Nightmare Fuel / Hunter: The Parenting

Beware what crawls through the dark...

Alfa has moved from one grimdark setting to another, and thus the horror still remains.

Beware, unmarked spoilers ahead!

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Main Chapters

Chapter 1: Adorable Family Trip

• The vampires. Far from being sensual predators, they are hideous and feral wretches. Justified in that they are Sabbat vampires, diametrically opposed to the comparatively civilized Camarilla who typically fit the former stereotype.
  • Pyotr, pictured above, is incredibly gaunt and haggard with slick hair and wide, staring eyes- his distinct mark of being a Nosferatu. He also makes his presence known via Jump Scare, immediately going for Boy while Door is distracted.
  • The bites on Door and Big D are similarly unsexy and vicious. It is less a kiss of undeath, more an attempt at mauling.
  • As silly as he seems at first, the Mighty Kevin’s deranged behavior and facial expressions, as well as his powerful domination, put an end to the notion that he’s just some clown.
• Big-D’s face after revealing that he was high on DMT the whole time. His face stretches into an unnaturally enormous smile as he laughs like a madman.
• Kitten's story of the Fiddler, especially the part where he traveled deep into a cave and never returned. This can not only hit home for those who are afraid of caves (and dark places), but it's implied the Fiddler was also killed by... whatever was lurking in those caves.

Chapter 2: If the Vampires had a Tortured Wrestling Match

• The moment the Licks are left to their own devices, they immediately and brutally turn on each other. These are Sabbat after all, fundamentally selfish, cutthroat predators, who only care for their own survival - and are from the only faction where Diablerie is approved of.
  • What's more, Pyotr makes his cannibalistic intent blatantly clear when the fight starts as he makes it very clear he's not going to help Ape out at all. Made worse by his still missing eyes and skeletal face making him the most overtly monstrous vampire in the room.
    Pyotr: Monomacy^*Monomacy is a Sabbat tradition for solving disputes that boils down to a fight to the death, typically ending in Diablerie. it is! (laughs maniacally)
• Door's rationalization for continuing to enjoy the spectacle when Marckus starts having second thoughts, following up on his prior stated belief on these being nothing but murderous corpses. It really shows Door in a more unsettling light and even makes his somewhat goofier behavior right before feel disturbing. It shows the darker side to Door that many people, especially those used to Dorn's comedic potrayal in TTS weren't expecting.
  • Also doubles as a stealth "The Reason You Suck" Speech as Door basically calls out the others for instigating in the brutality.
• Pyotr strikes after Ape brings down Shitbeard.
  Ape: Pyotr, you tree-sone-uss dog! Face your death, like a true Sabbat!
  Pyotr: Y'know, Ape... I always liked your spirit.
  [after a bit of ominous silence, Pyotr suddenly appears behind Ape sporting one hell of a Nightmare Face]
  Pyotr: I bet it'll taste great!
  • The first thing he does is ram his arm through the Gangrel. By that point, Ape begs to be spared...
    Pyotr: [tenderly] Don't worry, kid… I was just putting on a show. After all... we're family.
    Ape: You... you mean it?
    Pyotr: Do I mean it? Come on... what do you think?
  • Pyotr then proceeds to playfully bump Apeboy's face with his fist. And then he does it again... and again... and again... and again... and again.. at the end of it, Ape's face is a disfigured darkened lump and Pyotr hasn't even fed on him yet.
  • When Pyotr feeds on Ape, the latter's somehow still alive for a period, and his corpse is actually deflated like a balloon when it's all over. Jesus...
  • After feeding on the brutalized Ape, Pyotr turns to Shitbeard. He's regrown his eyes, they're glowing red, and staring down his former comrade…
    Pyotr: You know... Ape-boy? I actually thought about sparing him. I kinda liked him... but you? Despite the Vinculum, old man... I never liked you.
  • And after that, Pyotr starts reaching out to Shitbeard. The fact that this is in the latter's point of view makes it all the more unnerving, almost like The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You.
  • The thing worth pointing out is that he seems to deliberately go out of his way to spike that bit of personal cruelty before killing his former comrades, but also mocks Marckus' commentary when it stops. He isn't just enjoying the cruelty and murder he inflicts on Ape and Shitbeard, he also is deliberately making it uncomfortable for his captors, as if to take pleasure in showing them how much they messed up and how they're clearly not ready for what he can do.
  • The animation also makes these scenes immensely more unnerving, due to what appears to be a 3-D effect on Pyotr's head as he talks to his victims.
• Out of nowhere is a random shot of Big-D eating an entire ham shank bone-first before wrapping his jaw around it unnaturally. This is likely a result of the animation style, but it is still very unnerving and unnatural.
• Big-D arrives just in time to see the madness wrap up, and contrary to his normal confidence — or how he was initially acting when he first walked in, for that matter — he completely flips out at Marckus, scolding him for letting vampires diablerize each other. And then there's a loud crash. Pyotr is loose, revitalized, and stronger after betraying both of his former teammates. The family waits in horror, but there's only deafening silence — A stealthy, invisible vampire is loose in their house, and they have no idea where he is. And then, the episode ends.
• The entire episode can be one big build-up for fans of the tabletop game, as they know exactly what happens when a vampire drains another. For context the family just gave Pyotr, the smartest of the vampires, the Super-Strength of Shitbeard with the durability and shape-shifting of Ape and a full tank of gas to use them with on top of being back to full health with his own invisibility powers. There's a reason why Big-D was so panicked.

Chapter 3: Hunter's Hunters Hunted

• The very thumbnail for a start. Pyotr looks more monstrous than ever with his mouth far too wide and bloodstained while his eyes literally shine like torches, emitting beams of light. Presumably the same light that makes the close-up of his face visible at all, considering how dark the picture is in general.
• The scene where Kitten has to close the office door. The tension is almost at Hitchcockian levels.
• During one scene, he manages to keep Kitten from escaping by throwing a car at him to block the doorway. This is after using Big-D as bait to draw him downstairs and into view of a window that specifically lets him creep down the hall to get at him. After Kitten abruptly throws a boot down the hall to try and hit him and get a sense of where he is, we get a brief enough glimpse of Pyotr through his invisibility to see him catch the boot in a way that suggests he'd been specifically waiting for Kitten to notice him the entire time.
• Pyotr torturing Marckus by giving him a treatment not unlike Apeboy, stomping his skull into the dirt with just enough force to make it painful, but not to kill him, doing it faster and faster until Kitten interjects. All to make it clear to Kitten that if he leaves, his fiance will only die when Pyotr has had his fun.
  Kitten: Wait, stop!
  Pyotr: "Wait, STOMP?" Well, I was gonna ease up, but if you insist...
• The first eyecatch isn't actually static. Big-D's shadowed face gradually appears in the distance, staring at the Licks (or maybe at the viewer) while grinning malevolently just like in the previous eyecatches.

Chapter 4: The Feuds of Our Fathers

• The mystery. Someone in the group is a ghoul and no one knows who. The paranoia and tension begins to pile until it all comes to a head.
• The final scuffle between D's family and the Blacklaws abruptly ends when everyone hears screaming coming from the Chapter House's upper floors. They find the source of the noise.... and it is gruesome. Whatever happened left Giles barricaded within a closet, Spit cowering in the fetal position on the floor, covered in blood, and Fatigue utterly mutilated, his remains sprawled across the room in a grotesque display. Everyone witnessing the atrocity can only stare in silence, all exhibiting so many emotions at once. Special mention goes to D, who has a look of angry shock, Brok, who looks like he wants to inflict the same thing on the person responsible, and Occam, the last to arrive, positively overflowing with cold fury.
  Whichever one of you did this... you won't see the morning.

Audiologs

Kitten and Big-D's Primer on the Supernatural and Local Folklore

• Any time that Big-D drops his drug-fueled rambling, it is a very bad sign. He sounds paranoid and unbalanced, but that's because everything he says in these moments is almost completely true. And he's right to be afraid.
• Big-D's tangent on fighting werewolves is genuinely unnerving, describing their behaviour and power to Kitten with such lucidity. There's no drug-induced rambling, no jokes made, nothing. Just pure, ominous seriousness about the matter. It paints the werewolves of the universe in an even more dangerous light than the vampires.
  Kitten: Yeah, I heard they're tough. But with how well we did in the tunnels against those vampires, I'm confident that—
  Big-D: No. You aren't ready to fight a werewolf, son-in-law. Not yet. The fledglings we fought were fearsome, yes, but a Werewolf? Listen well. Werewolves are killing machines. They are supernatural soldiers fighting a war we barely understand. Do not fight them.
• Though the vampire explanation he gives is worse. Big-D carelessly mentions the word Tremere out loud, and when Kitten repeats it back to him, he immediately has a very loud panic attack because of how much he may have just endangered his family due to how deadly serious the vampires take The Masquerade.
  Big-D: Notice how the conversation started. I carelessly said the word 'Tremere.' [...] If we were in public, in a restaurant, or on the street when I said that... We would very well have to move.
  Kitten: That seems a bit extreme.
  Big-D: And it is necessary.
• While not as bad as his explanations of Vampires and Werewolves, his brief on Mages still highlights how dangerous they are. Sure, they can be taken down by bullets but Big-D quickly explains that this is a bad idea as they can inflict a "Death Curse" on whoever kills them. Kitten remarks that aside from the death curse they don't seem to be too powerful. Big D then adds that they have "Near infinite power to alter creation" with their wills and minds. He then puts it into perspective: Kevin, the "Vampire Wizard" they faced, is almost nothing compared to a "True Magi" and the group wouldn't have survived an encounter with him if he was one. It really does showcase just how low on the power scale the Hunters are, and also just how powerful a Mage is that even a vampire's powers are mere "Child's play" to them.

The Probing of Kevin

• Kevin's account of how it feels to serve the Tremere clan is incredibly uncomfortable, given the visceral description of having your thoughts and emotions overridden by an outside force. It reeks of abusive gaslighting, made worse by the fact that it seemed to come from his own mind.
• Kevin reveals some information that makes the situation the hunters are in even worse. He is apparently 9th blood generation, Shitbeard is 10th, Ape is 11th, and Pyotr is only 12th. Pyotr is in charge due to how long he has been a vampire alone. Which means, considering the order that Pytor diablerized the others in, he just jumped up not one but two generations, and might aim for Kevin to get a third jump in. An aged and experienced vampire has dramatically boosted his blood potency and become strong after a long period of being relatively weak and is now loose in the hunter's house.
• During a point where Kevin's reaching his boiling point again, he reveals that he's starting to regain enough of his strength to use Dominate again. Though it fails due to a mix of malnutrition, missing an eye, and Big-D likely just being "built different", his remaining eye takes on that same blood-red light that nearly let him kill Big-D in the tunnels and force his family to watch.
• Big D is keeping something other than Kevin in his basement. Something that he is very insistent on no one else finding out about, even as its screams and howls echo throughout the house. Whatever it is, Kevin can't help but be visibly unnerved.

Big-D's "Guide" to Avoiding Arrest

• Big D re-emphasizes what he said in the first audiolog, that the Camarilla have eyes and ears everywhere, and that even the slightest misstep at any point could easily deem you a threat to The Masquerade and subsequently put you on a hitlist. Hence, Big-D muses the most important part of the interview is making sure that the police aren't on the Camarilla payroll, and if they are, making sure that they don't decide that the family has breached the Masquerade. However, the officer he's speaking to is incredibly good at not giving anything away, to the point where Big D actually isn't sure of whether or not the man is compromised. It takes a very quick, very brief slip of the word (with Chapman accidentally mentioning "tunnels" he shouldn't have been aware of) for him to confirm... and right after that Big-D makes a mistake of his own, which would have ensured he'd be imprisoned by a vampire's thrall had it not been for his quick thinking.
  • There is another moment that definitely confirms that Chapman is a ghoul prior to that. After Big D jokingly boasts about having a Bruce Campbell jawline and Chapman says he likes The Evil Dead, D panicks for a moment and then backtracks after he realizes Chapman is talking about the movie, not the vampire. Then just as Chapman is about to continue, his face suddenly contorts, eyes bulging and teeth barring. It comes out of nowhere for a split second. And on a rewatch, it's quite obvious that this is Chapman's withdrawal kicking in.
• During the interview, Big-D - assuming the identity of Kevin - forms an alibi that mentions the vagabonds he and his friends picked up were a couple of missing persons. Chapman brings out a very, very heavy sounding binder of missing persons cases, and asks if "Kevin" can name any of them. He finds one that he recognizes, a fairly handsome man in diving equipment, but can't place at first. Only to realize it was Pyotr before he was Embraced. The Nosferatu curse made Pyotr unrecognizably hideous, and Big-D muses that's why he was "such a prick."
• Guy Chapman tries to be a decent fellow even as a Tremere plant within the Constabulary, but he makes it clear as day that the eight months of withdrawal from the abusively inattentive Camarilla have done a number on his mind. He not-so-subtly threatens that he is fighting the urge to attack Kevin for his blood not out of fear of what will happen to him, but because he's trying to offer them a good deal for a sip. He knows that anything they do to him in retaliation will get them in hotter water by marking them as cop killers, and he's so desperate he's stopped caring about his life entirely and would rather die than go another month without his fix.
  Chapman: [sigh] ...Herbie. I have killed six men in my service to the Regent. Two of them with my teeth. I recently injected contraband heroin into my system, just to simulate the thrill of Vampire blood. It didn't even compare.
  Kevin: You being freaky will not convince me!
  Chapman: Oh, I don't think you understand. I am a freak. I will kill again. And I will literally blow up the Constabulary for even the smallest possible pint of vitae. If you don't give me what I want, I might just try and take it. And if I try to take it, you'll both probably kill me, so you'll have my blood on your hands. And quite frankly, I'm so desperate for a fix, I don't really give a fuck!

Something is Wrong with Horse

• Mixed with Tearjerker, Big-D confides to Horse his regrets over keeping secrets from his own sons, as well as his fears and worries of the potential consequences should he come clean with his family. Beneath the kooky, loud-mouthed Junkie Parent is every parent's worst nightmare magnified — a Hunter who has to live in constant fear and suspicion if he has even the smallest chance to survive, and a father who tries to protect his children even while constantly questioning if the decisions he makes are the right ones. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the sheer hell that is Big-D's life.
• The screaming/howling noises from the second audiolog return outside of Horse's barn, meaning that something is out in the wilderness watching the family. For the briefest moment, one can actually see something leap through the treeline in the background.
  • Turns out, those noises were coming from Krakus the whole time, as Big-D reveals. But you have to wonder, what the hell's even causing Krakus to act so primal and animalistic to begin with?
• Kitten's story with Door about his first encounter with the supernatural — A vampire brutally murdered a student at his college (implied to have been a friend of Kitten's for good measure, given that he identifies her by name), and Kitten walked in on him feeding. The worst part? The vampire in question seems to have been from the Nagaraja, a clan of vampires that don't strictly drink blood, but instead devour the flesh of their victims — The dead girl had been cut open, and the vampire was eating her internal organs. Door expresses sympathy for Kitten's trauma, remarking that he shouldn't have had to witness something so "absolutely foul".
  • Even worse, the vampire was Edwin Davies, a rich and popular classmate Kitten knew from his university days, known for giving people his own money out of generosity. While Kitten did end a threat that would have seen more people dead, the encounter traumatized him for years afterward. It highlights the underlying horror of the Hunter: The Reckoning — no matter where you go, no one will know someone is a vampire until it is too late... and that vampire could be someone you know personally.
  • One detail that stands out somehow manages to make it all even more disturbing. When Kitten catches Davies in the act, the guy starts ranting at Kitten about how he hates having to feed the way that he does, as if he's desperately trying to make excuses for himself. If the theory about Davies being from the Nagaraja clan is true, this could, charitably, almost paint him as a reluctant Tragic Monster. However, when Kitten is throwing things at him, Davies starts screaming about the coffee getting on his suit. For someone who apparently didn't want to have to kill to survive, the guy was more angry about some coffee stains than being covered in the blood of an innocent woman. Although given how his outfit was already unquestionably ruined and it seems like Davies was af least once a genuine charitable nice guy, it is likely that this focus on something tiny during something catastrophic was his Sanity Slippage out in force.
• Horse can speak. But it's nothing you want to hear, especially not the prophecies of Gehenna. And going by the shadows in the barn, his true shape is bigger and spindlier.
  • Horse had spent most of the episode vomiting up tons of blood all over the place. Already a little disturbing (and definitely nasty). But then Boy notices that these bloodstains seem to be forming shapes. And that's when the prophecies begin, implying Horse's "disease" has been something else entirely...
    "What. Is. It. Thoust. See...?
    Doth Thine eyes... See it... Oracle?
    Gaze into... mine Crimson Miasma.
    Thine Faeder laid bare...
    Dessicated on the rocks by thy hand...
    The Abbot, will know.

    Of Two, One Falls...
    One rises.
    Damnation.
    The third eye opens.
    His Suet will feed and warm her gullet.
    The Abbot, will know.

    The Patriarch, in mastering Luna, ends harmstrung...
    He will wish death upon his flesh...
    But no mercy shall be given, for none he hath gave.
    The rising three shall signal wars end.
    Woe and triumph.
    The Abbot, will know.

    From them...
    Bloodshed.
    Armageddon for all.
    Kine, Kindred, Garou, Milklings, Elohim.
    In the light they all will—"
  • There's also the glaring fact that Horse's words feel less like a threat and more like a warning.
  • As Horse speaks his prophecy, his eyes bulge out to near-perfect spheres, turn red, and gain a vertical slit for a pupil. Warhammer 40k fans (and of course TTS fans) might recognize this as looking very similar to The Eye of Horus. It's a chilling reminder that Horse's 40k counterpart is the Satanic Archetype to the Imperium of Man.

Marckus Goes Pubbing with his Weirdo Friends (and gets in a brawl)

• Though it's only for a brief moment, Elise's first appearance has her perform a Stealth Hi/Bye with an utter Nightmare Face that scares Marckus, Grimal, and Harry. The face in question has her with glowing red eyes and what looks like tears of blood. Oh, and her face is completely in the shadows for the first few moments she shows up.
• There's a tense moment where Brok snatches Marckus' phone to call up and harass his fiancé, mistakenly believing Marckus is engaged to a woman. Yeah, it turned out to be a ploy by Marckus, but imagine if it hadn't and Kitten had actually answered. Considering Brok had already spouted some homophobic shit at the bartender, it's doubtful he would have been very tolerant upon finding out Marckus is in a relationship with another man. Anyone with any passing knowledge of hate crimes against LGBT+ people would know that moment could have ended VERY badly.
• Brok could be incredibly cruel and violent when someone gets him angry, dropping all aspects of humor. Marckus and his friends find this out the hard way. Unlike the supernatural horror of vampires, the violence Brok and his goons cause is entire natural and realistic, and they genuinely make the friends worry for each other's lives.
• Guy's intervention was a case of Big Damn Heroes, but his revelation to Marckus that he easily overheard the entire conversation the four was having about the supernatural thanks to his enhanced Ghoul senses, including that of vampires, makes it very clear that had Big-D and Kevin not been on good terms with him, the four of them and their loved ones would have easily become targets to whatever bloodsucker was in the land for knowing about the Masquerade.
• During the talks about the Arcanum, Marckus reveals that Kitten is worried about the Arcanum finding out about his hunting activities with Marckus and his family. Marckus is confident that whatever punishment the organization would inflict will be as toothless as their hands-off approach to studying the supernatural. But Harry has a warning: the Arcanum has and will put out out hits on anyone they deem too problematic. If Marckus' family isn't careful, then more than just their research will be snuffed out...

The Blender Crusade: In Spiteful Defiance of Corporate Villainy

• Big-D finds a large pit in a room while waiting for Giles to get the break room blender. The latter says that the 99p store was built atop an abandoned chalk mineshaft. Then Big-D falls in on accident before the episode ends, Big-D's fate unknown at the moment.

The Blender Crusade: ASSAULT ON THE ELDERLY (A Financial Horror)

• Big-D's reaction to The Blue Man either revealing his true form or being possessed is to recoil in horror and scream about how what he's seeing can't be true because the face he sees belongs to someone he believes to be dead. Given the context, a very likely possibility outside of the guesses towards a Changeling or some kind of Mage is that he's the Methuselah he thought he killed. None of the options sound good when it comes to a creature Big-D truly fears.
• The entire scenario is surreal, working on some sort of demented dream logic. Big D falls into a tunnel and awakes to discover an entire store beneath the one he just entered. There's a strange humanoid creature inside that can seemingly only speak over the intercom and keeps alternating between generic supermarket terminology and blatantly cryptic riddles about "growth." Worst of all, the "blender" he purchased in the dream traveled into the real world with him.
  The Blue Man: DO YOU HAVE A MEMBERSHIP WITH US?
  Big D: ... No.
  The Blue Man: DON'T BE SO SURE.
• Polydora finds D's alias of "Kevin" familiar, and it's not until she reconvenes with her boss that the reason becomes clear. It turns out she's in direct contact with the Regent, and they both muse over the coincidence of her former accountant's name popping up in her life again. In reality, it's anything but a coincidence, and Big-D's forged identity may have made things harder for himself and the actual Kevin under his care. Good thing the Regent is an incompetent buffoon who is Too Dumb to Live and can't put the connection together to save her life.
• For once, Big D is completely on the back foot with this situation. He's left with far more questions than answers, which greatly concerns him despite being elated to have gained a 99p blender from this experience. And this is coming from someone who is absurdly knowledgeable about anything and everything fantastical in this setting.

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Okay... So, this was all horrifying.