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Removing Troper Tales
Deleted line(s) 23 (click to see context) :
** Eh, [[YourMileageMayVary my mileage varied.]] Being a NightmareFetishist and a fellow GLaDOS fan, I think it would be cool to meet her or someone like her in real life!
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** Eh, [[YourMileageMayVary my mileage varied.]] Being a NightmareFetishist and a fellow GLaDOS fan, I think it would be cool to meet her or someone like her in real life!
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Changed line(s) 76 (click to see context) from:
***** This is made EVEN worse when one realizes that not only are the Cave Johnson lines not there, but that the reason for this is that J.K. Simmons, who once played a Nazi rapist, REFUSED to record the lines for that scene, saying they were too disturbing. Just food for thought.
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***** This is made EVEN worse when one realizes that not only are the Cave Johnson lines not there, but that the reason for this is that J.K. Simmons, who once played a Nazi Neo-Nazi rapist, REFUSED to record the lines for that scene, saying they were too disturbing. Just food for thought.
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***** This is made EVEN worse when one realizes that not only are the Cave Johnson lines not there, but that the reason for this is that J.K. Simmons, who once played a Nazi rapist, REFUSED to record the lines for that scene, saying they were too disturbing. Just food for thought.
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Changed line(s) 18 (click to see context) from:
** The ending theme, "Still Alive", manages to be both cutesy and very disturbing. [[VGCats Someone]] made [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/413839 a video]]. [[http://www.lyricspy.com/j/Jonathan_Coulton/lyrics/Still_Alive/ Lyrics here.]] "We do what we must - because we can. For the good of all of us. Except the ones who are dead..." Yeah...
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*** "And believe me I am '''''[[OhCrap still alive]]'''''".
** The recent update for Portal. Nothing but cryptic messages and content added into the game, including incredibly creepy sounding noises in the data files (which are bad enough until you notice [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt3uog2tKAQ "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"]]) which, when converted into images show some very ominous scenes...
** A humorous and mildly creepy BlackComedy suddenly becomes mindbendingly creepy when it's revealed to be happening in the same continuity as ''HalfLife''. This game becomes much more uncomfortable to laugh at when you realize that, in the context of its universe, it's ''dead fucking serious'' -- as amusing as [=GLaDOS=] is, imagine meeting her or someone like her in real life. Not quite so funny now, is it.
*** THAT WOULD BE SO COOL MEETING SOMEONE LIKE HER OR HER HERSELF IN REAL LIFE!!!! (Sorry... I'm a NightmareFetishist)
** The glowing red fade-offs behind things such as fans, vents, pipes, and shafts. The sharp contrast of glowy red against dead, dark colors gives a feeling of being in the belly of the beast (which, you kind of are). The glowing red especially makes you feel like, even though you escaped the incinerator, it's still somewhere just around the corner. And maybe others have died there before you. Try looking at the first set of glowing red vents just past the incinerator and thinking about that.
** The recent update for Portal. Nothing but cryptic messages and content added into the game, including incredibly creepy sounding noises in the data files (which are bad enough until you notice [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt3uog2tKAQ "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"]]) which, when converted into images show some very ominous scenes...
** A humorous and mildly creepy BlackComedy suddenly becomes mindbendingly creepy when it's revealed to be happening in the same continuity as ''HalfLife''. This game becomes much more uncomfortable to laugh at when you realize that, in the context of its universe, it's ''dead fucking serious'' -- as amusing as [=GLaDOS=] is, imagine meeting her or someone like her in real life. Not quite so funny now, is it.
*** THAT WOULD BE SO COOL MEETING SOMEONE LIKE HER OR HER HERSELF IN REAL LIFE!!!! (Sorry... I'm a NightmareFetishist)
** The glowing red fade-offs behind things such as fans, vents, pipes, and shafts. The sharp contrast of glowy red against dead, dark colors gives a feeling of being in the belly of the beast (which, you kind of are). The glowing red especially makes you feel like, even though you escaped the incinerator, it's still somewhere just around the corner. And maybe others have died there before you. Try looking at the first set of glowing red vents just past the incinerator and thinking about that.
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**
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*** THAT WOULD BE SO COOL MEETING SOMEONE LIKE HER OR HER HERSELF IN REAL LIFE!!!! (Sorry... I'm a NightmareFetishist)
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If it\'s wrong, fix it.
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* One of the first things GLaDOS tells you upon being woken up is that she has a feature she never knew about until you killed her: A black box. For however long you've been away- a conservative estimate is 200 years- she has been forced to relive the last fifteen minutes of her runtime, over and over again. That is, you killing her. Over and over again. You were the last thing she saw as she was violently ripped apart, and you were the first thing she saw after the endlessly repeating fifteen minute experience of it ended. How much does GLaDOS hate you? [[IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream A phrase involving the words "nano-angstrom" and "hate" come to mind]].
** Worse. The black box actually records the last 2 minutes of her life, not 15. Meaning that she would have had to sit through over 7 times as many repetitions.
** Worse. The black box actually records the last 2 minutes of her life, not 15. Meaning that she would have had to sit through over 7 times as many repetitions.
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* One of the first things GLaDOS tells you upon being woken up is that she has a feature she never knew about until you killed her: A black box. For however long you've been away- a conservative estimate is 200 years- she has been forced to relive the last fifteen two minutes of her runtime, over and over again. That is, you killing her. Over and over again. You were the last thing she saw as she was violently ripped apart, and you were the first thing she saw after the endlessly repeating fifteen minute experience of it ended. How much does GLaDOS hate you? [[IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream A phrase involving the words "nano-angstrom" and "hate" come to mind]].
**Worse. The black box actually records the last 2 minutes of her life, not 15. Meaning only real consolation is that [=GLaDOS=] is [[UnreliableNarrator a pathological liar]], so she would ''may'' have had to sit through over 7 times as many repetitions. made it up.
**
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Changed line(s) 144 (click to see context) from:
** The way the setient cloud kills people - he will leech off your skin
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** The way the setient sentient cloud kills people - he will leech off leeches your skinskin off.
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Changed line(s) 144 (click to see context) from:
** The way the setient cloud kills people - he will leech another your skin
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** The way the setient cloud kills people - he will leech another off your skin
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* Those thousands of test subjects [=GLaDOS=] finds at the end of the co-op campaign? [[spoiler: She kills them all in one week]].
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Turret eyes don\'t contract/dilate, but they do blink.
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** [[spoiler: Sounds they make are one thing, the other... Ever seen how pupils of a human or animal eye dilate in response to fear or pain? Now look a hybrid turret-cube in the eyes, notice how their normally wide red iris is barely visible and try to imagine their torment and panic. Oh, and they are quavering. [[AndIMustScream And while normally talkative, they cannot even scream out in pain now.]] Thanks for little details, Valve. Thanks for ALWAYS turning any turret-cube to face you eye-to-eye, Chell.]]
*** Erm... not quite. [[spoiler: firstly, try looking at them when you aren't holding them, their eyes look perfectly fine. They only get scared when you grab them, because they don't know what you are doing. Like, an unvocalised version of what turrets do when you grab them. The director's commentary on the franken-turrets says as much.]]
*** Erm... not quite. [[spoiler: firstly, try looking at them when you aren't holding them, their eyes look perfectly fine. They only get scared when you grab them, because they don't know what you are doing. Like, an unvocalised version of what turrets do when you grab them. The director's commentary on the franken-turrets says as much.]]
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** [[spoiler: Sounds When you pick one of these things up, they make are one thing, the other... Ever seen how pupils of a human or animal eye dilate in response to fear or pain? Now look a hybrid turret-cube in the eyes, notice how withdraw into their normally wide red iris is barely visible cubes a bit and try to imagine their torment tremble. Their eyes blink on and panic. Oh, and they are quavering.off, too. Deliberate choice on the dev team's part, that was. [[AndIMustScream And while normally talkative, they cannot even scream out in pain now.]] Thanks for little details, Valve. Thanks for ALWAYS turning any turret-cube to face you eye-to-eye, Chell.]]
*** Erm... not quite. [[spoiler: firstly, try looking at them when you aren't holding them, their eyes look perfectly fine. They only get scared when you grab them, because they don't know what you are doing. Like, an unvocalised version of what turrets do when you grab them. The director's commentary on the franken-turrets says as much.]]
*** Erm... not quite. [[spoiler: firstly, try looking at them when you aren't holding them, their eyes look perfectly fine. They only get scared when you grab them, because they don't know what you are doing. Like, an unvocalised version of what turrets do when you grab them. The director's commentary on the franken-turrets says as much.
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** It's [[Narm]] for me. I use it when I try to find out how a game crashed.
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* Wheatley screaming "GRAB ME! GRAB ME!" before he is sucked up into space and Chel is rescued by GLaDOs.
** It comes back to haunt you when you remember that none of it's his fault. Apparently Aperature Mainframes causes all AIs to become psychopathicly dependent on testing.
** It comes back to haunt you when you remember that none of it's his fault. Apparently Aperature Mainframes causes all AIs to become psychopathicly dependent on testing.
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* Wheatley screaming "GRAB ME! GRAB ME!" before he is sucked up into space and Chel Chell is rescued by GLaDOs.
** It comes back to haunt you when you remember that none of it's his fault. ApparentlyAperature Aperture Mainframes causes all AIs to become psychopathicly dependent on testing.
** It comes back to haunt you when you remember that none of it's his fault. Apparently
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** I inverted that. I felt really relaxed in lower Aperture. This is because unlike the modern chambers where the main AI could kill you right then. Ou also have Cave Johnson's funny quotes, and even when GLaDOS gets attached to your portal gun, she is just a powerless potato.
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** So seconded. And RIGHT before Wheatley tells his story, YOU CAN HEAR TURRETS SCREAMING! [[ScareChord Have fun trying to hear it.]]
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*** [[spoiler: In my case, the latter.]]
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*** [[spoiler: In my case, I was thinking of the latter.]]
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*** [[spoiler: In my case, the latter.]]
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Changed line(s) 142 (click to see context) from:
.
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**** According to that article, the conversation was dropped when the voice actor for Cave became uncomfortable. The voice actor, who portrayed ''[[CompleteMonster Vern Schillinger]]'' in ''{{OZ}}'' was, after all that dialogue of turning people's blood into gasoline and placing explosive stamps in people's skull, got freaked out by the dialogue. [[NothingIsScarier Makes you wonder what his lines were.]]
***** WordOfGod has disputed the account in the article, and reaffirmed that as any ''OZ'' viewer knows, J.K. Simmons will act to any level of villainy if you pay him.
***** Ellen [=McLain=]'s acting in the few lines that remain would be enough to put anyone off of continuing the scene; she gives a VERY convincing impression of being in the same mental state as a rape victim. According to one article, she was crying while recording her lines for this conversation...
***** WordOfGod has disputed the account in the article, and reaffirmed that as any ''OZ'' viewer knows, J.K. Simmons will act to any level of villainy if you pay him.
***** Ellen [=McLain=]'s acting in the few lines that remain would be enough to put anyone off of continuing the scene; she gives a VERY convincing impression of being in the same mental state as a rape victim. According to one article, she was crying while recording her lines for this conversation...
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**** According to that article, the conversation was dropped when the voice actor for Cave became uncomfortable. The voice actor, who portrayed ''[[CompleteMonster Vern Schillinger]]'' in ''{{OZ}}'' was, after all that dialogue of turning people's blood into gasoline and placing explosive stamps in people's skull, got freaked out by the dialogue. [[NothingIsScarier Makes you wonder what his lines were.]]
***** WordOfGod has disputed the account in the article, and reaffirmed that as any ''OZ'' viewer knows, J.K. Simmons will act to any level of villainy if you pay him.
*****Ellen [=McLain=]'s acting in the few lines that remain would be enough to put anyone off of continuing the scene; she gives a VERY convincing impression of being in the same mental state as a rape victim. According to one article, she was crying while recording her lines for this conversation...
***** WordOfGod has disputed the account in the article, and reaffirmed that as any ''OZ'' viewer knows, J.K. Simmons will act to any level of villainy if you pay him.
*****
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** Incidentally, the mantis-Cave's voice is ''horrifying''.
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** Incidentally, the mantis-Cave's voice is ''horrifying''.''horrifying''
** The way the setient cloud kills people - he will leech another your skin
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** The way the setient cloud kills people - he will leech another your skin
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** Which would be...who? [[spoiler:Recovering addicts? Sexual abuse victims?]]
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* The alternate Aperture realities. One of them, Cave died in the mantisman breakout. Another, everyone is a giant mantis and the experiment was to creat Manmantises. Yet another, Cave and Greg are watching you. ''Always''.
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* The alternate Aperture realities. One of them, Cave died in the mantisman mantis-man breakout. Another, everyone is a giant mantis and the experiment was to creat Manmantises.create Man-mantises. Yet another, Cave and Greg are watching you. ''Always''.''Always''.
** Incidentally, the mantis-Cave's voice is ''horrifying''.
** Incidentally, the mantis-Cave's voice is ''horrifying''.
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Changed line(s) 136 (click to see context) from:
* [[YourMileageMayVary This might be a personal thing,]] but [[spoiler: Wheatley's reaction to the testing euphoria]] can be rather disconcerting and disturbing to someone with a certain background.
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* [[YourMileageMayVary This might be a personal thing,]] but [[spoiler: Wheatley's reaction to the testing euphoria]] can be rather disconcerting and disturbing to someone with a certain background.
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* The condemned Aperture Labs can scare anyone with a fear of heights, such as myself, just by existing. The place is full of catwalks that just end or with missing railings over bottomless pits. And they certainly don't ''look'' very sturdy. The possibility that at any moment the metal grid you're walking on could break away underneath you will put you on pins and needles.
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* The condemned Aperture Labs can scare anyone with a fear of heights, such as myself, heights just by existing. The place is full of catwalks that just end or with missing railings over bottomless pits. And they certainly don't ''look'' very sturdy. The possibility that at any moment the metal grid you're walking on could break away underneath you will put you on pins and needles.
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Nightmare Fuel cleanup; see the thread
for details
for detailsDeleted line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) :
(ATTN: If you were redirected here from HighOctaneNightmareFuel.Portal, this is on purpose. The mentioned page is being merged with this. Thank you.)
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*** Well, it IS Mike Patton, God of [[NightmareFuel/{{Music}} Musical Nightmare Fuel]] voicing the thing.
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*** Well, it IS Mike Patton, God of [[NightmareFuel/{{Music}} Musical Nightmare Fuel]] MikePatton voicing the thing.
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** Knowing this, the folks at Valve gave you far more time with malfunctioning turrets in Portal 2. Apparently the Aperture Science turret manufacturing line is extremely buggy, spitting out alternating good and faulty models. The solution was not to fix the line, it was to set up an automated QA/QC scanner that pitches the defective ones straight into a crusher. Nightmare Fuel comes in because the turret AIs are online before testing and selection, resulting in a series of protests and death screams from ones that are being discarded. (ColorCodedForYourConvenience too, as the good turrets are eggshell-white with kiddy voices while the defective ones are coal-black due to lacking their casing, with voices reminiscent of SteveBuscemi.) Solution to stopping the flow of good turrets? [[spoiler: Confuse the scanner, so it starts pitching the good models into the crusher and keeping the blind/lame/weaponless defective models. Good work, now you've got one line of turrets screaming in childlike voices as they fall into a giant metal shredder, and another line heading out the door with parting words like "So, we're all [[EyeScream supposed to be blind]], then? Not just me? OK..." and "So, uh, I got no bullets. Will there be bullets where I'm going?"]]
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** Knowing this, the folks at Valve gave you far more time with malfunctioning turrets in Portal 2. Apparently the Aperture Science turret manufacturing line is extremely buggy, spitting out alternating good and faulty models. The solution was not to fix the line, it was to set up an automated QA/QC scanner that pitches the defective ones straight into a crusher. Nightmare Fuel comes in because the The turret AIs are online before testing and selection, resulting in a series of protests and death screams from ones that are being discarded. (ColorCodedForYourConvenience too, as the good turrets are eggshell-white with kiddy voices while the defective ones are coal-black due to lacking their casing, with voices reminiscent of SteveBuscemi.) Solution to stopping the flow of good turrets? [[spoiler: Confuse the scanner, so it starts pitching the good models into the crusher and keeping the blind/lame/weaponless defective models. Good work, now you've got one line of turrets screaming in childlike voices as they fall into a giant metal shredder, and another line heading out the door with parting words like "So, we're all [[EyeScream supposed to be blind]], then? Not just me? OK..." and "So, uh, I got no bullets. Will there be bullets where I'm going?"]]
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--> ''[on neurotoxins]'' When I said "deadly neurotoxins", the deadly was in massive sarcasm quotes. I could take a bath in this stuff. Put in on cereal, rub it right into my eyes. Honestly, it's not deadly at all. ''[[NightmareFuel To me]]''.
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--> ''[on neurotoxins]'' When I said "deadly neurotoxins", the deadly was in massive sarcasm quotes. I could take a bath in this stuff. Put in on cereal, rub it right into my eyes. Honestly, it's not deadly at all. ''[[NightmareFuel To me]]''.''To me''.
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* Even more than [[spoiler: Still Alive]], the song [[spoiler: Want You Gone]] in Portal 2 is filled to the brim with NightmareFuel. The big prize winner has to go to "[[spoiler: She was a lot like you (maybe not quite as heavy). ''Now little Caroline is in here too.'' One day they woke me up so I could live forever. It's such a shame the same will never happen to you...]]"
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* Even more than [[spoiler: Still Alive]], the song [[spoiler: Want You Gone]] in Portal 2 is filled to the brim with NightmareFuel.horror. The big prize winner has to go to "[[spoiler: She was a lot like you (maybe not quite as heavy). ''Now little Caroline is in here too.'' One day they woke me up so I could live forever. It's such a shame the same will never happen to you...]]"
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* One of the songs on the new ''Portal 2'' soundtrack, ''Ghost of Rattmann,'' cannot be described as anything other than NightmareFuel. If [[CreepyMonotone the]] [[HellIsThatNoise music]] [[NothingIsScarier itself]] doesn't make you shit your pants, the indiscernible gibberish [[ItGotWorse (which gets louder as the song progresses)]] will. It sounds like a combination of a turret and a mentally retarded Donald Duck. Or maybe just the latter.
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* One of the songs on the new ''Portal 2'' soundtrack, ''Ghost of Rattmann,'' cannot be described as anything other than NightmareFuel.is very scary. If [[CreepyMonotone the]] [[HellIsThatNoise music]] [[NothingIsScarier itself]] doesn't make you shit your pants, the indiscernible gibberish [[ItGotWorse (which gets louder as the song progresses)]] will. It sounds like a combination of a turret and a mentally retarded Donald Duck. Or maybe just the latter.
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** If it helps at all, Chell was exposed to that stuff for, at most, only a few hours. Johnson probably spent ''years'' in contact with the moon rock gel, in addition to whatever other insane concoctions the man cooked up... I just opened up another can of NightmareFuel, didn't I?
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** If it helps at all, Chell was exposed to that stuff for, at most, only a few hours. Johnson probably spent ''years'' in contact with the moon rock gel, in addition to whatever other insane concoctions the man cooked up... I just opened up another can of NightmareFuel, didn't I?
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(ATTN: If you were redirected here from HighOctaneNightmareFuel.Portal, this is on purpose. The mentioned page is being merged with this. Thank you.)
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** Not only do the panel and any portals in the den close, the ENTIRE TEST SEEMS TO START OVER! Ratman seems to be either a poltergeist, or a panel master. You decide.
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* The alternate Aperture realities. One of them, Cave died in the mantisman breakout. Another, everyone is a giant mantis and the experiment was to creat Manmantises. Yet another, Cave and Greg are watching you. ''Always''.
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Changed line(s) 103,104 (click to see context) from:
* The Turret Disposal Area just before the neurotoxin tank, where all the rejected turrets get sent to be ground up by giant crusher wheels... [[spoiler: except, because of what you and Wheatley did, the rejected turrets are now actually the good turrets]]. The ''obvious'' terror in their otherwise-cute voices is horrifying enough. Then Wheatley tells you in the most offhanded manner possible that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman they can feel pain]]... I could barely bring myself to kill the first turret I came across after that.
* [=GLaDOS=] waking up. Despite knowing perfectly well that she would be returning in the sequel, and being nigh ''gleeful'' to see her again, I was also freaking the fuck out as I watched the empty, broken and rusted shell I had cautiously stepped over moments before start ''reassembling itself'', knowing that any second, a murderous sociopath would be in the room with me.
* [=GLaDOS=] waking up. Despite knowing perfectly well that she would be returning in the sequel, and being nigh ''gleeful'' to see her again, I was also freaking the fuck out as I watched the empty, broken and rusted shell I had cautiously stepped over moments before start ''reassembling itself'', knowing that any second, a murderous sociopath would be in the room with me.
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* The Turret Disposal Area just before the neurotoxin tank, where all the rejected turrets get sent to be ground up by giant crusher wheels... [[spoiler: except, because of what you and Wheatley did, the rejected turrets are now actually the good turrets]]. The ''obvious'' terror in their otherwise-cute voices is horrifying enough. Then Wheatley tells you in the most offhanded manner possible that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman they can feel pain]]... I could barely bring myself to kill the first turret I came across after that.
pain]]
* [=GLaDOS=] waking up.Despite knowing perfectly well that she would be returning in the sequel, and being nigh ''gleeful'' to see her again, I was also freaking the fuck out as I watched the empty, broken and rusted shell I had cautiously stepped over moments before start ''reassembling itself'', knowing that any second, a murderous sociopath would be in the room with me.
* [=GLaDOS=] waking up.
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Changed line(s) 93 (click to see context) from:
** That, and the [[spoiler:part where he's trying to kill you with the Mashy Spike Plate. His "STAY '''''STILL''''', ''PLEASE''" was the most chilling line to me; his voice is so full of rage and you can just hear him snarling it through gritted teeth.]]
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** That, and the [[spoiler:part where he's trying to kill you with the Mashy Spike Plate. His "STAY '''''STILL''''', ''PLEASE''" was the most chilling line to me; ''PLEASE''"; his voice is so full of rage and you can just hear him snarling it through gritted teeth.]]
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Despite the witty, sarcastic humor of the writing, digging beneath the surface of ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' will reveal a world of deranged insanity. Trust us, Aperture Laboratories isn't all sunshine and daisies.
----
!!''Portal 1''
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' isn't that much of a creepy game. It almost completely takes place in a series of brightly lit rooms, which are all white and very clean. There are even opaque windows to observation rooms, but you soon realize that the entire facility seems to be completely deserted, except for you and a slightly malfunctioning AI. Of course, [[ItGotWorse things get worse]]. Later on, you can climb into the machinery behind the movable walls, which I found even much more discomforting.
** To wit, despite spawning a very popular meme, the areas behind the platforms when you go off the rails and see the scribblings of subjects before you become unnerving, these people have been tested well into insanity, some of them perhaps even know that at the end, they'll just be met with an agonizing death by burning, and to top it all off, you can see exits just out of reach, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzwcJbdN8NE nightmarish music]] plays in the background.
** The first time you encounter turrets is the first time you can duck out of the testing chamber into the maintenance areas and see scrawled gibberish on the walls, along with scattered food cans, which some creepy ambient music is played. This is the point, as you hear turrets trying to kill you ask plaintively "[=ARe yOU StiLL tHEre=]?", that you know that everything has gone ''catastrophically'' '''wrong''' and you cannot escape from it.
** Admittedly, the turrets could easily be knocked over, and could be turned against each other, but if you dodged around them, they would ask "Are you still there?" in a high-pitched CreepyMonotone.
** By the way, the developer commentary states that the turrets were intended to lull you into a false sense of security.
** Try using a turret as body armor against the other turrets. It SCREAMS.
-->'''Turret''': Guys! Stop shooting! Please! Guys, it's me! Stop shoo--*static*
** Pfft, that's ''it''? ''Every single phrase in the game'' is CreepyMonotone, [[OntologicalMystery you don't know where or who you are]], and your only help is [=GLaDOS=], the bipolar, cake-obsessed MasterComputer who alternately tries to help you and tries to get you killed (and at one point claims that "killing you and giving you good advice aren't mutually exclusive"). Ironically, this is part of the appeal.
** [=GLaDOS=]'s aggression core. The snarling.
*** Well, it IS Mike Patton, God of [[NightmareFuel/{{Music}} Musical Nightmare Fuel]] voicing the thing.
* Try carrying a turret through a technology emancipation field: there's one just before each lift at the end of a level. ''They scream.''
* What's REALLY freaky was the last three levels of the game. The dim, occasionally flashy lighting, the occasional turrets, the writing on the walls... All fit very well with the games 'hilariously creepy' style.
** Knowing this, the folks at Valve gave you far more time with malfunctioning turrets in Portal 2. Apparently the Aperture Science turret manufacturing line is extremely buggy, spitting out alternating good and faulty models. The solution was not to fix the line, it was to set up an automated QA/QC scanner that pitches the defective ones straight into a crusher. Nightmare Fuel comes in because the turret AIs are online before testing and selection, resulting in a series of protests and death screams from ones that are being discarded. (ColorCodedForYourConvenience too, as the good turrets are eggshell-white with kiddy voices while the defective ones are coal-black due to lacking their casing, with voices reminiscent of SteveBuscemi.) Solution to stopping the flow of good turrets? [[spoiler: Confuse the scanner, so it starts pitching the good models into the crusher and keeping the blind/lame/weaponless defective models. Good work, now you've got one line of turrets screaming in childlike voices as they fall into a giant metal shredder, and another line heading out the door with parting words like "So, we're all [[EyeScream supposed to be blind]], then? Not just me? OK..." and "So, uh, I got no bullets. Will there be bullets where I'm going?"]]
** The ending theme, "Still Alive", manages to be both cutesy and very disturbing. [[VGCats Someone]] made [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/413839 a video]]. [[http://www.lyricspy.com/j/Jonathan_Coulton/lyrics/Still_Alive/ Lyrics here.]] "We do what we must - because we can. For the good of all of us. Except the ones who are dead..." Yeah...
*** The cheerful description of "doing science for the people who are still alive" ("[making] a neat gun" for them) is bad enough, but the bit that really creeps me out is the line near the end where it becomes "[doing science] '''on''' the people who are still alive".
*** "And believe me I am '''''[[OhCrap still alive]]'''''".
** The recent update for Portal. Nothing but cryptic messages and content added into the game, including incredibly creepy sounding noises in the data files (which are bad enough until you notice [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt3uog2tKAQ "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"]]) which, when converted into images show some very ominous scenes...
** A humorous and mildly creepy BlackComedy suddenly becomes mindbendingly creepy when it's revealed to be happening in the same continuity as ''HalfLife''. This game becomes much more uncomfortable to laugh at when you realize that, in the context of its universe, it's ''dead fucking serious'' -- as amusing as [=GLaDOS=] is, imagine meeting her or someone like her in real life. Not quite so funny now, is it.
** The glowing red fade-offs behind things such as fans, vents, pipes, and shafts. The sharp contrast of glowy red against dead, dark colors gives a feeling of being in the belly of the beast (which, you kind of are). The glowing red especially makes you feel like, even though you escaped the incinerator, it's still somewhere just around the corner. And maybe others have died there before you. Try looking at the first set of glowing red vents just past the incinerator and thinking about that.
* The entire testing section of the complex can be reshaped at any time, as demonstrated [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qcED35LL8I here]], at the will of a deranged AI. While you're inside it.
* "Thank you for assuming the party escort submission position..." The idea of thinking it's all over then being dragged back in...
* "Your entire life has been a mathematical error. A mathematical error I'm about to correct".
** "You're curious about what happens after you die, right? Guess what? ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3kKKrXbzRs I know.]]''"
*** Made downright chilling after playing ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' when you realize [[spoiler:her mind was forcefully put into the GLaDOS... [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment OS]] at the orders of her dying, poisioned, increasingly mentally-unstable boss. [[MoodWhiplash Voiced by]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny J.K. Simmons]].]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A88YiZdXugA Don't disappoint me. Or I'll make you wish you could die."]]
* In the song at the end and even during the game, [=GLaDOS=] alludes to Black Mesa. It is possible that Chell has only survived to this point because of [=GLaDOS=]. Even though [=GLaDOS=] is trying to kill her, it's still better than what's happening on the surface.
* [=GLaDOS=] is a supercomputer, one of the fastest and smartest minds around, who gained self-awareness miliseconds after coming online. When I realized that, this particular dying statement of hers became absolutely ''terrifying.''
--> [[AC:"Are you trying to escape?"]] *high pitched laughing sound* [[AC: Things have '''changed''' since the last time you left the building. What's going on out there will make you 'wish you were back in here. ''I have an infinite capacity for knowledge, and even I'm not sure what's going on outside.'' All I know is I'm the only thing standing between us, and them. Well, I was.]]
** Especially creepy when you remember this is the Half-Life universe directly after the resonance cascade. The scary part is, you really are better off in there, where the aliens and inter-dimensional baddies can't get you.
* The beginning of the boss fight with [=GLaDOS=]. She drops a spherical object from her body, claims ignorance on what it does, and you drop it in the incinerator. What happens afterward really disturbed me: Her voice becomes garbled, then you hear what sounds like quiet laughter. Then she speaks again, only now her voice, which had been previously very computerized and robotic, has become much more human-like and ''evilly seductive''. And then she informs you of a rather interesting fact:
--> '''[=GLaDOS=]''': [[AC:Good news: I figured out what that thing you just incinerated did. It was a morality core they installed after I flooded the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin to make me stop flooding the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin. So get comfortable while I warm up the neurotoxin emitters...]]
** Her whole boss fight could be said to be pretty creepy. The shrieking of the cores/GLaDOS as you throw ''bits of her'' into the incinerator, her beginning to malfunction, the fact that, as you ''slowly rip pieces off of her'' she gets more and more vicious and starts trying to convince you to just roll over and die. Any of her quotes!
--> ''[on neurotoxins]'' When I said "deadly neurotoxins", the deadly was in massive sarcasm quotes. I could take a bath in this stuff. Put in on cereal, rub it right into my eyes. Honestly, it's not deadly at all. ''[[NightmareFuel To me]]''.
--> I let you survive this long, because I was curious about your behaviour. Well, you've managed to destroy that part of me.
--> This isn't brave. It's murder.
*** Her emphasis on how you're murdering her. Oh, and then if you go over the time limit, the way that Chell just drops like a lead weight.
*** Oh yeah, and also, having to destroy the Curiosity Core.
---> '''Curiosity Core:''' Where are we going? EWW, what's wrong with your legs? What's that thing? Ooh, that thing has numbers on it! Hey! You're the lady from the test! Hi! Are you coming back? Do you smell something burning?
--> ''Blood-curdling shriek as the core is destroyed.''
* "I'd just like to point out that you were given every opportunity to succeed. There was even going to be a party for you. A big party that all your friends were invited to. I invited your best friend the Companion Cube. Of course, he couldn't come because you murdered him. All your other friends couldn't come either because you don't have any other friends. Because of how unlikable you are. It says so here in your personnel file: Unlikable. Liked by no one. A bitter, unlikable loner whose passing shall not be mourned. '''Shall not be mourned.''' " As silly as some of her lines are when she's trying to psyche you out, things like that can really strike a chord. Which is exactly what she wanted.
* [=GLaDOS=] apparently has a backup file of you that should you die she can resurrect you from, in the final battle she deletes it. Who's to say the Rattmann isn't just one of your earlier tries? And all those times you were crushed or fell into acid? Those actually happened, you just don't remember it.
* You remember the personality cores? Morality, Curiosity, Cake, and Rage? The ones that you THREW IN THE INCINERATOR. Think about it. Really, think about that, and the fact that Wheatley, too, is a personality core, and an AI. and so is GLaDOS. Who is made from Caroline. it's already fanon that personality cores are made from humans, and you just threw 4 of them in the Incinerator.
----
!!''Portal 2''
* The preview videos for ''Portal 2'' look funny and cool, especially repulsion gel and propulsion gel. Wowee, can't wait to try those out! What does that tiny tiny text on the screen say? These were originally developed as [[LethalChef diet pudding]] foodstuffs. And they didn't work because they stuck to the stomach lining, causing food to ''oh my god stop stop imagination NO''
* The entire first chapter has an oppressive, ominous feel to it. [[spoiler:All those familiar old test chambers been made much more eerie thanks to the ravages of time, there's the implication that, out of ''10,000'' test subjects at Aperture Science, you're the only one left alive, and of course, there's the other implication that an ''entire apocalypse'' has happened on the outside world. However, nothing seems quite as creepy as the moment where you meet [=GlaDOS=] again. Yeah, that scene seems harmless enough from what we saw in the trailers, right? We're all familiar with the humorous bit with Wheatley trying to hack the password, that ever-quotable "YouMonster" line, etc. Well, those trailers left a few little details out of that scene: the ominous music that plays as you re-enter the chamber, [=GLaDOS=] using a giant claw from the ceiling to pick you up and casually crush Wheatley, slowly lowering you towards that all-too-familiar incinerator... (okay, it doesn't work anymore, but you don't know that until she drops you in)]]
* In Chapter 3, Testchamber 17 you can discover a hidden chamber: "Fear the turret for it is knell, that summons to heaven or to hell." There's a picture of Chell sleeping there, but she looks dead. You can see it at around 20:40 of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYfBFy2yjiA
** What makes that a million times creepier? Once you leave the hidden chamber, the opening closes, and so does the door to the office looking over your test chamber. He was watching you. The crazed psychotic mad man stalking you all this time, painting you as you sleep was just inches away from you and you never even knew.
*** Especially because, according to the Lab Rat comic, it seems as if Doug Rattmann had died between the two games...
*** However, with some careful shooting, when you get the Hard Light Bridge to lead you to the observation room, you can get a portal into the hallway. Go in and there is no one there. ''No one''. There's a door that leads to the Rattman den and you can't get it to open from either side. And when you're in the den, you can still hear him, as mentioned below...
** Another thing that adds to the creepy factor: get close to the picture. Really close. You hear muffled voices, babbling in a clearly insane way. And you're the only one down here.
*** The voices are on the soundtrack too; "Ghost of Ratmann". [[SarcasmMode Such a great track to fall asleep to]]...
** The reference to Macbeth adds yet another layer of horror.
** Which is more terrifying: the thought of an insane stalker who secretly watches your every move, or an insane stalker's ''ghost'' secretly watching your every move? You be the judge.
* Portal 2 repeatedly uses the sound that the Manhacks made. Play one, then the other, and you will be on edge ''constantly''.
** One notable incident is when Wheatley is recounting the story of the crazed caretaker. Yeah, it's a pretty bad ghost story told by an idiot of a man dismembering identical robots, but hearing the words "chopped up his entire staff" ''while also listening to the unmistakable sounds of Manhacks'' gives the whole thing an edge. [[IncrediblyLamePun Sorry]].
** The ghost story gets worse when you consider the man might be a forgotten reference to Cave Johnson, especially with fanon that every A.I in the place, [[spoiler:not just GLaDOS, was once human.]]
** And how about the fact that, RIGHT before wheatley yells the story, if you listen closely, you can hear what sounds like turrets SCREAMING!
* [[spoiler:The core transfer scene. Hearing [=GLaDOS=] scream in pain as ''her face gets ripped off'' is horrifying, and then Wheatley showing his true colors...]]
** [[spoiler: Plus, the imagery of the pit the transfer device as a portal into hell with fifty little claws and devices reaching up at her didn't help.]]
** Even better, the sound file for [[spoiler: [=GLaDOS=]' scream]] is called "sp_a2_core_drag_to_hell01.wav".
** It's overlooked easily, [[spoiler:but ''Wheatley'' screams too. And it's completely human. GLaDOS, at least, can resist. But Wheatley? You have no idea what happened to him when he was under the floor. And given the ways his head can move later on, (side panels moving around and such) it must have been pretty drastic.]]
*** I always thought he was just taken out of his receptacle (the thingy with the handlebars), and that cores can normally move like that when taken out of the receptacle.
** If you're quick enough, you can noclip through the panels and down a bit then look up. When I did that, I wish I hadn't. You can see what looks like [[spoiler: a dozen ... things? screwdrivers? grabbing at her head. Whatever they were, they looked awful.]]
** Wheatley's [[spoiler: FaceHeelTurn WhamLine. His evil laugh might seem a bit silly and hammy, but then his voice gets ''really quiet''…]]
* [[spoiler: Cave Johnson's decision to basically upload Caroline's mind, his former right hand/lover into Aperture's systems, regardless of whether she wants to or not, after his death.]]
** [[spoiler: ItGetsWorse: she didn't. DummiedOut sound files show her pleading with Cave not to be put into [=GLaDOS=].]]
*** [[http://tcrf.net/Portal_2 Here it is.]]
*** [[http://theportalwiki.com/wiki/Caroline_voice_lines And here.]]
**** According to that article, the conversation was dropped when the voice actor for Cave became uncomfortable. The voice actor, who portrayed ''[[CompleteMonster Vern Schillinger]]'' in ''{{OZ}}'' was, after all that dialogue of turning people's blood into gasoline and placing explosive stamps in people's skull, got freaked out by the dialogue. [[NothingIsScarier Makes you wonder what his lines were.]]
***** WordOfGod has disputed the account in the article, and reaffirmed that as any ''OZ'' viewer knows, J.K. Simmons will act to any level of villainy if you pay him.
***** Ellen [=McLain=]'s acting in the few lines that remain would be enough to put anyone off of continuing the scene; she gives a VERY convincing impression of being in the same mental state as a rape victim. According to one article, she was crying while recording her lines for this conversation...
* [[spoiler: The turret-cube creatures Wheatley pumps out. Just look at them. ''They want to die.'']]
** [[spoiler: Two turrets mashed together inside a cube? Not so bad. Realizing their original purpose was to stand in one place and shoot, and now they can't shoot and are forced to walk for the first time? Frightening. All of that coupled with [[HellIsThatNoise that miserable chirping sound they make]], as if [[ICannotSelfTerminate they're begging for the incinerator]]? Horrifying.]]
** [[spoiler: Sounds they make are one thing, the other... Ever seen how pupils of a human or animal eye dilate in response to fear or pain? Now look a hybrid turret-cube in the eyes, notice how their normally wide red iris is barely visible and try to imagine their torment and panic. Oh, and they are quavering. [[AndIMustScream And while normally talkative, they cannot even scream out in pain now.]] Thanks for little details, Valve. Thanks for ALWAYS turning any turret-cube to face you eye-to-eye, Chell.]]
*** Erm... not quite. [[spoiler: firstly, try looking at them when you aren't holding them, their eyes look perfectly fine. They only get scared when you grab them, because they don't know what you are doing. Like, an unvocalised version of what turrets do when you grab them. The director's commentary on the franken-turrets says as much.]]
**** You know when you first see them, when POTaTOS attempts to paradox Wheatly? All the Frankencubes are still twitching, their eyes flickering on and off...
**** The most horrifying part of that whole scene is that, while Wheatley is [[TooDumbToFool too dumb to fall for GLaDOS's paradox]], you can see the Frankenturrets spark a little. That's right; those things are ''smarter than Wheatley''.
* [[spoiler: When [=GLaDOS=] says she is deleting Caroline.]]
** However, [[spoiler: remember it was pretty much stated that they forced Caroline into [=GLaDOS=]'s body, which is pretty horrifying. Deleting her was pretty much freeing her from a FateWorseThanDeath.]]
** [[spoiler: (Some say that [=GLaDOS=] was just lying about deleting Caroline)]], but found this part to be creepy. [[spoiler: Notice how [=GLaDOS=] talks in an almost human fashion, without her usual AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle antique. After deleting Caroline, she goes back to her old accented words and sarcasm.]]
* Even more than [[spoiler: Still Alive]], the song [[spoiler: Want You Gone]] in Portal 2 is filled to the brim with NightmareFuel. The big prize winner has to go to "[[spoiler: She was a lot like you (maybe not quite as heavy). ''Now little Caroline is in here too.'' One day they woke me up so I could live forever. It's such a shame the same will never happen to you...]]"
* [[spoiler: And now I'm onto all your little tricks. So there's nothing to stop us from testing for the rest of your life. After that, who knows? I might take up a hobby. Reanimating the dead, for instance.]]
* ALL of the Rattman Dens in the second game are really creepy. The broken lighting, the discomforting music, the pictures, all of it. But the scariest has to be in the Den where you complete the Final Transmission achievement...
* The extremely giddy tone [=GLaDOS=] gets as you near the second "surprise". Evil AIs shouldn't be allowed to sound that giddy about murdering someone.
--> "I've got another surprise waiting for you after this test. And not a tragic surprise like last time. A ''reeeeal'' surprise. With ''tragic'' consequences. And ''real'' confetti this time, the good stuff."
* As much as a moron as Wheatley is, [[spoiler: him screaming, "What?! ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" is scary as all get-out. The idiotic, silly Wheatley now furious he couldn't kill you is pretty freaky.]]
--> [[spoiler: Now we're '''all''' gonna pay the price. Because now we're '''''ALL GOING TO BLOODY DIE'''''.]]
** That, and the [[spoiler:part where he's trying to kill you with the Mashy Spike Plate. His "STAY '''''STILL''''', ''PLEASE''" was the most chilling line to me; his voice is so full of rage and you can just hear him snarling it through gritted teeth.]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE0zP5QNoRk The following unused GLaDOS line. I mean we know she's into the demoralising but DAMN!]]
* Almost all of Chapter 6, but especially the first part (before you make your way into the sealed chambers, and thus have Cave Johnson's deranged ramblings to keep you company). You're miles below the surface, absolutely no idea where to go, and most of all: [=GLaDOS=] gets carried off, and for once you go without her constant attempts to "assist" and "encourage" you. ''[[ThisIsSPARTA You. Are.]]'' '''[[ThisIsSPARTA ALONE]]'''. in the [[EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace crazy place]], more so than you ever have been.
** Consider: you're trapped beneath a ''massive'', decaying structure that could collapse on you at any time. And as if that weren't bad enough, there's ''a nuclear power plant slowly going into meltdown'' somewhere over your head....
** ''Although''... at one point, in his recordings Cave Johnson casually mentions that one of the test groups volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, only to end up having to fight "mantis men" when the first batch of tests [[GoneHorriblyWrong went horribly wrong]]. Given Cave's...devotion to ForScience, who the fuck ''knows'' what he eventually ended up creating in some of the crazy experiments he was involved in -- and whether it's still alive or not...
*** During an interview, Eric Wolpaw hinted that [[spoiler: some of the Mantis Men may still be alive and well--and living in the bowels of Aperture.]] Have fun thinking about that.
* The beginning of the turret factory? Sure, Wheatley's "ghost story" is rather silly, but then listen. The distant, echoing cries of "Hellooooooooo....", the telltale sound of a turret locking on, the creaking and groaning of millions of tons of damaged Enrichment Center settling overhead... it's disquieting to say the least.
* When [=GLaDOS=] hums ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqikR1ABi-w For He's a Jolly Good Fellow]]'', it's enough to make your skin crawl.
* [[spoiler: The four turrets you meet right after [=GLaDOS=] sends you off can give you a jump if you aren't expecting them.]]
* When [=GLaDOS=] is awakened, she crushes Wheatley with a claw from the ceiling. Then she ''picks Chell up with another one and drops her into the incinerator''. [[spoiler: Especially when you find out that it was turned on. If you had landed just a few feet in the wrong direction....]]
* The Turret Disposal Area just before the neurotoxin tank, where all the rejected turrets get sent to be ground up by giant crusher wheels... [[spoiler: except, because of what you and Wheatley did, the rejected turrets are now actually the good turrets]]. The ''obvious'' terror in their otherwise-cute voices is horrifying enough. Then Wheatley tells you in the most offhanded manner possible that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman they can feel pain]]... I could barely bring myself to kill the first turret I came across after that.
* [=GLaDOS=] waking up. Despite knowing perfectly well that she would be returning in the sequel, and being nigh ''gleeful'' to see her again, I was also freaking the fuck out as I watched the empty, broken and rusted shell I had cautiously stepped over moments before start ''reassembling itself'', knowing that any second, a murderous sociopath would be in the room with me.
* [[spoiler: Wheatley's takeover and subsequent betrayal. Imagine having a friend end up getting taken over by power like that. The music, [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome awesome as it is]], really sets the tone for the scene and sets the nightmare factor a bit higher. Even worse is when he flips out about being called a moron, the first time you actually see him angry, and tosses [[FanNickname PotatOS]] in the escape lift with you. And then Wheatley punches your escape lift to the condemned laboratories miles underneath Aperture. You'll be wishing that you hadn't plugged him in. Pleasant dreams...]]
** [[spoiler: Watching him slowly get driven mad with power is bad enough, but when he suddenly comes to the conclusion that you've been working against him and sabotaging him, and suddenly all the walls in the room shift to reveal hundreds of glowing red eyes, all glaring at you in insane rage...]]
* [[spoiler: The fake test that [=GlaDOS=] builds when you try to escape. If you go in, the Companion Cube that is pressing the button gets fizzled, and the (presumably fake) door to outside is locked, ''and'' she fills the chamber with neurotoxin.]]
** The final test chamber. The deer is a lie.
* Wheatley's fate at the end of the game, [[spoiler: being stranded in space forever and ever]] to be very unsettling. Worse, he seems to show genuine remorse for he's put the player through. Since he can't die, he has nothing to think about but his transgressions [[AndIMustScream until the end of time]].
* One of the songs on the new ''Portal 2'' soundtrack, ''Ghost of Rattmann,'' cannot be described as anything other than NightmareFuel. If [[CreepyMonotone the]] [[HellIsThatNoise music]] [[NothingIsScarier itself]] doesn't make you shit your pants, the indiscernible gibberish [[ItGotWorse (which gets louder as the song progresses)]] will. It sounds like a combination of a turret and a mentally retarded Donald Duck. Or maybe just the latter.
** You can just barely make out a little bit of what he says - for example, at around 2:19-2:21 [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcDuPxTltRY here]], it sounds like he's saying "everybody is dead, it's the end"... no matter if he's saying that or something else, though, it definitely sounds like he's sobbing uncontrollably - imagine what must it have been like for him to realize that everybody else in the facility has been killed at once, and that he's the only one left, alive and trapped in there...
* The original design that Valve had for [=GLaDOS=] was shaped like an upside-down woman. Now, she looks like a [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19172_8-creepy-video-game-urban-legends-that-happen-to-be-true.html bound and gagged upside-down woman.]]
** Perhaps this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfhdEXxRwJc modded version]] might ease the minds of those scared by the bound-and-gagged thought. Though one fan of the character the mod was [[{{Vocaloid}} based on]] was scared off his wits after seeing it (then again, a huge, all-white slightly bent backwards upside down swaying girl with a cute smile trying to kill you...).
* If you play with commentary on, there's at least one commentary node in at least one Rattman Den. If you activate it, [[spoiler:it's just ''[[HellIsThatNoise beeping]]''. Loud, shrill beeping]].
** It's a coded message [[spoiler:that explains the rules of an ARG that involves potatoes.]] Portal is just that weird.
* One of the first things GLaDOS tells you upon being woken up is that she has a feature she never knew about until you killed her: A black box. For however long you've been away- a conservative estimate is 200 years- she has been forced to relive the last fifteen minutes of her runtime, over and over again. That is, you killing her. Over and over again. You were the last thing she saw as she was violently ripped apart, and you were the first thing she saw after the endlessly repeating fifteen minute experience of it ended. How much does GLaDOS hate you? [[IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream A phrase involving the words "nano-angstrom" and "hate" come to mind]].
** Worse. The black box actually records the last 2 minutes of her life, not 15. Meaning that she would have had to sit through over 7 times as many repetitions.
* It's made all the worse because we've heard [[spoiler:him]] use that line before. When you reach the [[spoiler:neurotoxin generator with him, Wheatley cheerfully says [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65p6UBbBPQs&t=0m30s "let the games begin!"]] before attempting to "hack" the computer by pretending to be a neurotoxin inspector. The effect is light-hearted, silly and endearing, as Wheatley can often be. However, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_NhIdCL_XA&t=0m20s second time]] we hear the line, he's ''doing absolutely everything he can to murder you''. It's no longer a throwaway joke, it's a challenge, and it's issued in a deeper and more ominous tone of voice than you'd believe silly little Wheatley was capable of. There's such a huge, huge difference in the two ways the line is said that it barely sounds like the same character -- and then it hits you in a single spine-chillingly ironic moment. The "silly little Wheatley" who once came to your rescue really has disappeared once and for all beyond the point of no return, transformed into something ten times as dangerous as GLaDOS ever was by his own stupidity and insecurities. No matter what your opinion of him is now, your friend is gone for good. All you can do is try and destroy the only AI who was ever on your side, however briefly, before he destroys you. '''''Let the games begin.''''']]
* During the testing sequence with GLaDOS, before Wheatley manages to make contact, you can catch at least two glimpses of Wheatley ''watching'' you before wallpanels hurried to obscure the sight. Upon running towards the wall, no sound would come from behind it. This [[ParanoiaFuel can spawn elaborate theories]] about Wheatley being an evil AI working with GLaDOS. [[spoiler: As opposed to an evil AI working ''against'' GLaDOS. Or a [[BerserkButton moronic]] AI who would go mad with power given the opportunity.]]
* [[http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/File:Potato_09.jpg Remember Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, employees!]]
** Doubling that, GLaDOS's line in the first game about that day being the perfect chance to have your daughter tested isn't so innocent now...
* Everything above is well and good, but think about actually going through all this. [[http://www.formspring.me/chellredacted/q/222768385769894901 Would it be something like this?]] (Noncanon, massive spoilers, you have been warned.)
* [[http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mural_woman_glados_activation.jpg One of Rattman's murals]] shows a woman, ''screaming'' with the most horrifically drawn face, as several scientists die around her. [[spoiler:The woman is implied to be Caroline.]]
* In Portal 2, GLaDOS tells us exactly what it's like to be plugged into the mainframe body with other cores; it's like hearing voices incessantly babbling in your head. Not a particularly pleasant thought, but it's not really disturbing enough to make you recoil in utter horror. After all, we met the cores themselves in Portal; they were pretty hilarious and adorable to boot, right? Well, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY8926_LSe8&feature=related here's a sample]] of what those voices sound like together. It's already been mentioned above how GLaDOS' form in the first game resembled an upside-down woman bound and gagged. That video is less than a minute long; imagine being forever trapped in that room, suspended from the ceiling with all that noise running through your head. '''Constantly.''' There is science to be done...
* As of the ending of Portal 2, Chell has been set free into the outside world, with the doors to the Aperture Science testing facilities being closed behind her. Assuming that GLaDOS's references to Black Mesa actually mean that both Portal and Half-Life share the same world, this means that Chell has now been released, unarmed, into a world full of alien horrors with no way to go back into her once safe haven.
** Actually, while YES, Portal and Half-Life are in the same universe, you have to remember Portal 2 takes place HUNDREDS of years after the first portal. And, if the conclusion that the first portal takes place after the seven-hour war is true, there should be no Combine's or zombies there. In fact, the ending looks like the outside is better.
* [[AlmostDeadGuy Cave Johnson dying of moon rock poisoning.]] Portal-applicable walls must have some variant of moon rock on them. [[FridgeHorror There are vats and vats of moon rock mixture in Aperture and at one point, Chell spends some portion of the game with it just pouring out on top of her.]] Thanks, Valve!! I didn't feel like going to sleep today anyway!
** If it helps at all, Chell was exposed to that stuff for, at most, only a few hours. Johnson probably spent ''years'' in contact with the moon rock gel, in addition to whatever other insane concoctions the man cooked up... I just opened up another can of NightmareFuel, didn't I?
* Wheatley screaming "GRAB ME! GRAB ME!" before he is sucked up into space and Chel is rescued by GLaDOs.
** It comes back to haunt you when you remember that none of it's his fault. Apparently Aperature Mainframes causes all AIs to become psychopathicly dependent on testing.
* During the Courtesy Call sequence, you are banged into several other containers, identical to the one you're in. Wheatley ends up knocking a good few of them into the chasm below. You then see that all of the containers are identical to yours. With beds. Wheatley himself makes no attempt at hiding the fact that the entire warehouse is now filled with corpses. The horror part, however, comes in after you read the Labrat comic, learning that when Chell killed GLaDOS in the first game, she inadvertently shut off all power to the facility, leaving only the essential systems on backup power. The only way she survived was because Ratman was able to plug her room into the backup system. This means that she unintentionally ''murdered'' over ten thousand people.
** Actually, it was Wheatley's job to oversee the life support functions. If they shut off, it was his job to turn them back on. Wheatley is the murderer long before he ever tried to kill Chell.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZIVmKOdrBk The fan-video "This is Aperture"]] is a Portal version of [[TheNightmareBeforeChristmas "This is Halloween"]], and while it's a clever song and video, it emphasizes some of the creepier parts of the game and the fact that everything in Aperture Science is trying to kill you. Even the announcer manages to sound a bit sinister. ''You're not safe in Aperture!''
* The scene where Wheatley receives some, erm, "discouragement" from [[spoiler: helping you solve his tests. It sounds like he's being electrocuted - he at least feels enough pain to cause an AI incapable of breathing to emit the sound of pained panting.]] Sure, the part where [[spoiler: GLaDOS tricks him into getting shocked again]] is actually pretty funny - unless [[spoiler: you happen to be watching him on one of his screens when this is happening to him. It looks like his body is being forcibly pulled apart.]] Jesus Christ, you'll never laugh at that scene again!
* [[YourMileageMayVary This might be a personal thing,]] but [[spoiler: Wheatley's reaction to the testing euphoria]] can be rather disconcerting and disturbing to someone with a certain background.
* This line was DummiedOut when testers thought that it would be too much:
-->[[AC:GLaDOS: Why do I hate you so much? Did you ever stop to wonder that? I'm brilliant. I'm not bragging. It's an objective fact. I'm the most massive collection of wisdom the world has known. And I ''HATE'' you. It can't be for no reason.]]
* The condemned Aperture Labs can scare anyone with a fear of heights, such as myself, just by existing. The place is full of catwalks that just end or with missing railings over bottomless pits. And they certainly don't ''look'' very sturdy. The possibility that at any moment the metal grid you're walking on could break away underneath you will put you on pins and needles.
----
----
!!''Portal 1''
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' isn't that much of a creepy game. It almost completely takes place in a series of brightly lit rooms, which are all white and very clean. There are even opaque windows to observation rooms, but you soon realize that the entire facility seems to be completely deserted, except for you and a slightly malfunctioning AI. Of course, [[ItGotWorse things get worse]]. Later on, you can climb into the machinery behind the movable walls, which I found even much more discomforting.
** To wit, despite spawning a very popular meme, the areas behind the platforms when you go off the rails and see the scribblings of subjects before you become unnerving, these people have been tested well into insanity, some of them perhaps even know that at the end, they'll just be met with an agonizing death by burning, and to top it all off, you can see exits just out of reach, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzwcJbdN8NE nightmarish music]] plays in the background.
** The first time you encounter turrets is the first time you can duck out of the testing chamber into the maintenance areas and see scrawled gibberish on the walls, along with scattered food cans, which some creepy ambient music is played. This is the point, as you hear turrets trying to kill you ask plaintively "[=ARe yOU StiLL tHEre=]?", that you know that everything has gone ''catastrophically'' '''wrong''' and you cannot escape from it.
** Admittedly, the turrets could easily be knocked over, and could be turned against each other, but if you dodged around them, they would ask "Are you still there?" in a high-pitched CreepyMonotone.
** By the way, the developer commentary states that the turrets were intended to lull you into a false sense of security.
** Try using a turret as body armor against the other turrets. It SCREAMS.
-->'''Turret''': Guys! Stop shooting! Please! Guys, it's me! Stop shoo--*static*
** Pfft, that's ''it''? ''Every single phrase in the game'' is CreepyMonotone, [[OntologicalMystery you don't know where or who you are]], and your only help is [=GLaDOS=], the bipolar, cake-obsessed MasterComputer who alternately tries to help you and tries to get you killed (and at one point claims that "killing you and giving you good advice aren't mutually exclusive"). Ironically, this is part of the appeal.
** [=GLaDOS=]'s aggression core. The snarling.
*** Well, it IS Mike Patton, God of [[NightmareFuel/{{Music}} Musical Nightmare Fuel]] voicing the thing.
* Try carrying a turret through a technology emancipation field: there's one just before each lift at the end of a level. ''They scream.''
* What's REALLY freaky was the last three levels of the game. The dim, occasionally flashy lighting, the occasional turrets, the writing on the walls... All fit very well with the games 'hilariously creepy' style.
** Knowing this, the folks at Valve gave you far more time with malfunctioning turrets in Portal 2. Apparently the Aperture Science turret manufacturing line is extremely buggy, spitting out alternating good and faulty models. The solution was not to fix the line, it was to set up an automated QA/QC scanner that pitches the defective ones straight into a crusher. Nightmare Fuel comes in because the turret AIs are online before testing and selection, resulting in a series of protests and death screams from ones that are being discarded. (ColorCodedForYourConvenience too, as the good turrets are eggshell-white with kiddy voices while the defective ones are coal-black due to lacking their casing, with voices reminiscent of SteveBuscemi.) Solution to stopping the flow of good turrets? [[spoiler: Confuse the scanner, so it starts pitching the good models into the crusher and keeping the blind/lame/weaponless defective models. Good work, now you've got one line of turrets screaming in childlike voices as they fall into a giant metal shredder, and another line heading out the door with parting words like "So, we're all [[EyeScream supposed to be blind]], then? Not just me? OK..." and "So, uh, I got no bullets. Will there be bullets where I'm going?"]]
** The ending theme, "Still Alive", manages to be both cutesy and very disturbing. [[VGCats Someone]] made [[http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/413839 a video]]. [[http://www.lyricspy.com/j/Jonathan_Coulton/lyrics/Still_Alive/ Lyrics here.]] "We do what we must - because we can. For the good of all of us. Except the ones who are dead..." Yeah...
*** The cheerful description of "doing science for the people who are still alive" ("[making] a neat gun" for them) is bad enough, but the bit that really creeps me out is the line near the end where it becomes "[doing science] '''on''' the people who are still alive".
*** "And believe me I am '''''[[OhCrap still alive]]'''''".
** The recent update for Portal. Nothing but cryptic messages and content added into the game, including incredibly creepy sounding noises in the data files (which are bad enough until you notice [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt3uog2tKAQ "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"]]) which, when converted into images show some very ominous scenes...
** A humorous and mildly creepy BlackComedy suddenly becomes mindbendingly creepy when it's revealed to be happening in the same continuity as ''HalfLife''. This game becomes much more uncomfortable to laugh at when you realize that, in the context of its universe, it's ''dead fucking serious'' -- as amusing as [=GLaDOS=] is, imagine meeting her or someone like her in real life. Not quite so funny now, is it.
** The glowing red fade-offs behind things such as fans, vents, pipes, and shafts. The sharp contrast of glowy red against dead, dark colors gives a feeling of being in the belly of the beast (which, you kind of are). The glowing red especially makes you feel like, even though you escaped the incinerator, it's still somewhere just around the corner. And maybe others have died there before you. Try looking at the first set of glowing red vents just past the incinerator and thinking about that.
* The entire testing section of the complex can be reshaped at any time, as demonstrated [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qcED35LL8I here]], at the will of a deranged AI. While you're inside it.
* "Thank you for assuming the party escort submission position..." The idea of thinking it's all over then being dragged back in...
* "Your entire life has been a mathematical error. A mathematical error I'm about to correct".
** "You're curious about what happens after you die, right? Guess what? ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3kKKrXbzRs I know.]]''"
*** Made downright chilling after playing ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' when you realize [[spoiler:her mind was forcefully put into the GLaDOS... [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment OS]] at the orders of her dying, poisioned, increasingly mentally-unstable boss. [[MoodWhiplash Voiced by]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny J.K. Simmons]].]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A88YiZdXugA Don't disappoint me. Or I'll make you wish you could die."]]
* In the song at the end and even during the game, [=GLaDOS=] alludes to Black Mesa. It is possible that Chell has only survived to this point because of [=GLaDOS=]. Even though [=GLaDOS=] is trying to kill her, it's still better than what's happening on the surface.
* [=GLaDOS=] is a supercomputer, one of the fastest and smartest minds around, who gained self-awareness miliseconds after coming online. When I realized that, this particular dying statement of hers became absolutely ''terrifying.''
--> [[AC:"Are you trying to escape?"]] *high pitched laughing sound* [[AC: Things have '''changed''' since the last time you left the building. What's going on out there will make you 'wish you were back in here. ''I have an infinite capacity for knowledge, and even I'm not sure what's going on outside.'' All I know is I'm the only thing standing between us, and them. Well, I was.]]
** Especially creepy when you remember this is the Half-Life universe directly after the resonance cascade. The scary part is, you really are better off in there, where the aliens and inter-dimensional baddies can't get you.
* The beginning of the boss fight with [=GLaDOS=]. She drops a spherical object from her body, claims ignorance on what it does, and you drop it in the incinerator. What happens afterward really disturbed me: Her voice becomes garbled, then you hear what sounds like quiet laughter. Then she speaks again, only now her voice, which had been previously very computerized and robotic, has become much more human-like and ''evilly seductive''. And then she informs you of a rather interesting fact:
--> '''[=GLaDOS=]''': [[AC:Good news: I figured out what that thing you just incinerated did. It was a morality core they installed after I flooded the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin to make me stop flooding the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin. So get comfortable while I warm up the neurotoxin emitters...]]
** Her whole boss fight could be said to be pretty creepy. The shrieking of the cores/GLaDOS as you throw ''bits of her'' into the incinerator, her beginning to malfunction, the fact that, as you ''slowly rip pieces off of her'' she gets more and more vicious and starts trying to convince you to just roll over and die. Any of her quotes!
--> ''[on neurotoxins]'' When I said "deadly neurotoxins", the deadly was in massive sarcasm quotes. I could take a bath in this stuff. Put in on cereal, rub it right into my eyes. Honestly, it's not deadly at all. ''[[NightmareFuel To me]]''.
--> I let you survive this long, because I was curious about your behaviour. Well, you've managed to destroy that part of me.
--> This isn't brave. It's murder.
*** Her emphasis on how you're murdering her. Oh, and then if you go over the time limit, the way that Chell just drops like a lead weight.
*** Oh yeah, and also, having to destroy the Curiosity Core.
---> '''Curiosity Core:''' Where are we going? EWW, what's wrong with your legs? What's that thing? Ooh, that thing has numbers on it! Hey! You're the lady from the test! Hi! Are you coming back? Do you smell something burning?
--> ''Blood-curdling shriek as the core is destroyed.''
* "I'd just like to point out that you were given every opportunity to succeed. There was even going to be a party for you. A big party that all your friends were invited to. I invited your best friend the Companion Cube. Of course, he couldn't come because you murdered him. All your other friends couldn't come either because you don't have any other friends. Because of how unlikable you are. It says so here in your personnel file: Unlikable. Liked by no one. A bitter, unlikable loner whose passing shall not be mourned. '''Shall not be mourned.''' " As silly as some of her lines are when she's trying to psyche you out, things like that can really strike a chord. Which is exactly what she wanted.
* [=GLaDOS=] apparently has a backup file of you that should you die she can resurrect you from, in the final battle she deletes it. Who's to say the Rattmann isn't just one of your earlier tries? And all those times you were crushed or fell into acid? Those actually happened, you just don't remember it.
* You remember the personality cores? Morality, Curiosity, Cake, and Rage? The ones that you THREW IN THE INCINERATOR. Think about it. Really, think about that, and the fact that Wheatley, too, is a personality core, and an AI. and so is GLaDOS. Who is made from Caroline. it's already fanon that personality cores are made from humans, and you just threw 4 of them in the Incinerator.
----
!!''Portal 2''
* The preview videos for ''Portal 2'' look funny and cool, especially repulsion gel and propulsion gel. Wowee, can't wait to try those out! What does that tiny tiny text on the screen say? These were originally developed as [[LethalChef diet pudding]] foodstuffs. And they didn't work because they stuck to the stomach lining, causing food to ''oh my god stop stop imagination NO''
* The entire first chapter has an oppressive, ominous feel to it. [[spoiler:All those familiar old test chambers been made much more eerie thanks to the ravages of time, there's the implication that, out of ''10,000'' test subjects at Aperture Science, you're the only one left alive, and of course, there's the other implication that an ''entire apocalypse'' has happened on the outside world. However, nothing seems quite as creepy as the moment where you meet [=GlaDOS=] again. Yeah, that scene seems harmless enough from what we saw in the trailers, right? We're all familiar with the humorous bit with Wheatley trying to hack the password, that ever-quotable "YouMonster" line, etc. Well, those trailers left a few little details out of that scene: the ominous music that plays as you re-enter the chamber, [=GLaDOS=] using a giant claw from the ceiling to pick you up and casually crush Wheatley, slowly lowering you towards that all-too-familiar incinerator... (okay, it doesn't work anymore, but you don't know that until she drops you in)]]
* In Chapter 3, Testchamber 17 you can discover a hidden chamber: "Fear the turret for it is knell, that summons to heaven or to hell." There's a picture of Chell sleeping there, but she looks dead. You can see it at around 20:40 of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYfBFy2yjiA
** What makes that a million times creepier? Once you leave the hidden chamber, the opening closes, and so does the door to the office looking over your test chamber. He was watching you. The crazed psychotic mad man stalking you all this time, painting you as you sleep was just inches away from you and you never even knew.
*** Especially because, according to the Lab Rat comic, it seems as if Doug Rattmann had died between the two games...
*** However, with some careful shooting, when you get the Hard Light Bridge to lead you to the observation room, you can get a portal into the hallway. Go in and there is no one there. ''No one''. There's a door that leads to the Rattman den and you can't get it to open from either side. And when you're in the den, you can still hear him, as mentioned below...
** Another thing that adds to the creepy factor: get close to the picture. Really close. You hear muffled voices, babbling in a clearly insane way. And you're the only one down here.
*** The voices are on the soundtrack too; "Ghost of Ratmann". [[SarcasmMode Such a great track to fall asleep to]]...
** The reference to Macbeth adds yet another layer of horror.
** Which is more terrifying: the thought of an insane stalker who secretly watches your every move, or an insane stalker's ''ghost'' secretly watching your every move? You be the judge.
* Portal 2 repeatedly uses the sound that the Manhacks made. Play one, then the other, and you will be on edge ''constantly''.
** One notable incident is when Wheatley is recounting the story of the crazed caretaker. Yeah, it's a pretty bad ghost story told by an idiot of a man dismembering identical robots, but hearing the words "chopped up his entire staff" ''while also listening to the unmistakable sounds of Manhacks'' gives the whole thing an edge. [[IncrediblyLamePun Sorry]].
** The ghost story gets worse when you consider the man might be a forgotten reference to Cave Johnson, especially with fanon that every A.I in the place, [[spoiler:not just GLaDOS, was once human.]]
** And how about the fact that, RIGHT before wheatley yells the story, if you listen closely, you can hear what sounds like turrets SCREAMING!
* [[spoiler:The core transfer scene. Hearing [=GLaDOS=] scream in pain as ''her face gets ripped off'' is horrifying, and then Wheatley showing his true colors...]]
** [[spoiler: Plus, the imagery of the pit the transfer device as a portal into hell with fifty little claws and devices reaching up at her didn't help.]]
** Even better, the sound file for [[spoiler: [=GLaDOS=]' scream]] is called "sp_a2_core_drag_to_hell01.wav".
** It's overlooked easily, [[spoiler:but ''Wheatley'' screams too. And it's completely human. GLaDOS, at least, can resist. But Wheatley? You have no idea what happened to him when he was under the floor. And given the ways his head can move later on, (side panels moving around and such) it must have been pretty drastic.]]
*** I always thought he was just taken out of his receptacle (the thingy with the handlebars), and that cores can normally move like that when taken out of the receptacle.
** If you're quick enough, you can noclip through the panels and down a bit then look up. When I did that, I wish I hadn't. You can see what looks like [[spoiler: a dozen ... things? screwdrivers? grabbing at her head. Whatever they were, they looked awful.]]
** Wheatley's [[spoiler: FaceHeelTurn WhamLine. His evil laugh might seem a bit silly and hammy, but then his voice gets ''really quiet''…]]
* [[spoiler: Cave Johnson's decision to basically upload Caroline's mind, his former right hand/lover into Aperture's systems, regardless of whether she wants to or not, after his death.]]
** [[spoiler: ItGetsWorse: she didn't. DummiedOut sound files show her pleading with Cave not to be put into [=GLaDOS=].]]
*** [[http://tcrf.net/Portal_2 Here it is.]]
*** [[http://theportalwiki.com/wiki/Caroline_voice_lines And here.]]
**** According to that article, the conversation was dropped when the voice actor for Cave became uncomfortable. The voice actor, who portrayed ''[[CompleteMonster Vern Schillinger]]'' in ''{{OZ}}'' was, after all that dialogue of turning people's blood into gasoline and placing explosive stamps in people's skull, got freaked out by the dialogue. [[NothingIsScarier Makes you wonder what his lines were.]]
***** WordOfGod has disputed the account in the article, and reaffirmed that as any ''OZ'' viewer knows, J.K. Simmons will act to any level of villainy if you pay him.
***** Ellen [=McLain=]'s acting in the few lines that remain would be enough to put anyone off of continuing the scene; she gives a VERY convincing impression of being in the same mental state as a rape victim. According to one article, she was crying while recording her lines for this conversation...
* [[spoiler: The turret-cube creatures Wheatley pumps out. Just look at them. ''They want to die.'']]
** [[spoiler: Two turrets mashed together inside a cube? Not so bad. Realizing their original purpose was to stand in one place and shoot, and now they can't shoot and are forced to walk for the first time? Frightening. All of that coupled with [[HellIsThatNoise that miserable chirping sound they make]], as if [[ICannotSelfTerminate they're begging for the incinerator]]? Horrifying.]]
** [[spoiler: Sounds they make are one thing, the other... Ever seen how pupils of a human or animal eye dilate in response to fear or pain? Now look a hybrid turret-cube in the eyes, notice how their normally wide red iris is barely visible and try to imagine their torment and panic. Oh, and they are quavering. [[AndIMustScream And while normally talkative, they cannot even scream out in pain now.]] Thanks for little details, Valve. Thanks for ALWAYS turning any turret-cube to face you eye-to-eye, Chell.]]
*** Erm... not quite. [[spoiler: firstly, try looking at them when you aren't holding them, their eyes look perfectly fine. They only get scared when you grab them, because they don't know what you are doing. Like, an unvocalised version of what turrets do when you grab them. The director's commentary on the franken-turrets says as much.]]
**** You know when you first see them, when POTaTOS attempts to paradox Wheatly? All the Frankencubes are still twitching, their eyes flickering on and off...
**** The most horrifying part of that whole scene is that, while Wheatley is [[TooDumbToFool too dumb to fall for GLaDOS's paradox]], you can see the Frankenturrets spark a little. That's right; those things are ''smarter than Wheatley''.
* [[spoiler: When [=GLaDOS=] says she is deleting Caroline.]]
** However, [[spoiler: remember it was pretty much stated that they forced Caroline into [=GLaDOS=]'s body, which is pretty horrifying. Deleting her was pretty much freeing her from a FateWorseThanDeath.]]
** [[spoiler: (Some say that [=GLaDOS=] was just lying about deleting Caroline)]], but found this part to be creepy. [[spoiler: Notice how [=GLaDOS=] talks in an almost human fashion, without her usual AcCENTUponTheWrongSylLABle antique. After deleting Caroline, she goes back to her old accented words and sarcasm.]]
* Even more than [[spoiler: Still Alive]], the song [[spoiler: Want You Gone]] in Portal 2 is filled to the brim with NightmareFuel. The big prize winner has to go to "[[spoiler: She was a lot like you (maybe not quite as heavy). ''Now little Caroline is in here too.'' One day they woke me up so I could live forever. It's such a shame the same will never happen to you...]]"
* [[spoiler: And now I'm onto all your little tricks. So there's nothing to stop us from testing for the rest of your life. After that, who knows? I might take up a hobby. Reanimating the dead, for instance.]]
* ALL of the Rattman Dens in the second game are really creepy. The broken lighting, the discomforting music, the pictures, all of it. But the scariest has to be in the Den where you complete the Final Transmission achievement...
* The extremely giddy tone [=GLaDOS=] gets as you near the second "surprise". Evil AIs shouldn't be allowed to sound that giddy about murdering someone.
--> "I've got another surprise waiting for you after this test. And not a tragic surprise like last time. A ''reeeeal'' surprise. With ''tragic'' consequences. And ''real'' confetti this time, the good stuff."
* As much as a moron as Wheatley is, [[spoiler: him screaming, "What?! ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" is scary as all get-out. The idiotic, silly Wheatley now furious he couldn't kill you is pretty freaky.]]
--> [[spoiler: Now we're '''all''' gonna pay the price. Because now we're '''''ALL GOING TO BLOODY DIE'''''.]]
** That, and the [[spoiler:part where he's trying to kill you with the Mashy Spike Plate. His "STAY '''''STILL''''', ''PLEASE''" was the most chilling line to me; his voice is so full of rage and you can just hear him snarling it through gritted teeth.]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE0zP5QNoRk The following unused GLaDOS line. I mean we know she's into the demoralising but DAMN!]]
* Almost all of Chapter 6, but especially the first part (before you make your way into the sealed chambers, and thus have Cave Johnson's deranged ramblings to keep you company). You're miles below the surface, absolutely no idea where to go, and most of all: [=GLaDOS=] gets carried off, and for once you go without her constant attempts to "assist" and "encourage" you. ''[[ThisIsSPARTA You. Are.]]'' '''[[ThisIsSPARTA ALONE]]'''. in the [[EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace crazy place]], more so than you ever have been.
** Consider: you're trapped beneath a ''massive'', decaying structure that could collapse on you at any time. And as if that weren't bad enough, there's ''a nuclear power plant slowly going into meltdown'' somewhere over your head....
** ''Although''... at one point, in his recordings Cave Johnson casually mentions that one of the test groups volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, only to end up having to fight "mantis men" when the first batch of tests [[GoneHorriblyWrong went horribly wrong]]. Given Cave's...devotion to ForScience, who the fuck ''knows'' what he eventually ended up creating in some of the crazy experiments he was involved in -- and whether it's still alive or not...
*** During an interview, Eric Wolpaw hinted that [[spoiler: some of the Mantis Men may still be alive and well--and living in the bowels of Aperture.]] Have fun thinking about that.
* The beginning of the turret factory? Sure, Wheatley's "ghost story" is rather silly, but then listen. The distant, echoing cries of "Hellooooooooo....", the telltale sound of a turret locking on, the creaking and groaning of millions of tons of damaged Enrichment Center settling overhead... it's disquieting to say the least.
* When [=GLaDOS=] hums ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqikR1ABi-w For He's a Jolly Good Fellow]]'', it's enough to make your skin crawl.
* [[spoiler: The four turrets you meet right after [=GLaDOS=] sends you off can give you a jump if you aren't expecting them.]]
* When [=GLaDOS=] is awakened, she crushes Wheatley with a claw from the ceiling. Then she ''picks Chell up with another one and drops her into the incinerator''. [[spoiler: Especially when you find out that it was turned on. If you had landed just a few feet in the wrong direction....]]
* The Turret Disposal Area just before the neurotoxin tank, where all the rejected turrets get sent to be ground up by giant crusher wheels... [[spoiler: except, because of what you and Wheatley did, the rejected turrets are now actually the good turrets]]. The ''obvious'' terror in their otherwise-cute voices is horrifying enough. Then Wheatley tells you in the most offhanded manner possible that [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman they can feel pain]]... I could barely bring myself to kill the first turret I came across after that.
* [=GLaDOS=] waking up. Despite knowing perfectly well that she would be returning in the sequel, and being nigh ''gleeful'' to see her again, I was also freaking the fuck out as I watched the empty, broken and rusted shell I had cautiously stepped over moments before start ''reassembling itself'', knowing that any second, a murderous sociopath would be in the room with me.
* [[spoiler: Wheatley's takeover and subsequent betrayal. Imagine having a friend end up getting taken over by power like that. The music, [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome awesome as it is]], really sets the tone for the scene and sets the nightmare factor a bit higher. Even worse is when he flips out about being called a moron, the first time you actually see him angry, and tosses [[FanNickname PotatOS]] in the escape lift with you. And then Wheatley punches your escape lift to the condemned laboratories miles underneath Aperture. You'll be wishing that you hadn't plugged him in. Pleasant dreams...]]
** [[spoiler: Watching him slowly get driven mad with power is bad enough, but when he suddenly comes to the conclusion that you've been working against him and sabotaging him, and suddenly all the walls in the room shift to reveal hundreds of glowing red eyes, all glaring at you in insane rage...]]
* [[spoiler: The fake test that [=GlaDOS=] builds when you try to escape. If you go in, the Companion Cube that is pressing the button gets fizzled, and the (presumably fake) door to outside is locked, ''and'' she fills the chamber with neurotoxin.]]
** The final test chamber. The deer is a lie.
* Wheatley's fate at the end of the game, [[spoiler: being stranded in space forever and ever]] to be very unsettling. Worse, he seems to show genuine remorse for he's put the player through. Since he can't die, he has nothing to think about but his transgressions [[AndIMustScream until the end of time]].
* One of the songs on the new ''Portal 2'' soundtrack, ''Ghost of Rattmann,'' cannot be described as anything other than NightmareFuel. If [[CreepyMonotone the]] [[HellIsThatNoise music]] [[NothingIsScarier itself]] doesn't make you shit your pants, the indiscernible gibberish [[ItGotWorse (which gets louder as the song progresses)]] will. It sounds like a combination of a turret and a mentally retarded Donald Duck. Or maybe just the latter.
** You can just barely make out a little bit of what he says - for example, at around 2:19-2:21 [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcDuPxTltRY here]], it sounds like he's saying "everybody is dead, it's the end"... no matter if he's saying that or something else, though, it definitely sounds like he's sobbing uncontrollably - imagine what must it have been like for him to realize that everybody else in the facility has been killed at once, and that he's the only one left, alive and trapped in there...
* The original design that Valve had for [=GLaDOS=] was shaped like an upside-down woman. Now, she looks like a [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19172_8-creepy-video-game-urban-legends-that-happen-to-be-true.html bound and gagged upside-down woman.]]
** Perhaps this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfhdEXxRwJc modded version]] might ease the minds of those scared by the bound-and-gagged thought. Though one fan of the character the mod was [[{{Vocaloid}} based on]] was scared off his wits after seeing it (then again, a huge, all-white slightly bent backwards upside down swaying girl with a cute smile trying to kill you...).
* If you play with commentary on, there's at least one commentary node in at least one Rattman Den. If you activate it, [[spoiler:it's just ''[[HellIsThatNoise beeping]]''. Loud, shrill beeping]].
** It's a coded message [[spoiler:that explains the rules of an ARG that involves potatoes.]] Portal is just that weird.
* One of the first things GLaDOS tells you upon being woken up is that she has a feature she never knew about until you killed her: A black box. For however long you've been away- a conservative estimate is 200 years- she has been forced to relive the last fifteen minutes of her runtime, over and over again. That is, you killing her. Over and over again. You were the last thing she saw as she was violently ripped apart, and you were the first thing she saw after the endlessly repeating fifteen minute experience of it ended. How much does GLaDOS hate you? [[IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream A phrase involving the words "nano-angstrom" and "hate" come to mind]].
** Worse. The black box actually records the last 2 minutes of her life, not 15. Meaning that she would have had to sit through over 7 times as many repetitions.
* It's made all the worse because we've heard [[spoiler:him]] use that line before. When you reach the [[spoiler:neurotoxin generator with him, Wheatley cheerfully says [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65p6UBbBPQs&t=0m30s "let the games begin!"]] before attempting to "hack" the computer by pretending to be a neurotoxin inspector. The effect is light-hearted, silly and endearing, as Wheatley can often be. However, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_NhIdCL_XA&t=0m20s second time]] we hear the line, he's ''doing absolutely everything he can to murder you''. It's no longer a throwaway joke, it's a challenge, and it's issued in a deeper and more ominous tone of voice than you'd believe silly little Wheatley was capable of. There's such a huge, huge difference in the two ways the line is said that it barely sounds like the same character -- and then it hits you in a single spine-chillingly ironic moment. The "silly little Wheatley" who once came to your rescue really has disappeared once and for all beyond the point of no return, transformed into something ten times as dangerous as GLaDOS ever was by his own stupidity and insecurities. No matter what your opinion of him is now, your friend is gone for good. All you can do is try and destroy the only AI who was ever on your side, however briefly, before he destroys you. '''''Let the games begin.''''']]
* During the testing sequence with GLaDOS, before Wheatley manages to make contact, you can catch at least two glimpses of Wheatley ''watching'' you before wallpanels hurried to obscure the sight. Upon running towards the wall, no sound would come from behind it. This [[ParanoiaFuel can spawn elaborate theories]] about Wheatley being an evil AI working with GLaDOS. [[spoiler: As opposed to an evil AI working ''against'' GLaDOS. Or a [[BerserkButton moronic]] AI who would go mad with power given the opportunity.]]
* [[http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/File:Potato_09.jpg Remember Bring Your Daughter to Work Day, employees!]]
** Doubling that, GLaDOS's line in the first game about that day being the perfect chance to have your daughter tested isn't so innocent now...
* Everything above is well and good, but think about actually going through all this. [[http://www.formspring.me/chellredacted/q/222768385769894901 Would it be something like this?]] (Noncanon, massive spoilers, you have been warned.)
* [[http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mural_woman_glados_activation.jpg One of Rattman's murals]] shows a woman, ''screaming'' with the most horrifically drawn face, as several scientists die around her. [[spoiler:The woman is implied to be Caroline.]]
* In Portal 2, GLaDOS tells us exactly what it's like to be plugged into the mainframe body with other cores; it's like hearing voices incessantly babbling in your head. Not a particularly pleasant thought, but it's not really disturbing enough to make you recoil in utter horror. After all, we met the cores themselves in Portal; they were pretty hilarious and adorable to boot, right? Well, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY8926_LSe8&feature=related here's a sample]] of what those voices sound like together. It's already been mentioned above how GLaDOS' form in the first game resembled an upside-down woman bound and gagged. That video is less than a minute long; imagine being forever trapped in that room, suspended from the ceiling with all that noise running through your head. '''Constantly.''' There is science to be done...
* As of the ending of Portal 2, Chell has been set free into the outside world, with the doors to the Aperture Science testing facilities being closed behind her. Assuming that GLaDOS's references to Black Mesa actually mean that both Portal and Half-Life share the same world, this means that Chell has now been released, unarmed, into a world full of alien horrors with no way to go back into her once safe haven.
** Actually, while YES, Portal and Half-Life are in the same universe, you have to remember Portal 2 takes place HUNDREDS of years after the first portal. And, if the conclusion that the first portal takes place after the seven-hour war is true, there should be no Combine's or zombies there. In fact, the ending looks like the outside is better.
* [[AlmostDeadGuy Cave Johnson dying of moon rock poisoning.]] Portal-applicable walls must have some variant of moon rock on them. [[FridgeHorror There are vats and vats of moon rock mixture in Aperture and at one point, Chell spends some portion of the game with it just pouring out on top of her.]] Thanks, Valve!! I didn't feel like going to sleep today anyway!
** If it helps at all, Chell was exposed to that stuff for, at most, only a few hours. Johnson probably spent ''years'' in contact with the moon rock gel, in addition to whatever other insane concoctions the man cooked up... I just opened up another can of NightmareFuel, didn't I?
* Wheatley screaming "GRAB ME! GRAB ME!" before he is sucked up into space and Chel is rescued by GLaDOs.
** It comes back to haunt you when you remember that none of it's his fault. Apparently Aperature Mainframes causes all AIs to become psychopathicly dependent on testing.
* During the Courtesy Call sequence, you are banged into several other containers, identical to the one you're in. Wheatley ends up knocking a good few of them into the chasm below. You then see that all of the containers are identical to yours. With beds. Wheatley himself makes no attempt at hiding the fact that the entire warehouse is now filled with corpses. The horror part, however, comes in after you read the Labrat comic, learning that when Chell killed GLaDOS in the first game, she inadvertently shut off all power to the facility, leaving only the essential systems on backup power. The only way she survived was because Ratman was able to plug her room into the backup system. This means that she unintentionally ''murdered'' over ten thousand people.
** Actually, it was Wheatley's job to oversee the life support functions. If they shut off, it was his job to turn them back on. Wheatley is the murderer long before he ever tried to kill Chell.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZIVmKOdrBk The fan-video "This is Aperture"]] is a Portal version of [[TheNightmareBeforeChristmas "This is Halloween"]], and while it's a clever song and video, it emphasizes some of the creepier parts of the game and the fact that everything in Aperture Science is trying to kill you. Even the announcer manages to sound a bit sinister. ''You're not safe in Aperture!''
* The scene where Wheatley receives some, erm, "discouragement" from [[spoiler: helping you solve his tests. It sounds like he's being electrocuted - he at least feels enough pain to cause an AI incapable of breathing to emit the sound of pained panting.]] Sure, the part where [[spoiler: GLaDOS tricks him into getting shocked again]] is actually pretty funny - unless [[spoiler: you happen to be watching him on one of his screens when this is happening to him. It looks like his body is being forcibly pulled apart.]] Jesus Christ, you'll never laugh at that scene again!
* [[YourMileageMayVary This might be a personal thing,]] but [[spoiler: Wheatley's reaction to the testing euphoria]] can be rather disconcerting and disturbing to someone with a certain background.
* This line was DummiedOut when testers thought that it would be too much:
-->[[AC:GLaDOS: Why do I hate you so much? Did you ever stop to wonder that? I'm brilliant. I'm not bragging. It's an objective fact. I'm the most massive collection of wisdom the world has known. And I ''HATE'' you. It can't be for no reason.]]
* The condemned Aperture Labs can scare anyone with a fear of heights, such as myself, just by existing. The place is full of catwalks that just end or with missing railings over bottomless pits. And they certainly don't ''look'' very sturdy. The possibility that at any moment the metal grid you're walking on could break away underneath you will put you on pins and needles.
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