History NightmareFuel / TheWitcher3WildHunt

* Another of the new areas in the DLC brings Geralt to an abandoned castle haunted by an ancient leshen. After dealing with the monster and exploring the ruins, Geralt discovers the castle belonged to an [[EvilOldFolks elderly count]] who [[ImpoverishedPatrician tried to restore his diminished fortunes by]] [[IHaveYourWife taking the children of nearby nobles hostage]] and demanding a ransom. The last girl they kidnapped turned out to have been marked by a leshen, which moved into the forests around the castle and killed anyone it caught in the woods. When only a handful of people were left alive, the count heard killing a person marked by a leshen could destroy it, [[WouldHurtAChild driving him to murder the girl in desperation]]...which did nothing because, as any witcher knows, killing one marked by a leshen doesn't destroy the monster, only allows it to be destroyed. Geralt finds the count's body amidst the ruins; it is implied that after killing the girl, he and his surviving staff left the castle, confident they were safe, only to be killed by the leshen anyway.

** Another victim of Gaunter's sinister DisproportionateRetribution: as Geralt arrives for a meeting at a tavern, O'Dimm waves him over from across the room. Before Geralt can approach, he's accosted by a ''very'' inebriated fellow who wants the Witcher to share (and presumably buy) a drink with him. Gaunter freezes time so the two can finally be free from harassment, but as soon as business is concluded, he walks over to he drunkard, chastises him for interrupting, and ''drives a spoon handle through the man�s eye socket''. He's dead instantly as soon as time starts back up.

* King Radovid explaining why he plays chess: he imagines that the pieces are living and breathing human beings (more specifically, his real-life subjects and enemies), which he then "kills" in order to, in his words, "squeeze the truth from them" and "reveal the game's secret". This is your first encounter with the ruler of the North, and it's already plain to see that he is ''completely insane''.

* The Next Gen update adds a new quest called "In the Eternal Fire's Shadow" which is pretty creepy, Three hundred years ago the Church of the Eternal Fire used the Devil's Pit salt mine in Velen to quarantine (meaning "leave to die") plague victims. These turned out to be ideal conditions to create a disease spirit called a Red Miasmal, then they made things worse by hiring a Witcher named Reinald to kill it. See, the Miasmal's main ability is controlling plague victims to do its bidding, but they gradually die due to PossessionBurnout. But Witchers can be possessed indefinitely, so now Geralt has to deal with an army of [[PlagueZombie plague zombies]] and a PlagueZombie Witcher as a boss. [[spoiler: Most frightening of all is that if he loses, the Miasmal will actually ''possess Geralt's corpse.'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:Everything about the Crones are just... Wait until you hear about what they do to a child.]]

** What makes things arguably worse, is that the Ladies are the closest thing this region has to a BigGood, it is noted throughout the region [=NPCs=] chatter and dialogue, that the Ladies do keep their bargains and promises, although sometimes with a dash of JackassGenie thrown in, [[SarcasmMode all they ask in return]] is offerings usually of [[{{Squick}} ''severed ears and children to consume.'']]

*** It might not be that bad, however. The distinction made between �higher� vampires and Higher Vampires only shows up in Blood & Wine. Bruxae, alps, and other stronger vampires are all officially higher vampires though none are said to have the same qualities as a Higher Vampire. In all likelihood it was meant for Rejk to identify as a stronger vampire, as he�s still just a katakan, as opposed to someone on the level of Detlaff or Regis.

** The moment Geralt realises something is wrong is when he spots the practice dummy Ciri was training with is ''bleeding''. He goes to investigate...[[DecapitationPresentation and finds Yennefer's severed head stuffed inside it]].

* We finally get an idea of what Geralt and the other Witchers went through in order to become Witchers, Yennefer uses only the first stage of the Trial of the Grasses, the Trial that allows their bodies to accept mutations to try and Cure Uma into his true form, The poor recipient of the potions used is in absolute agony for ''hours'' as their body essentially breaks down to become more malleable, and made even worse when you remember a few facts about Witchers. Firstly, over half to three quarters of the boys who underwent this ''died'', and secondly most of them were barely teens to young adults when they went through it.

* The White Orchard tavern fight at the end of the prologue, from the point of view of the onlookers. They see a group of men, who are most likely drunk, accost two strangers, who then proceed to kill all of them with little effort (depending on how well you play, it could be over in less than ten seconds). Do they say "thank you for taking care of those ruffians"? Of course not, they're absolutely terrified, and tell Geralt and Vesemir to get out and never come back. No wonder witchers are so feared. Also, there's no way to avoid this fight.

* The Next Gen update adds a new quest called "In the Eternal Fire's Shadow" which is pretty creepy, Three hundred years ago the Church of the Eternal Fire used the Devil's Pit salt mine in Velen to quarantine (meaning "leave to die") plague victims, these turned out to be ideal conditions to create a disease spirit called a Red Miasmal, then they made things worse by hiring a Witcher named Reinald to kill it, see, the Miasmals main ability is controlling plague victims to do its bidding, but they gradually die due to PossessionBurnout, but Witchers can be possessed indefinitely, so now Geralt has to deal with an army of [[PlagueZombie plague zombies]] and a PlagueZombie Witcher as a boss.

*** Pay close attention when Geralt and the professor are talking. At certain points, Geralt will be distracted by the floor above them shaking and dust falling onto the professor's makeshift prison. We never find out what is up there, but one interpretation is that Gaunter secretly followed you, is in the house, and ''is upstairs, listening.'' It's very possible that Gaunter then killed the professor as punishment for revealing his secrets to Geralt.

** The tapestry scene is one of the most unsettling scenes in the entire game. From the tapestry being made of genuine human hair, to it being surrounded by candles and skulls as a bastardized religious object, to the art of the tapestry itself showing the Crones as beautiful women in the act of implied human sacrifice, it's incredibly eerie. The Crones use the tapestry to communicate; this is done by having a villager touch the tapestry, in which the Crone instantly possesses them and talks through them, and the villagers are ''completely fine'' with this. Close-up shots of the unmoving faces of the Crones on the tapestry while they talk in their creepy, creepy voices is far more unnerving than a moving painting. Finally, [[SchmuckBait shoot Igni on the tapestry after the Crones give you their dagger.]] You'll hear a woman screaming. [[NoSell Geralt might not be frightened by the entire scene at all]], but the player certainly will be.

** The tapestry scene is one of the most unsettling scenes in the entire game. From the tapestry being made of genuine human hair, to it being surrounded by candles and skulls as a bastardized religious object, to the art of the tapestry itself showing the Crones as beautiful women in the act of implied human sacrifice, it's incredibly eerie. The Crones use the tapestry to communicate; this is done by having a villager touch the tapestry, in which the Crone instantly possesses them and talks through them, and the villagers are ''completely fine'' with this. Close-up shots of the unmoving faces of the Crones on the tapestry while they talk give the impression that instead of a moving painting, the ''tapestry is sentient and talking to you.'' Finally, [[SchmuckBait shoot Igni on the tapestry after the Crones give you their dagger.]] You'll hear a woman screaming. [[NoSell Geralt might not be frightened by the entire scene at all]], but the player certainly will be.

** The tapestry scene is one of the most unsettling scenes in the entire game. From the tapestry being made of genuine human hair, to it being surrounded by candles and skulls as a bastardized religious object, to the art of the tapestry itself showing the Crones as beautiful women in the act of implied human sacrifice, it's incredibly eerie. The Crones use the tapestry to communicate; this is done by having a villager touch the tapestry, in which the Crone instantly possesses them and talks through them, and the villagers are ''completely fine'' with this. Finally, [[SchmuckBait shoot Igni on the tapestry after the Crones give you their dagger.]] You'll hear a woman screaming. [[NoSell Geralt might not be frightened by the entire scene at all]], but the player certainly will be.

** The tapestry scene is one of the most unsettling scenes in the entire game. From the tapestry being made of genuine human hair, to it being surrounded by candles and skulls as a bastardized religious object, to the art of the tapestry itself showing the Crones as beautiful women in the act of implied human sacrifice, it's incredibly eerie. The Crones use the tapestry to communicate; this is done by having a villager touch the tapestry, in which the Crone instantly possesses them and talks through them, and the villagers are ''completely fine'' with this. Finally, [[SchmuckBait shoot Igni on the tapestry after the Crones give you their dagger.]] You'll hear a woman screaming. [[NoSell Geralt might not be frightened at all]], but the player certainly will be.

** The tapestry scene is one of the most unsettling scenes in the entire game. From the tapestry being made of genuine human hair, to it being surrounded by candles and skulls as a bastardized religious object, to the art of the tapestry itself showing the Crones as beautiful women in the act of implied human sacrifice, it's incredibly eerie. The Crones use the tapestry to communicate; this is done by having a villager touch the tapestry, in which the Crone instantly possesses them and talks through them, and the villagers are ''completely fine'' with this. Finally, [[SchmuckBait shoot Igni on the tapestry after the Crones give you their dagger.]] You'll hear a woman screaming.

* The witch hunts in general but also what happens to Keira Metz in particular if you let her go seek amnesty from Radovid with Alexander's research. You later find her on the streets of Novigrad, her whole body impaled on a wooden pole with the tip sticking out of her mouth.

* Geralt's dream in the prologue segues into this as the Wild Hunt assaults Kaer Morhen, leaving the witchers present frozen in place, trapped and unable to do anything but [[ForcedToWatch watch]] as Eredin motions one of his warriors to kill Ciri...

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/caretaker_6.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:No shame in being scared of [[HumanoidAbomination the Caretaker]]. ''This thing freaked'' '''''[[TheStoic Geralt]]''''' ''out''.]]

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Main Game]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thumb_1920_1081753.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Whenever you see him, '''RUN.'''[[note]]"What? You think running will do you any good? [[SatanicArchetype There is no running from me, or from the debts you owe.]]"[[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dettlaff.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"IF YOU ACKNOWLEGE ANY GODS, '''START PRAYING NOW!'''"]]

*** It might not be that bad, however. The distinction made between “higher” vampires and Higher Vampires only shows up in Blood & Wine. Bruxae, alps, and other stronger vampires are all officially higher vampires though none are said to have the same qualities as a Higher Vampire. In all likelihood it was meant for Rejk to identify as a stronger vampire, as he’s still just a katakan, as opposed to someone on the level of Detlaff or Regis.

* We finally get an idea of what Geralt and the other Witchers went through in order to become Witchers, Yennefer uses only the first stage of the Trial of the Grasses, the Trial that allows their bodies to accept mutations to try and [[spoiler: Cure Uma into his true form]], The poor recipient of the potions used is in absolute agony for ''hours'' as their body essentially breaks down to become more malleable, and made even worse when you remember a few facts about Witchers. Firstly, over half to three quarters of the boys who underwent this ''died'', and secondly most of them were barely teens to young adults when they went through it.
* After completing the mission 'Witcher Wannabe' if you go inside the small building with two angel statues on either side of the door you can find a small chest. Then, when you leave... the angel statues have moved to stare at you and are in the middle of the cementary. Walk past them and then rotate the camera to look at them; they have turned AGAIN to stare at you. Do it one more time and they are GONE. There are [[Series/DoctorWho Weeping Angels]] in Velen.

*** Just before you leave the room, [[SchmuckBait extinguish the candles]] around the circle. [[spoiler:The moment the lights are out, you hear the terrifying sounds of ''something'' escaping from inside the circle]]. [[NothingIsScarier Something that even as a witcher, Geralt cannot see but only hear]].

** Another victim of Gaunter's sinister DisproportionateRetribution: as Geralt arrives for a meeting at a tavern, O'Dimm waves him over from across the room. Before Geralt can approach, he's accosted by a ''very'' inebriated fellow who wants the Witcher to share (and presumably buy) a drink with him. Gaunter freezes time so the two can finally be free from harassment, but as soon as business is concluded, he walks over to he drunkard, chastises him for interrupting, and ''drives a spoon handle through the man’s eye socket''. He's dead instantly as soon as time starts back up.

* Geralt's dream in the prologue segues into this as the Wild Hunt assaults Kaer Morhen, leaving the witchers present frozen in place, trapped and unable to do anything but [[ForcedToWatch watch]] as Eredin motions one of his warriors to kill Ciri...AdultFear at its best.

* In one of the new areas unlocked by the DLC, Geralt comes across an abandoned old chapel haunted by a particularly vicious wraith. After dispatching the wraith, Geralt finds a journal on a nearby body that reveals the wraith was the wife of the dead man, who'd apparently been [[IWasQuiteALooker a great beauty in her youth]], but slowly sank into [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]] of the couple's three daughters as her looks faded. The journal says that any mention that the girls had inherited their mother's looks was enough to [[BerserkButton set her off in a jealous rage]]. The penultimate entry states that the guy came home one night to [[AdultFear find the bodies of his drowned and mutilated daughters]] in the chapel grounds and his wife standing on a stool under a tree with a noose around her neck, [[ItsAllAboutMe raging that the girls had taken her beauty, the one thing she cared about]] before [[DrivenToSuicide jumping off the stool]]. The final entry (implied to have been written before the unfortunate husband's own suicide) reveals he'd sold everything he owned to the Church of the Eternal Fire in a desperate effort to gain his wife's forgiveness in the afterlife, as well as blaming himself for not seeing the warning signs. A particularly scary quest for anyone who's seen or experienced the effects of postnatal depression.

** Another victim of Gaunter’s sinister DisproportionateRetribution: as Geralt arrives for a meeting at a tavern, O’Dimm waves him over from across the room. Before Geralt can approach, he’s accosted by a ‘’very’’ inebriated fellow who wants the Witcher to share (and presumably buy) a drink with him. Gaunter freezes time so the two can finally be free from harassment, but as soon as business is concluded, he walks over to he drunkard, chastises him for interrupting, and ''drives a spoon handle through the man’s eye socket''. He’s dead instantly as soon as time starts back up.

--> '''Gaunter:''' Do you really wish to know what I am?
--> '''Geralt:''' Yes.
--> '''Gaunter:''' ''No,'' Geralt. You '''don't.''' This one time I shall spare you and ''not'' grant your wish.

-->"His smile fair as spring, as towards him he draws you;
-->[[FauxAffablyEvil His tongue sharp and silvery as he implores you.]]
-->[[DealWithTheDevil Your wishes he grants, as he swears to adore you,]]
-->Gold, silver, jewels - he lays riches before you.
-->Dues need be repaid and he will come for you
-->All to reclaim, no smile to console you.
-->[[DraggedOffToHell He'll snare you in bonds, eyes glowing afire]]
-->[[FateWorseThanDeath To gore and torment you till the stars expire!]]"