History NightmareFuel / TheDresdenFiles

For books known primarily for [[Awesome/TheDresdenFiles over-the-top awesomeness]] and [[Funny/TheDresdenFiles hilarious narration]], ''TheDresdenFiles'' can be [[NightmareFuel downright horrifying]] at times.

* Harry's frequent soliloquies about the true nature of the CrapsackWorld of the Dresdenverse bear mentioning, as he is frequent to point out how vast and unknown the world ''really'' is and perhaps even more disturbingly, how good we are at simply ignoring it. The basic premise sums it up best. It's a big world at there and humanity is nowhere near the top of the food chain.

* NightmareFuel/SummerKnight

[[AC:Storm Front]]
* The way that the mobster and his girlfriend are murdered in ''Storm Front''. Their hearts EXPLODE OUT OF THEIR CHESTS. ''While having sex.''
** Although this can double as a horrific Crowning Moment of Heartwarming-- you later find out only the girl was targeted. The mobster dies because he was in love with her, and in that moment, their hearts were as one.
** The realization of what the spell is supposed to do when properly powered. The version of the spell used in this book is roughly the equivalent of powering something through a potato battery.

[[AC:Fool Moon]]
* The loup garou's rampage through the special investigation department. Especially chilling is the description of the thing going through the cell block, slaughtering prisoners in their cells while the prisoners further up the line are unable to flee and can only scream as they hear it getting closer.
** In particular, the graphic and chilling description of one of the police officers dying because he was paralyzed and couldn't breathe. This was a result of the loup-garou having torn his spine out.

[[AC:Grave Peril]]
* Mickey Mallone's condition and the barbed-wire curse. [[MadnessMantra "Hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."]] along with high pitched giggling.
* The end of ''Grave Peril'' [[spoiler:where the Red Court vampires, led by Bianca, attack him in what could only be described as a gang rape scenario.]] Harry is so traumatized that whenever he brings it up it later books, he still talks about having [[BadDreams nightmares]], even in ''Changes''. He never goes into detail, instead saying only "They did things to me," which is extremely disturbing coming from Harry "{{Badass}}" Dresden.

[[AC:Death Masks]]
* [[spoiler: Shiro]]'s death by torture.

[[AC:Blood Rites]]
* [[spoiler:Madge]], after the remorseless entropy curse is redirected at her.
--> ''She had plenty of time to feel it as the demonic killer, the guiding mind who had been behind the entropy curse, flowed in its semigaseous form into her mouth and throat and lungs, then extruded savage spines and tore her apart from within.
--> [[spoiler:Madge]] didn't manage to get out a scream as she died.
--> But it wasn't for lack of trying.''
** Considering what that demonic killer ''was''... well, [[spoiler:see the ''Ghost Story'' section below]].
* Lord Raith. Just entirely. Damn pretty-boy vampires he is ''terrifying''.

[[AC:Dead Beat]]
* Corpsetaker in ''Dead Beat'', a [[AxCrazy psychotic]] necromancer who specializes in [[GrandTheftMe stealing the bodies of victims]]. Before Harry meets him/her, he/she was impersonating [[spoiler:a professor of antiquities]], and while we don't see it onscreen (thankfully), we see the bloody aftermath of his/her last BodySurf: [[spoiler:Corpsetaker swapped bodies with a probably-innocent grad student, who suddenly found herself trapped in an unfamiliar body, and was kept alive as she was gutted and tortured ''by her own body''. Her fellow "assistant" turned out to be a ghoul who took the opportunity to carve himself some steaks.]]
* A low-key but damn disturbing moment is when Harry is briefing Butters on the supernatural situation of the world. He points out that the rate at which people go missing, as in flat out disappear, is roughly equivalent to the [[ParanoiaFuel rate at which herd animals in Africa]] [[DyingLikeAnimals are killed by large predators]].
** Even worse - that was a ''real-world'' statistic that Jim Butcher quoted.
* The scene in the museum. ([[spoiler: ''No one is coming to save you, Harry.'']])
** [[spoiler: [[BigDamnHeroes Thank]] [[HeroicDog God]] [[NonActionGuy someone]] [[LetsGetDangerous did]].]]

[[AC: Proven Guilty]]
* The results of the spiritual mauling of the fetches' [[spoiler: and Molly]]'s various victims, particularly one girl who was driven into a permanent state of catatonia. In Harry's own words, [[MindRape "She's not coming back."]]
* Lloyd Slate's fate. He was a bastard, but nobody deserves that.

[[AC:White Night]]
* In ''White Night'', some ghouls attack and kill two sixteen-year-old Wardens-in-training (and is implied to have raped one of them while doing so). [[UnstoppableRage Harry proceeds to]] [[KillItWithFire roast one alive]], then throw the other one into a pit, melt the sand around it into glass, then pour orange juice on it head so it'll be [[CruelAndUnusualDeath eaten alive by ants]]. Carlos eventually convinces him to have mercy on Ghoul #2 and shoot it in the head, but still... ''wow''.
** Hell, any of Harry's [[KickTheDog dark moments]] are pretty damn frightening. Remember when he blew up a half-dozen storefronts cause he was ''frustated?'' Or how he showed Molly that she wasn't ready to help him by flinging a ''miniature sun'' at her and challenging her to block it? GoodIsNotNice, indeed.
** 'Flinging'? He let it slowly drift towards her head, just to give her more chances to try and fail. While taunting her for not being able to stop it.

[[AC:Small Favor]]
* What the Denarians did to [[spoiler: Ivy]] in ''Small Favor''. Torture of adults is horrible enough, but [[spoiler: to a ''child''?]] Nicodemus may be AffablyEvil, but he is still, at the core, a monster, and that scene solidifies it.
* The hob attack in the subway. Or more specifically, Harry mentioning that hobs don't just kill their victims, but like to drag them back into the Nevernever.

[[AC:Turn Coat]]
* Special mention goes out to the description of [[EldritchAbomination the Skinwalker]] in ''Turn Coat'' when Harry turned his Sight on the thing.
--> Try to imagine the stench of rotten meat. Imagine the languid, arrhythmic pulsing of a corpse filled with maggots. Imagine the scent of stale body odor mixed with mildew, the sound of nails screeching across a chalkboard, the taste of rotten milk, and the flavor of spoiled fruit.
--> Now imagine that your eyes can experience those things, all at once, in excruciating detail.
** Made even worse by the fact that Harry will ''never, ever forget it.''
* On the subject of Shagnasty, there's what it did to [[spoiler:Thomas]] to get to Harry. [[spoiler:It slowly flayed him alive, then when his vampiric regeneration ran out and he was about to die, fed him a random innocent woman. Thomas's out-of-control Hunger would force him to rape them to death. Then it ''started over again'', repeating the process so many times Thomas lost count. [[BreakTheCutie No wonder]] he fell off the FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires wagon...]]
** Even worse is the fact that Shagnasty only did that because it has [[spoiler: ''Intellectus'' on how to torture you in the most horrific way possible.]] So it, in fact, has no idea ''why'' it tortured [[spoiler: Thomas]] like it did, only that it would be the most effective way to cause pain for both Harry and [[spoiler: Thomas]].
* After Lara is hit by a concussion grenade in ''Turn Coat'', she goes from "sexy DarkActionGirl" to "burnt-up corpse powered by pure rage." [[spoiler:[[{{Squick}} Then she disembowels and "eats" her cousin]].]]
** [[spoiler:One must not forget the implied rape part of this scene. She basically raped her cousin to death while eating her entrails and her life energy at the same time.]]

[[AC:Changes]]
* Try [[spoiler: Ebenezar [=McCoy=]]] casually ripping the life from 200 men with two waves of the [[spoiler: Blackstaff. This is why we have the Laws of Magic, folks.]] You know it's bad when even Harry is appalled at the sheer cold-bloodedness of it.
--> "You took the wrong contract, boys."
** Worse, according to the [[MagicAisMagicA rules of magic]] as [[spoiler:Ebenezar]] and Harry believe them to be, magic can only be cast if you [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve truly believe that it should happen.]]
* The Red Court attack on the [[spoiler: FBI building]]. Made especially disturbing by Susan's explanation of their methodology: start from the ground floor and kill their way up, taking out anyone they find, solely to "send a message."
** It's also pretty chilling that she states that the human Cartels use this tactic too.
* Lloyd Slate's fate, again.

[[AC:Ghost Story]]
* During Harry's [[spoiler:invasion of the BigBad's fortress from the Nevernever side]], he unleashes the ghosts of killers on the enemy forces. Harry Dresden describes the scene as fresh scenes for his nightmares. He only describes the least disturbing sequence from the resulting [[CurbStompBattle slaughter]], and leaves the rest up to the reader's imagination. It's bad enough.
* ''He Who friggin' Walks Behind''. During a flashback, we finally learn the details of Harry's first encounter with it. Turns out it's a huge, incredibly strong and even more sadistic monstrosity that is ''always behind you, no matter where you turn'', so the only way you can see it is in a mirror or other reflective surface. 16-year-old Harry first sees it reflected in an arcade machine in a gas station; he turns around to look and sees nothing, but when he turns back, it's now standing two feet closer. And ''smiling''. Shortly afterward, it tore a person in three pieces with no effort at all. And no, you can't just stand with your back to the wall; Harry tried that, and it ''still'' came up behind him, lifted him by the neck with a tentacle, and threw him across the room. Think equal parts Shagnasty and SlenderMan, and you'll have a bit of an idea.
** Not to mention what Harry feels when looking at He Who Walks Behind. That descriptive monologue would have done Creator/HPLovecraft proud.
** Also, now we know ''exactly'' why Harry had such a BrownNote reaction in ''Blood Rites'' when he found out that He Who Walks Behind was the one behind the entropy curse.
** Harry asked for the creature's name. ''[[BrownNote He got it]]''.
* What [[spoiler: Molly]] [[PowerBornOfMadness pretended to become]] after the end of Changes, [[PowerBornOfMadness and]] [[MindRape what]] [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant she]] [[AdultFear actually becomes]] by the time of the book.
** The worst part of it wasn't seeing her in action so much as the way she described it. That it was ''easy'' to [[spoiler: setup small illusions that would end with people killing each other.]] The same way [[spoiler: it was ''easy'' to help Rosie and Nelson way back during the Proven Guilty casefile.]]

[[AC:Cold Days]]
* When Harry is shown the the border of reality and the fairies fighting the outsiders. It looks like a WWI Battlefield and makes every threat ever faced in the books look tiny.
* The sheer amount of times Harry slips in and out of his psychopath side is disturbing to both him and everyone around him. Worst of all Bob said the influence will only grow over time and while he might not succumb to it yet, a few years could do a number to him until he makes Lloyd Slate look like a schoolyard bully.
* The reveal of what exactly is underneath Demonreach. Below flights of stairs so long that Harry can't even guess at how deep they've gone lie walls made of crystal infused with powerful magic. How powerful is it? One single crystal has so much pow in it that Harry who's one of the most powerful wizards on the planet could never hope to matching it. And the entire complex is made of crystals just as powerful. Symbols used to construct the complex are so old even Bob can't recognize them. We're talking the most comprehensive magical depositary ever created and even he has no idea what they do. And why would someone go through so much energy to construct such a massive project you may ask?
** First we see a translucent crystal prison used to contain a skinwalker. It can see you and it wants nothing more than to escape and kill you the most nightmarish way possible. And when Harry looks around there's another one, and another and another until there's six more of these nightmares just waiting to break out.
** Then Demonreach informs Harry that the Skinwalkers are only minimum security and there are things much, much worse. For one there's countless Outsiders in lower levels and things more horrifying still. Then it tells Harry that his mind is just too weak to comprehend even the smallest part of what's trapped inside as words are just too flimsy to describe what they are as they transcend huan thought or comprehention. It's so immense a concept that Demonreach had to use Bob as a way of translating some of the sheer vastness of these beings. And even Bob had to be given a version dumbed many levels before he could dumb it down enough levels before Harry could understand without breaking his mind.
** And to top it all off, the whole entire complex was created by the first Merlin himself in four dimensional magic just to hold the things at bay. Oh and there's a very good reason indeed why the White Council refers to them as Wardens. Coupled with the description of the Outer Gates above, it becomes quite clear once you get past the Urban fantasy that this a full on CosmicHorror story scary enough to give Lovecraft a run for his money. And as it stands reality is slowly but surely failing as EldritchAbomination after EldritchAbomination pound away at the edges of reality until they inevitably get in.

* The reveal of what exactly is underneath Demonreach. Below flights of stairs so long that Harry can't even guess at how deep they've gone lie walls made of crystal infused with powerful magic. How powerful is it? One single crystal has so much pow in it that Harry who's one of the most powerful wizards on the planet could never hope to matching it. And the entire complex is made of crystals just as powerful. Symbols used to construct the complex are so old even Bob can't recognize them. We're talking the most comprehensive magical deposatary ever created and even he has no idea what they do. And why would someone go through so much energy to construct such a massive project you may ask?

** And to top it all off, the whole entire complex was created by the first Merlin himself in four dimensional magic just to hold the things at bay. Oh and there's a very good reason indeed why the White Council refers to them as Wardens. Coupled with the description of the Outer Gates above, it becomes quite clear once you get past the Erban fantasy that this a full on CosmicHorror story scary enough to give Lovecraft a run for his money. And as it stands reality is slowly but surely failing as EldritchAbomination after EldritchAbomination pound away at the edges of reality until they inevitably get in.

[[AC:General]]

* What the Denarians did to [[spoiler: Ivy]] in ''Small Favor''. Torture of adults is horrible enough, but [[spoiler: to a ''child''?]] Nicodemus may be AffablyEvil, but he is still, at the core, a CompleteMonster, and that scene solidifies it.

* What [[spoiler: Molly]] [[PowerBornOfMadness pretended to become]] by the time of the book, [[PowerBornOfMadness and]] [[MindRape what]] [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant she]] [[AdultFear actually becomes]] by the time of the book.

* The results of the spiritual mauling of the fetches' [[spoiler: and Molly's]] various victims, particularly one girl who was driven into a permanent state of catatonia. In Harry's own words, [[MindRape "She's not coming back."]]

* Lloyd Slate's fate, again.

* During Harry's [[spoiler:invasion of the BigBad's fortress from the Nevernever side]], he unleashes the ghosts of killers on the enemy forces. Harry Dresden describes the scene as fresh scenes for his nightmares. He only describes the least disturbing sequence from the resulting [[{{CurbStompBattle}} slaughter]], and leaves the rest up to the reader's imagination. It's bad enough.

** Not to mention what Harry feels when looking at He Who Walks Behind. That descriptive monologue would have done HPLovecraft proud.

** [[{{Futurama}} Death by snu-snu]] just became a whole lot scarier.
* Also the Red Court, horrible rubbery drooling bat-monsters.

* The way that the mobster and his girlfriend are murdered in ''Storm Front''. Their hearts EXPLODE. ''While having sex.''

For books known primarily for [[Awesome/TheDresdenFiles over-the-top awesomeness]] and [[Funny/TheDresdenFiles hilarious narration]], ''TheDresdenFiles'' can be [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel downright horrifying]] at times.

* Mickey Mallone's condition and the barbed-wire curse. ([[MadnessMantra "Hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts..."]])
** along with high pitched giggling.

* [[spoiler:Madge]], after getting an entropy curse, which kills anyone it targets, redirected at her.

* Lloyd Slate's fate, he was a bastard but nobody deserves that.

* The White Council's stance on dark magic. Doesn't matter how minor or what good intentions you used it for or even if you knew that you were breaking a law to begin with. You'll end up somewhere with a hood over your head, as they prepare to chop it off. No trial involved what so ever. [[spoiler: What makes it especially bad is that in Molly's case is that the Merlin would have done it to simply spite Harry, and, if Micheal hadn't arrived in time, he would have walked in on his daughter being executed (though being a Champion of God makes you king of [[ContrivedCoincidence nick of]] [[BigDamnHeroes time rescues]].)]]