows much of its atmosphere from the ''SilentHill'' series and it's exactly as terrifying as that description would suggest.

* [[{{Kadorhal}} I]] have recently played an in-development Zelda mod for ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''. It was absolutely terrifying. For one, you know the creepiest bits of music from ''Ocarina of Time''? That was pretty much the entire soundtrack to the mod. Even worse was the way the mod handled [=ReDeads=]: shambling zombiemen with unnerving faces, the paralyzing scream, [[ImplacableMan twice as many hitpoints as the Cyberdemon]], and a gun that takes off 70% of your health from any range. What amplified how bad they were is that they replaced the pinky demon.

** The backstories of the ghouls are creepy: the BigBad Yurei is [[StringyHairedGhostGirl the ghost]] of a pissed-off girl who was abandoned in the Forbidden Forest. The Creeper is the spirit of a baby, the Sjas was a [[CompleteMonster psychotic]] jester who was executed by the king for a certain joke, the Jitterskull was a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Giant warrior]], Choke was his demented brother who killed himself. Frostbite (who only appears in the multiplayer mod ''VideoGame/GhoulsVsHumans'') died of frostbite, so now he can breathe ice and swallow people whole like the Jitterskull.

** The backstories of the ghouls are creepy: the BigBad Yurei is [[StringyHairedGhostGirl the ghost]] of a pissed-off girl who was abandoned in the Forbidden Forest. The Creeper is the spirit of a baby, the Sjas was a [[CompleteMonster psychotic]] jester who was executed by the king for a certain joke, the Jitterskull was a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Giant warrior]], Choke was his demented brother who killed himself. Frostbite (who only appears in the multiplayer mod ''GhoulsVsHumans'') died of frostbite, so now he can breathe ice and swallow people whole like the Jitterskull.

** And that's only the half of it: as soon as the noclip cheat reveals the true [[JohnRomero Big Bad]], whose head is actually residing in a small room hanging on a stick... Hey, the hint to the beast's real identity is even here, in its' only quote [[SubliminalSeduction (consider reversing that)]]:
----> ''Oremor nhoj, em llik tsum uoy, emag eht niw ot...''

* ''{{Doom}}''... Demons everywhere. But maybe turning them into LudicrousGibs is even scarier.

* After Hell invades, go to the bathroom in first part of the game and look in the mirror. A JumpScare follows as your face momentarily turns demonic and the camera zooms in on it.

* The scene where bloody baby footsteps appear on the floor, and a ghostly voice implores to "follow me" and "hurry". Eventually, it says "they took my baby", and the screen turns red for a moment as creepy baby cries are heard.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkMonYgb_i8 This]] is a video of a grown man screaming like a little girl while playing the ''Doom 2'' mod ''Ghoul's Forest 3''. ''Ghoul's Forest 2'' and ''3'' are quite possibly the most terrifying mods for ''Doom 2'', for that matter. The entire concept is that you're hunted through a dark forest by giant floating super-fast monstrous heads who pop up unexpectedly and kill you in seconds.
** The backstories of the ghouls are creepy: the BigBad Yurei is [[StringyHairedGhostGirl the ghost]] of a pissed-off girl who was abandoned in the Forbidden Forest. The Creeper is the spirit of a baby, the Sjas was a [[CompleteMonster psychotic]] jester who was executed by the king for a certain joke, the Jitterskull was a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Giant warrior]], Choke was his demented brother who killed himself. Frostbite (who only appears in the multiplayer mod ''GhoulsVsHumans'') died of frostbite, so now he can breathe ice and swallow people whole like the Jitterskull.
** The Yurei is an interesting villain, in that she attacks you by making [[ShockSite disturbing images]] pop up and take the entire screen, with [[HeroicBSOD predictable results for the player]]. Yes, that's right, a boss who directly assaults the ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou player]]''.
** The mod is made worse with Icy's addon, which adds a clown; a skull that makes the Jitterskull look like a joke; and a Sjas-like mist cloud that is absolutely relentless. These new ghouls use the terrifying creeper scream. There's also a chance that, instead of the Yurei, the final boss will be the entire cadre of ghouls at once.
* The Skulltag ''Armageddon 2'' multiplayer map pack is infamous for the "By Day, By Night" level. It's a map that alternates between day and night. By day? Cheerful demon massacring, upbeat music. By night? The entire map goes dark, the music turns into horrifying loomy ambient, and the monster are... ''different''. And the Eyesores appear. Eyesores are ghouls, just like the ones in ''The Ghoul's Forest''. Imagine a demented, deformed face on spidery legs which runs around like it's on crack, makes weird "kekeke" sounds and can kill you in seconds. And there's an entire crowd of them attacking you all at once.

** The areas that take you through Clown Hell (which is also slowly encroaching on the town itself) are no less horrific. Bright, cheerful, flashing colors in extremely low light conditions produces a highly unsettling effect, and the heavily distorted circus music sometimes heard in these places doesn't help one little bit.

* The ''Equinox'' mod, at first, might make you do a double-take when you realize such a well-made mod is from the same guy that made the infamous "nuts.wad". Then, about map 13 or so, you infiltrate an alien space ship. It is incredibly dark, very cramped, the music is creepy, and it is ''filled to the brim with Arch-Viles''.

* ''Unloved'' is the mod that you always wanted to play but hoped no one would ever make: it's a high-res megawad that borrows much of its atmosphere from the ''SilentHill'' series and it's exactly as terrifying as that description would suggest.

** In the midst of all this, you'll also need to escort "Fluffy" to Clown Hell. Fluffy is a fast-moving, unkillable severed rabbit head that can pass through walls to [[PersonalSpaceInvader chew off your face]]. Good luck!

* ''Unloved'' is the mod that you always wanted to play but hoped no one would ever make: it's a high-res megawad that borrows much of its atmosphere from the ''SilentHill'' series and is exactly as terrifying as it sounds.

* It's bad enough that the red key maze in "Halls of the Damned" ([=E2M6=]) is nearly pitch dark, but it gets worse when you realize that it's dotted with [[MonsterCloset Monster Closets]], which open with no warning. (Of course one can always grab a nearby pair of lightamp goggles, but that would be no fun :).)

* It's bad enough that the red key maze in "Halls of the Damned" ([=E2M6=]) is nearly pitch dark, but it gets worse when you realize that it's dotted with [[MonsterCloset Monster Closets]] open with no warning. (Of course one can always grab a nearby pair of lightamp goggles, but that would be no fun.)

* It's bad enough that the red key maze in "Halls of the Damned" (E2M6) is nearly pitch dark, but it becomes even more creepy when you realize that it's dotted with [[MonsterCloset Monster Closets]] open with no warning. (Of course one can always grab a nearby pair of LightAmp goggles, but that would be no fun.)
* The side maze that eventually leads to the [[spoiler: chainsaw]] in "Nuclear Plant" (E1M2) is very dark with fairly erratic lighting, not to mention the unsettling moaning of former humans as they search for you.

** In the midst of all this, you'll also need to escort "Fluffy" to Clown Hell.