History NightmareFuel / Portal

** "I seeeee you. I seeee your little feet. I'm gonna cut off your hair and put it on your feet and eat your little hair and feet. Holy ''shit'', Cave.

** "I seeeee you. I seeee your little feet. I'm gonna cut off your hair and put it on your feet and eat your little hair and feet]]. Holy ''shit'', Cave.

** "I seeeee you. I seeee your little feet. I'm gonna cut off your hair and put it on your feet and eat your little hair and feet"

-->'''Turret''': Hey! It's me! Stop shooting-Critical Error.

-->'''Wheatley:''' This body's ''amazing''. seriously ! I can't get over how small you are! But I'm ''huge''! Hehehehehe! [[spoiler:[[EvilLaugh Hahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!]] Hehe... actually... [[WhamLine why do we have to leave right now?]]]]

* Wheatley's [[spoiler: FaceHeelTurn WhamLine. His evil laugh might seem a bit silly and hammy, but then his voice gets ''really quiet''…]] also

* Strangely enough Companion Cubes can be heard screaming in the incinerator, while [=GLaDOS=] denies any sound being heard and insisting on the cubes destruction.

* ''Portal 2'' repeatedly uses the sound that the [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 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.

* What would have happened if [=GlaDOS=] failed to take control of her body during the moon scene. If all three of the only characters fell through the portal, the portal would stay open, quietly sucking Earth’s atmosphere away. The moon can’t retain any atmosphere, so any equilibrium is impossible. Over decades, the world might notice a drop in atmoshpheric pressure. The Combine might figure it out, but if this scenario took place on our Earth? No one would think to look for a rogue portal.
** Not quite as dire as you'd think. Since the moon always has the same side facing Earth, and the portal exit is pointing straight at Earth, most of the atmosphere would just drift through space before being recaptured by the planet's gravity.

** Kill GLaDOS with the right timing of her dialogue, and the aforementioned laugh can get pitched down and slowed enough to become extremely menacing and ominous.

** "I haAAAte yOOUuuuu..."

* The [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome menu music]] in chapter 6. So you spend several hours in Aperture's massive creepy parts, then you decide to take a break and quit the game and you're hit with that eerie, creepy magnificence. There's a reason why that piece of music is called "[=PotatOS=] Lament" on the soundtrack.

* [[spoiler: Wheatley's]] fate at the end of the game, [[spoiler: being stranded in space forever and ever]] is 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.

* The official tie-in Potato Science Kit includes information about the fateful Bring Your Daughter To Work Day and about the young Chell. The revelation that her father was an Aperture Employee does not seem horrifying at first ... until you recall how [=GLaDOS=] flooded the Enrichment Center with [[DeadlyGas deadly neurotoxin]]. In essence,[[YouKilledMyFather [=GLaDOS=] might have killed Chell's parents]]. [=GLaDOS=] constantly [[KicktheDog making fun of the fact that Chell has no parents]] comes off as downright sadistic in this case.

* What would have happened if GlaDOS failed to take control of her body during the moon scene. If all three of the only characters fell through the portal, the portal would stay open, quietly sucking Earth’s atmosphere away. The moon can’t retain any atmosphere, so any equilibrium is impossible. Over decades, the world might notice a drop in atmoshpheric pressure. The Combine might figure it out, but if this scenario took place on our Earth? No one would think to look for a rogue portal.

** "Oh, it's you. [[SarcasmMode It's been a long time, how have you been?]] I've been ''really'' busy being dead. You know, after you ''murdered'' me?" While the line isn't frightening in and of itself, Ellen [=McLain's=] delivery takes it from the typical acerbic sarcasm GLaDOS is known for right into nightmare fuel territory, thanks to the sheer raw amount of hatred oozing from her voice.

* Wheatley's line during the climax, when you're [[spoiler: getting ready to fight him and he tells you, "Let the games begin!"]] It's creepy in delivery, and moreso because we've heard the line before. When you reach the [[spoiler:neurotoxin generator with him, Wheatley cheerfully says "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 second time he says it, it's issued in a deeper and more ominous tone of voice than you'd believe silly little Wheatley was capable of.

-->'''Turret''': Guys! Stop shooting! Please! Guys, it's me! Stop shoo--*static*

* 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 ''beeping''. Loud, shrill beeping]]. It's actually a secret code, but still.

* The so-called "LSD rooms." LSD equals ''insanity.''

** 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 can easily be knocked over, and can be turned against each other, but if you dodge around them, they can 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.

** 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 Music/MikePatton voicing the thing.

** 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. 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 Creator/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. [[Webcomic/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]]'''''".
* Also from the soundtrack: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9nocjg2OLI "Self Esteem Fund"]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE0zbIDJzb8 "Android Hell"]] are pretty creepy. But [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqGXCQ_5WOc "No Cake For You"]] stands out as both the best and creepiest ambient music in the entire game.
* The 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 ''VideoGame/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?

** "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]] [[Funny/{{Portal 2}} J.K. Simmons]].]]

--> [[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.

*** And then she laughs- a tiny, high-pitched, SCARY laugh that fades with a sort of rattle. And it gets '''WORSE''':
---> "''Good news.'' I figured out what that thing you just incinerated '''''did'''''."

** This idea is actually played with near the end of the fan-made mappack of ''Portal: The Flash Version''. [[spoiler: Just before the final boss fight in that game, there's some kind of lab with ''multiple clones of Chell suspended in tubes of liquid, and wearing respirators.'']]
* You remember the personality cores? Morality, Curiosity, Cake, and Anger? 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.
** If [=GLaDOS=]'s case was any indication, [[MercyKill they might have welcomed it.]]

* Messing around with the portals a bit can show you the face of a [[http://31.media.tumblr.com/ec38b68c5b5de7f26fc5ebdb54b25bd2/tumblr_mz00t1r8dn1qai335o1_1280.jpg pretty disturbed/disturbing Chell.]]

** In one of the last testchambers, [=GLaDOS=]' dialogue (or lack there off) when you reach the exit: [computerized, monotone voice] "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee-". If this doesn't just hint that something's horribly wrong, what does?
*** The lights flickering like they're about to go out when that happens doesn't help at all.
*** That (and when it happens with the earlier "fling-f-f-fling into spaaa-") could be a side effect of [=GLaDOS=] removing a corrupted core; in these instances, the Space Sphere and the adventuresome Adventure Sphere revealed in ''Portal 2''. Adding and removing parts of her own personality: not creepy at all.

* It is somehow possible to make objects disappear entirely and cause the game to go all buggy on you. It's not sure how the bug was caused, aside from while emancipating everything that isn't nailed to black tiles in Testchamber 16. The result, everything started to bounce and go through solid walls. Which chamber was next? Oh, right... The Companion Cube Room. Imagine the horror of receiving a "faithful Companion Cube" that bounces and can pass through walls that you cannot. It pretty much leaves you stranded alone, and since the cube wasn't destroyed, it just passed through the walls, [=GLaDOS=] refuses to provide you with another!
** This glitch has proven to be trigger-able in any room. Just throw stuff through portals enough times and they will start spontaneously vanishing, and start bouncing and moving through walls. If something like that can happen with Cubes, Turrets and Cameras, it wouldn't be unthinkable that it might even happen to a human being!
* Strangely enough Companion Cubes can be heard screaming in the incinerator, The achievement for this act is called fratricide which is the act of murdering your brother which is suspicious given the manly scream while [=GLaDOS=] denies any sound being heard and insisting on the cubes destruction.

* 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''
** What makes it worse is this wasn't an unintended side-effect of the products, that was how they were designed to function, in order to prevent the stomach from having time to take calories from the food. The fact that apparently no-one at Aperture thought about what effect this might have on the human body reflects how utterly crazy the place was.
* 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.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A88YiZdXugA Don't disappoint me. Or I'll make you wish you could die."]]
* 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)]]
** ...And immediately after that, [[spoiler:you're shoved right back into testing under [=GlaDOS=] again. This time, it's alot more awkward. [[TranquilFury She may not be showing it,]] as much as she could at least as a computer, but you can tell: She is '''mad.''' Mad at you killing her, and she has every intention of making you suffer for it. If Wheatley hadn't returned, Chell likely would've been trapped indefinitely by [=GlaDOS=], forced to do test after agonizing test again... and again... '''[[AndIMustScream and again...]]''']]
** "Oh, '''it's you.''' [[SarcasmMode It's been a long time, how have you been?]] I've been ''really'' busy being dead. You know, after you '''murdered''' me?" While the line isn't frightening in and of itself, Ellen [=McLain's=] delivery takes it from the typical acerbic sarcasm GLaDOS is known for right into nightmare fuel territory, thanks to the sheer raw amount of '''hatred''' oozing from her voice.
* 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, [[https://youtu.be/bYfBFy2yjiA?t=20m21s but she looks dead.]]
** 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, [[spoiler: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 Rattman". [[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 [[spoiler:insane stalker's ''ghost'']] secretly watching your every move? You be the judge.
** Not only do the panel and any portals in the den close, the ENTIRE TEST SEEMS TO START OVER! Rattmannn seems to be either a poltergeist, or a panel master. You decide.

* ''Portal 2'' repeatedly uses the sound that the [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 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. [[LamePunReaction Sorry]].
** Though listening to it, it could also be the sound when a turret (both Aperture and Combine) spot a target just before they start firing. Doesn't make it any less scary.
** 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 tells the story, if you listen closely, you can hear what sounds like turrets SCREAMING!
** Later in the game, you find out that there's a grain of truth to this story. There really is a room full of screaming robots. [=GLaDOS=] built it for giggles. She contemplates putting Wheatley in there as a punishment. YMMV whether this makes things [[NightmareRetardant better]] or worse.
* The official tie-in Potato Science Kit includes information about the fateful Bring Your Daughter To Work Day and about the young Chell. The revelation that her father was an Aperture Employee does not seem horrifying at first ... until you recall how [=GLaDOS=] flooded the Enrichment Center with [[DeadlyGas deadly neurotoxin]]. In essence,[[YouKilledMyFather GLaDOS killed Chell's parents]].
** [=GLaDOS=] constantly [[KicktheDog making fun of the fact that Chell has no parents]] comes off as downright sadistic in this case.
* [[spoiler:The core transfer scene. Hearing [=GLaDOS=] scream in pain as ''her face gets ripped off'' is horrifying, and then Wheatley slowly succumbing to the chassis's power...]]
** [[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.]]
** If you're quick enough, you can noclip through the panels and down a bit then look up. You can see what looks like [[spoiler: a dozen ... things? screwdrivers? grabbing at her head. Whatever they were, they looked awful.]]
*** [[http://i1.theportalwiki.net/img/thumb/e/e8/Core_transfer_inside.jpg/800px-Core_transfer_inside.jpg Here it is.]] If [=GLaDOS=] had a human face, I shudder to imagine its emotion
** Wheatley's [[spoiler: FaceHeelTurn WhamLine. His evil laugh might seem a bit silly and hammy, but then his voice gets ''really quiet''…]] also
* [[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: 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.]]
*** 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.
* The cube-turret hybrid [[spoiler: Wheatley pumps out]] in ''The Itch''. Just look at them. ''They want to die.''

** When you pick one of these things up, they withdraw into their cubes a bit and tremble. Their eyes blink on and 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.
*** You know when you first see them, when [[spoiler: [=PotatOS=] attempts to paradox Wheatley]]? All the Frankenturrets are still twitching, their eyes flickering on and off...
*** The most horrifying part of that whole scene is that, while [[spoiler: 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 [[spoiler: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.]]
** [[spoiler: The flatline sound effect that plays when Caroline is deleted. It implies Caroline was alive (and possibly aware) all along. Not anymore.]]
* Even more than [[spoiler: Still Alive]], the song [[spoiler: Want You Gone]] in ''Portal 2'' is filled to the brim with 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...]]"

* ALL of the Rattmann 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 [[http://free-proxyserver.com/browse.php?u=noyGON3EFlrdO5geHYAI1lADuCSIamXixvlkGekljap2aiY%2FLOtx0ivBgod7lLem%2B6iMmCggQ2ch7%2BC8zg%3D%3D&b=29 Den]] where you complete the Final Transmission achievement...

--> [[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 crusher. His "STAY '''''STILL''''', ''PLEASE''"; his voice is so full of rage and you can just hear him snarling it through gritted teeth.]]
* 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. ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis You. Are.]]'' '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis 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, Erik 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 [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome menu music]] in chapter 6. So you spend several hours in Aperture's MASSIVE, ''MASSIVE'' creepy parts, then you decide to take a break and quit the game, BAM, you get hit in the face with eerie, creepy magnificence. There's a reason why that piece of music is called "[=PotatOS=] Lament" on the soundtrack.
* 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.
** So seconded. And RIGHT before Wheatley tells his story, YOU CAN HEAR TURRETS SCREAMING! [[ScareChord Have fun trying to hear it.]]
* 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: And after they begin playing music, the elevator rises, and you can see multiple floors flash by containing dark, shadowy rooms with various odd types of turrets, which isn't so bad at first.]] But then there are two floors which also contain strangely misshapen masses - one of which looks almost fleshy.
** The rooms that you can see in order: [[spoiler:The first four singing turrets, another pair, three horizontal-body turrets, two defective turrets, three turrets looking at a Companion Cube, a potato-infested room with three turrets hanging from the ceiling and finally the Prima Donna Turret's chamber.]]
* 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....]]

* [[spoiler: The core transfer scene that ends Act 1 is rather unnerving. The back-and-forth between Wheatley and [=GLaDOS=] is rather humorous... until you press the Stalemate Resolution Button. Wheatley then starts speculating on whether the core transfer would be painful, with [=GLaDOS=] assuring him that it will. The scream of pain he makes after he disappears under the floor is more than a little scary, simply by sheer dint of not knowing what's happening to him under there. But the worst is when dozens of tiny mechanical arms come up off the floor and begin grabbing [=GLaDOS=] as she tries to get away (she can't; what looks like an electrical shock goes through her after you press the button, which effectively paralyzes her). Her denial becomes increasingly desperate pleading that cuts off in a long, drawn-out cry of pain. The worst bit, again, is that we have no idea what is happening to her.]] They managed to evoke some intense BodyHorror with AIs. Good job, Valve.
** Now in glorious [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBWjm19evUw&t=2m40s 1080p!]]
* [[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 [[spoiler: 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...
** The music, again. Especially when [[spoiler: Wheatley says "And don't think I'm not on to you ''too'', lady!"-]] you hear a hint of the victorious notes from a minute earlier, but the fourth note hits a D-flat instead of an E, tinting the music another shade of scary- you're a long way from winning now...
* [[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.
* [[spoiler: Wheatley's]] fate at the end of the game, [[spoiler: being stranded in space forever and ever]] is 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 Rattman", is very scary. If [[CreepyMonotone the music itself]] doesn't make you shit your pants, the indiscernible gibberish (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...
** And it's been [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVckngF-xgM decoded.]]
* 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 [[Music/{{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 ''beeping''. Loud, shrill beeping]].
** It's a coded message 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 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? [[Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream A phrase involving the words "nano-angstrom" and "hate" come to mind]].
** The only real consolation is that [=GLaDOS=] is [[UnreliableNarrator a pathological liar]], so she ''may'' have made it up.
* 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...
* [[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.]] To make it worse, you can also see in the lower right corner of the mural what seems to be Rattmann begging for mercy or hiding behind a companion cube... *shudder* *shudder*
* 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.
** ''Portal'' and ''Half-Life'' are in the same universe, but an undetermined amount of time has passed. Nine years? Ninety? Nine hundred? Nine thousand? Not too likely. However, that being said, there is also zero evidence that the Combine invasion or presence ever ended, no matter how much time has passed.
*** From ''Aperture Science: A History'':

* [[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.]] This means that it is almost certain that Chell survived all of this just to die a painful death of terminal cancer. 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 the repulsion and propulsion gels.
*** It's also entirely possible that the moon rocks actually had nothing at all to do with Cave's illness. A disturbing amount of Aperture's technology [[RunningGag seems to revolve around tumors]]. That...[[FridgeHorror might actually make it worse]].
* "Now, maybe you don't have any tumors. Well, don't worry. If you sat on a folding chair in the lobby and weren't wearing lead underpants we took care of that for you."
* "The average human male is about 60% water. Far as we're concerned, that's a bit extravagant. So if you feel a bit dehydrated in this next test, that's normal. We're gonna hit you with some jet engines and see if we can't get you down to 20 or 30%."
* "Alright, we're working on a little teleportation experiment. Now, this doesn't work with all skin types, so try to remember which skin is yours and if it doesn't teleport along with you we'll do what we can to [[BodyHorror sew you right back into it."]]
* "Great job, astronaut, war hero, and/or olympian! With your help, we're gonna (distorted, sped up) CHANGE THE WORLD!"
* Wheatley screaming [[spoiler: [[http://i1.theportalwiki.net/img/2/27/Wheatley_bw_finale04_through_portal08.wav "GRAB ME! GRAB ME!"]]]] before he is [[spoiler: sucked up into space and Chell is rescued by [=GLaDOS=].]]
** It comes back to haunt you when you remember that [[spoiler: none of it's his fault. Apparently Aperture Mainframes causes all AIs to become psychopathically 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 ''Lab Rat'' 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 Rattmann 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. [[spoiler:Wheatley was a murderer long before he ever tried to kill Chell.]]
** Also take notice to the beds you can see. Notice the lack of corpses and blood. But you can see that someone has slept there. Do you remember what [=GLaDOS=] said in ''Portal 1'' [[spoiler: "I've got no idea of what's going on outside" she also said that she was the only thing protecting them from that. And now she's down and can't protect you...]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZIVmKOdrBk The fan-video "This is Aperture"]] is a ''Portal'' version of [[WesternAnimation/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. Even ''Cave Johnson'', of all people, sounds a tad bit unsettling. ''You're not safe in Aperture!''
** The rest of the videos make it worse, painting Aperture as a {{Dystopia}} ruled by [=GLaDOS=], who tortures the AI's as much as she tortures the test subjects. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDY-DF4Lpdg GLaDOS Is To Blame]] helps cement that idea. The truly scary part is, virtually nothing in-game suggests this is at all inaccurate.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QO40HjRH2w The Pit Song]] manages to top them both, and is also a major TearJerker. It was originally meant for an episode of the seemingly discontinued Machinima ''Machinima/TheUnderground'', which would have featured "The Pit" where defective robots are "tortured, destroyed, reappropriated, or just left to rot". The music video consists of a montage of the robots' horrific (from their perspective) fates, and they are portrayed as sentient and completely aware that they have failed.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDAFivGsKX4&spfreload=10 Making Science]] gets some points for [[OhCrap showing Chell's reaction to Wheatley's betrayal.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0NXY89WsxY Carol of the Turrets]] turns a beautiful Christmas carol into an eerie, super-creepy song about killing test subjects. What makes it really disturbing is that this seems to be the actual attitude of Aperture Science in the games, or at least the AI. "Neurotoxin is pumping in from everywhere filling the air..."

* 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!
* [[spoiler: Wheatley's reaction to the testing euphoria]] can be rather disconcerting and disturbing to someone with a certain background.

* The alternate Aperture realities. One of them, Cave died in the mantis-man breakout. Another, everyone is a giant mantis and the experiment was to create Man-mantises. Yet in another, Cave and Greg are watching you. ''Always''.
** Incidentally, the mantis-Cave's voice is ''horrifying''

** [[http://dlc2.portal2sounds.com/29#s=2 I seeeee you. I seeee your little feet. I'm gonna cut off your hair and put it on your feet and eat your little hair and feet]]. Holy shit, Cave.
* Speaking of alternate realities... the fan map [[http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=71520977 Don't Make Lemonade]] seems like any normal map but set in the style of the old Aperture Labs facilities. [[spoiler:Then when you're forced to push a button and turn around to see ''Chell'' giving you a lifeless stare.]] [[{{Foreshadowing}} You should have read the signs...]]
** [[https://33.media.tumblr.com/69cf58aa252b006cfed5bcc93d8ce522/tumblr_new8jdoM851rlzsoao1_1280.png Pleasant dreams kids.]]

* [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Early in the game's development]], Wheatley (back when he was called Pendleton) would tell Chell that "...a [[http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/The_G-Man man with a brief-case]] was just here to see you!" This raises a lot of questions about what's been going on in Aperture.
** Which raises the question. Was The G-Man planning to "employ" Chell before that line was cut?
* The fate of [[spoiler: Wheatley]] is pretty damn horrifying when you get to thinking about it. [[spoiler: You awaken this person, work with her through a variety of life-threatening situations, [[FireForgedFriends and you two become each others' only friend]]...then, after it seems you've succeeded in escaping, the system you're plugged into]] ''[[spoiler: [[BrainwashedAndCrazy corrupts your mind]]]]'' [[spoiler: with paranoia, [[AxCrazy Ax Craziness]], and an addiction to testing, [[FaceHeelTurn and you immediately begin trying to kill her]]. Then, when she finally gets you out of the system and you can think clearly, you're [[TheAtoner genuinely sorry]]...but you get shot into space before you get a chance to prove it, [[FateWorseThanDeath to spend the rest of your existence with only Space Core and your own regrets for company.]]]]
* Wheatley's line during the climax, when you're [[spoiler: getting ready to fight him and he tells you, "Let the games begin!"]] It's made all the worse because we've heard the 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.''''']]
** It gets even worse [[FridgeHorror when you realize]] that [[spoiler: this happened to him ''[[BrainwashedAndCrazy against his will]]'' - [[AxeCrazy Axe Craziness]], paranoia, and an addiction to testing are programmed into [=GLaDOS=]' body.]]

--> ''"Am I being too vague here? I'' despise ''you! I'' loathe ''you! You bossy, smugly quiet'' MONSTER ''of a woman! This place would have been a'' TRIUMPH ''if it weren't for you!"''
** Not only does it show that [[spoiler:Wheatley]] has completely gone off the deep end, the use of the word 'monster' and the phrase 'this would have been a triumph' show that [[spoiler: due to the mainframe, Wheatley is ''slowly taking on [=GLaDOS=]'s personality!'']]
* For the final battle, [[spoiler: Wheatley was]] originally going to look like [[http://combineoverwiki.net/images/e/e3/Wheatdos_turrets.jpg this]].
* "Are you still there?" and "I don't hate you..." are creepy enough when said in the turrets' robotic-yet-childlike voices...but the line ''"There you are."'' is spoken in such a way that it doesn't sound quite like the turrets. It sounds more like [=GLaDOS=].
* Remember the boss battle where [[spoiler: Wheatley]] tells you that six other test subjects died trying to get the portal gun? Commentary reveals that he's ''telling the truth''.
* What [=GLaDOS=] threatens to do to Wheatley [[spoiler: before killing him. Especially the idea of being stuck in a room where robots scream at you.]]
* The sheer number of dangerous experiments and equipment that existed in early Aperture. Dozens that could give you tumors (including folding chairs in the lobby), an invisible laser that turns your blood into gasoline without your knowledge, some sort of experiment that causes you to excrete coal, another transforming experiment that changes your blood into peanut water and can trigger allergic reactions, a cranial microchip implant that can hit 500 degrees under certain circumstances, fluorescent calcium to track neurological activity which vitrifies the frontal lobe when under stress, a teleporter that fails to properly teleport certain skin types, and a test that could result in ''the whole of time being wiped out.'' Yikes.
** About the calcium that solidifies the frontal lobe? ''[[YourMindMakesItReal Visualizing it triggers the solidification.]]''
* The concept of an intelligence dampening sphere is pretty disturbing when you think about it. Imagine something literally designed to excrete bad idea after bad idea clinging to your brain like a cancerous growth, [[MindRape forcefully integrating these ideas into your mind]] [[StupidityInducingAttack to lower your intelligence.]] And it never stops.
** TruthInTelevision, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrusive_thought unfortunately...]]
* You know how Cave Johnson contracted lunar poisoning from ground-up moon rocks? [[AluminumChristmasTrees That's a real thing.]] Moon dust is comparable to ''asbestos'' in terms of how bad it is for the human body. Unlike dust here on Earth, it's jagged and brittle, making it easy for it to stick to lung tissue and cause serious conditions like silicosis, [[ParanoiaFuel which can take years to show any symptoms]]. Considering that he wondered if portals can "leach the lunar poison out of a man's bloodstream," it's possible that fragments of may have also gotten into his blood through [[BodyHorror one or more open sores in his lungs]] and did all sorts of extra damage, such as clogging up his kidneys and causing renal failure. IncurableCoughOfDeath was the least of his worries. One has to wonder just how much dust was produced from those $70,000,000 worth of rock turned to conversion gel and how many others might've been exposed.

* 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...

** "Oh, '''it's you.''' [[SarcasmMode It's been a long time, how have you been?]] I've been ''really'' busy being dead. You know, after you '''murdered''' me?" While the line isn't frightening in and of itself, Ellen McLain's delivery takes it from the typical acerbic sarcasm GLaDOS is known for right into nightmare fuel territory, thanks to the sheer raw amount of '''hatred''' oozing from her voice.