History NightmareFuel / Bloodborne

** What's worse is that the scream sounds vaguely like a person's. A ''very agonized'' person's... Since we know that in ''The Old Hunters'', Laurence WasOnceAMan and made those very same sounds during his boss fight...[[FridgeHorror what does that say about regular Cleric Beasts]]?

** When you get close to the Wet Nurse to attack her, you can hear [[FridgeHorror the baby is]] ''[[FridgeHorror still crying]]!''
*** Even worse, if the background story of how Mergo's Wet Nurse come to be is to be believed, it is possible that the baby in the cradle is actually Mergo himself/herself and that the Wet Nurse was actually protecting him/her from potential threats, like a Hunter passing by. If this is true, then the introductory cutscene just took on a whole new meaning. The Wet Nurse is not feeding on the baby, she is simply comforting the crying baby that is her duty to take care of when she notices you as a potential threat to the baby. This also explain why you can hear the cries of the baby when you are fighting the Wet Nurse; the baby is not dead, he/she is being cradled by the Wet Nurse during the whole fight! And when the Wet Nurse is defeated, the cries stop as well...

** Not helping matters is that there is not a ''single piece of lore anywhere'' in the game that makes mention of this [[EldritchAbomination abomination.]] [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere We aren't told what this thing even is, where it came from,]] or [[NothingIsScarier why the bell-ringing women summoned it.]]
*** It is implied that the One Reborn is the final results of the School of Mensis' experiment with creating a vessel for a Great One in their image. It isn't an eldritch abomination or yet another horror spawned by the Plague of Beasts; [[CreatingLifeIsBad a pack of sick human fools envisioned it, yearned for it to exist, and made it so]]. [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Mankind alone bears the guilt of this travesty]].
* A quieter sort of horror, but horrid nonetheless, found in the description of the Pungent Blood Cocktail: ''In Yharnam, they produce more blood than alcohol, as the former is the more intoxicating.'' Really think about that for a moment.
** A bit of Fridge Horror to go along with that; in cultures and time periods similar to Yharnam's, water was very unsafe to drink. Therefore, most people consumed large amounts of alcohol as a substitute. ''Where did they find enough blood to rival the alcohol industry?!'' It's doubtful that the local livestock would have been sufficient to meet that demand...
*** ''More'' fridge horror; blood may be heady, but you won't get drunk from it no matter how much you drink. This implies that the people of Yharnam aren't exactly human... and ever since your blood transfusion at the beginning of the game, [[ViralTransformation neither are you.]]
** It's more than just the Alcohol. The prostitute you meet in the game implies that she sells her own blood instead of sex. Yharnam was royally screwed up long before the Plague hit.
** This fixation on blood also explains why the town was hit so hard by the Plague: One person gets sick, and people drink that person's blood before anyone catches on. Suddenly, all of those people are infected. If those people sell their blood, and the people who drink that blood sell their blood to someone else... well, long story short, the illness would have spread like a wildfire in a forest in the middle of high summer ''which had just been soaked with gasoline, napalm, and jet fuel.'' It's no wonder 99% of the population is infected. What is amazing is that there is ''anyone'' left who ''isn't infected.''
** And the source of their blood? It's heavily implied to be Queen Yharnam and her dead fetus.

* '''The Insight''' system gives plenty of Nightmare Fuel, both overt and Fridge. Going through an area on low insight, you'll initially see stuff like perfectly normal-looking statues in church hallways and whatnot. Get your insight high enough, and you'll see that those "perfectly normal" statues were in fact of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, and get it high enough, and you'll see some of those abominations watching you on the streets, even before defeating Rom, the Vacuous Spider. The scariest part? They've always been there, the entire time... [[ParanoiaFuel watching you.]] It is possible to pierce TheMasquerade, but upon doing so, it quickly becomes apparent why most people who do GoMadFromTheRevelation...

* Generally, most people you run into have turned into Beasts or werewolves, but a certain kind is especially terrible: the Brainsucker. Humans who have achieved so much Insight, they literally hunger for more. The first one you'll probably find is by itself in a corner of the Upper Cathedral Ward, hooded and eating from a corpse. Their main mode of attack is to grab you, pull their hoods down, revealing a huge pulsating tentacle erupting from their heads that they use to [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin suck your brains out]], a move that actually drains Insight from you. The worst part is that you soon have the feeling that maybe [[FridgeHorror that could've been you at some point.]]
* In one of the endings, ''Childhood's Beginning'', if you consume 3 or more thirds of an umbilical cord, and manage to defeat Gehrman, you get to fight the [[EldritchAbomination Moon]] [[TrueFinalBoss Presence.]] Your reward for victory? You're turned into an infant EldritchAbomination that looks like a strange squid-like creature. At least the doll will take care of you...

--> [[FridgeHorror It makes the blood taste that much sweeter]].

* In the first part of '''The Hunter's Nightmare''', you need to wade through a river of blood, fed by mounds of skeletal corpses. Initially, [[DreamLand the fact that you are in a dream may lessen the terror]]. They aren't ''real'' remains; just another gross detail in an already horrible nightmare. But then one of them moves. [[ItCanThink And another one talks]]. The last one even knows Ludwig by name. [[FridgeHorror Theses bodies weren't conjured up by the nightmare]]; they're Hunters who have been beaten down and mutilated by countless years in the nightmare... or have simply become so jaded by the countless, pointless years of captivity that they no longer care what happens to them.

** The Orphan of Kos is one of the most horrific things in the entire game. It is a huge humanoid creature, almost skeletal-like, that shrieks and hollers as it attempts to cut you down with its own placenta, molded into a sharp club and covered with pustles and eyes. Even more disturbingly, it becomes clear after seeing it in action that the The Orphan of Kos is a pale imitation of '''the Hunters''' -- an extending, transforming weapon, agile movements, ranged shotgun-like attacks, and brutal swings. Hell, the organ it uses to fight even ''looks'' like the sawcleaver, and the way the Orphan's skin flaps in the wind during the second phase looks awfully similar to the glowing cloaks and mantles of Hunter outfits. Kos's greatest creation, her goal all along, was to create a beast powerful enough to cut down those who hunted her own kind and killed her. It's not clear which is worse — that Kos hated humans so much that she molded her child into a weapon to destroy them, or that the Orphan is ''really'' good at his job.
*** What does said creature do once it is revealed to the player? Crawl out of its mother's corpse, stand up in the rain, look into the sun… [[LastOfHisKind and begin to sob.]] Is it crying because it is the last of its kind, or because, as a hybrid, it doesn't truly belong anywhere?
** "Sweet Child of Kos" is fridge horror because, even after killing the boss, you see this thing crawl of out of the corpse... and we're given no clue what it is. Was it the soul of the boss you just killed? The spirit of Kos itself? No explanation is given, just that it is, and is the source of the nightmare, so there's every possibility that whatever is dreaming this dream, it has to die before the nightmare can end. ...And there's no guarantee that killing in the dream truly killed it, or just woke it up, wherever it was.
** Also comes equipped with terrifying Fridge Horror. This thing was a baby, literally just born. Even during the battle with you, short as it is, it noticeably matures and grows in power. Despite this newborn state, it is still one of the toughest, most agile, and powerful beings you encounter. It is stronger than the other Great Ones by ''far.'' If you hadn't been there to slay it in this weakened state, ''how powerful might it have become?''

* Just the healing method can be this for those who are AfraidOfNeedles, since your only method of healing is ''violently ramming a syringe into your thigh.'' Which you will probably do a few ''thousand'' times in the course of your adventure, and then FridgeHorror kicks in and you wonder what your leg must look like now...

*** The means of injection is disgusting enough without considering what's inside those bottles. Yes, it's blood… but what, or worse, ''[[ImAHumanitarian who]]'' did it come from? In what manner was it extracted? [[FridgeHorror Was the host willing, or otherwise]]?

* The Cleric Beast. If his [[HellIsThatNoise scream]] doesn't intimidate you, his ruthless attack pattern WILL. The fact that his design reminds ''Dark Souls'' players of [[EldritchAbomination Manus, Father of the Abyss]], doesn't help either.

* The Blood-starved Beast: That thing's skin has been ''flayed'' off its back, and what remains hangs off it in horrible fleshy flaps. And it's called 'Blood-starved' for more than one reason. It's hard to say ''what'' comes out of it when its hit, but it sure the heck isn't blood, and it sure is toxic!
** Not to mention that horrid, HORRID face it has.
** The comic, ''The Death Of Sleep'' actually ups this by turning it into a SuperPersistentPredator. At least in the game, it ''stays put'', but here it stalks the main character unceasingly, no matter where they go.
* Even before entering Old Yharnam, you are greeted by a foreboding sign warning Hunters to stay away. Of course, the protagonist, and player, ignore this and press onward, eager to hunt more beasts and discover more secrets. Upon entering the charred ruins, however, you are greeted by the distant and booming voice of an unseen Hunter named Djura who again warns the protagonist to leave "Or the Hunter will face the Hunt." Compared to other eldritch or environmental horrors in the game it's not much, but the surprise and ferocity of his voice alone are enough to give first timers a good spook. And that's before he even whips out his Gatling gun.
* Amygdala, a gigantic GiantSpider featured in the [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whydidithavetobespidey_6930.png background]] of the city, grasping a tower with her massive legs tipped with ''human hands''. [[http://i.imgur.com/tdLr9ie.gif A closer look]] shows that her looks like an unholy cross between a spider and ''Cthulhu''. '''That''' was just in the Alpha test! In the game proper, she's revealed to be a [[EldritchAbomination Great One]] who lives within the [[EldritchLocation Nightmare Frontier]], and is one of the game's harder optional bosses. Also, did we forget to mention that there are lesser versions seen clinging to buildings in Yharnam once either Rom is killed and the illusion broken or you have enough Insight? Some of them even in places you've frequented from low levels, like the Cathedral Ward entrance. [[SarcasmMode Always nice to know]] there was a giant nightmare spider watching you the entire time.
** Even before you can see them, the Lesser Amygdala can be a source of a couple of unexpected scares. For example: you are minding your own business traveling through the city when suddenly a laser beam fires at you out of nowhere, or worse you suddenly get grabbed by a massive hand and are staring at an EldritchAbomination which causes you to [[YourHeadAsplode go into a frenzy]] followed by the EldritchAbomination throwing you to the ground. Did we mention that this is also the way to get to the Nightmare Frontier and ''The Old Hunters'' DLC?

*** Another lovely example from the nightmare is The Brain of Mensis. She can make your frenzy skyrocket from almost a mile away,[[note]] [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer That's not hyperbole,]] the "unlight" that causes your Frenzy levels to rise when you look at the Citadel is eventually revealed to be her. [[/note]], though how and why are never made clear. Her design [[NauseaFuel is also sickening;]] a ''terribly rotten'', misshapen mountain of flesh absolutely riddled with eyes, that is somehow [[BodyHorror aware and autonomous without a body]]. Once you drop it into the pit within its tower, the Brain will land in an dark abyss where its heartbeat reverberates through the space - thankfully, if you meet it there, it doesn't attack you (and even gives you a rune if you use the Make Contact gesture for a minute). Yet the subtle implications are arguably the worst; various texts and dialogs throughout the game imply that gaining enough insight will “line the brain with eyes”. Given the amount of insight you have obtained thus far, you could be looking at a 1,000x scale model of something currently ''[[EyesDoNotBelongThere inside your own head.]]''
* So, you're walking through the Forbidden Forest. Nothing too bad just yet; mostly just more angry villagers and a few traps and pitfalls. But then you get to the ''lower'' parts of the forest where the villagers don't go. The first guy you see is walking towards from you...and his head explodes into snakes! SNAKES! The rest of the Forbidden Forest is filled with horrible hydras, some of which are still living inside people. Talk about ramping up the creep factor.

* The approach to Cainhurst Castle takes the Gothic horror element up to eleven while mixing in a healthy dose of MindScrew. You access it via riding in a mysterious, seemingly driverless coach (Dracula, anyone?) while someone apparently watches you from the bushes. At last you approach the huge, decrepit, snow-covered castle... and of course, the gates open of their own accord. All this is unsettling, but the horror doesn't set in until you look behind you and see the coach horses, dead. Not just dead, but ''half-rotted and completely frozen over''. Not to mention a gigantic, impassable gap in the bridge... ''how'' exactly did you get here again?

*** Even worse, if the background story of how Mergo's Wet Nurse come to be is to be believed, it is possible that the baby in the cradle is actually Mergo himself/herself and that the Wet Nurse was actually protecting him/her from potential threats, like a Hunter passing by. If this is true, then the introductory cutscene just took on a whole new meaning. The Wet Nurse is not feeding on the baby, she is simply comforting the crying baby that is her duty to take care of when she notice you as a potential threat to the baby. This also explain why you can hear the cries of the baby when you are fighting the Wet Nurse; the baby is not dead, he/she is being cradled by the Wet Nurse during the whole fight! And when the Wet Nurse is defeated, the cries stop as well...

** The fact she is pregnant of a Great One (Oedon's) baby, who most likely put it there without her consent is bizarrely overlooked by players.

** Even worse is the fact that it speaks to you. Every time it casts a spell a horrific voice, a wet gurgling voice that sounds as if if comes from multiple throats, speaking in what sounds like either gibberish or a language you have to be insane to understand.

** A bit of Fridge Horror to go along with that; In cultures and time periods similar to Yharnam's, water was very unsafe to drink. Therefore, most people consumed large amounts of alcohol as a substitute. ''Where did they find enough blood to rival the alcohol industry?!'' It's doubtful that the local livestock would have been sufficient to meet that demand...

** But it's very likely that your first visit to the city will be in the Hypogean Gaol, a jail beneath Yahar'Gul, before the events turn cosmic horror. After killing the Blood-starved Beast in Old Yharnam, Kidnappers will start to appear behind the Oedon Chapel. Should you get killed by one of them, [[FissionMailed you'll wake up in the Gaol instead of the Hunter's Dream]]. A faint chant can be heard there; a chant that is so dissonant and sinister it might just be the creepiest and most unsettling piece of music in video game history ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuHzagjqOLU judge for yourself]]). And then you realize the chant is ''[[DiegeticMusic diegetic]]'' -- somewhere, someone, or rather a large group of someones, in-game, are generating that constant chant. They stop chanting once you defeat Rom and gain full access to Yahar'Gul, and [[NothingIsScarier they're never seen or mentioned]].

* In one of the endings, ''Childhood's Beginning'', if you consume 3 or more thirds of an umbilical cord, and manage to defeat Gehrman, you get to fight the [[EldritchAbomination Moon]] [[TrueFinalBoss Presence.]] Your reward for victory? You're turned into an infant EldritchAbomination that looks like a strange squid-like creature. At least the doll will take care of you...

** A rather interesting thing that should be pointed out here, is that, throughout this area, several Scourge Beasts have now made the abandoned location their domain... only... there's something rather odd about these beasts in particular. For one their eyes are all a deep purplish blue, in comparison to every other Scourge Beast, who all have piercing white eyes, like The Mad Ones The Witch of Hemwick summons. Second, they're also the only known Scourge Beasts to, albeit every now and then, leave behind an item called Blue Elixr upon defeat! What makes these Scourge Beasts so different from the rest of the ones that are stalking the streets of Yharnam? How did they become this way in the first place?
** Initially, for the first half of the story, we aren't given too much information regarding the status of the The Healing Church as a whole, and we don't even learn about The Choir's existence at all until later by Nightfall. Since we encounter various Healing Church aligned individuals, such as Sister Adella and The Executioner Alfred, as well as some of The Choir's own personal agents, such as Yurie The Last Scholar and The Imposter Iosefka, still wandering around going about their evil schemes, we're presented with the possibility that The Church may in fact still be operating. However, upon arriving here, the remnants of the Upper Cathedral Ward puts death any of those ideas or thoughts; The Choir, and The Healing Church as a whole, has been completely wiped out, both by the scourge and by their own quest for ascendance. The only living things left in the Orphanage are Scourge Beasts and Brainsuckers, with the implications that, with all of the dead bodies of Black Church Hunters scattered all throughout the interior and exterior, there indeed was a terrible massacre that took place here sometime before the beginning of the story. Of course, it can't be ignored that while they truly did [[AssholeVictim deserve]] that fate, there's something quite disturbing about the knowledge that the Healing Church, which controls Yharnam, is essentially finished for good. For all of their grandiose presentation and their attempts at designing stronger weapons for use against the beasts, even their most elite members couldn't survive the night!
** '''The Orphanage''' itself is terrifying as well, having once served as the very birthplace of The Choir originally. The name of the location is haunting enough, but it doesn't help that there are strange larvae lining the area that are just squirming about and won't attack you at all unless antagonized or approached. The major question is what happened to all the children that the Healing Church kept here, or was it only a horrible place used to house the Great One's larvae away from prying eyes.
*** Or worse if you believe in the Healing Church splitting and the Choir having its own goals, it was a place to keep the children of Yharnam in safety so isolated from the rest of the city. Then the Choir occupied it and created the Altar of Despair, bringing Ebrietas' attention, which could have corrupted not only all the living children but all their caretakers as well. Hence, all the Celestial mMobs walking around the place.

** The Blue Elixr is an item that is stated to have been previously used by, "The High Ministers of The Healing Church," when they conducted ''dubious'' experiments! With that knowledge under our caps, we then slowly begin to process the realization that the members of The Choir have not scatterd to the four winds, but on quite the contrary, they are all still here in Yharnam! ''THEY SUCCUMBED TO THE SCOURGE AND BECAME BEASTS THEMSELVES''! Like The Cleric Beast, who was a former member of The Church! In a wonderful example of LaserGuidedKarma, for all of their egregious actions, they became that which they sought so hard to avoid! Of course, then again, their selfish and immoral actions [[YouAreWhatYouHate already gave them a rather, 'beastly," demeanor'']]!

* The long awaited Ludwig at last makes his presence known, and he is a sight to behold. A twisted, broken, massive wreck of a man and his once noble steed somehow melted together through means thankfully unknown, his every characteristic seems to ooze mockery; of the hope he once gave the people of Yharnam, of the KnightInShiningArmor Archetype, and in the second half of the battle, the reason and sanity of man.
** Bloodcurdling howls would at least be appropriate for this guy, but the clear, intelligent way he soon speaks is somehow worse than the screeching, due to how surreal and wrong it sounds coming from such an abomination. [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters It’s a shocking and grotesque testament to how our humanity can create the most horrific beasts. ]]

** This level is comprised of the site of an atrocity so stomach churning, that it damned every Hunter to the Nightmare forever. Gehrman and Maria, under orders from Master Willem led an unknowable number of Hunters and Scholars to the hamlet to investigate Mother Kos. Somehow this investigation turned into a full-blown orgy of violence, human experimentation and death as the Hunters razed the town, murdered it's inhabitants and strung up their bodies. The last straw was the hunters dragging Kos ashore and killing her, which defiled the village forever.

** The Orphan of Kos is one of the most horrific things in the entire game. It is a huge humanoid creature, almost skeletal-like, that shrieks and hollers as it attempts to cut you down with its own placenta, molded into a sharp club and covered with pustles and eyes. Even more disturbingly, it becomes clear after seeing it in action that the The Orphan of Kos is a pale imitation of '''the Hunters''' -- an extending, transforming weapon, agile movements, ranged shotgun like attacks, and brutal swings. Hell, the organ it uses to fight even ''looks'' like the sawcleaver, and the way the Orphan's skin flaps in the wind during the second phase looks awfully similar to the glowing cloaks and mantles of Hunter outfits. Kos's greatest creation, her goal all along, was to create a beast powerful enough to cut down those who hunted her own kind and killed her. It's not clear which is worse- that Kos hated humans so much that she molded her child into a weapon to destroy them, or that the Orphan is ''really'' good at his job.
*** What does said creature do once it is revealed to the player? Crawl out of its mother's corpse, stand up in the rain, look into the sun...[[LastOfHisKind and begin to sob.]] Is it crying because it is the last of its kind, or because, as a hybrid, it doesn't truly belong anywhere?

** Also comes equipped with terrifying Fridge Horror. This thing was a baby, literally just born. Even during the battle with you, short as it is, it noticeably matures and grows in power. Despite this newborn state it is still one of the toughest, most agile, and powerful beings you encounter. It is stronger then the other Great Ones by ''far.'' If you hadn't been there to slay it in this weakened state ''how powerful might it have become?''

*** The means of injection is disgusting enough without considering what's inside those bottles. Yes, it's blood... but what, or worse, ''[[ImAHumanitarian who]]'' did it come from? In what manner was it extracted? [[FridgeHorror Was the host willing, or otherwise]]?

--> '''Alfred''': "Just what is the meaning of this? Why turn your blade on me? You're jealous, aren't you? Unclean wench! Vile monstrosity! Bloody fool! Has the blood gone to your head? Pathetic, as you deserve!"

** after defeating Martyr Logarius, if you gave the Summons to Alfred, you'll witness something terrifying. You know, good old friendly Alfred of the Healing Church? When you find him in Queen Alysanne's chamber, he's [[NauseaFuel smashed her into a completely unrecognizable bloody pulp]], cackling as if he's lost his last shred of sanity while wearing a blood-spattered head ornament.

*** Stay next to the window for a little while and you find out that she is not her sister. But a neighbor who really wanted the ribbon for herself. And she feels excited by that, but is really annoyed by the blood on it.

*** The means of injection is disgusting enough without considering what's inside those bottles. Yes, it's blood... but what, or worse, [[ImAHumanitarian ''who'']] did it come from? In what manner was it extracted? [[FridgeHorror Was the host willing, or otherwise]]?

** When you get close to the Wet Nurse to attack her, you can hear [[FridgeHorror the baby is ''still'' crying]]!

*** Another lovely example from the nightmare is The Brain of Mensis. She can make your frenzy skyrocket from almost a mile away,[[note]] [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer That's not hyperbole,]] the "unlight" that causes your Frenzy levels to rise when you look at the Citadel is eventually revealed to be her. [[/note]], though how and why are never made clear. Her design [[NauseaFuel is also sickening;]] a ''terribly rotten'', misshapen mountain of flesh absolutely riddled with eyes, that is somehow [[BodyHorror aware and autonomous without a body]]. Once you drop it into the pit within its tower, the Brain will land in an dark abyss where its heartbeat reverberates through the space. Yet the subtle implications are arguably the worst; various texts and dialogs throughout the game imply that gaining enough insight will “line the brain with eyes”. Given the amount of insight you have obtained thus far, you could be looking at a 1,000x scale model of something currently ''[[EyesDoNotBelongThere inside your own head.]]''
** The Brain is friendly, though. Holding the "Make Contact" pose at it for a whole minute causes it to give you a present in the form of a Rune.

** The Blue Elixr is an item that is stated to have been previously used by, "The High Ministers of The Healing Church," when they conducted ''dubious'' experiments! With that knowledge under our caps, we then slowly begin to process the realization that the members of The Choir have not scatterd to the four winds, but on quite the contrary, they are all still here in Yharnam! ''THEY SUCCUMBED TO THE SCOURGE AND BECAME BEASTS THEMSELVES''! Like The Cleric Beast, who was a former member of The Church! In a wonderful example of LaserGuidedKarma, for all of their egregious actions, they became that which they sought so hard to avoid! Of course, then again, their selfish and immoral actions [[YouAreWhatYouHate already gave them a rather, 'beastly," demeanor''!

** The Blue Elixr is an item that is stated to have been previously used by, "The High Ministers of The Healing Church," when they conducted ''dubious'' experiments! With that knowledge under our caps, we then slowly begin to process the realization that the members of The Choir have not scatterd to the four winds, but on quite the contrary, they are all still here in Yharnam! ''THEY SUCCUMBED TO THE SCOURGE AND BECAME BEASTS THEMSELVES''! In a wonderful example of LaserGuidedKarma for all of their egregious actions, [[Irony they became that which they sought so hard to avoid]]!
* The Insight system gives plenty of Nightmare Fuel, both overt and Fridge. Going through an area on low insight, you'll see stuff like perfectly normal-looking statues in church hallways and whatnot. Get your insight high enough, and you'll see that those "perfectly normal" statues were in fact of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, and get it high enough, and you'll see some of those abominations watching you on the streets, even before defeating Rom, the Vacuous Spider. The scariest part? They've always been there, the entire time... [[ParanoiaFuel watching you.]] It is possible to pierce TheMasquerade, but upon doing so, it quickly becomes apparent why most people who do GoMadFromTheRevelation...

* In the first part of the Hunter's Nightmare, you need to wade through a river of blood, fed by mounds of skeletal corpses. Initially, [[DreamLand the fact that you are in a dream may lessen the terror]]. They aren't ''real'' remains; just another gross detail in an already horrible nightmare. But then one of them moves. [[ItCanThink And another one talks]]. The last one even knows Ludwig by name. [[FridgeHorror Theses bodies weren't conjured up by the nightmare]]; they're Hunters who have been beaten down and mutilated by countless years in the nightmare... or have simply become so jaded by the countless, pointless years of captivity that they no longer care what happens to them.

** A rather interesting thing that should be pointed out here, is that, throughout this area, several Scourge Beasts have now made the abandoned location their domain... only... there's something rather odd about these beasts in particular. For one their eyes are all a deep purplish blue, in comparison to every other Scourge Beast, who all have piercing white eyes, like The Mad Ones The Witch of Hemwick summons. Second, they're also the only known Scourge Beasts to, albeit every now and then, leave behind an item called Blue Elixr upon defeat! Why are these Scourge Beasts different from the rest of the ones that are present in Yharnam?
** Initially, for the first half of the story, we aren't given too much information regarding the status of the The Healing Church as a whole, and we don't even learn about The Choir's existence at all until later by Nightfall. Since we encounter various Healing Church aligned individuals, such as Sister Adella and The Executioner Alfred, as well as some of The Choir's own personal agents, such as Yurie The Last Scholar and The Imposter Iosefka, still wandering around going about their evil schemes, there's a possibility that The Church may still be operating. However, upon arriving here, the remnants of the Upper Cathedral Ward puts death any of those ideas or thoughts; The Choir, and The Healing Church as a whole, has been completely wiped out, both by the scourge and by their own quest for ascendance. The only living things left in the Orphanage are Scourge Beasts and Brainsuckers, with the implications that, with all of the dead bodies of Black Church Hunters scattered all throughout the interior and exterior, there indeed was a terrible massacre that took place here sometime before the beginning of the story. Of course, it can't be ignored that while they truly did [[AssholeVictim deserve]] that fate, there's something quite disturbing about the knowledge that the Healing Church, which controls Yharnam, is essentially finished for good. For all of their grandiose presentation and their attempts at designing stronger weapons for use against the beasts, even their most elite members couldn't survive the night!

** '''The Orphanage''' itself as well, having served as the birthplace of The Choir originally. The name of the location is haunting enough but the fact that the larvae are lining the area squirming about and won't attack unless antagonized. The major question is what happened to all the children that the Healing Church kept here, or was it only a horrible place used to house the Great One's larvae away from prying eyes.
*** Or worse if you believe in the Healing Church splitting and the Choir having its own goals, it was a place to keep the children of Yharnam in safety so isolated from the rest of the city. Then the Choir occupied it and created the Altar of Despair, bringing Ebrietas' attention, which could have corrupted not only all the living children but all their caretakers as well. Hence, all the Celestial mMobs walking around the place.
*** The last one is the more crestfallen interpretation, if it was just a housing place for the larvae is one thing. But forcing all the helpless unwanted children of Yharnam to turn into monsters is another.

* The Orphanage, the name of the location is haunting enough but the fact that the larvae are lining the area squirming about and won't attack unless antagonized. The major question is what happened to all the children that the Healing Church kept here, or was it only a horrible place used to house the Great One's larvae away from prying eyes.
** Or worse if you believe in the Healing Church splitting and the Choir having its own goals, it was a place to keep the children of Yharnam in safety so isolated from the rest of the city. Then the Choir occupied it and created the Altar of Despair, bringing Ebrietas' attention, which could have corrupted not only all the living children but all their caretakers as well. Hence, all the Celestial mMobs walking around the place.

* The Upper Cathedral Ward. Everything about this place is downright chilling. It's one of the few areas in the game where a persistent soundtrack plays, and the whole area is just one dilapidated building that's connected to the roof of the Cathedral Ward's main church, where Vicar Amelia was. Despite this, the area is absolutely ''draped'' in a thick fog, and the place is completely abandoned. The inside of the main building is severely dark, and only gets darker when a bunch of Wolf Beasts crash through the ceiling and knock down the chandelier, which was basically the only thing giving off any light. The place is also crawling with Brainsuckers, which really makes things even more tense. This is also not mentioning the Celestial Larvae all over the area, which implies that this was a site of mass human experimentation. What exactly is happening here is left up to interpretation, but it's undeniable that this is probably the scariest location in the entire game.
** For most of the game, you don't know the status of the Choir. Since some of their agents are still wandering around, you may have assumed that they're still operating. The remnants of the Upper Cathedral Ward puts death to those thoughts. The Choir has been completely wiped out, both by the scourge and by their own quest for ascendance. The only living things left in the Orphanage are Scourge Beasts and Brainsuckers, who are all almost certainly the transformed survivors of whatever massacre took place. While they truly did [[AssholeVictim deserve]] that fate, there's something quite disturbing about the knowledge that the Healing Church, which controls Yharnam, is essentially done. Even their most elite members couldn't survive the night.

* Cainhurst Castle, all the way. It may be hard to believe that things only get worse after the opening where you're chased indoors by a horde of ''[[BodyHorror humans swollen like ticks]]''. Then there's the surprise ghosts, the surprise gargoyles, the disfigured cleaning staff trying to kill you (which are indistinguishable from the harmless cleaning staff, leading to yet more surprises...), and the constant, unending statues. Somehow, the ever-present legacy of the Vilebloods is worse than any of this.

*** What does said creature do once it is revealed to the player? Crawl out of its mother's corpse, stand up in the rain, look into the sun, [[LastOfHisKind and begin to sob.]] Is it crying because it is the last of its kind, or because, as a hybrid, it doesn't truly belong anywhere?

** This level is comprised of the site of an atrocity so stomach churning, that it damned every Hunter to the Nightmare forever. Gehrman and Maria, under orders from Master Willem led an unknowable number of Hunters and Scholars to the hamlet to investigate Mother Kos. Somehow this investigation turned into a full-blown orgy of violence, human experimentation and death as the Hunters razed the town, murdered it's inhabitants and strung up their bodies. Before apparently killing Kos and her child and bringing back whatever they could find.
** Said final area contains possibly the most horrific thing to exist in Bloodborne, and perhaps in the whole of the CosmicHorrorStory type of story: A fully grown HalfHumanHybrid child of Kos, coming out of her dessicated corpse. This thing reveals two of the most shocking reveals in the game: one, that Kos was a ''real, flesh and blood creature''; no one could interact with her because she is a sea creature, and more importantly, long dead. Two, that, against all odds, Kos actually ''[[TheBadGuyWins suceeds in creating an heir]]''.
** Said thing, the Orphan of Kos is one of the most horrific things in the entire game. It is a huge humanoid creature, almost skeletal-like, that shrieks and hollers as it attempts to cut you down with its own placenta covered in eyes, and containing a sharp blade. While that doesn't sound too bad, it doesn't take long to realize what this thing is supposed to be. The Orphan of Kos is a pale imitation of '''the Hunters''' -- an extending, transforming weapon, agile movements, ranged shotgun like attacks, and brutal swings. Hell, the organ even ''looks'' like the sawcleaver. Kos's greatest creation, her goal all along, was to create a beast powerful enough to cut down those who hunted her own kind. If that isn't chilling and tearjerking, I don't know what is.

* Surprised nobody has brought up the Orphanage, the name of the location is haunting enough but the fact that the larvae are lining the area squirming about and won't attack unless antagonized. The major question is what happened to all the children that the Healing Church kept here, or was it only a horrible place used to house the Great One's larvae away from prying eyes.

* One other piece of horror: in the research hall, there's a garden being cared for by a group of patients, the garden that most likely will become the source of the Emissaries that you face in the main game. The real horror is that, when you go into the garden, the patients there begin attacking... with spells out of Dark Souls. That's right, it is possible that the Soul Arts are present in the world of Bloodborne. Is this because the things done to the patients have allowed them to see into other universes, granting them that power? Or is it because the world of ''Bloodborne'' and the world of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' are one and the same?

%%* Surprised nobody has brought up the Orphanage, the name of the location is haunting enough but the fact that the larvae are lining the area squirming about and won't attack unless antagonized. The major question is what happened to all the children that the Healing Church kept here, or was it only a horrible place used to house the Great One's larvae away from prying eyes.
%%** Or worse if you believe in the Healing Church splitting and the Choir having its own goals, it was a place to keep the children of Yharnam in safety so isolated from the rest of the city. Then the Choir occupied it and created the Altar of Despair, bringing Ebrietas' attention, which could have corrupted not only all the living children but all their caretakers as well. Hence, all the Celestial mMobs walking around the place.
%%*** The last one is the more crestfallen interpretation, if it was just a housing place for the larvae is one thing. But forcing all the helpless unwanted children of Yharnam to turn into monsters is another.

** That's because [[https://bloodborne.fandom.com/wiki/Cramped_Casket "something"]] ''can'' come out, at least in Yahar'Gul and certain Chalice dungeons. Said something is [[BodyOfBodies a family's worth of plague-infected corpses all mooshed together from being stuffed into the same coffin and rotting together in the dark.]]

* Even before entering Old Yharnam, you are greeted by a foreboding sign warning hunters to stay away. Of course the protagonist, and player, ignore this and press onward, eager to hunt more beasts and discover more secrets. Upon entering the charred ruins, however, you are greeted by the distant and booming voice of an unseen hunter named Djura who again warns the protagonist to leave "Or the hunter will face the hunt." Compared to other eldritch or environmental horrors in the game it's not much, but the surprise and ferocity of his voice alone are enough to give first timers a good spook. And that's before he even whips out his gatling gun.

* The approach to Cainhurst Castle takes the gothic horror element up to eleven while mixing in a healthy dose of MindScrew. You access it via riding in a mysterious, seemingly driverless coach (Dracula, anyone?) while someone apparently watches you from the bushes. At last you approach the huge, decrepit, snow-covered castle…and of course, the gates open of their own accord. All this is unsettling, but the horror doesn't set in until you look behind you and see the coach horses, dead. Not just dead, but ''half-rotted and completely frozen over''. Not to mention a gigantic, impassable gap in the bridge…''how'' exactly did you get here again?

** As if their physical attributes weren’t bad enough, these things also have the ability to [[DemonicSpiders FRENZY THE PLAYER JUST BY LOOKING AT THEM]] - so that means if you don’t have a very significant number of Sedatives and Blood Vials ready before facing them, and/or you go into the fight without any plan, ''you’re fucked''.

** The alternative? Send her to Oedon chapel. But she won't make it. That little girl will creep through the streets and the aquaducts, narrowly avoiding beasts, drowned corpses, mutant crows, and come oh so close to reaching the Tomb of Oedon and salvation... only to come face to face with the giant pig blocking the way. Killing the pig will yield a bloodstained ribbon, the only thing left of her.
** Think the game couldn't top itself after that? [[FromBadToWorse Wrong.]] If you come back to the house after the blood moon has appeared, you meet the sister of the girl, asking you if you've seen her sister. Now you've got the choice of either lie and let her in the dark, or give her the bloodstained ribbon and watch as she [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Goes Mad from the Revelation]]. Think that's depressing enough ? Come back later. Look at the bottom of the nearby ladder and watch the game throwing the [[NothingIsScarier nothing is scarier]] approach out of the window. '''[[DaylightHorror With the girl.]]''' It's almost like the game is telling you "Yeah, you really should stop expecting something like a [[FetchQuest fetch quest]] to end well in this town."
* Words almost fail to describe ''The One Reborn''. A hideous amalgamation of flesh, limbs, bones and innards, it looks like an insane god's attempt to create life. This notion is reinforced in its introduction, where it oozes out of a blood-red moon like a grotesque, aborted fetus falling from a womb.

*** It is implied that the One Reborn is the final results of the School of Mensis' experiment with creating a vessel for a Great One in their image. It isn't an eldritch abomination or yet another horror spawned by the plague of beasts; [[CreatingLifeIsBad a pack of sick human fools envisioned it, yearned for it to exist, and made it so]]. [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Mankind alone bears the guilt of this travesty]].

** It's more than just the Alcohol. The prostitute you meet in the game implies that she sells her own blood instead of sex. Yharnam was royally screwed up long before the plague hit.
** This fixation on blood also explains why the town was hit so hard by the plague: One person gets sick, and people drink that person's blood before anyone catches on. Suddenly, all of those people are infected. If those people sell their blood, and the people who drink that blood sell their blood to someone else... well, long story short, the illness would have spread like a wildfire in a forest in the middle of high summer ''which had just been soaked with gasoline, napalm, and jet fuel.'' It's no wonder 99% of the population is infected. What is amazing is that there is ''anyone'' left who ''isn't infected.''

** But it's very likely that your first visit to the city will be in the Hypogean Gaol, a jail beneath Yahar'Gul, before the events turn cosmic horror. After killing the Blood-starved Beast in Old Yharnam, Kidnappers will start to appear behind the Oedon Chapel. Should you get killed by one of them, [[FissionMailed you'll wake up in the Gaol instead of the Hunter's Dream]]. A faint chant can be heard there; a chant that is so dissonant and sinister it might just be the creepiest and most unsettling piece of music in video game history ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuHzagjqOLU judge for yourself]]). And then you realize the chant is ''[[DiegeticMusic diegetic]]'' - somewhere, someone, or rather a large group of someones, in-game, are generating that constant chant. They stop chanting once you defeat Rom and gain full access to Yahar'Gul, and [[NothingIsScarier they're never seen or mentioned]].
** As you make your way through Yahar'Gul, you find an excessive number of bizarre statues. It’s a trivial detail at first. This is Yharnam after all, and Yahar'Gul in particular; it would be weird if a statue ''wasn't'' strange or sinister. Yet there is something… off about these sculptures. They’re clustered in nonsensical areas, in the streets, sometimes even blocking doorways. Dozens are inside already cramped rooms, and all of them are depicting horrified, panicked people either cowering or attempting to flee from something. Eventually, it dawns on you that these may not be statues after all. ''They're corpses''.

*** Some of those statues happen to resemble the messengers that inhabit the hunter's dream and chalice dungeons.
** The Yahar'gul set says that they had their own hunters. But did they hunt the beasts, or men? It was definitely men.
** The most horrifying aspect? The church knew about this, knew about the corpse statues, the horrors, the monsters, all of it. And what did they do? Put up signs to warn people? Spread the word that bad things were here and they should keep away? No. They built a city around it, and started worshiping the Great Ones, while keeping the true nature of their so-called gods hidden. How many people sickened, and became monsters, begging for help from a god that was real, but was a nightmarish abomination who was responsible for their being sick in the first place?

%%* Surprised nobody has brought up the Orphanage, the name of the location is haunting enough but the fact that the larvae are lining the area squirming about and won't attack unless antagonized. The major question is what happened to all the children that the healing church kept here, or was it only a horrible place used to house the great one's larvae away from prying eyes.
%%** Or worse if you believe in the Healing Church splitting and the Choir having its own goals, it was a place to keep the children of Yharnam in safety so isolated from the rest of the city. Than the choir occupied it and created the Altar of Despair bringing Ebrietas attention, which could have corrupted not only all the living children but all their caretakers as well. Hence all the celestial mobs walking around the place.

** Perhaps the scariest bit is this: when Rom is defeated, and you can see the Amygdalas, you'll see one is crouching right on top of the healing church where you'd likely directed all of those innocent people just looking for someplace safe. No wonder they're going crazy: They've got their world's version of Cthulhu squatting right over them!

* Cainhurst Castle, all the way. It may be hard to believe that things only get worse after the opening where you're chased indoors by a horde of ''[[BodyHorror humans swollen like ticks]]''. Then there's the surprise ghosts, the surprise gargoyles, the disfigured cleaning staff trying to kill you (which are indistinguishable from the harmless cleaning staff, leading to yet more surprises...) and the constant, unending statues. Somehow, the ever-present legacy of the vilebloods is worse than any of this.

* In the first part of the Hunter's Nightmare, you need to wade through a river of blood, fed by mounds of skeletal corpses. Initially, [[DreamLand the fact that you are in a dream may lessen the terror]]. They aren't ''real'' remains; just another gross detail in an already horrible nightmare. But then one of them moves. [[ItCanThink And another one talks]]. The last one even knows Ludwig by name. [[FridgeHorror Theses bodies weren't conjured up by the nightmare]]; they're hunters who have been beaten down and mutilated by countless years in the nightmare... or have simply become so jaded by the countless, pointless years of captivity that they no longer care what happens to them.
* After finally pounding your way past the boss who waits at the end of the blood river, you climb the steps to a cell block. You find a hunter bashing his skull against a wall, a horned man ringing a silent bell, and a giant female hunter who died praying in the corner. Climb more stairs, and an operating hall set in the cathedral awaits. Ride the elevator shrine up by inserting an eye-shaped amulet into the open skull of the patient. And then you arrive at the Research Hall, where the Healing Church experimented with blood on the innocent and those they declared heretics. It is both a labratory of eldritch science and a mental asylum. You stand in the birthplace of the nightmare that Yharnam is trapped in.

** Said thing, the Orphan of Kos is one of the most horrific things in the entire game. It is a huge humanoid creature, almost skeletal-like, that shrieks and hollers as it attempts to cut you down with its own placenta covered in eyes, and containing a sharp blade. While that doesn't sound too bad, it doesn't take long to realize what this thing is supposed to be. The Orphan of Kos is a pale imitation of '''the hunters'''- an extending, transforming weapon, agile movements, ranged shotgun like attacks, and brutal swings. Hell, the organ even ''looks'' like the sawcleaver. Kos's greatest creation, her goal all along, was to create a beast powerful enough to cut down those who hunted her own kind. If that isn't chilling and tearjerking, I don't know what is.

* One other piece of horror: in the research hall, there's a garden being cared for by a group of patients, the garden that most likely will become the source of the Emissaries that you face in the main game. The real horror is that, when you go into the garden, the patients there begin attacking... with spells out of Dark Souls. That's right, it is possible that the Soul Arts are present in the world of Bloodborne. Is this because the things done to the patients have allowed them to see into other universes, granting them that power? Or is it because the world of Bloodborne and the world of VideoGame/DarkSouls are one and the same?

*** While on the topic of infectious disease, you'll spend a lot of time in some truly foul locations, all while getting cut and injured on a regular bases. For example, if you are struck while in the sewers and roll away to gain some room, you've effectively ''submerged an open wound in raw sewage''.
*** Forget about healing with blood vials. Ever wonder how the hunter can heal by attacking right after they're wounded? They're ''having the blood of their victims splash on their open wounds''. Barely any of the enemies you fight are even human anymore, and you've been bathing in their blood throughout the entire game.
* The question of just what the witches were actually after, given that they appear to have been accepted by the hunters and church, they are protective of the One Reborn and are likely connected to it's creation, can be found near the baby old ones implying that they were either aware or involved with their creation as well as the creation of Mergo, and the only way to Cainhurst is in their main area implying a connection with the vampires as well.
* The more you speak with Alfred, the better you are able to glimpse a more sinister side of the otherwise friendly Hunter, and it all comes to a head at the culmination of his quest. If you give Alfred the Cainhurst invitation, he'll take the opportunity to turn Queen Annalise into ground beef to properly canonize Logarius as a martyr. While this is already horrific on its own (and admittedly standard fare for Bloodborne), seeing him stand triumphantly over her remains, ''completely'' covered in blood and sinew and raving madly all the while, is a far, ''far'' cry from the kind, helpful Alfred you first met in the Cathedral Ward. Arguably, the fact that he shares Solaire of Astora's voice actor makes hearing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8TfajpbtvM the following dialogue]] even more disturbing.

** But it's very likely that your first visit to the city will be in the Hypogean Gaol, before the events turn cosmic horror. After killing the Blood-starved Beast in Old Yharnam, Kidnappers will start to appear behind the Oedon Chapel. Should you get killed by one of them, [[FissionMailed you'll wake up in the Gaol instead of the Hunter's Dream]]. A faint chant can be heard there; a chant that is so dissonant and sinister it might just be the creepiest piece of music in video game history ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuHzagjqOLU judge for yourself]]). And then you realize the chant is ''[[DiegeticMusic diegetic]]'' - somewhere, someone, or rather a large group of someones, in-game, are generating that constant chant. [[NothingIsScarier They're never seen or mentioned]].

** But it's very likely that your first visit to the city will be in the Hypogean Gaol, before the events turn cosmic horror. After killing the Blood-starved Beast in Old Yharnam, Kidnappers will start to appear behind the Oedon Chapel. Should you get killed by one of them, [[FissionMailed you'll wake up in the Gaol instead of the Hunter's Dream]]. A faint chant can be heard there; a chant that is so dissonant and sinister it might just be the creepiest piece of music in video game history ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuHzagjqOLU judge for yourself]]). And then you realize the chant may be ''[[DiegeticMusic diegetic]]'' - somewhere, someone, or rather a large group of someones, in-game, are generating that constant chant. [[NothingIsScarier You'll never see them]].

** It’s unsettling enough that a massive city has existed within Yharnam without anyone ''realizing it'', but the real shock comes when you first glimpse the city... and see dozens of Eldritch Lords crawling over the cityscape like maggots on a corpse. That's the moment where you realize the game has been influenced by H.P. Lovecraft the entire time, and that you're stuck in a cosmic horror story. [[FromBadToWorse It all goes downhill from there.]]

* The Hypogean Gaol, for one very simple reason: there's music here... or something like it. For a series that normally only only has music for boss battles or safe zones, the sudden change is jarring, especially when you realize that what you're hearing may not be music, but chanting: somewhere, someone, or rather a large group of someones, in-game, are generating that constant chant.

*** What does said creature do once it is revealed to the player? Crawl out of its mother's corpse, stand up in the rain, look into the sun, [[LastOfHisKind and begin to sob.]] Is it crying because it is the last of its kind, or because, as a hybrid, it doesn't truly belong anywhere?]

* We finally get an answer to Micolash's question "Kos, some say Kosm, can you hear our prayers? No, she can't, she's dead. And has been for a while. So all those profane rites you performed, trying to gain its attention? They were for nothing.

* The more you speak with Alfred, the better you are able to glimpse a more sinister side of the otherwise friendly Hunter, and it all comes to a head at the culmination of his quest. If you give Alfred the Cainhurst invitation, he'll take the opportunity to turn Queen Annalise into ground beef to properly canonize Logarius as a martyr. While this is already horrific on its own (and admittedly standard fare for Bloodborne), seeing him stand triumphantly over her remains, ''completely'' covered in blood and sinew and raving madly all the while, is a far, ''far'' cry from the kind, helpful Alfred you first met in the Cathedral Ward. Arguably, the fact that he shares Solaire of Astora's voice actor makes hearing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8TfajpbtvM the following dialogue]] even more disturbing.

* You know that a game isn’t messing around when it hits you with nightmare fuel right out of the gate. Less than thirty seconds after you finish the character creation, you awaken to find a skinless, ''nasty'' looking werewolf creeping towards you, emerging from a massive pool of blood… all while you are immobilized and utterly helpless. [[NothingIsScarier The game never explains where all the gore came from]], but as the beast slowly reaches towards your face in a leisurely fashion, you can tell that it intends to [[ToThePain take its sweet time]] in dealing with you... and what might make it worse that the gesture it makes with its claw isn't reaching out to grab you, it's ''beckoning'' you.

* You know that a game isn’t messing around when it hits you with nightmare fuel right out of the gate. Less than thirty seconds after you finish the character creation, you awaken to find a skinless, ''nasty'' looking werewolf creeping towards you, emerging from a massive pool of blood… all while you are immobilized and utterly helpless. [[NothingIsScarier The game never explains where all the gore came from]], but as the beast slowly reaches towards your face in a leisurely fashion, you can tell that it intends to [[ToThePain take its sweet time]] in dealing with you.

* It’s a great testament to ''From Software’s'' atmospheric and storytelling abilities that no matter how desperate, dire, and bleak the situation is, [[HolyShitQuotient it can always become much, much worse]]. Case in point; Yahar'Gul. ''Dear lord'', Yahar'Gul.