History NightmareFuel / DokiDokiLiteratureClub

* During Act 2, when the scene where Monika announces the upcoming school festival again, there's a 1/3 (33.3%) chance that the display will suddenly take on a red tint, accompanied by the sound effects becoming muffled and a rendition of the DDLC theme (titled "Konbanwa Sayori!") superposed with [[HellIsThatNoise the sounds of squeaking, bones being popped, and flesh being ripped apart]], suggesting that a rodent, likely a mouse or rat, ''is being physically torn to pieces.''

** The special poems, which randomly appear between scenes in Act 2. Some of them are actual poems (either about Monika's realization, Natsuki's abuse, or Yuri's self harm), and some are just chilling. One, called "happy thoughts", is a stick figure drawing of Sayori, hanging from a noose and smiling. This one gets repurposed a few times, too.

* During Act 2, when the scene where Monika announces the upcoming school festival again, there's a red tint on the display, and [[HellIsThatNoise the sounds of squeaking, bones being popped, and flesh being ripped apart are heard in the background]], suggesting that a rodent, likely a mouse or rat, ''is being physically torn to pieces.''
** A comment on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyJ1-Xwihys&t=42s this Youtube video]] suggests it's ''even worse than that'':

* The red on Sayori's face in the page image: Is it just a BlushSticker that goes with the grin to make it disturbingly dissonant? Is it TearsOfBlood? Did Sayori claw at her face in her death throes?

** ''Plus'' only makes this worse: since the player character never existed to begin with, only seemingly being brought up as part of Sayori's backstory and otherwise was specifically uplifted as a a conduit for the player, you have the horror story of a being that's gained sentience and believes that he's had a whole life with people, then being unable to help any of them, and ''then'' getting phased out back into the ether he came from without ever knowing why this had to happen to him or meaningfully retaliate.

** While discussing the festival in Act 2 with Yuri, the game will [[JumpScare suddenly cut]] to an image of Yuri's face on a black background with the side of her head glitching. She says 'Who cares about that obnoxious little brat?" while a distorted piano piece plays in the background, before the game suddenly cuts back to normal. A few moments later, the same thing happens, only this time the image is zoomed in, with the text "Nobody would cry if she killed herself.", then blood starts pouring out of Yuri's right eye. The game then goes back to normal, apart from Yuri's eye continuing to bleed throughout your conversation with her.

This seemingly cute and lighthearted visual novel is rated M. As the game loads, the player is drawn to a content warning that it has 'disturbing content' and is 'not suitable for everyone.' But how could something this cute be scary and not suitable for all? [softreturn]

--->'''[=JustJoking=]:''' Something really disturbing about 0:40. Apparently, that should recreate how Sayori's suicide went. When someone hangs themselves "properly" their neck snaps. Well after they are already dead their body is obviously still hanging there...and while they hang their neck begins to slowly stretch out because it is suddenly carrying a huge amount of dead weight. This would make a horrifying flesh stretching noise as it expands. As for the squeaking that everyone assumes is rats; while the neck is stretching any last pockets of air left in the throat is pushed out with all the force, emitting a high-pitched squeaking noise. Now as we know Sayori did not fall from a great enough height meaning she instead essentially suffocated herself. This makes the sound even worse. This turns them into the sound of Sayori struggling against the rope, all of the air being sucked out of her by the tightness of the rope. This would also explain the red screen and pulsing veins; could possibly be all the pressure that might be accumulating in her brain. Would also explain the muffled music because of all the pressure on her ears.

** If you show Natsuki a poem that she doesn't like, there's a chance for the music stops and [[JumpScare her eyes to pop out]]. It's so sudden and ends just as quickly as it happens.

* Anybody who's played through ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' will be rather unsettled by Monika's deletion, similar to an infamous EldritchAbomination from that game. Basically, she'll say "it hurts..." and look all glitched up and deformed. The fact that she's still inside of the game's code after Act 3 implies a lot of stuff...

* Anybody who's played through ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'' will be rather unsettled by Monika's deletion, similar to an infamous EldritchAbomination from that game. Basically, she'll say "it hurts ..." and look all glitched up and deformed. The fact that she's still inside of the game's code after Act 3 implies a lot of stuff...

* At one point in Act Two, when things have clearly started to go wrong, Monika will hand you her regular daily poem. When the player tries to read it, they will suddenly get a Windows 10 Blue Screen of Death. Monika will quickly appear ''in front of the blue screen'', apologize, and return you to the game. If you can read the blue screen before Monika gets in the way, the error message is "DDLC_ESCAPE_PLAN_FAILED", implying that Monika was writing code again...but since the broken code supposedly impacted your operating system at the lowest level[[note]]The operating system's kernel is the core of the OS which interacts directly with hardware, and a Blue Screen of Death means that this part has crashed[[/note]], it means that this time, she wasn't just trying to escape the game. ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou She was trying to get out of your computer.]]''[[note]]The BSOD only appears if the game is running in fullscreen. If the game is running in windowed mode, a blank poem with red and green rectangles over it will appear.[[/note]]

** The worst part? Monika's meddling and Sayori's own damaged psyche means that when the game is played as intended, [[ButThouMust there's no way to avoid Sayori's suicide]] - no matter how hard the player tries to avoid it. But this? This can only happen by directly interfering with the game's files. That's right: in this case, ''[[WhatTheHellHero Sayori's death is a direct result of]]'' [[WhatTheHellHero your]] ''[[WhatTheHellHero actions.]]''

---->Fresh blood seeps through the line parting her skin and slowly colors her breast red. I begin to hyperventilate as my compulsion grows. The images won't go away. Images of me driving the knife into her flesh continuously, fucking her body with the blade, making a mess of her. My head starts going crazy as my thoughts start to return. Shooting pain assaults my mind along with my thoughts. This is disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. How could I ever let myself think these things? But it's unmistakable. The lust continues to linger through my veins. An ache in my muscles stems from the unreleased tension experienced by my entire body. Her Third Eye is drawing me closer.

[[DisguisedHorrorStroy There's a very good reason for that]]. After all, “doki doki” is the sound of rapid heartbeats, and this game is sure to speed up the ol' ticker...

[[SurpriseCreepy There's a very good reason for that]]. After all, DokiDoki is the sound of rapid heartbeats, and this game is sure to speed up the ol' ticker...

* Monika has made clear she can see and hear all. One can only deduce, then, that leaving the player alone with Yuri's rotting, bloody corpse for an entire weekend is a DELIBERATE 'punishment' on the player for choosing Yuri (or BEING chosen) over Monika. She acts as though this were an unfortunate accident that she didn't anticipate, a text file she leaves you of "Have a Nice Weekend!" with a poem about actions and consequences seems to contradict this.

!!Game

[[{{WebVideo/GameGrumps}} "THIS is what happens in Doki Doki Literature Club?!"]]

!!Meta

* Team Salvato's merch section on their webpage includes a [[https://store.teamsalvato.com/?s=nightmare&post_type=product "Nightmare" series of posters of the four girls]]. The posters of Yuri and Monika aren’t nightmare-inducingly creepy, and Sayori's poster just makes you want to give her a hug, but Natsuki's poster... Brr.
* The fan song "Doki Doki Forever" by [=Or3o=] has some ominous foreshadowing in even some of its more innocent lyrics:
** One of Sayori's first lines is "My heart's beating when I'm ''[[DrivenToSuicide hanging out]]'' with you".
** Yuri, at one point, asks "Would it make the ''[[PsychoKnifeNut cut]]'' if you had to choose just one of us?"
** A more subtle one is Natsuki saying "Tasty love, something I ''[[ParentalNeglect want more of!]]''"
** Monika questions, in her first refrain, "[[IfICantHaveYou Is it love if I can set you free?]]"; a lyric that seems innocent until you think about the implications.
* Youtuber "oddheader" highlights some [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G99aCtoK-4&t=660s incredibly creepy and well-hidden Easter eggs]] that can be found in the character files by renaming their extensions and using various methods to "decode" them. The disturbing story in Yuri's file is something that Dan Salvato wrote before developing ''DDLC'' and added in for the hell of it, but the others? Still a mystery.

*** What makes the fight worse is that the music stops and the screen starts to turn grey, and then you are forced to choose between Natsuki or Yuri, and each time you click one of the options, the screen zooms in until you see Monika invite you outside. After the afore mentioned scene with Natsuki, Yuri attempts to stay longer in the room with Monika trying to tell her that as the president that she herself should be the last to leave. Then Yuri thanks Monika for allowing her to be the last to leave, and then it cuts to you at the poem minigame without having said anything or even walking home first.

*** The Japanese translation even [[UpToEleven take this further]] by having the whole poem written in hiragana except for the last two lines, although the kanjis are greatly distorted.

** Yuri, at one point, asks "Would it make the ''[[KnifeNut cut]]'' if you had to choose just one of us?"

* During Act 2, when the scene where Monika announces the upcoming school festival again, there's a red tint on the display and [[HellIsThatNoise the sounds of squeaking, bones being popped, and flesh being ripped apart are heard in the background]], suggesting that a rodent, likely a mouse or rat, ''is being physically torn to pieces.''

--->'''[=JustJoking=]:''' Something really disturbing about 0:40. Apparently, that should recreate how Sayori's suicide went. When someone hangs themselves "properly" their neck snaps. Well after they are already dead their body is obviously still hanging there...and while they hang their neck begins to slowly stretch out, because it is suddenly carrying a huge amount of dead weight. This would make a horrifying flesh stretching noise as it expands. As for the squeaking that everyone assumes is rats; while the neck is stretching any last pockets of air left in the throat is pushed out with all the force, emitting a high pitched squeaking noise. Now as we know Sayori did not fall from a great enough height meaning she instead essentially suffocated herself. This makes the sound even worse. This turns them into the sound of Sayori struggling against the rope, all of the air being sucked out of her by the tightness of the rope. This would also explain the red screen and pulsing veins; could possibly be all the pressure that might be accumulating in her brain. Would also explain the muffled music because of all the pressure on her ears.

* Youtuber "oddheader" highlights some [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G99aCtoK-4&t=660s incredibly creepy and well-hidden Easter eggs]] that can be found in the character files by renaming their extensions and using various methods to "decode" them. The disturbing story in Yuki's file is something that Dan Salvato wrote before developing ''DDLC'' and added in for the hell of it, but the others? Still a mystery.

** Speaking of Sayori's suicide, take a good look at her hands. Her fingers are covered in blood despite dying from hanging. Later in Act 3, we find out why. According to Monika, Sayori actually didn't die straight away, and was alive long enough either to change her mind when it is too late or for her survival instinct to kick in, the latter she believes is the more probable conclusion. The blood was from her attempt to tear herself free. In other words, Sayori's death was slow and agonizing. Even worse, Dan Salvato [[https://twitter.com/dansalvato/status/951184458018779137 confirmed]] that the suicide occurred before the main character even woke up.

* Youtuber "oddheader" highlights some [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G99aCtoK-4&t=660s incredibly creepy and well-hidden Easter eggs]] that can be found in the character files by renaming their extensions and using various methods to "decode" them.

* Sayori's depression, how she describes it, and how it has been affecting her life, is a rather realistic depiction of depression, and can hit close to home for those experienced with it. The fact that there are several signs of it in plain sight, while it is still very easy to buy into her GenkiGirl [[StepfordSmiler act]] makes it much worse. Some reviewers and {{Lets Play}}ers, like [[Creator/BenCroshaw Yahtzee Croshaw]] and LetsPlay/{{Supergreatfriend}}, reported to find this part the most disturbing and effective bit of the story because of how raw and accurate it was depicted, and found the "creepypasta" part of the game to be [[NightmareRetardant somewhat silly and over-the-top]] in comparison.

** If, in Act Two, you show Natsuki a poem that she doesn't like, there's a chance for the music stops and [[JumpScare her eyes to pop out]]. It's so sudden and ends just as quickly as it happens.

** Yuri's final "poem" in Act Two is completely illegible and stained with blood and... other fluids. Based on the color of the stain that wasn't blood, one only wonders '''[[{{Squick}} did she pee on it]]?''' [[HellIsThatNoise The music suddenly turning sinister]] doesn't help. And when you click away from it, [[JumpScare she's right up in your face]] with her photorealistic eyes.

** Yuri's final "poem" in Act Two is completely illegible and stained with blood and... other fluids. [[HellIsThatNoise The music suddenly turning sinister]] doesn't help. And when you click away from it, [[JumpScare she's right up in your face]] with her photorealistic eyes.