History NightmareFuel / BoardwalkEmpire

* What happens to the JerkJock that Willie and his roommate prank by dosing him with milk of magnesia: [[spoiler: he shits himself to death. And then the audience is shown his wide-eyed corpse, lying on the bathroom floor and bleeding from the mouth.]]
* William Wilson has two subtly disturbing one that's more psychological horror then blood and guts: Daughter Maitland's story about the murder of her prostitute mother by a man who she splashed with lye who then strangled her: and TheReveal that [[spoiler:Dr. Narcisse was the murderer, with a WhamShot of his burns and the disturbing devotion that Daughter has for him regardless of this.]]
* [[spoiler: Eli's nightmarishly brutal beatdown of Agent Tolliver. True, Tolliver more than had it coming, but even then, Eli's UnstoppableRage is positively terrifying.]]
* The discovery of [[spoiler: Jimmy]]'s body in the end of Season 4. Of course we skeletons on TV all the time, buried in unmarked graves, with cops casually examining the bones to determine the identity. But to see such an undignified fate for a character we've known for two seasons is deeply disturbing.
* [[spoiler: Nelson Van Alden's death and the close up of his dead body.]] He's shot in the back of the head by the undercover Mike Malone, with the exit wound through his eye, ending up with a NightmareFace rivaling Richard Harrow's.

* Gillian's description of her first night with the Commodore.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nND3a64a8qk The demise of Nate the thief]]. Nate has been caught stealing a significant amount from Nucky Thompson, a known gangster. And given that he's been tied up in a warehouse, he would be correct to presume he's going to die. And having been given some time to resign himself at least partially to his likely fate, it would seem almost impossible that Nucky Thompson himself would arrive and grant forgiveness or at least a non-fatal punishment. But miraculously, he appears to have been saved. Suddenly he has this burst of joy and immense appreciation for life that he never had before. And just as quickly as it came, it's snatched away, the agony of knowing it's all about to end in seconds.
-->'''Nucky:''' ''[to Manny]'' Untie him. ''[Nate relaxes]'' Oh but before you do, put a bullet in his fucking head. ''[He and Owen exit the room]''\\

** For those who've watched ''Series/TheSopranos'', this scene plays out a lot like Tony Soprano's murder of Matt Bevilaqua. Start friendly like you're gonna let him walk away alive, only to turn and whack him moments later. The main difference, though, is the audience knew 100% that Tony was going to murder Bevilaqua for what he and Sean Gismonte did to Christopher. Here, we're left uncertain as to what Nucky's final decision would be.
** It's also similar to Carlo's last minutes in ''Film/TheGodfather'', where Michael lets Carlo think he's going to be let off with simply being exiled from the Corleone family, only for Clemenza to garrote him in the car.

-->'''Nucky:''' ''[to Manny]'' Untie him. ''[Nate relaxes]'' Oh but before you do, put a bullet in his fucking head. ''[He and Owen exit the room]''
-->'''Nate:''' What? No! No, Mr. Thompson! Please! No! No!
-->'''Manny:''' ''[produces gun]'' [[PreMortemOneLiner Certain people, you do not steal from.]] ''[shoots Nate in the head]''

-->'''Arnold Rothstein''': Do you know what the moral of this tale is, Mr. Yale?
-->'''Frankie Yale:''' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Don't eat a cue ball?]]
-->'''Arnold Rothstein:''' The moral of the story is that if I'd cause a stranger to choke to death for my own amusement, what do you think I'll do to you if you don't tell me who ordered you to kill Colosimo?

[[caption-width-right:350:"No ma'am, it's an iron."]]

* The terrified little girl in the Commodore's house and Nucky's ThousandYardStare when he sees her.

* Owen Sleater's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dG9ciFytP8A vicious murder of a rival]] - [[{{Fingore}} by garrotting him right through his fingers]], trying to stop the wire.

** In early seasons, Harrow seems less like a man and more like the Grim Reaper.

* Three words: '''Giuseppe Colombano "Gyp" Rosetti'''. A violent, unstable psychopath, with no impulse control. He can spontaneously go from being seemingly charming and humorous to paranoid and aggressive over the most trivial slight or inconvenience. And even when in a "good mood", he delights in inflicting pain and suffering as well as sadistically intimidating others with the threat of violence. Consequently, in a show filled with sadistic killers and cold-blooded crime bosses, he's probably the most depraved and deranged character of the entire series.

-->'''Manny:''' ''[produces gun]'' Certain people, you do not steal from. ''[shoots Nate in the head]''
** For those who've watched ''Series/TheSopranos'', this scene plays out a lot like Tony Soprano's murder of Matt Bevilaqua. Start friendly like you're gonna let him walk away alive, only to turn and whack him moments later. The main difference, though, is the audience knew 100% that Tony was going to murder Bevilaqua for what he and Sean did to Christopher. Here, we're left uncertain as to what Nucky's final decision would be.

* Arnold Rothstein is a kind of one man nightmare fuel repository. A quiet, dapper, low key businessman who will speak respectfully even to his enemies, never let his temper get the best of him, and is perfectly willing to have you killed horribly if it benefits him. Or just if he feels like it. Once, when interrogating Frankie Yale, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgt0a45iEr0 he tells a story]] about meeting a fellow who could swallow and regurgitate billiard balls as a trick. Rothstein offered the man $10,000 if he could do this with the cue ball. What Rothstein knew, and the other man didn't, was that the cue ball was 1/16th of an inch larger than the other balls. He swallowed it down, it lodged in his throat, and he choked to death on the spot.

** Unless you're into that kind of thing, I guess.

** One small but disturbing detail is how Rothstein begins the story: "There was a man once, I don't recall his name..." Rothstein was able to vividly recall every detail about the story, but he never bothered to learn the name of the man he caused to die choking...