As a DarkerAndEdgier spinoff of ''Series/DoctorWho'', it's inevitable that ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' would have its own share of NightmareFuel.

As a moments subpage, spoilers for all stories, including the Big Finish audio dramas, are not marked. Proceed with caution.

''[[Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay Miracle Day]]''[='=]s NightmareFuel goes [[NightmareFuel/TorchwoodMiracleDay here]].

''Series/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth''[='=]s NightmareFuel goes [[NightmareFuel/TorchwoodChildrenOfEarth here]].

* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS1E1EverythingChanges Everything Changes]]": The Weevil chomping down on the security guard's neck (complete with blood spray). And he walks ''right up to the thing'', because he mistakes it for a human wearing a mask.
* From "[[Recap/TorchwoodS1E3GhostMachine Ghost Machine]]": It's 1941. You are an 8 year old who just got transported to Cardiff while the Germans are bombing the everloving shit out of you. You said farewell to your mother and sister, not knowing that you will never see them again. Due to a paper error you are left stranded all alone on a train station for a whole night. An 8 year old, all alone, spending the night aimlessly wandering around a train station, completely lost, trying to find someone. You don't.
** Even worse, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil the fate of Lizzie Lewis.]]
* Lisa from "[[Recap/TorchwoodS1E4Cyberwoman Cyberwoman]]" gruesomely kills two innocent people in her efforts to 'upgrade'; she ''grafts part of a Cyber helmet to Dr. Tanizaki's head,'' and transfers her brain into the unfortunate pizza delivery girl.
* The [[TheFairFolk "fairies"]] from "[[Recap/TorchwoodS1E5SmallWorlds Small Worlds]]". There's no way to stop them...
** Especially the ending with the creepy music/whispering/singing, the image popping up on the screen by itself, and Gwen zooming in to see Jasmine as one of the fairies.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS1E6Countrycide Countrycide]]". Not only are the monsters particularly demonic and frightening...they're ''[[HumansAreTheRealMonsters human]].'' Enough said.
** Gwen gets filled with buckshot by a panicking captive of the villagers. A few minutes later, we are treated to a HORRIFIC shot of Gwen's waist looking like swiss cheese, complete with Owen plucking out the pellets. Happy retching.
** In the end, Gwen demands that the village ringleader tell her why he helped murder and cannibalize hundreds of people. His response? "[[ForTheEvulz Cos it made me]] ''[[ForTheEvulz happy]].''"
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS1E7GreeksBearingGifts Greeks Bearing Gifts]]". You ''really'' don't want to know what the people around you are thinking.
** The man on the street (Neil) who plans to murder his family. Tosh overhears him and manages to put a stop to it, but if she hadn't....
** One random woman Tosh overhears in public hints that she's pregnant by her [[{{Squick}} grandfather]].
* In "[[Recap/TorchwoodS1E11Combat Combat]]", Gwen's conscience finally catches up to her and she decides to tell Rhys about how she's been cheating on him with Owen for months - but she also slips him an amnesia pill, so she won't have to deal with the long-term consequences of doing so. She wants this to be a moment of emotional catharsis for her, and only her. The casual way in which Gwen drugs her own boyfriend is already very unsettling, but when Rhys does not give her what she wants and passes out instead, she grabs hold of his unconscious body and starts yelling at him to forgive her, which is actually much creepier.
* The scene in "[[Recap/TorchwoodS2E1KissKissBangBang Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang]]" where the bomb molecularly bonded to John comes undone and he's able to pry it lose... ''peeling off several layers of skin in a bloodied mess.''
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS2E5Adam Adam]]" had a '''TON''' of NightmareFuel.
** Just something about Ianto shrieking and weeping because Adam [[MindRape brutally mind raped]] him into thinking he's a psychopathic killer is chilling.
%%** "''And I liked it...''" '''OH GOD.'''
** The very idea that a stranger could re-write your ''entire personality'' just by altering a few select memories. It's MindRape in the most literal sense of the term. [[ParanoiaFuel And you'd never even know anything was amiss until it was too late.]]
* The Night Travellers of "[[Recap/TorchwoodS2E10FromOutOfTheRain From Out of the Rain]]" are just creepy as all hell.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS2E11Adrift Adrift]]". Particularly the description of what happened to Jonah overlaying the primal screaming.
* [[Radio/TorchwoodTheLostFiles ''What were you hoping for? That I'd say a few nice words...That I'd be grateful...'']] Oh yeah, and this line is said in a creepy low voice. '''BY IANTO!'''
* From "[[Recap/TorchwoodS2E12Fragments Fragments]]", the alien monster/parasite that was feeding on Katie's brain in Owen's backstory. Just seeing it latched on her brain like that...
** Not to mention the [[SarcasmMode lovely]] shot of Katie with her ''[[BodyHorror head cut open]]'' on the operating table.
** The episode also features a truly chilling depiction of a HellholePrison during Tosh's flashback.
-->'''Announcement:''' This is a UNIT facility. Your rights as a citizen have been withdrawn. You'll be held here indefinitely. We are not required to provide you with legal representation. Anything you say will be recorded. You will be allowed no communication with any person or organisation outside this facility. There is no right of appeal. If you fail to comply with the rules, we are authorised to discipline you.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS2E13ExitWounds Exit Wounds]]":
** Jack being BuriedAlive in the earth. Because he can't die permanently, he's locked in a constant cycle of death and reviving, awakening only long enough to choke and suffocate under the weight of six feet of earth crushing his entire body. [[AndIMustScream For almost 2000 years.]] How he manages to remain sane after this ordeal is never explained.
** Owen's final "death" in that episode. He's sealed in a room that slowly floods with nuclear radiation, which dissolves his flesh on contact -- and because he's undead, [[AndIMustScream he's forced to remain conscious the entire time, watching as his body disintegrates]].
* The first two seasons open with the narration of how the 21st century is when "everything changes" and that it's Torchwood's job to be ready. Considering how decidedly [=UNready=] Torchwood ends up being for every crisis, generally only solving things by the seat of their pants, with a little bit of luck, and frequent [[DownerEnding collateral damage]], just think about how badly things would have ended up if Torchwood hadn't been there at all...
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E1ChangesEverything Changes Everything]]"
** Just because Big Finish is writing the episodes now doesn't mean the audience gets off easy. Cardiff goes to hell in these episodes, and the incredibly realistic portrayals of terrorism and bombings in set one do a lot to prove that.
** The moment at the end of the episode where Alexandria Riley's character is revealed to be Gwen Cooper. The audience at this point have absolutely no clue what's going on and it's intensely creepy.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E2AliensSexChipsGravy Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy]]"
** Based on that incredibly, um, Torchwood title, you would think this would be a lighthearted episode. The beginning moments at the Hen Party seem to confirm it. A Woman is then eaten alive. The awful, awful sounds as she and many other innocents at the Hen Party who just happened to walk in are just...truly horrific.
** Aliens aren't invading Cardiff. This episode reveals they're already here, walking Among Us. They could be anyone.
** Gwen comes home from her work shift, smiling, has a happy conversation, and '''SHOOTS HER OWN MOTHER WHILE HER OWN VOICE BEGS HER TO STOP.'''
** Gwen isn't in control of herself anymore. We've had two episodes with the minor hint that something is wrong, but due to the fact that Alexandria Riley is such good an actress and it's just audio, you just let it slide. After all, so much other things are going on. And bang. She shoots her own mother while her own actual voice, not Ng's, '''begs her to stop.''' It is genuinely horrifying, especially at the end of a fairly average Monster of the Week episode.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E3Orr Orr]]":
** The episode actually depicts a suicide bombing, complete with a woman chanting 'God Is Great' as she blows herself up.
** Orr is just slightly unnerving enough until you get to know them, but coupled with a fact that they've been used as a trophy their entire life in a life of essentially sex slavery, their backstory becomes more and more horrifying. This is before, in a later episode, when Orr remarks that they've chosen to keep Catrin Parry's face because Mr. Parry was one of the nicer ones. Jerkass Mr. Parry was one of the nicer ones. '''Holy shit.'''
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E5LoveRat Love Rat]]"
** We're treated to a similar scenario to "[[Recap/TorchwoodS1E2DayOne Day One]]" but instead of Carys, Jack is infected. It doesn't kill the hosts, but you could argue that's almost worse.
** There are many rape scenes. It's not fun. Least of which is Jack, out of his mind, tries to seduce Gwen...who as established, isn't herself either. It's an incredibly uncomfortable moment.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E6AKillToAView A Kill To A View]]"
** ''Bilis is back.''
** For most of the episode, no one knows who he is. Not even Rhys recognizes him. He's just a random caretaker to these characters, which is especially awful as we know what he is.
** The sheer adult fear of Colin's situation. You're living in an incredibly racist city, and you're a '''gay muslim.''' You've been forced to buy an expensive apartment to stay off the streets, where you can be safe from all of the awful people who want to kill you, simply because you're being yourself. ''And then as soon as the caretaker wills it, your neighbors come at you with knives, and your husband is nowhere to help you.''
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E7ZeroHour Zero Hour]]":
** This is just an awful experience. It's the darkest Aliens Among Us episode yet, as dark as ''Classics'' like '''Countrycide.'''
** OH, SO MUCH. The entire audio is just a thinly disguised Amazon Parody that incinerates their workers alive and sends them out in packing shipments of dust after two weeks of them working for them, because after two weeks, the company has to worry about giving them a human rights package.
** The way the revelation is delivered is just absolutely awful. Tyler can't wait to see his new boyfriend after his shift, but he slowly begins to figure out the boxes he has been packing onto the walls during his shift are not sand, but burnt humans. '''His boyfriend is one of them.'''
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E8TheEmptyHand The Empty Hand]]"
** '''ONE OF THE WORST EPISODES YET.'''
** Andy, sweet Andy Davison, who has been throughout the entire series, the nicest character we've ever met, is forced against his will to shoot down immigrants on the street. The brutality and realism of how Police Officers treat people of different races in real life, is definitely in play, and the worst part, is that even if we're in his perspective and sympathize with him - He did shoot those people.
** Due to cautious editing judgement, it's difficult to say more, but the entire episode is just really harrowing throughout, and unlike many other Torchwood episodes, just real. Because minus Ro-Jedda's sci-fi hand implants that made Andy do it, there are next to no sci-fi elements. Andy has shot someone and no one will trust him, because, well, he did it.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E9PokerFace Poker Face]]":
** Yvonne Hartman, previously just another Tennant era extra, takes over the entirety of Torchwood in under six hours. She does most of it without leaving her cell, cementing herself as a Seventh Doctor-level Mastermind.
** Jack's position. He insists that Yvonne is evil, that she's gonna take over everything and not one of them believe him, because Yvonne is just so darn dang ''charming.'' All he can say to support himself, is "don't trust her," and from the perspective of all of the characters, he just looks crazy. But he's right.
*** Made all the worse by Yvonne's tactics hinging on her reputation, her publicity, and showing how easily even the smartest people can be taken in by a maniac that just happens to look professional.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E10Tagged Tagged]]":
** The Sheer Dissonant Serenity of Serena going through the people in her day to day life. Happily pointing out Andy, the guy who gives her coffee, and then, Mike. Oh, yeah, Mike. He '''date-raped''' her.
*** With the same smiling dissonant cheerfulness, she shoves him under a bus.
** I know what You've Done. I Know What You'll Do. Everyone in Cardiff is told this, and Paranoia takes over in minutes.
** Colchester ends the audio with giving a terrifying threat laden The Reason You Suck speech to Jack.
*** Which he ends with a growly, "I know what you've done. I know what you'll do." ''Brr...''
** Ng continues on her lovely old murder spree to continue to convince people that she's definitely Gwen Cooper. The body count keeps increasing, and the audience still has ''no clue'' what she is.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E11EscapeRoom Escape Room]]":
** Trapped in an Escape Room, with deadly traps and religious iconography everywhere, it all designed to make you recant to the person who's running it's God.
** Out of nowhere, Colchester '''kills Rhys.''' It's an illusion, but still!
** Ng is willing to kill everyone, Rhys, Colin, Colchester, any of them, if it gives her a chance to escape. She pulls a lever that she is told would do so, and without any hesitation whatsoever. It's obviously a fakeout, but it's a damn scary one.
** Ng stuffs the man running an Escape Room into one of his Escape Lockers, one that he needs someone to let him out of. But there's no-one there...
*** It's implied he starves to death.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS5E12HeraldOfTheDawn Herald Of The Dawn]]":
** A Crowd of People Suddenly Begins Chanting That God Is Great before Lightning Smites Them All to Death.
** Ng finally reveals herself, which is a relief, but Gwen is so traumatized and shaken from the entire last few months - having just been there, not being able to do anything as Ng took over her life, her husband, and killed people, '''all for a cover which now means nothing-''' It's easy to see why she's so shaken.
** Colchester dies. In the back of his van. Calling for help, bleeding out. None of Torchwood can save him.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS6E1FuturePain Future Pain]]":
** God is in Cardiff. The rampaging evil god that Ng commited so many murders to stop from arriving - well, it's here. All of that was for '''nothing.'''
** Colchester, one of the few people that's been capable of helping Torchwood keep running, is dead. Although he'll be back in a while. The point is - how the heck are Torchwood going to keep functioning now??
** The Monster that lies in the sewers is creepy on it's own, but even more so when it starts referring to future events and how the entirety of Cardiff is going to get ''much,'' '''much,''' worse.
*** Made worse by that by the end of the series, a concerning amount of it's predictions are not only true - not all of them have come to fruition yet. Despite the supposed happy ending of "[[Recap/TorchwoodS6E12ThoughtsAndPrayers Thoughts and Prayers]]" it still doesn't mean Cardiff is safe or that Torchwood aren't still going to go through '''even more''' hell.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS6E2TheManWhoDestroyedTorchwood The Man Who Destroyed Torchwood]]":
** Brent Hayden may initially seem like a funny manchild, but over the course of the episode, we see his sheer ''hatred'' for anyone who isn't like him. He's taken so much stock in Conspiracy Theory that he can't really trust anyone anymore. He's emotional, he's self-obsessed and worst of all, he's incredibly violent.
*** One of the worst moments of the series occurs when he stomps a Sorvix immigrant to death in an alleyway.
** You'd think that Tyler taking Brent down would be encouraging and not incredibly nightmarish, but he takes cruel and unusual punishment to the max - putting what is implied to be ''child porn'' on his computer for his '''mother''' to find. Not to mention alerting the Police about all of this. Brent could have been a better person if he wasn't stuck inside his own little world - the man needed medical help, and Tyler without a word sends him straight to prison. Brent's screaming and crying he didn't do it all the while.
* "[[Recap/TorchwoodS6E3SeeNoEvil See No Evil]]":
** A monster hunts by mimicking the cries of pained children and luring innocent caring people to their deaths.
** Yvonne Hartman catches the monster and beats it - of course she does. But how does she do it? She uses an unaware Andy ''as bait.''
*** She's well aware that he could have died - just happy to gloss over it.

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