History NightmareFuel / Fallout4

** The soldiers, having to control entry to the vault, never have an opportunity to seek shelter themselves, for that matter. When you reach the surface, you can find skeletons in military fatigues still littering the area 200 years later. It's likely the only survivors from the squad were the two men in power armor.

** Listen very carefully when you turn the mobile for Baby Shaun in the intro, and you might hear something that sounds like a low, rumbling/whooshing sound coming from outside. It could simply be an Autumn wind breezing by...except the trees outside aren't moving. It's very likely to be something much, much worse: The sounds of the first nuclear weapons detonating on American soil. This means that while for you the day is still normal, at least for the next few seconds while you play with your child and converse with your spouse, for others hundreds of miles away in the larger cities, the end of the world has already come.
* The introduction itself is raw, unadulterated nightmare fuel for gamers old enough to remember the Cold War, considering total nuclear annihilation was a very real, very present threat that existed on a day-by-day basis at some points.

** To put it into perspective: It's late October, you're talking with your spouse, possibly about going to park, maybe preparing for Halloween...and then you turn to the TV and see the news on. The anchor looks nervous..no, ''frightened.'' And then he says those words that cause your heart to drop into your stomach: "Nuclear Detonations." For the next few moments you don't hear anything else he says, instead just hoping, ''praying'' that music will play and the anchor will admit that it's all just a joke, a cruel prank pulled by the news station. But then outside, the sirens go off. It's really happening.
* Seeing the group of civilians at the entrance being refused entry from the vault by a group of power-armor wearing soldiers. Even the Vault-tec representative who reserved your place in the vault is refused entry. It takes a soldier revving up his minigun on him to make him stop begging.

** There's a random encounter of a wandering group of ghouls with the names of your neighbors that werent admitted to the Vault, meaning that they survived only to succumb to radiation poisoning.

** The ordeal of the Sole Survivor is almost mindboggingly terrifying to imagine, especially if you play a female Survivor, as atleast the male has his military training to draw on, even if it couldn't possibly have prepared him for this. From their point-of-view, less than an hour ago, they were living the American Dream, only to witness TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, seemingly find shelter inside the Vault with their family, only to be forced to watch helplessly as their spouse is murdered and son kidnapped. When they're finally freed from their capsule, they find that not only are all their former neighbors dead in their icy coffins, the entire Vault is abandoned with the staff long dead. Using the still-working terminals, they can discover that not only have the staff killed each other in a mutiny, the Vault was a ''trap'' the entire time to provide Vault-Tec with test subjects. When they finally find their way out of the Vault, they're met with a grim, scorched caricature of the world that was, and finally discover that in the blink of an eye, two centuries have passed since that morning.

* Just to the west of Diamond City, there's a lovely place called Fens Sewers. Descend into it, and you'll be treated to skeletons mounted and posed like "art" -- the bonier version of Pickman Gallery -- and an ominous hissing as though the tunnels are slowly filling with gas. Oh, and you'll find holotapes left behind by the mysterious Fens Phantom, detailing his obsession with a detective, and his encouragement for the detective to come visit him. What makes it worse, in a way, is that the killer [[NothingIsScarier never shows up]]. So your mind is left to speculate... Was the killer one of the feral ghouls you kill down there, possibly even the Glowing One at the end? Was the detective one of the posed skeletons? Or perhaps were the killer and detective [[FoeYay those two skeletons on the mattress]] in the alcove, the ones lying next to the machete?

*** The Mr. Handies in the island's Oceanological Center reveal that the percentage of oceanic life in Earth has increased from 70% to ''97%'' after updating their database. This means that even after 210 years of recovery, the amount of life in the planet's landmasses is still a tenth of what it used to be.

*** The Mr. Handies in the island's Oceanological Center reveal that the percentage of oceanic life in Earth has increased from 70% to ''97%'' after updating their information. This means that even after 210 years of recovery, the amount of life in the planet's landmasses is still a tenth of what it used to be.

* Ever played VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas on Hardcore Mode at the highest difficulty (including DLC)? How the game increases the realism factor with aspects such as the addition of a food/water/sleep meter, permanent companions' death, and ammo having weight? We ask this because Fallout 4's Survival Mode makes playing the former look like child's play and arguably better simulates what it would realistically be like surviving the Wasteland and how bleak and terrifying it can be traversing a world where one wrong move can either quickly or gradually kill you if you don't prepare yourself accordingly. Even with some usually armor, there will be points where even a low-level Raider can kill you quickly with just a few bullets if you're guard is down. Think you can conserve ammo by meleeing a group of [[TheGoomba Radroachs and Mole Rats?]] maybe if you like the risk of getting sick from diseases that can drastically hurt your stats or even kill you if you don't treat it soon. You in a situation where you're very hungry or thirsty can the only food you have is uncooked meat or dirty water? and you're miles away from a cooking station? There's no fast traveling in Survival Mode, so you have to gauge the risk of eating and drinking your unprepared supplies or risk getting closer to starvation, dehydration, or getting killed by a random enemy on your way to a cooking station. Oh, and forget about SaveScumming, in Survival Mode you only save by going to bed, so death can set you back greatly if you're too reckless and aren't constantly keeping an eye out for beds you can use. Survival Mode, all in all, is the epitome of EarlyGameHell.

** Another incredibly chilling one is from a train car south of Oberland Station. You hear this pre-recorded message from a panicking mother who took shelter in an overturned train car after being chased by ''[[NothingIsScarier something]]''. The mother pleads for help for her son because he's injured, and then the creature manages to [[OhCrap open the door]] and she shrieks in pure terror for her boy to make a run for it. When you open up the train carriage you see a skeleton and a train car full of blood, and [[UncertainDoom no sign of Thomas]]. The voice actress really nailed the terror of a [[AdultFear parent who's child is in danger]]. Just listen to it [[https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Distress_signal_(Relay_tower_1DL-109) here]].

* The Whispering Hills mod allows players to go toe to toe with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRceP4C5tJg&t=1s Pyramid Head]] of [[Franchise/SilentHill Silent Hill Fame]] While it's not lore-friendly to either Fallout or Silent Hill, and Pyramid Head himself can still be defeated. It still captures the atmosphere of his presence in [[Videogame/SilentHill2 Silent Hill 2]] and his further appearances.

* The Whispering Hills mod allows players to go toe to toe with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRceP4C5tJg&t=1s Pyramid Head]] of [[Franchise/SilentHill Silent Hill Fame]] While it's not lore-friendly to either fallout or silent hill, and pyramid head himself can still be defeated. It still captures the atmosphere of his presence in Silent Hill 2 and his further appearances.

** Bring along a scoped weapon, and just before you enter the house, you can see her watching you through the attic window. Nope, [[SarcasmMode that's not creepy at all.]]

* ''Children of Ug-Qualtoth'' starts out similar to the Dunwich Borers location in the main game, but quickly evolves into a terrifying [[LovecraftLite Lovecraftian]] experience.

* Since the Main Game is set in Massachusetts and the horror from Fallout 4 and [[VideoGame/Fallout3]] are references/based on [[Creator/HPLovecraft]], and Far Harbor is set in Maine, home to the one and only Stephen King, how about horrors like that out of a Stephen King novel anybody?

* Remember the Children of Atom from ''VideoGame/Fallout3''? [[CloudCuckoolander Cult of nutty albeit harmless loons worshiping the bomb]] in Megaton? They're back. And they've gone from silly good-natured loons to [[FromNobodyToNightmare dogmatic maniacs]] [[BewareTheSillyOnes who kill non-members indiscriminately]] using [[MaximumHPReduction Radiation-based weaponry]], while worshipping Glowing One feral ghouls. This sudden change makes you wonder [[FridgeHorror what in the hell happened to have turned changed them from a harmless cult of weirdos to a malignant tumor of the Commonwealth]]?! The most prevailing theory is that the Brotherhood of Steel had some form of confrontation with them in the Capital Wasteland due to the Children of the Atom possessing an Atom Bomb in Megaton. In addition, they have a camp ''smack in the middle of the crater from the Boston nuke'' where the radiation is extremely heavy. It gets worse if you further explore the [[BleakLevel Glowing Sea]]. And uncover the Sentinel Site. It's a nuclear launch site. And by the time you enter, [[OhCrap it's already active and in a launch sequence awaiting the green light to launch a bomb somewhere]]. But what you discover inside are a few corpses of the [[ReligionOfEvil Children of Atom]] along with feral ghouls and maybe some mole rats. It doesn't take much to realize that the Children of Atom were about to launch a bomb, most likely to either create more radiation hotspots for their crazy cult, or to annihilate anyone and everyone whom they see as a heretic. Good thing you stop it for good.

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** As added nightmare fuel, check your map when you’re in this location — your eyes are not deceiving you. You are ‘’not’’ even in the Commonwealth anymore. You’re in this... room floating out in some ethereal void far removed from the game’s world. You may as well be in an entirely different dimension all together.

* The Fiddler's Green Trailer Estates is pretty bad by itself with Feral Ghouls everywhere, including a Glowing One. As you explore the place you might find some holotapes, they're a story for children called ''The New Squirrel'' and told in a friendly tone by a person called Story Time Simon. It beings with a young squirrel named Ricky, a brown squirrel, who wonders what squirrels live in other trees. The elders tell him "squirrels in other trees were thieves and liars, and they were never to be trusted." but Ricky didn't believe them. He meets one, a red squirrel, who needs help. Everyone turns him away but Ricky saying "How could you turn him away, just because he's from another tree? He needs our help!", which changes their minds. The red squirrel thanks Ricky and tells him he won't regret it. The final holotapes ends with all of the squirrels going to sleep but in the night Ricky is woken up by leaves rustling outside. He checks and sees cats surrounding the tree with the red squirrel in another tree who says "I'm sorry," he said, "they were following me and I couldn't bring them to my tree, they would have eaten my family." As the cats ascended the tree and began to devour Ricky's friends and family, Ricky reflected on his decisions. His last words were, "I really wish I would have trusted my elders." The end. Story Time Simon says all of this in a fun friendly tone reminiscent of '' Mr. Rogers'', which you won't expect when you listen to the last holotape. Hearing an aesop from 2077 America for children with its subtle anti-Chinese ('Red' squirrel) and 'obey those above you' message is chilling.

* Assaultron Dominators. Here we have a humanoid robot that's just as fast as you are, is extremely powerful in melee combat to the point of ''one-shotting you'' if it gets too close, can turn invisible and fires a beam that turns the sole survivor to a pile of ash in 1-2 seconds. Cut its legs off? It ''crawls'' after you like a frigging Film/{{Terminator}} and can still fire it's beam. In short, it's a ridiculously powerful {{Determinator}} capable of jumpscaring you.