History NightmareFuel / TheElderScrollsVSkyrim

* Your first dragon fight. Remember what happened to that poor guard that was in Odahviing's sights? That can happen to '''you''' too, [[TooDumbToLive if you're out in the open on flat terrain]].

** Occasionally there is a bug which causes some of the mannequins to be [[UncannyValley animated and/or move around with basic NPC AI]]. Even worse, sometimes they will move off-screen and [[ParanoiaFuel freeze when their model is rendered]]. Sometimes they disappear, and when you turn back around, they're sort of wobbling back into place like they just sneaked away for a moment.

* High King Torygg's death. When the guards say that Ulfric "shouted him to pieces", a normal person might be skeptical. However, a reader of the in-game book ''The Arcturian Heresy'' will know that it's very probable that this is true. When Sybille Stentor (who's famous for torturing people in the castle dungeons) and Jarl Elisif describe his death, they make it sound like it's the most gruesome way a human could dispatch another person. If you visit the Palace of Kings in Windhelm before starting the Civil War questline, you can hear Ulfric debating whether he should do the same to ''Jarl Balgruuf''.

* An in-game book, ''Physicalities of Werewolves'', deals with a researcher's morbid study on live werewolves. It describes the experiments on two subjects, A and B. It starts off relatively innocent with A, even though he eventually dies as well. It's with subject B that things get nauseating, as the researcher performs vivisection on her. In other words, he cut her open while she was still alive and then forced her to transform so he could study the effect the transformation had on her organs and muscles. The subject was still very much alive during all this and before she could succumb to her wounds, the researcher applied "remedies" for the disease directly to the internal organs. The Wolfsbane rendered the subject's bones brittle ("the rib cage nearly collapsed at the touch"), while some sort of berry juice was pressed directly into the veins, which caused them to "shrivel behind the flow as it moved through the system. Upon reaching the heart, the major vessels pulled away completely, and the subject expired within minutes." Holy fuck. You can find this book on some members of the Silver Hand, which pretty much adds to their general unpleasantness due to their penchant for torturing any wolves or werewolves that they get their hands on. The book also sheds some light on [[PainfulTransformation why the transformation process is so painful]]: according to the author's discoveries, the lycanthrope's heart enlarges before the rest of the body, [[BodyHorror leading to severe chest pains as their heart quite literally feels like it's about to burst out of their chests.]] And what's more? This is the most common book to find on a dead vigilant of Stendarr. Yeah. "Stendarr's mercy upon you for the vigil shall have none" is less than an idle greeting.

** And the inversion of that for the dragons. Dragons are eternal, immortal, unchanging... and here comes this puny mortal who uses your own language against you, scrambling your mind so you can't even escape. You fight back, but for naught; something happens to you that has ''never'' happened to dragonkind before. You die. And then it gets ''worse''. '''He eats your soul.'''

** On a related note, what the Thalmor did to [[spoiler:Ulfric Stormcloak]]. Torture is dehumanizing enough, but believing the information you gave up lost the war and rendered all your comrades' sacrifices moot? The guilt would be off the charts. Worst of all, [[ManipulativeBastard it isn't even true]] - it's just MindRape all the more brutal for its simplicity, and all the more disturbing because it's the sort of thing that can happen in real life.

** And the inversion of that for the dragons. Dragons are eternal, immortal, unchanging... and here comes this puny mortal who uses your own language against you, scrambling your mind so you can't even escape. You fight back, but for naught; something happens to you that has ''never'' happened to dragonkind before. You die. And then it gets ''worse''. [[spoiler:'''He eats your soul.''']]

** Just north of Helgen is a place called Skybound Watch Pass. Upon entering the place, it's guarded by typical bandits, easily killed. But going just a bit further leads you to a set of iron doors. [[spoiler: As soon as you open the doors, a giant frostbite spider awaits you, looking directly at you without any warning of its presence whatsoever. It proceeds to charge in your direction. You're also in a narrow cave, meaning you can only go forward or retreat and close the doors again until you go back and kill it.]]

** Spiders in Skyrim are so bad that Farkas - longtime member of the [[AdventureGuild Companions]], [[BarbarianHero Barbarian Hero]], and badass [[spoiler:werewolf]] - [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes refuses to go further into Ysgramor's tomb because of the spiders there]]: "Ever since Dustman’s Cairn, the big crawly ones have been too much for me. Everyone has his weakness, and this one is mine."

** Most Dwemer ruins are generally fun to explore and not ''too'' scary. Then there's Kagrenzel, an out-of-the-way ruin in the eastern mountains. When you step through the front door of the place, you find yourself in a dark room; take a step forward, and a mysterious glowy orb will light up in the center of the room, on a pedestal surrounded by a couple of dead bandits. Approaching the orb [[SchmuckBait gives the prompt to touch it]]. You'd expect it to trigger some automatons or an easily avoided DeathTrap, right? ''Wrong''. [[spoiler:Touching the orb will cause walls to pop up all around you, trapping you completely, while the orb starts floating around the room emitting a [[HellIsThatNoise horrific screeching noise]]. After a few tense moments, the room goes dark completely... and then '''the floor flips over, dropping you down a hundred-foot shaft in the ground.''' Fortunately, there's SoftWater below to break your fall; unfortunately, there are protruding ledges that may very well kill you instantly on the way down. And even if you do survive, you're now trapped in a cave full of Falmer...]] It's almost like something that made its way out of a survival horror game and wound up in ''Skyrim''. Which, in turn, brings up another question that might better go unanswered: ''why did the Dwemer even have that?''

* [[WickedWitch Hagravens]]. Witches who, through some unexplained ritual, transformed themselves into half-woman/half-raven monstrosities who are as powerful as they are horrifying, and implied to be the witch-equivalent of lich-dom, to boot. At one point in the Companions questline, [[spoiler: you venture into a small cave populated with a few Hagravens called the Glenmoril Witches, so you can remove the ''head'' of one (or the entire coven, if you wish) and take it with you in order to cure the lycanthropy of the Circle.]] For massive nightmare fuel: When you take their heads, [[http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Glenmoril_Witch_Head this is what you see in your inventory]].

*** [[spoiler:You can also sneak up on them and "pickpocket" their briar hearts while they are still alive, [[AndShowItToYou with predictable results]].]]
* Every step in the murder mystery of Morthal is nightmare fuel, but especially the part when you play hide-and-seek with a child's ghost. The moment you find her [[spoiler:at her grave]], she recoils in shock [[spoiler:because a freaking vampire lady shows up right behind you.]]

* One that's thankfully easy to miss is found in one of the Dragon Priests' tombs. Said priest (Rahgot) was a crazy bastard even by the standards of insane dragon worshipers. He had his followers commit mass suicide so their ghosts could continue to defend the place. The truly disturbing part? [[spoiler:He apparently [[WouldHurtAChild sacrificed]] ''[[WouldHurtAChild children]]'' to [[PoweredByAForsakenChild make this work]]. You can find an open grave full of small wrapped bodies in the tomb.]] On the plus side, it makes killing this particular Dragon Priest [[CatharsisFactor that much more cathartic]].
* [[TheMaze The Maze of Shalidor]]. It's in a non-important place in the Labyrinthian region, and is not connected to any quests; it's basically a completely optional maze where you have to perform one spell from each school of magic. And how's that scary? [[spoiler: Well, when you have cast all spells, the underground cave opens, and there is a portal. You step into the portal, and are transported to a weird purple circle, where you have to fight a dremora. It is explained in a book that Shalidor made it as a test for potential archmages. That's why it requires knowledge of all spell schools and enough power to defeat a powerful Daedra to survive it.]]
** A glitch can make this place even more terrifying: [[spoiler:if you kill the dremora in a single hit, it may not be able to teleport itself and you out of the arena. Since there's no exit and you can't fast-travel out of the location, [[GameBreakingBug you're stuck]]. Sometimes whacking the corpse with a melee weapon might warp you out, but if that doesn't work... you're locked in there, [[SealedGoodInACan forever trapped]] in a tiny, featureless pocket dimension in the middle of Akatosh knows where.]]
* In one quest where you help out a struggling shipping company against pirate raids, you must storm the pirates' fortress, Japhet's Folly. If you explore a bit, you find a locked room in which you find the corpse of Japhet himself, along with his journal. Reading it, you learn the history of this place. Japhet writes of leaving Dawnstar with a crew to build the tower, but his crew left one by one, convinced that the place was haunted. Soon, Japhet was left all alone. He eventually became convinced that the ghost stories were true, as he heard them speaking to him. A little creepy, but nothing too severe. What clinches it is that Japhet seems like a fairly normal, stable person, until you turn to the last page, which simply says... [[spoiler:OH GODS HELP ME]]
* The quest in [[LighthousePoint Frostflow Lighthouse]]. If the dead horse outside doesn't tip you off that something's not right here, you enter the lighthouse to find furniture overturned, with blood everywhere and a dead body. Your quest message flashes across the screen: find the murderer. By reading the journals, you find that it was the couple's dream to retire to a lighthouse, even though their nearly-adult children didn't like the idea much. They've been hearing noises in the cellars, and assumed it was just skeevers. Then the husband comes home from a shopping trip to find his wife dead and children missing, and locks himself in the basement to either kill whatever did this or die trying. Turns out the cellar opened up into a large ice cave swarming with Falmer and Chaurus. Along the way, you find the rest of the family members' bodies - the son being the first body you find, the daughter having ''[[BetterToDieThanBeKilled killed herself]]'' to escape the horrible things the Falmer did to her father and others they dragged down there, and the father's remains being [[spoiler:''inside the biggest Chaurus Reaper ever'']]. For bonus points, the cavern beneath the lighthouse is literally the largest Chaurus nest ''in the game'', containing over 500 egg sacs. This one cavern somehow manages to house almost a ''third'' of all the Chaurus egg sacs in the base game.

* The book ''Confessions of a Khajiit Fur Trader''. After a heist gone wrong gets his brother killed, a Khajiit realizes how much the pelts of the intelligent races are worth. So he embarks on a murderous spree, killing Khajiit and Argonians for their skins, until he is caught. The jailer allows him to write this story on the night before his execution. [[spoiler: He has a lockpick and he knows how to use it and get out of the city. His head will not roll in the morning.]] The nightmare fuel gets doubled or even tripled if you're a Khajiit or Argonian with this psycho out for your potential pelt. It also becomes NauseaFuel for the former.
* ''The Horrors of Castle Xyr'' is an in-game book, written in style of a play, about two Imperial Officers investigating the eponymous castle and its master due to some unpleasant rumors, and they seem to have found what they were looking for when they discover that the basement is full of dead bodies and they conclude that Xyr is a necromancer. Then, an Argonian delivery girl arrives with a letter and a package addressed to Xyr, which the officers take, and [[spoiler: it turns out that Xyr isn't a necromancer: he's a Destruction mage with a fascination of using his craft to inflict CruelAndUnusualDeath on anyone he gets his hands on. The book then details some of said deaths, which include burning someone alive, dousing someone in acid over extended periods of time, and slowly killing someone by inflicting numerous frostbites on them. [[FromBadToWorse Worse yet,]] Xyr is basically pen pals with a wizard from the Mages' College who sends him suggestions for his "experiments", and even subjects, as the Argonian female was supposed to be a new victim for Xyr. ''Then'' [[PlotTwist it turns out]] that the woman who was supposed to be Xyr's maid ''was'' Xyr, who then puts out all the lights and starts throwing lightning bolts at the heroes with the intent of using them as her newest victims. [[AmbiguousEnding The book/play ends there.]]]]

* One of the earliest Companion quests may be to sort out a trouble-causing Falmer group in Shimmermist Cave. In the end, you find the leader. He's in the middle of the room, so you can back him up into a corner by using Fus Ro Dah. He slams into the dark wall... [[spoiler: only for the wall to walk forward and reveal itself to be a ''huge Dwemer centurion''.]] Since it's entirely possible to take on this quest at very low levels, this may be the first time you ever see one of these in the game. And if you're used to watching [[spoiler:Dwemer centurions [[CurbStompBattle wipe the floor with Falmer]]? [[OhCrap Not]] [[VillainTeamUp this time!]]]]
* During the Dark Brotherhood storyline, [[spoiler:the Night Mother talks through a ''mummified corpse.'' The first time you hear her speak, you are shut up in her dark coffin, next to her body.]] If you're not expecting it, this is one instance that may necessitate [[BringMyBrownPants a change of pants]].
** Also related to the Dark Brotherhood storyline is [[SycophanticServant Cicero]]. At first he might seem a little ''too'' eccentric and more of an annoyance than a danger. Later however, you come across his journals, written largely when he was more mentally stable back in Cyrodiil. [[spoiler: You track his frightening descent into madness, exaggerated by the decrepit state of the Brotherhood he held so dear, his obsession over being appointed Keeper, and eternally being haunted by his final kill: a jester]]. Also, prior to starting the Dark Brotherhood questline, you can find him near the Loreius Farm, next to a broken cart with his "mother's" coffin on board. If you talk to him, he'll ask you to help him convince the farmer Vantus Loreius to fix the cart, which you can do. However, if you agree with Vantus that there's something fishy about Cicero, you can sic the nearby guard on him by claiming that he's smuggling contraband in his cart, which the guard believes and, after briefly confronting Cicero, he leaves to get reinforcements. [[spoiler:Regardless of how you feel about Cicero, convincing Vantus to help him is actually the better choice; if you side with Vantus, then leave and come back later, you'll discover that Cicero [[NotSoHarmlessVillain brutally murdered both him and his wife]] for framing him.]]

** Two words: "We know." [[spoiler:This, along with a black handprint, is the entirety of the letter you receive from the Dark Brotherhood after killing Grelod the Kind. Sleep tight! ...or better yet, ''[[NeverSleepAgain don't]]''! [[ParanoiaFuel That's how they get you!]]]]
** Turned into further NightmareFuel [[spoiler:for [[TheBaroness Astrid]]. If you play it right, you - the one she went to trouble to kidnap all the way from halfway across the continent - are not only the Dragonborn, but also could be Nightingale of the Thieves' Guild, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, possible Thane to most if not all of Skyrim's Holds, the one who single-handedly cleared ''lots'' of raiders and bandit caves, and if you finish the main storyline, the defeater of the '''the dragon heralding the World's End itself'''. The Dragonborn can have magic and shouts powerful enough to kill Astrid a hundred times over. Not only that, this 'victim' can also summon atronachs, wraiths, and freaking '''[[PhysicalGod Daedras and Dragon Priests]]'''. It is not yet clear to Astrid, but is very clear to ''you'' that you are not trapped by Astrid with the three would-be victims, but [[RussianReversal she has trapped]] ''[[MuggingTheMonster herself]]'' [[MuggingTheMonster with]] '''[[MuggingTheMonster you]]'''. Should the player decide, all hell can and ''will'' break loose on the Dark Brotherhood - that's why the much-understated [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome 'Destroy the Dark Brotherhood' quest is immediately started once you show Astrid her folly]]. The Dragonborn outright ''annihilates'' the centuries-old guild for good with merely ''two'' survivors, who only escaped death because they weren't there at the time (Cicero because he was stuck on the road, and Babette because she's technically a child, and killing children is impossible without mods). On the other hand, if the player accepts Astrid's offer, then she slowly realizes it herself just ''whom'' she made [[OhCrap the latest Dark Brotherhood recruit]], which is why she tries to have the Dragonborn killed once they become too useful, but to no avail.]]
* [[spoiler:Astrid's body]] at the end of "Death Incarnate" in the Dark Brotherhood line. [[spoiler: She's burned all over and practically skeletal,]] and everyone, especially [[spoiler: Astrid herself,]] knows that [[spoiler: she's]] committed an unforgivable sin (by Sithis's standards, at least) and [[spoiler: she has only seconds to live.]] AlasPoorVillain, indeed.
** The worst part? She contacts by performing the Black Sacrament, [[spoiler:to put a contract ''on herself'', by using ''herself'' as the effigy. Remember what must be done to the effigy for the ritual to carry through, with the candles and the Nightshade, and a dagger through a heart? Not to mention that her soul is to go to the Void for serving Sithis... not as his agent anymore, but as a target, a slave to him. [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves A slave thrice damned]] for betraying the Five Tenets and for almost dooming the last hold her god had on the mortal plane!]] And she ''[[{{Determinator}} does]]'' it, nevertheless!

* [[HauntedHouse "The House of Horrors"]] is a ''very'' aptly named quest. Let's just say that [[spoiler:Molag Bal has gone from being a {{Jerkass}} in ''Oblivion'' and '''[[TookALevelInJerkass really]]''' stepped up as "Lord of Domination". Even scarier is that you are forced to kill a priest of a rival Daedric Prince in Molag Bal's name (if you want all the Daedric Artifacts) by cudgeling him with a rusty mace over and over, while he's bound and continually begging you to stop, until he finally submits. The Priest's soul is then sent to Molag Bal, presumably for eternal torture.]] Remember the Wizard and Vaermina from ''[[NightmareFuel/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]''? This is probably even worse, because not only is an innocent priest doomed for a similar fate, but you're the one who carries it out. College Humour said it best: "RPG heroes are jerks".
** However, the priest is not exactly innocent. [[spoiler:Boethiah makes you '''sacrifice one of your followers''' for her artifact, so Molag Bal commanding you to kill her priest falls firmly into EvilVersusEvil. Besides, his dialogue seems to imply that he had intentionally sought Molag Bal's shrine and defiled it by using it to worship Boethiah instead.]] With that in mind, Molag Bal's enraged reaction is quite understandable; he does not want priest`s death, per se. He wants his submission - which is entirely par for the course for the King of Rape.
** If you bring Serana with you on this quest, she ''freaks out''. This situation is nightmare fuel for ''her'' - [[spoiler:being trapped in a house controlled by her god-powered ''rapist''.]]

* The quest "[[ImAHumanitarian The Taste of Death]]." It starts out innocently enough; the local priest of Arkay (read: undertaker priest) had to close down the Hall of the Dead in Markarth because it seems something has been eating the bodies. He hires you to go look into it. Once you go in, you find the culprit, a woman named Eola. She believes you to be a fellow cannibal (it's open to the player whether or not she's right), and she hires you to clear out a shrine to Namira. You do so. Somewhat disturbing, but nothing ''scary'', right? Well, [[spoiler: she then tells you to go get the priest who hired you before and bring him back to "sanctify" the shrine. You get him to follow you back and it seems a bunch of other people have shown up, and they seem to be '''half the population of Markarth'''. Some of them you may have even helped out! The shopkeeper who took over her husband's shop? The local butcher? Yep. Cannibals. Then the woman hypnotizes the priest and has you kill him and take the first bite. So, let's see, you killed a priest, became a cannibal, ate the priest, and found out some of the friendly citizens you've been doing quests for are cannibals as well.]] Markarth just got a lot darker, all of a sudden.
** What makes it worse is that [[spoiler:the butcher in Markarth advertises the "bloodiest beef in the Reach." Why is this bad? Take a look at raw beef. Then take a look at human flesh and try not to wonder if that's really beef...]] [[spoiler:And if you talk to him in the shrine, he exclaims "[[IronicEcho The bloodiest beef in the Reach!]]" followed by [[EvilLaugh an incredibly demented giggle]], as if to confirm that suspicion.]]
** That shopkeeper who took over when her husband died? She says this when you talk to her during the, eh, meal: [[spoiler:"One of my customers? Did you know I inherited the store from my late husband? Shame what happened to him. He had such good taste."]] Either she has a very [[BlackComedy dark sense of humor]], [[spoiler:or her husband was a cannibal as well, ''or she ate her husband'']]. Or perhaps all three are true. It gets even worse if you've talked to her beforehand and done a quest for her; at the time, she seemed genuinely sad that she lost her husband, which just makes the entire ordeal that much more disturbing.

*** Even worse is when you know what happens to dogs who are raised eating that kind of meat - [[spoiler:they tend to become highly unstable, and very vicious. If you thought CarnivoreConfusion was bad in most fictitious settings, imagine taking commands from a person who smells like your favorite snack. If you chat with him in the feast chamber, he even tells you that there's a reason his dogs are all too willing to bite people!]]

*** If you adopt a daughter and have her live in Markarth, she'll sometimes say that Banning told her she could play with his dogs. Does he genuinely like kids, or is he just [[spoiler: looking for a [[WouldHurtAChild cheap way to feed his dogs?]]]]

* In the city of Falkreath, you will meet parents mourning their deceased little daughter in the cemetery. Speaking with them will allow you to initiate the "Ill Met by Moonlight" quest, in which you will meet the girl's murderer, Sinding. When talking to him, he will tell you, full of remorse, that he indeed killed the girl: [[spoiler:he is a lycanthrope, and is under a curse from the ring he possesses which turns him into a werewolf at random. He explains that he was unable to control himself and his impulses, leading him to find the ring which was supposed to help him control his inner beast, but it only made the situation worse. He needed to hunt, and the frail little girl was the perfect prey. His story is spine-chilling, to say the least]]. In the end, you will be given by Hircine, the Daedric Lord of the Hunt, the choice to spare him or to kill him, but even if you decide to spare him, and despite his promises to stay away from civilization, he will appear once again randomly in cleared bandit camps, [[spoiler:feeding on corpses]], or fighting a guard from the local hold. In the end, he will never be able to [[spoiler:control his beastblood]], and [[DownerEnding the player will have no choice but to put him down before he kills another human being.]]

--->'''[[spoiler:Sinding]]:''' Never thought I'd see you again.
** The kicker ? Due to a bug, even if you ''do'' kill [[spoiler: Sinding]], ''he will respawn, sometimes immediately'' ! Whether he just reappears in front of you ''even as his freshly skinned body is still lying at your feet'', or pops out of nowhere right next to you with the typical "post-transformation werewolf howl" should you decide to wait inside the grotto, you're in for a nasty JumpScare. Thankfully, he won't be hostile, but still...

** Also, look at some construction materials of the Falmer huts. [[spoiler:They get bigger...]]
* The [[EldritchLocation Soul Cairn]], a plane of Oblivion to which human souls that have been captured in Black Soul Gems are sent after the soul gems are used up. The piles of bones everywhere are to be expected of what is essentially a graveyard dimension, but the true horror is the fact that all of these souls are in a permanent AndIMustScream state. If you talk to any of the unnamed souls, they will occasionally say that they feel like they are constantly being drawn and quartered... On the other hand, if you soul trapped Grelod the Kind, [[spoiler:Mercer Frey]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Nazeem]], or any other asshole character, you might take comfort in the fact that they didn't get out of punishment that easily.

* [[UndergroundLevel Darkfall Cave]] - a completely pitch black cave full of trolls, the aforementioned Chaurus Hunters, and Frostbite Spiders. [[spoiler:Early in your exploration of the cave, you come across a thin, rickety, falling apart RopeBridge spanning a ravine with a rushing water current at the bottom. The bridge creaks rather ominously as you pass over, but surprisingly nothing more. On the other side, you find very little and proceed back across... [[JumpScare only for the bridge to collapse and plunge you into the dark abyss.]] You're left at the mercy of the current as it sweeps you through narrow fissures and out into a large cave with just enough light to see several massive Frostbite Spiders falling from the ceiling.]] And you ''cannot avoid this'' if you want to continue the main quest. First-time players may well scramble for the strategy guide because they think they did something wrong.

* On the Dawnguard side, there will come a point where you head back to Fort Dawnguard to check in - maybe turn in some new Dwemer schematics you found for Sorine, or check with Isran about any vampire sightings. Lo and behold, [[spoiler:the castle is being besieged by vampires]]! If you're playing the questline for the first time, this can be the large-scale equivalent of a JumpScare.

* If that isn't enough, you can also summon an undead dragon for fun... and unlike [[spoiler:Odahviing]], you can summon him ''indoors'' if you have enough room. A dragon materializing out of nowhere inside a space barely big enough for it means a hell of a lot of trauma for anyone in there with it.
* The beginning of the quest "Lost to the Ages" is a blending of NightmareFuel and ParanoiaFuel. You enter a Dwemer ruin, and since it's probably not your first, you know that the place is likely to be crawling with vicious automatons and quite possibly Falmer. You therefore move in stealth mode, weapon at the ready, but nothing appears. Occasionally, for no immediately clear reason, the ground shakes; red-tinted clouds of dust rise from the ground and settle again. And then, when you reach a certain point, you suddenly hear the unfamiliar disembodied voice of a soft-spoken woman. [[spoiler: Thankfully, she's completely benevolent and actively helps you complete the quest, but it's still terrifying the first time you hear it.]]

* Encountering a [[GiantMook Lurker]] can be really damn horrifying your first time. You will usually either encounter them in [[spoiler: Apocrypha]] where they rise from a pond of black liquid, when you use the Bend Will shout on the stones, releasing them, or just along the shores of the island where they can appear out of nowhere. They are nearly as tall as giants, and hit nearly as hard. All of their melee attacks can stagger you, and even at a distance they can still hurt you by throwing balls of tentacles. Not to mention they are [[{{Lightning Bruiser}} fast for their size]]. And may the All-Maker help you if you encounter more than one at the same time.
* The Stones themselves before being cleansed can be pretty ominous, with a group of people working on some kind of structure while reciting a strange mantra. And if you touch the uncleansed stone or sleep, [[spoiler:you wake up to find yourself working on the stone, while Miraak ominously calls out to you]].
* In ''Dragonborn'', you get to know more about [[GreaterScopeVillain Hermaeus Mora]] and [[spoiler:go to his realm, Apocrypha, filled with all sorts of Lovecraftian horrors.]] Not only that, but his appearance changes to a series of voids that have tentacles coming out of them and eyes that appear and disappear. It gets worse. That series of voids with tentacles emerging from the depths and eyes phasing in and out of Nirn are rendered as two-dimensional objects, much like death sprites in ''Doom'', an effect which causes the image to shift its orientation whenever the camera moves about. [[spoiler: That's right. Hermaeus Mora isn't interested in the Dragonborn, he's interested in ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou you]]''.]]
* The fact that everything you do in the main story of the DLC in some way helps [[spoiler:Hermaeus Mora]] makes you, depending on your character, anywhere between an UnwittingPawn and an AntiHero. How he kills [[spoiler:Storn, the leader of the Skaal, and Miraak]] is also pretty horrifying, impaling them with his tentacles while giving them a ReasonYouSuckSpeech in a very guttural voice. It almost gives the feeling that no matter how powerful the Dragonborn has become, (s)he is still no more than a pawn to the Daedra.
** Oh, it gets worse than that. To elaborate, Hermaeus Mora spears [[spoiler:the Skaal leader]] through with several tentacles, including one ''through his brain'' (honoring his title as the Daedric Prince of Knowledge), and proceeds to have a cruel conversation with the horribly suffering and very much conscious man. And then, when he has what he wants, Mora just shakes the man off the tentacles and disappears, leaving [[spoiler:the man's daughter to exclaim in horror over her father's dead body]]. Yep, [[ForcedToWatch she was watching the whole thing]]. Imagine seeing that happen to ''your'' father.

* A little and horrible (but very easily missed) detail: The Words for any other shout are almost always carved on rock, as the Word has to actually be seen by the Dragonborn in order to learn it. Well, the third Word for the Bend Will Shout is acquired immediately after [[spoiler:the Skaal leader dies]] and there is no Word visible at the time... [[spoiler:or so would you think; the Word for it is carved ON THE DEAD LEADER'S CHEST, briefly giving off a faint green/orange/yellow aura, compared to the blue/white that normal words emanate.]]

* [[HauntedHouse "The House of Horrors"]] is a ''very'' aptly named quest. Let's just say that [[spoiler:Molag Bal has gone from being a {{Jerkass}} in ''Oblivion'' and '''[[TookALevelInJerkass really]]''' stepped up as "Lord of Domination"]]. Even scarier is that you are forced to kill a priest of a rival Daedric Prince in Molag Bal's name (if you want all the Daedric Artifacts). The Priest's soul is then sent to Molag Bal, presumably for eternal torture. Remember the Wizard and Vaermina mentioned in ''Oblivion'' above? This is probably even worse, because not only is an innocent priest doomed for a similar fate, but you're the one who carries it out. College Humour said it best: "RPG heroes are jerks".

* One of the earliest Companion quests is to sort out a trouble-causing Falmer group in Shimmermist Cave. In the end, you find the leader. He's in the middle of the room, so you can back him up into a corner by using Fus Ro Dah. He slams into the dark wall... [[spoiler: only for the wall to walk forward and reveal itself to be a ''huge Dwemer centurion''.]] Since it's entirely possible to take on this quest at very low levels, this may be the first time you ever see one of these in the game. And if you're used to watching [[spoiler:Dwemer centurions [[CurbStompBattle wipe the floor with Falmer]]? [[OhCrap Not]] [[VillainTeamUp this time!]]]]

** Turned into further NightmareFuel [[spoiler:for [[TheBaroness Astrid]]. If you play it right, you - the one she went to trouble to kidnap all the way from halfway across the continent - are not only the Dragonborn, but also could be Nightingale of the Thieves' Guild, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, possible Thane to most if not all of Skyrim's Holds, the one who single-handedly cleared ''lots'' of raiders and bandit caves, and if you finish the main storyline, the defeater of the '''the dragon heralding the World's End itself'''. The Dragonborn can have magic and shouts powerful enough to kill Astrid a hundred times over. Not only that, this 'victim' can also summon atronachs, wraiths, and freaking '''[[PhysicalGod Daedras and Dragon Priests]]'''. It is not yet clear to Astrid, but is very clear to ''you'' that you are not trapped by Astrid with the three would-be victims, but [[RussianReversal she has trapped]] ''[[MuggingTheMonster herself]]'' [[MuggingTheMonster with]] '''[[MuggingTheMonster you]]'''. Should the player decide, all hell can and ''will'' break loose on the Dark Brotherhood - that's why the much-understated [[RealityEnsues 'Destroy the Dark Brotherhood' quest is immediately started once you show Astrid her folly]]. The Dragonborn outright ''annihilates'' the centuries-old guild for good with merely ''two'' survivors, who only escaped death because they weren't there at the time (Cicero because he was stuck on the road, and Babette because she's technically a child, and killing children is impossible without mods). On the other hand, if the player accepts Astrid's offer, then she slowly realizes it herself just ''whom'' she made [[OhCrap the latest Dark Brotherhood recruit]], which is why she tries to have the Dragonborn killed once they become too useful, but to no avail.]]

[[folder:Mods]]
* [[https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/38677 This mod]] replaces the skeleton's noises with the screams they used to make back in ''Daggerfall''. [[SarcasmMode Sweet dreams]].
* ''[[https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/77809/ Clockwork]]'' is a mod with a new story and quests. If you happen to find the mod in the Nexus Mod website's search, it will be fine. However, if you happen to google the mod, you may find an unpleasant surprise. It is Shadow, the mod's main antagonist, a ghostly woman with a GhostlyGape and BlackEyesOfEvil. The first time you see her is when going on the way to Clockwork Castle via a Dwemer dungeon. She will start to lurk the Dragonborn at first and then becoming more active halfway through til the end. JumpScare, war alarms, following you through iced waters, floating as a corpse and going across walls. She is unstoppable until you defeat her at the end of the mod.
** The Dwemer automatons you fight in the ruins below the manor are also [[UncannyValley incredibly unnerving]]. They're malfunctioning, so not only are they hostile, but they attack you while babbling meaningless phrases and statements. [[spoiler:Doubly disturbing since they're actually former Dwemer who have been converted into automatons, making them something between an automaton and an undead creature. You can even see their gilded bones between the gaps in their armor if you pay close enough attention.]]
* ''Videogame/TheForgottenCity'' is an ambitious fan-made mini-expansion. This questline features a lot of unusual elements both story-wise and gameplay-wise, including some pretty terrifying stuff.
** ''Skyrim'', like most video games, is pretty bright, [[HollywoodDarkness even in the dark]] and doesn't differ a lot from dungeon to dungeon. Most fridge horror remains in the small storytelling details rather than the level design. However, the first time you enter THOSE dwarven ruins, the [[HellIsThatNoise sound design differs from normal dungeons]] the hallways are [[UnnecessarilyLargeInterior bigger than usual]] and [[NothingIsScarier completely pitch black]] (until the torches light up by themselves as you progress further).
*** Additional tension for second playthroughs, considering you now know the [[spoiler: dormant centurions are [[HopelessBossFight invincible]] ]]
** The main intrigue has you trying to escape from a [[GroundhogDayLoop time loop]] from an era when the ruins were habited. However, the questline is consequence based and it is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero quite easy to get a bad ending]]. [[spoiler: And once you get back to the present, you realize [[ItWasWithYouAllAlong you've set in motion the genocide]] that turned the city into these [[GhostCity eerie, almost haunted ruins]] ]]
** The whole ideology around the ''Dwemer's law'' is [[ParanoiaFuel incredibly unnerving]]. Basically, should a single person commit a crime (no matter how trivial), [[PrecursorKillers some "cataclysm" will come into effect to purge the city]]. There's no way to say if it is a bluff and how many cycles there have been.
*** [[spoiler: Turns out it is not a bluff. Should it , you have to flee from [[HopelessBossFight invincible dwarven centurions]] and [[GroundhogDayLoop go back in time]] one way or the other ]]
--->[[ArcWords "The many shall suffer for the sins of the one." ]]
* ''VIGILANT'' can present some terrifying nightmare fuel early on as you hunt down Daedra and vampires and witches. At first you're just killing random monsters, but then you get a mission to find a man driving people mad with his sight, which turns out to be a man who just wants to be left alone, and had a strange stone embedded in his skull by a witch. Your Vigilant commander makes it clear that [[KnightTemplar you have to kill him no matter what]]. Then you get a mission to track down a daedra summoner, which ends with killing a mad Khajiit and then being pulled into a flashback where [[ChekhovsGunman a Khajiit you met earlier in the story]] murdered the mad Khajiit's wife and skinned her alive to keep her pelt. There's no way this part of the story isn't creepy. Then you track down the daedra summoner herself, who is being guarded by a PunchClockVillain knight wielding a cursed greatsword that compels him to obey her. Then you get another mission to track down a pair of "witches"... who turn out to be [[spoiler: the wife and daughter of the aforementioned knight, who are trying to find a cure for the knight's curse, and you have explicit orders to kill them by your Vigilant leader.]] The nightmare fuel comes from if you follow orders and kill them, they both give out horrible screams, and then [[spoiler:you get [[WhatTheHellHero cursed by Stendarr himself for killing innocents and later on both of their ghosts demand to know why you murdered them]]]]. If you [[GuideDangit figure out]] how to not kill them, it turns out that [[MercyKill offing them yourself was the more merciful option.]] Then you learn that [[spoiler:the Vigilant whose orders you were following worked for Molag Bal the entire time]], and he summons an [[spoiler:avatar of Molag Bal as a boss fight, with you battling this massive jet-black demonic dragon-like creature in the middle of a ring of fire]], all the while Bal is taunting your weakness. Note that this is the ''first'' of four chapters, with the later ones [[spoiler: (such as the third chapter has you evading shrieking, unkillable, red shadowy ghosts and the entirety of the fourth chapter has you forced to submit to Molag Bal, and trapped inside [[DarkWorld Coldharbour]] for a pretty long time, [[TheHeroDies or else...]])]] becoming even more terrifying as you progress.
** One really terrifying thing about Coldharbour is the fact that [[spoiler: the entire realm is being overrun by Jyggalag, the Daedric Prince of Order. You get a firsthand experience of what it is like to witness a Daedric Prince dying and the sheer unstoppable juggernaut that is Jyggalag and the Greymarch, and precisely why he was TheDreaded among the Princes in his prime.]]
* ''Here There Be Monsters: Call of Cthulhu'' doesn't exactly promise a sea of sunshine and rainbows from its name alone, and it still manages to be surprisingly terrifying. If neither the Khal'kru nor your reception upon returning to the ''Yellow King'' makes you wet your pants (and you are ''warned'' that the captain and crew of the ''Yellow King'' are not to be trusted), then the scene in the captain's cabin, combined with Obed Marsh's note to Pan, should do the trick. ''And this is the beginning of the first quest''. Just wait until you reach the Plateau of Leng.
* ''Beyond Reach'' is a DLC-sized mod that takes the player to a cold, rainy region in the province of High Rock, the Western Reach, which is currently plagued by an uprising of [[RapePillageandBurn extraordinarily brutal]] tribal cultists reminiscent to the Forsworn [[UpToEleven but on steroids]]. Furthermore, the [[DecadentCourt decadence]] of certain [[AristocratsAreEvil aristocrats]] and the [[FantasticRacism violent tension]] between the native Bretons, the Redguards and the Orcs are taking their toll on the land and its people as well. [[spoiler:It turns out that one lords is in league with the Daedric Prince Namira, with whom we [[NothingIsScarier never get to interact directly]], but we get the chance to visit her realm of Oblivion, the ''Scuttling Void'', on several occasions. It's a [[EldritchLocation barren wasteland with rivers of blood and floating islands]], inhabited by [[EldritchAbomination abhorrent monstrosities]] and [[FateWorseThanDeath tortured souls with rotten bodies]].]] Both visually and thematically, it's ''much'' [[DarkerAndEdgier Darker and Edgier]] than the main game and most mods.
* ''Darkend'' brings you to an island somewhere beyond Skyrim. The aesthetic is very ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' inspired, and it lives up to that. To start with, there are no quests. You have to puzzle the story together from context clues and diary entries. To start the mod, you have to travel to a shipwreck north of Winterhold (conveniently marked on the map). The ship is filled with corpses, apparently frozen to death, which is confirmed by a diary you find. The diary also describes a weird rock that the crew feared, but which radiated warmth. Touching said rock (which is ominously glowing) takes you to the island. In the first town you find, skeletons are laying in the streets, some tied to crucifixes. If you read some journals, you find that the town was ravaged by a sickness that came form some ruins, and that everyone who got sick were killed by the town guard.
* ''Apotheosis'' is, like Darkend, very ''Dark Souls''-inspired, and it ''shows''. You play as a lost soul from the Dreamsleeve, a realm of the lost dead who eats away at its inhabitants, who has to venture out across the realms of Oblivion to reassemble the Heart of Lorkhan. While it may sound like a standard series of fetch-quests, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwWrYm-GZxM announcement trailer]] plays up the horror angle, depicting terrifying and bleak realms of oblivion set to a haunting tune and a modified version of the in-game book ''Sithis'', which details the creation of Nirn, but painting Sithis as being the one true god.
-->''Thus are the Aedra. The False Gods.''
* One thing Skyrim lacked was a definitive way to have a Game Over (you could die, sure, but you'd respawn unless you opted to have one death be your character's final one, so it wasn't technically a game over)...until the mod [[https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/39201 End Times]], which gives you a set number of weeks to beat Alduin[[note]]you can change the number of weeks, but there's also an option to lock the number of weeks so you don't change it in case you run out of time[[/note]], a la ''VideoGame/{{Shenmue}}'' or the Stygian[=/=]Bloodmoon difficulty of ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon''[[note]]the mod's author explicitly citing the latter as his main source of influence[[/note]] - fail to do so within the time limit, and it's TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, since a giant-sized Alduin spawns over Skyrim, bringing destruction with him, and then he eats the world, killing you, forcing you to reload an earlier save (or start a new game if you don't have enough progress in the main story).
[[/folder]]

** A [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]] Dovahkiin is nothing to brush off. While people will go after you if they see you transforming, as with the Vampire Lord above they won't if they don't know the werewolf who torn apart an entire town yesterday was actually [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential you.]] The Dovahkiin sure looks weird today, don't they? Jumpy and easy to anger, and you could swear you heard them ''growling'' at Nazeem as they walked past him. But hey, it's nothing to worry about, right? This is the Dovahkiin, they saved the world. You decide to go to the Bannered Mare to grab yourself a drink and inside you find the Dovahkiin... eating... raw meat. Hmmm. Weird, but to each their own, you guess. You realize the Dovahkiin must be having a bad day from they way they've secluded themself in the corner. You try to ignore the fact that the way they're looking at everyone is giving you the creeps and decide to drink your mead instead, cheerfully talking to Hulda. You hear the Dovahkiin get up and walk past you, and you could swear they smell like a wet dog, but again, you choose to ignore it. You finish your drink and go home. [[NightmareFuel That same night you're awoken by screaming and howling outside.]] You get up and go to your window to take a peek, keeping every candle unlit as to not reveal yourself to... whatever it is that's causing the commotion, and you can only catch glimpses of some sort of furry beast who moves like lightning tearing at the guards who desperately try to stop it. Not just the guards, but anyone who seems to be unlucky enough to be outside at the time. It doesn't seem to care if some of the people are trying to run away, as it just cuts them down without a care as well. Nothing the guards throw at it seems to even stall it. You just keep hidden, watching the massacre outside, too horrified to move, praying to the Eight and Talos and even the Daedra that that thing outside doesn't decide to start barging into houses, until the beast's killed everyone in the streets, lets out a blood-chilling howl and climbs over the wall of the city, running away. You can't go back to sleep that night. You get outside the next day, and decide to help the surviving villagers and the remaining guards to try and clean the mess from the previous night, as well as count the losses (and you get sick when you actually get to ''see'' the damage done) when the Dovahkiin walks in from the main gate. There are bags under their eyes, their clothes seem a little crumpled, their armor a bit askew. [[NightmareFuel They seem tired.]]

* ''Dawnguard'' ramps horror {{up to eleven}} with the ability for the Dragonborn to shout and rip out a person's soul and raise them as an undead thrall. The shout in question, Soul Tear, is quite possibly the single most powerful in the entire game. To elaborate, it deals around 300 damage, which means a human opponent is pretty much [[OneHitKill instantly dead when you]] [[UnblockableAttack use it on them.]] If the enemy dies by the Shout, [[YourSoulIsMine their soul is trapped]] ''and'' they are instantly [[BackFromTheDead revived]] as [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy fight for you,]] [[NoBodyLeftBehind becoming ash piles once the effect is over.]] To a player, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday it might be nothing more than a tool,]] but imagine how horrifying it must be to an enemy. Let's take as an example soldiers from the opposing faction, who generally don't attack unless provoked, unlike bandits. Now imagine you're a soldier from said faction. You're calmly walking down the road with your buddy from years back (or worse, your sibling), who decided to join the Empire/Stormcloaks at around the same time you did. (You heard of the Dragonborn giving your troops hell, sure you did, but since reports vary on the Dragonborn's appearance, you have no idea what they look like.) You're making idle talk with each other as you walk when suddenly you spot a person walking in your direction. They are heavily armed and armored, and their face is obscured by a helmet. You don't know who this person is, nor have you ever seen them. There's something off about them, so as they silently walk towards you, you ask them if you can help them with anything. In most of the cases, the enemy will attack the Dragonborn regardless of how 'pacifistic' they are at the moment, but their KillingIntent is perceivable even to the dumbest mooks. You're feeling a bit creeped out, so you back off instinctively, and so does your friend. But before any of you can really do anything, this person is suddenly shouting... something, in a strange language, at you, and you know it does ''something'' because while you don't feel anything other than a strange wave of energy, your friend immediately goes limp and collapses for no reason. They're not dead, you can see them breathing, but there's something... off about them. And then your friend is getting up, and now you definitely ''know'' something is wrong with them because their eyes look... ''dead''. And before you can ask them what happened, they're ''attacking you''. As you desperately dodge their attacks, trying to make them listen to reason, the person in armor starts to attack you as well, and as you struggle to keep up the pace to avoid their combined attacks, you're utterly confused as to ''why'' this person did this to you or ''what'' exactly they did to your friend, and then it dawns on you... you heard one of the soldiers who survived the Dragonborn's attack on one of your forts swear on his mother's life that he saw the Dragonborn rip one of the soldiers' soul out of their body using nothing but words... and you realize this is exactly what happened. You and your friend were unlucky enough to cross paths with the Dragonborn, and they did the exact same thing they had previously done to another soldier, with your friend as the target this time. These are your final thoughts as your friend stabs you in the throat with an attack you weren't fast enough to dodge. You stay alive long enough to see your friend literally crumble into dust in front of you as the Dragonborn calmly walks away after having just murdered you both, entirely unprovoked or (if they attack you for mugging or are AlwaysChaoticEvil like the Thalmor, vampires, or enemy Draugr or necromancer), [[CruelAndUnusualDeath completely deserved]].

----

* ''Dawnguard'' ramps horror {{up to eleven}} with the ability for the Dragonborn to shout and rip out a person's soul and raise them as an undead thrall. The shout in question, Soul Tear, is quite possibly the single most powerful in the entire game. To elaborate, it deals around 300 damage, which means a human opponent is pretty much [[OneHitKill instantly dead when you]] [[UnblockableAttack use it on them.]] If the enemy dies by the Shout, [[YourSoulIsMine their soul is trapped]] ''and'' they are instantly [[BackFromTheDead revived]] as [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy fight for you,]] [[NoBodyLeftBehind becoming ash piles once the effect is over.]] To a player, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday it might be nothing more than a tool,]] but imagine how horrifying it must be to an enemy. Let's take as an example soldiers from the opposing faction, who generally don't attack unless provoked, unlike bandits. Now imagine you're a soldier from said faction. You're calmly walking down the road with your buddy from years back (or worse, your sibling), who decided to join the Empire/Stormcloaks at around the same time you did. (You heard of the Dragonborn giving your troops hell, sure you did, but since reports vary on the Dragonborn's appearance, you have no idea what they look like.) You're making idle talk with each other as you walk when suddenly you spot a person walking in your direction. They are heavily armed and armored, and their face is obscured by a helmet. You don't know who this person is, nor have you ever seen them. There's something off about them, so as they silently walk towards you, you ask them if you can help them with anything. In most of the cases, the enemy will attack the Dragonborn regardless of how 'pacifistic' they are at the moment, but their KillingIntent is perceivable even to the dumbest mooks. You're feeling a bit creeped out, so you back off instinctively, and so does your friend. But before any of you can really do anything, this person is suddenly shouting... something, in a strange language, at you, and you know it does ''something'' because while you don't feel anything other than a strange wave of energy, your friend immediately goes limp and collapses for no reason. They're not dead, you can see them breathing, but there's something... off about them. And then your friend is getting up, and now you definitely ''know'' something is wrong with them because their eyes look... ''dead''. And before you can ask them what happened, they're ''attacking you''. As you desperately dodge their attacks, trying to make them listen to reason, the person in armor starts to attack you as well, and as you struggle to keep up the pace to avoid their combined attacks, you're utterly confused as to ''why'' this person did this to you or ''what'' exactly they did to your friend, and then it dawns on you... you heard one of the soldiers who survived the Dragonborn's attack on one of your forts swear on his mother's life that he saw the Dragonborn rip one of the soldiers' soul out of their body using nothing but words... and you realize this is exactly what happened. You and your friend were unlucky enough to cross paths with the Dragonborn, and they did the exact same thing they had previously done to another soldier, with your friend as the target this time. These are your final thoughts as your friend stabs you in the throat with an attack you weren't fast enough to dodge. You stay alive long enough to see your friend literally crumble into dust in front of you as the Dragonborn calmly walks away after having just murdered you both, entirely unprovoked (or if they attack you for mugging or are AlwaysChaoticEvil like the Thalmor, vampires or enemy Draugr or necromancer), [[CruelAndUnusualDeath completely deserved]].

* An in-game book, ''Physicalities of Werewolves'', deals with a researcher's morbid study on live werewolves. It describes the experiments on two subjects, A and B. It starts off relatively innocent with A, even though he eventually dies as well. It's with subject B that things get nauseating, as the researcher performs vivisection on her. In other words, he cut her open while she was still alive and then forced her to transform so he could study the effect the transformation had on her organs and muscles. The subject was still very much alive during all this and before she could succumb to her wounds, the researcher applied "remedies" for the disease directly to the internal organs. The Wolfsbane rendered the subject's bones brittle ("the rib cage nearly collapsed at the touch"), while some sort of berry juice was pressed directly into the veins, which caused them to "shrivel behind the flow as it moved through the system. Upon reaching the heart, the major vessels pulled away completely, and the subject expired within minutes." Holy fuck. You can find this book on some members of the Silver Hand, which pretty much adds to their general unpleasantness due to their penchant for torturing any wolves or werewolves that they get their hands on. The book also sheds some light on [[PainfulTransformation why the transformation process is so painful]]: according to the author's discoveries, the lycanthrope's heart enlarges before the rest of the body, [[BodyHorror leading to severe chest pains as their heart quite literally feels like it's about to burst out of their chests.]] And what's more? This is the most common book to find on a dead vigilant of Stendar. Yeah. "Stenndar's mercy upon you for the vigil shall have none" is less than an idle greeting.

* An in-game book, ''Physicalities of Werewolves'', deals with a researcher's morbid study on live werewolves. It describes the experiments on two subjects, A and B. It starts off relatively innocent with A, even though he eventually dies as well. It's with subject B that things get nauseating, as the researcher performs vivisection on her. In other words, he cut her open while she was still alive and then forced her to transform so he could study the effect the transformation had on her organs and muscles. The subject was still very much alive during all this and before she could succumb to her wounds, the researcher applied "remedies" for the disease directly to the internal organs. The Wolfsbane rendered the subject's bones brittle ("the rib cage nearly collapsed at the touch"), while some sort of berry juice was pressed directly into the veins, which caused them to "shrivel behind the flow as it moved through the system. Upon reaching the heart, the major vessels pulled away completely, and the subject expired within minutes." Holy fuck. You can find this book on some members of the Silver Hand, which pretty much adds to their general unpleasantness due to their penchant for torturing any wolves or werewolves that they get their hands on. The book also sheds some light on [[PainfulTransformation why the transformation process is so painful]]: according to the author's discoveries, the lycanthrope's heart enlarges before the rest of the body, [[BodyHorror leading to severe chest pains as their heart quite literally feels like it's about to burst out of their chests.]]

** Some mods give the Dragonborn powerups which add to this further. While the Dragonborn's already enough of a MookHorrorShow as it is, [[http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/51136/ this mod]] has the potential to make him even ''more'' horrifying. Consider this: like everyone else in Skyrim, you've seen your share of battles, and then some. You might even be a werewolf or a vampire, or otherwise pretty strong in your own right. One day someone shows up in front of you, wearing a BlackCloak with red clouds all over it, approaching you wordlessly. Then he puts on his GameFace as his eyes go from whatever color they were to ''blood red''. Then he strikes first, cutting down your friends before they can react. While you witness them dying one by one, you can't help but recall stories about some powerful clan from a foreign land that was left with only a handful of survivors following some horrific massacre. And all the while he effortlessly dodges any attacks thrown his way, possibly breathing flames and throwing lightning at his poor victims as they futilely try to fight back. And just when you're the only one left, it finally dawns on you: whoever just killed your mates and is about to do the same to you just ''happens'' to be one of those few survivors, just before he uses his MagicalEye to trap you in a nightmare and then roast you alive with fire as black as night. Alternately, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djZ0g5Y0fKA you could be a powerful Vampire Lord yourself]] and manage to give him a good fight, even with all the flashy spells he throws your way. Yet just when you think victory's within reach, a spectral armor starts forming around him, something that could very well be a demon out of hell, then the tables suddenly turn and before long ''you're'' the one on the verge of death...

** Dragonrend and Bend Will. The former is weaponized nightmare fuel for Dragons and the latter makes them slaves to your every whim. Are you still sure you're the hero and not the ''real'' monster of this story, Dovahkiin? Don't forget how he might seem if you leave the Civil War questline til last, after the DLC and decide not to hold back during the fort assaults. The soldiers fighting alongside the Dragonborn may as well not be there as he walks in; armoured in the bones and scales of dragons, wreathed in the spectral armour of the Dragon Aspect shout as a dragon roars overhead before swooping in to fight alongside him? Just seeing this guy calmly walking up to the fort should have the whole place on the verge of surrender.

* ''Beyond Reach'' is a DLC-sized mod that takes the player to a cold, rainy region in the province of High Rock, the Western Reach, which is currently plagued by an uprising of [[RapePillageandBurn extraordinarily brutal]] tribal cultists reminiscent to the Forsworn [[UpToEleven but on steroids]]. Furthermore, the [[DecadentCourt decadence]] of certain aristocrats [[AristocratsAreEvil]] and the [[FantasticRacism violent tension]] between the native Bretons, the Redguards and the Orcs are taking their toll on the land and its people as well. [[spoiler:It turns out that one lords is in league with the Daedric Prince Namira, with whom we [[NothingIsScarier never get to interact directly]], but we get the chance to visit her realm of Oblivion, the ''Scuttling Void'', on several occasions. It's a [[EldritchLocation barren wasteland with rivers of blood and floating islands]], inhabited by [[EldritchAbomination abhorrent monstrosities]] and [[FateWorseThanDeath tortured souls with rotten bodies]].]] Both visually and thematically, it's ''much'' [[DarkerAndEdgier Darker and Edgier]] than the main game and most mods.

** Turned into further NightmareFuel [[spoiler:for [[TheBaroness Astrid]]. If you play it right, you - the one she went to trouble to kidnap all the way from halfway across the continent - are not only the Dragonborn, but also could be Nightingale of the Thieves' Guild, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, possible Thane to most if not all of Skyrim's Holds, the one who single-handedly cleared ''lots'' of raiders and bandit caves, and if you finish the main storyline, the defeater of the '''the dragon heralding the World's End itself'''. The Dragonborn can have magic and shouts powerful enough to kill Astrid a hundred times over. Not only that, this 'victim' can also summon atronachs, wraiths, and freaking '''[[PhysicalGod Daedras and Dragon Priests]]'''. It is not yet clear to Astrid, but is very clear to ''you'' that you are not trapped by Astrid with the three would-be victims, but [[RussianReversal she has trapped]] ''[[MuggingTheMonster herself]]'' [[MuggingTheMonster with]] '''[[MuggingTheMonster you]]'''. Should the player decide, all hell can and ''will'' break loose on the Dark Brotherhood (that's why the much-understated [[RealityEnsues 'Destroy the Dark Brotherhood' quest is immediately started once you show Astrid her folly]]), which outright ''annihilates'' the centuries-old guild for good with merely ''two'' survivors, who only escaped death because they weren't there at the time[[note]]Cicero because he was stuck on the road, and Babette because she's technically a child, and killing children is impossible without mods[[/note]]. On the other hand, if the player accepts Astrid's offer, then she slowly realizes it herself just ''whom'' she made [[OhCrap the latest Dark Brotherhood recruit]], which is why she tries to have the Dragonborn killed once they become too useful, but to no avail.]]

* The beginning of the quest "Lost to the Ages" is a blending of NightmareFuel and ParanoiaFuel. You enter a Dwemer ruin, and since it's probably not your first, you know that the place is likely to be crawling with vicious automatons and quite possibly Falmer. You therefore move in stealth mode, weapon at the ready, but nothing appears. Occasionally, for no immediately clear reason, the ground shakes; red-tinted clouds of dust rise from the ground and settle again. And then, when you reach a certain point, you suddenly hear the unfamiliar disembodied voice of a soft-spoken woman. [[spoiler: Thankfully, she's completely benevolent and actively helps you complete the quest, but it's still terrifying the first time you hear it.]]
-->'''Turn back.'''

The developers of ''Skyrim'' have been critically lauded for building one of the most beautiful, interactive, vast worlds ever seen in video gaming, and rightly so. On another level however, the world of ''Skyrim'' can truly be quite nightmarish and dangerous, whether it be on the lonely northern snowfields or in a supposedly abandoned shack by the river. In its environment the game regularly generates and contrasts NothingIsScarier, {{Jump Scare}}s, and many more tropes.

* High King Torygg's death. When the guards say that Ulfric "shouted him to pieces", a normal person might be skeptical. However, a reader of the in-game book "The Arcturian Heresy" will know that it's very probable that this is true. When Sybille Stentor (who's famous for torturing people in the castle dungeons) and Jarl Elisif describe his death, they make it sound like it's the most gruesome way a human could dispatch another person. If you visit the Palace of Kings in Windhelm before starting the Civil War questline, you can hear Ulfric debating whether he should do the same to Jarl Balgruuf.

* Imagine being a soldier, blacksmith, leader, etc. of Nord origin whose main goal after death is going to Sovngarde, the Tamriel counterpart of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valhalla Valhalla]], to enjoy an eternal banquet and fun in the afterlife with fallen family members, friends and legendary heroes but it is all interrupted because a gigantic black dragon is using a mist spell to toy with his prey by getting them lost and frightened and trying to devour you unexpectedly. The soul is not eternal when Alduin is near, the soul is fuel for him. And that's why the Dragonborn has to stop him.
** And the inversion of that for the dragons. Dragons are eternal, immortal, unchanging... and here comes this puny human that uses your own language against you, scrambling your mind so you can't even escape. You fight back, but for naught; something happens to you that ''never'' happened to dragonkind before. You die. And then it gets ''worse''. [[spoiler:'''He eats your soul.''']]

** It's so bad that Farkas, longtime member of the [[AdventureGuild Companions]], [[BarbarianHero Barbarian Hero]] and badass [[spoiler:werewolf]], [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes refuses to go further into Ysgramor's tomb because of the spiders there]]: "Ever since Dustman’s Cairn, the big crawly ones have been too much for me. Everyone has his weakness, and this one is mine."

** Anyone even slightly afraid of spiders will be cringing every time the game loads, as it throws up an image of something in the game whether it be a [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Willow]]-looking witch, giant Skeever hissing at you or, yes, a giant Frostbite completely filling the screen.
* [[AbusivePrecursors The Dwemer.]] They may be gone now, but when they were still alive, they were most certainly ''not'' very nice: they were a whole race of {{Mad Scientist}}s who enslaved another race of fellow elves and turned them into the Falmer we know now, experimented on other races ForScience, were entirely capable of [[CurbStompBattle curbstomping anything the other races could throw at them with their]] MechaMooks and superior metalworking, [[RealityWarper modified the laws of physics to fit their whims]], and tried to [[DeityOfHumanOrigin make their own god]], an attempt that wiped them off the face of Tamriel.

** In the Dwemer ruin of Alftand (one of three cities that can be used to access Blackreach and the one you are specifically pointed towards when you need to visit Blackreach yourself), you may stumble upon leftovers of an expedition that tried to explore it (not long) before you. Outside the actual ruin, the remains of a campsite contain the expedition leader's log, detailing those involved[[note]]The leader, eager scientist-explorer; a warrior tasked with defending the group; a mage; a sorcerer; a female Orc overseer, two Khajiit brothers as manual labour, and a few others not detailed further[[/note]] and the events of their first few days, including a snowstorm that forced the group to retreat into the ruins. As you wander in yourself, their grueling story unfolds: The ongoing storm traps them inside, supplies run low, they happen upon their first Dwemer machines. A drug addiction one of the Khajiit was attempting to hide drives him mad; you find him standing over the corpse of his brother, and he attacks you on sight. Apparently, he also slaughtered various members of the team beforehand. The sorcerer and overseer were captured by Falmer deeper down; they managed to escape, but the sorcerer was killed by Dwemer mechs and the overseer fell to the pursuing Falmer. The mage is found dead, strapped to one of their torture racks. After you've combed through the entire place and defeated the Centurion at its end, the leader and warrior emerge and will, if they don't spot you, get into an argument over whether to keep exploring or leave this forsaken place forever, eventually starting a fight to the death. This alone would be enough for a decent horror movie...

* [[TheMorlocks The Falmer]]. They look creepy enough, but add to that the fact that they blend in with the shadows, and that odd chattering noise they make, and you've got yourself some Grade-A horror. Worse, they often appear with Chaurus, utterly nasty insectoid horrors which are tough to kill, deal ugly damage with their bites, and use health draining poison that will often kill in seconds, especially if you're foolish enough to get into melee with them.

** On top of all that, they're damn near silent. You can be simply exploring a cave, it's dark save for the light of some translucent mushrooms, and even if you're being vigilant, a Falmer can sneak up behind you, or worse, pop out right on top of you.
** In Raldbthar and possibly other Falmer areas, you may find tanning racks and tables with leather on them... the kicker is that you may also find Human Flesh on those same tables. The implications are... [[FlayingAlive unple]][[GenuineHumanHide asant]]. The Raldbthar Deep Market, in the near-right corner of the first big room, has such a tanning rack set up. There's a Nord woman's corpse next to it. The Falmer have been very busy.

* 90% of the time, killing a zombie results in a simple grunt as it dissolves to ashes. The [[FateWorseThanDeath other 10%?]] The zombie will let out a pained [[DyingAsYourself "thank...you..."]] before crumbling to ash.

** In Fort Greymoor you find an old woman who's not hostile to you and just states that she just cooks and cleans and does whatever the current occupiers ask her to do. Some of her lines are downright chilling when you think about the things this woman must've seen. Though, going by her other dialogue, this isn't them forcing ''her'', but her forcing ''them'' to let her stay. She comes with the fort apparently, and bandits, vampires, orcs and anyone else is all cool with it and her. Basically, she plays grandma to all of them, which is just adorable. Imagine her serving up some warmed-up cups of blood to tired vampires, or her being the human grandma to a bunch of orcs.

** Yngvild is home to Arondil, an elven necromancer with a lustful obsession with the women of Dawnstar. Like Sild, he has found a way to enslave ghosts to his will, but unlike him, he prefers to create these ghosts from the women he lusts after, whom he has his draugr bring to him, so that he can basically turn them into unliving {{Sex Slave}}s, with all the disturbing undertones one can expect. And that's not even mentioning what he did to the draugr (who in this particular ruin were all female) after first creating them. Sneaky players can steal the soul gem he uses to maintain his control over the ghosts for a ''very'' KarmicDeath.

* [[TheMaze The Maze of Shalidor]]. It's in an non-important place in the Labyrinthian region, and is not connected to any quests; it's basically a completely optional maze where you have to perform one spell from each school of magic. And how's that scary? [[spoiler: Well, when you have made all spells, the underground cave opens, and there is a portal. You step into the portal, and are transported to a weird purple circle, where you have to fight a dremora. It is explained in a book that Shalidor made it as a test for potential archmages. That's why it requires knowledge of all spell schools and enough power to defeat a powerful Daedra to survive it.]]

* In one quest where you help out a struggling shipping company against pirate raids, you must storm the pirate's fortress, Japhet's Folly. If you explore a bit, you find a locked room in which you find the corpse of Japhet himself, along with his journal. Reading it, you learn the history of this place. Japhet writes of leaving Dawnstar with a crew to build the tower, but his crew left one by one, convinced that the place was haunted. Soon, Japhet was left all alone. He eventually became convinced that the ghost stories were true, as he heard them speaking to him. A little creepy, but nothing too severe. What clinches it is that Japhet seems like a fairly normal, stable person, until you turn to the last page, which simply says... [[spoiler:OH GODS HELP ME]]

* East of Riften lies the "Lost Prospect Mine", where a journal is in the entryway detailing how a couple of miners had tried refreshing it, but it seemed to be tapped out. The author of the journal went to Riften to get supplies and cool his head, and when he returned, his partner was nowhere to be found. If the Dragonborn uses Whirlwind Sprint, the skeletal corpse of the other miner can be found buried hip-deep in a landslide... meaning that he'd died of thirst, starvation, or compression, rather than a quick death.

** As it turns out, the location of Bloodlet Throne is in fact part of a side quest which you can potentially receive from Dengeir, Jarl Siddgeir's uncle in Falkreath. It seems that a ''relative'' of Dengeir's was sealed in his tomb generations ago beacuse he was a powerful vampire, but he was recently released thanks to some unwitting grave robbers. If you visit Bloodlet Throne in the course of the quest, the vampire at the end will be named accordingly - if you stumble across it on your own, however, you'll have the experience outlined above... meaning that Dengeir is ''distantly related to a Volkihar vampire''. YMMV whether this makes the whole thing more or less horrifying.

* An in-game book, ''Physicalities of Werewolves'', deals with a researcher's morbid study on live werewolves. It describes the experiments on two subjects, A and B. It starts off relatively innocent with A, even though he eventually dies as well. It's with subject B that things get nauseating, as the researcher performs vivisection on her. In other words, he cut her open while she was still alive and then forced her to transform so he could study the effect the transformation had on her organs and muscles. The subject was still very much alive during all this and before she could succumb to her wounds, the researcher applied "remedies" for the disease directly to the internal organs. The Wolfsbane rendered the subject's bones brittle ("the ribcage nearly collapsed at the touch") while some sort of berry juice was pressed directly into the veins, which caused them to "shrivel behind the flow as it moved through the system. Upon reaching the heart, the major vessels pulled away completely, and the subject expired within minutes." Holy fuck. You can find this book on some members of the Silver Hand, which pretty much adds to their general unpleasantness due to their penchant for torturing any wolves or werewolves that they get their hands on. The book also sheds some light on [[PainfulTransformation why the transformation process is so painful]]: according to the author's discoveries, the lycanthrope's heart enlarges before the rest of the body, [[BodyHorror leading to severe chest pains as their heart quite literally feels like it's about to burst out of their chests.]]

** For major FridgeHorror (or BlackComedy, depending on your sense of humor), reading the book increases your Destruction skill. Going through the grisly details ''gives you ideas'' about things to do to your enemies.
* Similarly, ''Legend of Krately House'' is a play where two robbers are clearing out a supposedly haunted house. It isn't long before they encounter the ghosts of the family who lived in it, but the ghosts don't even notice them, merely going about their lives when they died. We learn from one of the thieves that the whole family died on the same night; that the wife was a witch whose coven didn't take too kindly to her leaving. They find her, and send … something after her—and that something brutally slaughtered her, her husband, and their two children. Then one of the ghosts touches a thief, and as he suddenly begins to fret about, we're treated to the ghosts of the family meeting the monster, with their torches winking out one by one. Then, there's a heavy, clawed step. Then another. And another. And it's at that moment, that the two robbers realize that not only are the ghosts still inside the house, ''but so is the monster that killed them''. The story ends there, [[NothingIsScarier without even a hint]] as to the monster's appearance but a "horrible, horrible HOWL".

* Pilgrim’s Trench, a bane to thalassophobes. When the water is modded to not be as muddy, it’s less scary to navigate water of any kind, but in the base game this location has loads of [[FridgeHorror Fridge Horror]] considering that it is made of four shipwrecks. The first thing to be aware of is that this location is not marked on your map ''until you dive down and find the first shipwreck''. It should be mentioned that since this is a trench, the ship that marks the location is the one that is closest to the surface. The second thing is that you can’t see the bottom of the trench without mods. In fact, ''you will have to search around underwater until you find the next wreck''. Third, there was going to be a quest where you’d have to retrieve a jewelry box from the bottom of the trench for a dead person so that he may Rest In Peace. There are traces of this quest left in the game but it was never implemented. Last, this place is so damn scary that not even the ''Slaughterfish'' wanna go there.

** Also related to the Dark Brotherhood storyline is [[SycophanticServant Cicero]]. At first he might seem a little ''too'' eccentric and more of an annoyance than a danger. Later however, you come across his journals, written largely when he was more mentally stable back in Cyrodiil. [[spoiler: You track his frightening descent into madness, exaggerated by the decrepit state of the Brotherhood he held so dear, his obsession over being appointed Keeper, and eternally being haunted by his final kill: a jester]]. Also, prior to starting the Dark Brotherhood questline, you can find him near the Loreius Farm, next to a broken cart with his "mother's" coffin on board. If you talk to him, he'll ask you to help him convince the farmer Vantus Loreius to fix the cart, which you can do. However, if you agree with Vantus that there's something fishy about Cicero, you can sic the nearby guard on him by claiming that he's smuggling contraband in his cart, which the guard believes and, after briefly confronting Cicero, he leaves to get reinforcements. [[spoiler:Regardless of how you feel about Cicero, convincing Vantus to help him is actually the better choice; if you return to the farm some time after choosing to go with Vantus' plan, you'll discover that Cicero [[NotSoHarmlessVillain brutally murdered both him and his wife]] for framing him.]]
* [[EvilOrphanageLady Grelod the Kind]] is obviously an abusive monster to the children of Honorhall Orphanage. What makes it worse is the fact that there is a small room in the orphanage with ''shackles on the walls.'' The [[FromBadToWorse implications]] of this are absolutely horrifying, and make Grelod [[MoralEventHorizon even less sympathetic]].
* In the second Dark Brotherhood quest, "With Friends Like These...", you are abducted in your sleep and taken to an unknown location. You are then forced to kill one of three people (or all three) in order to be initiated into the Brotherhood. Exiting the shack, you find that it's a run-down, abandoned rat hole of a building that's literally in the middle of nowhere. For some reason, the prospect of those people being kidnapped and dragged to a place like this where nobody can hear you scream or call for help is extremely unsettling.
** The ''Hearthfire'' DLC adds additional fuel, because this shack is located just a stone's throw away from one of the three locations where you can build one of the custom homes. That's right - the Dark Brotherhood is active right near the house where your loving spouse, two children, and loyal canine companion Meeko could be living. Your daughter tells you that she's scared, that she thinks there are monsters in the swamp; you kiss her forehead and tell her not to be afraid because you'd fight every dragon in the world and win to keep her safe. But she's right - there ''are'' monsters in the swamp. Monsters that can sneak into your home, abduct you right out of your bed without alerting your family... monsters that could have easily killed your family as you slept and let you live because it would be crueler that way.

** Turned into further NightmareFuel [[spoiler:for [[TheBaroness Astrid]]. If you play it right, the one she went to trouble to kidnap all the way from halfway across the continent, is not only the Dragonborn, but they also could be Nightingale of the Thieves' Guild, Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold, possible Thane to most if not all of Skyrim's Holds, the one who singlehandledly cleared ''lots'' of raiders and bandit caves, and if you finish the main storyline, the defeater of the '''the dragon heralding the World's End itself'''. The Dragonborn can have magic and shouts powerful enough to kill Astrid a hundred times over. Not only that, this 'victim' can also summon atronaches, wraiths and freaking '''[[PhysicalGod Daedras and Dragon Priests]]'''. It is not yet clear to Astrid, but is very clear to ''you'' that you are not trapped by Astrid with the 3 would-be victims, but [[RussianReversal she has trapped]] ''[[MuggingTheMonster herself]]'' [[MuggingTheMonster with]] '''[[MuggingTheMonster you]]'''. Should the player decide, all hell can and ''will'' break loose on the Dark Brotherhood (that's why the much-understated [[RealityEnsues 'Destroy the Dark Brotherhood' quest is immediately started once you show Astrid her folly]]), which outright ''annihilates'' the centuries-old guild for good with merely ''two'' survivors, who only escaped death because they weren't there at the time (Cicero because he was stuck on the road, and Babette because she's technically a child, and killing children is impossible without mods). And if the player accepts Astrid's offer, then she slowly realizes it herself just ''whom'' she made [[OhCrap the latest Dark Brotherhood recruit]], which is why she tries to have the Dragonborn killed once they become too useful, but to no avail.]]
* [[spoiler:Astrid's body]] at the end of "Death Incarnate" in the Dark Brotherhood line. [[spoiler: She's burned all over and practically skeletal,]] and everyone, especially [[spoiler: she herself,]] knows that [[spoiler: she's]] committed an unforgivable sin (by Sithis's standards, at least) and [[spoiler: she has only seconds to live.]] AlasPoorVillain, indeed.
** The worst part? She contacts by performing the Black Sacrament, [[spoiler:to put a contract ''on herself'', by using ''herself'' as the effigy. Remember what must be done to the effigy for the ritual to carry through, with the candles and the Nightshade, and a dagger through a heart? Not to mention that her soul is to go to the Void at any range for serving Sithis... not as his agent anymore, but as a target, a slave to him. [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves A slave thrice damned]] for betraying the Five Tenets and for almost dooming the last hold her God had on the mortal plane!]] And she ''[[{{Determinator}} does]]'' it, nevertheless!

** That shopkeeper who took over when her husband died? She says this when you talk to her during the, eh, meal: [[spoiler:"One of my customers? Did you know I inherited the store from my late husband? Shame what happened to him. He had such good taste."]] Either she has a very [[BlackComedy dark sense of humor]], [[spoiler:or her husband was a cannibal as well, ''or she ate her husband'']]. Or perhaps all three are true. It gets even worse if you've talked to her beforehand and done a quest for her; at the time she seemed genuinely sad that she lost her husband, which just makes the entire ordeal that much more disturbing.
** Banning, the guy who trains dogs for the Jarl, and gives you special 'spiced beef' for the pups, is also a member of the cult.... Makes you wonder just what kind of treat he had you deliver...
*** Even worse is when you know what happens to dogs who are raised eating that kind of meat - [[spoiler:they tend to become highly unstable, and very vicious. If you thought CarnivoreConfusion was bad in most fictitious settings, imagine taking commands from a person who smells like your favorite meat. If you chat with him in the feast chamber, he even tells you that there's a reason his dogs are all too willing to bite people!]]

** When you reach the final location in the questline, Morvunskar, you find a group of hostile mages who are nonetheless in the midst of drunken revelry, as befitting a gaggle of Sanguine worshipers. But delve deeper into the fortress and you'l find a room filled with the scorched and burnt corpses of captives, who were murdered by a psychotic mage named Naris who was indulging in ''his'' darker desires. And just up the hallway from this sadistic mage is another room, with a shrine to Dibella (whose temples and shrines Sanguine worshipers love to defile) alongside potions of paralysis, invisibility, and leather strips. It's not hard to figure out what other depravity these daedra worshipers were engaging in with their prisoners, and why Sanguine ''isn't'' all fun and games.

** Some mods that give the Dragonborn powerups add to this further. While the Dragonborn's already enough of a MookHorrorShow as it is, [[http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/51136/ this mod]] has the potential to make him even ''more'' horrifying. Consider this: like everyone else in Skyrim, you've seen your share of battles, and then some. You might even be a werewolf or a vampire, or otherwise pretty strong in your own right. One day someone shows up in front of you, wearing a BlackCloak with red clouds all over it, approaching you wordlessly. Then he puts on his GameFace as his eyes go from whatever color they were to ''blood red''. Then he strikes first, cutting down your friends before they can react. While you witness them dying one by one, you can't help but recall stories about some powerful clan from a foreign land that was left with only a handful of survivors following some horrific massacre. And all the while he effortlessly dodges any attacks thrown his way, possibly breathing flames and throwing lightning at his poor victims as they futilely try to fight back. And just when you're the only one left, it finally dawns on you: whoever just killed your mates and is about to do the same to you just ''happens'' to be one of those few survivors, just before he uses his MagicalEye to trap you in a nightmare and then roast you alive with fire as black as night. Alternately, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djZ0g5Y0fKA you could be a powerful Vampire Lord yourself]] and manage to give him a good fight, even with all the flashy spells he throws your way. Yet just when you think victory's within reach, a spectral armor starts forming around him, something that could very well be a demon out of hell, then the tables suddenly turn and before long ''you're'' the one on the verge of death...

** And ''[[EvilCounterpart Miraak]],'' of all people, even lampshades this;
---> '''Miraak''': Do you ever wonder if it ''[[YouBastard hurts]]'', having your soul ripped out like that?

* ''Dawnguard'' is just a treasure trove of nightmare fuel. The first time you walk into Castle Volkihar deserves mention: the vampires are in the middle of a feast, with bones, gore, and spattered blood contrasting with the otherwise luxurious surrounding. There are even human corpses laid out on the tables, and a few of the vampires are chin-deep in their entrails like children in their first birthday cake. Imagine literally walking into the middle of that, completely surrounded, the only human present. Oh, wait. Those corpses on the tables? '''[[AndIMustScream THEY'RE STILL ALIVE]]'''. On the plus side, science has proven that this makes it at least 100% more satisfying to storm the castle and give the vampires a right proper pounding with a big ole' axe.

* The Falmer's Chaurus are given a new update and it is not pretty! Now you have to deal with ''[[FliesEqualsEvil Chaurus Hunters]]''. The Chaurus Reapers? Those were the ''larval form''. The Hunters are massive, winged, mantis-like creatures with stingers. It's basically a Chaurus Reaper except even tougher, and '''''it can fly'''''. They don't simply hatch from cocoons like butterflies. Instead, the normal Chauri ''are'' the cocoon, and the hunters burst out of them [[Film/{{Aliens}} chestburster-style]]. It does not help that Chauri look suspiciously like [[Franchise/MassEffect another kind of Reaper]], only (barely) shrunk down to melee combat size. Also, look at some construction materials of the Falmer huts. [[spoiler:They get bigger...]]

* [[UndergroundLevel Darkfall Cave]] - a completely pitch black cave full of trolls, the aforementioned Chaurus Hunters, and Frostbite Spiders. [[spoiler:Early in your exploration of the cave, you come across a thin, rickety, falling apart RopeBridge spanning a ravine with a rushing water current at the bottom. The bridge creaks rather ominously as you pass over, but surprisingly nothing more. On the other side, you find very little and proceed back across... [[JumpScare only for the bridge to collapse and plunge you into the dark abyss.]] You're left at the mercy of the current as it sweeps you through narrow fissures and out into a large cave with just enough light to see several massive Frostbite Spiders falling from the ceiling.]] And you ''cannot avoid this'' if you want to continue the main quest.
** Darkfall Passage may be worse. The primary light sources through most of it are glowing pink flowers that retract when you come near, leaving you in darkness. In addition to the Falmer running around, you have Chauri, including several Hunters and Hunter fledglings, hidden in the carcasses of dead ones that you don't notice until you ''step on them and they burst out'' and you can barely see them in the dark as they're flying around you, so they're hard to hit. And then there's Darkfall Grotto, which gives us Feral Falmer - a naked, blood-splattered, more animalistic variant of Falmer that kills their own kind. On the upside, once you're done, you are rewarded with the (relatively) more serene, absolutely ''gorgeous'' Forgotten Vale, and no longer have to brave the cave to visit there again.

* ''Darkend'' brings you to an island somewhere beyond Skyrim. The aesthetic is very VideoGame/DarkSouls inspired, and it lives up to that. To start with, there are no quests. You have to puzzle the story together from context clues and diary entries. To start the mod, you have to travel to a shipwreck north of Winterhold (conveniently marked on the map). The ship is filled with corpses, apparently frozen to death, which is confirmed by a diary you find. The diary also describes a weird rock that the crew feared, but radiated warmth. Touching said rock (which is ominously glowing) takes you to the island. In the first town you find, skeletons are laying in the streets, some tied to crucifixes. If you read some journals, you find that the town was ravaged by a sickness that came form some ruins, and that everyone who got sick were killed by the town guard.
* ''Apotheosis'' is, like Darkend, very Dark Souls-inspired, and it ''shows''. You play as a lost soul from the Dreamsleeve, a realm of the lost dead who eats away at its inhabitants, who has to venture out across the realms of Oblivion to reassemble the Heart of Lorkhan. While it may sound like a standard series of fetch-quests, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwWrYm-GZxM announcement trailer]] plays up the horror angle, depicting terrifying and bleak realms of oblivion set to a haunting tune and a modified version of the in-game book ''Sithis'', which details the creation of Nirn, but painting Sithis as being the one, true god.

** And the inversion of that for the dragons. Dragons are eternal, immortal, unchanging... and here comes this puny human that uses your own language against you, scrambling your mind so you can't even escape. You fight back, but for naught; something happens to you that ''never'' happened to dragonkind before. You die. And then it gets ''worse''. [[spoiler:'''He ''''eats your soul''''.]]