Nightmare Fuel / The Lord of the Rings Online

• The Nameless of Moria, the game's version of the "nameless things that gnaw the earth" Gandalf would not speak of further. He wasn't kidding.
• The Abominations in the Dunbog and Isengard instances. Saruman has made Mutants in Middle-earth, and they are creepy-looking.
• Some places of the game are designed to be Nightmare Fuel. Such places include (but are not limited to) the Barrow-downs, the Red Swamp, the Fields of Fornost, the northern half of the Trollshaws, Goblin-Town (due to the general feel of the place), most of Angmar (naturally), parts of Moria, Mirkwood, Fangorn, the Paths of the Dead, and so forth.
• Taking a closer observation at the Pillar of the White Hand, a pillar with a giant, stone-carved White Hand on the top, reveals that the hand is cut off and impaled upon the pillar, and pointing toward Orthanc with blood-stained fingers.
• Volume IV: Book 4: Chapter 12 is a constant stream of nightmare fuel both in- and out-of-universe. To wit: The Rohirrim do not arrive and Gandalf loses his battle with the Witch-King, forcing your character to flee and find Pippin. The lords of Gondor are slain, including Prince Imrahil. Gothmog captures you alive and brings you to the roof of the citadel to see Denethor's death. Pippin sees this happen, and Denethor commands the hobbit to flee with his last breath. Pippin runs for the edge of the city, but is snatched away by a fell-beast. Thankfully, it is revealed at the end that all of this has merely been a foretelling woven by Denethor. Having just looked into his Palantír, the player character had been left especially susceptible to his words and unable to distinguish them from reality.^note This was not a vision from the Palantír. Unlike Galadriel's Mirror, Palantíri cannot show possibilities that do not come true. To quote Gandalf's response upon the player reporting to him: "I do not think he has seen the siege itself in the Anor-stone, <name>, and that is very important to us. A palantír cannot be made to lie, though its images might deceive if the user interprets them incorrectly."
• The Wastes surrounding the Black Gate are blighted and desolate, but one place stands out as especially frightening. In the north of Dagorlad, near the Dead Marshes, is the hill known as Ondoher's Folly, where the namesake king of Gondor was killed by Wainriders. The Enemy has erected a horrific temple there called Faltor-shík, the Fane of Screaming. Gondorian captives are tortured and sacrificed to the Dark Lord there, as are weak or elderly slaves from Nurn who had been taken there after being promised freedom. It's an excellent example of just how evil Sauron and his servants are. One quest involves burning the piles of mutilated remains left to rot, to grant them some dignity and prevent further defilement. To the south is Ashtok, where Orcs pick through heaps of bones, as well as a caravan of wheeled cages bringing more slaves for sacrifice. The slaves are found to have been slaughtered in their cages after attempting to revolt. The temple is overseen by a Black Númenórean named Burudagath the Bloodletter, and the circumstances of his defeat are quite chilling. The long-dead spirits of the Wainriders have awoken. The player character takes advantage of their hatred of Númenóreans to convince them to attack Burudagath, also keeping them unaware of the Host of the West. Despite this, the player character is defeated, chained to an altar, and nearly executed by him, only to be saved by the Wainriders' arrival at the last moment. Burudagath is overwhelmed by the vengeful spirits of the captives he slaughtered (though the player cannot see them), and dies from the terror.
• Arachnophobes, be warned: although Giant Spiders can be found across much of Middle-earth in this game, the Lhingris area of Mordor, which includes Cirith Ungol and Torech Ungol (Shelob's lair) turns this up to eleven — the place is crawling with them, complete with a notification each time one of them devours one of the other unfortunate animals in the area. What's more, Shelob herself is apparently still alive, though reluctant to reveal herself following her fight with Sam. So far all the player sees of her is during one instance in which her massive legs come down from above to ensnare the Orcs that are routinely sacrificed to her
  • Shelob finally makes an appearance when the player enters Torech Ungol from the Morgul Vale. For the first encounter with her, the player's objective is not to defeat her, but to escape from her.
• Gorgoroth translates to Great Horror, for good reason. Other scary places on the Plateau include:
  • The fortress of Seregost, where Lhaereth the Stained tests her plagues and poisons on her victims, and the bloody, diseased swamp of Seregost that surrounds it.
  • The dungeons of Naerband, the Dark Lord's prison, which was too close to a lava flow from Mount Doom when it erupted, roasting many of the prisoners in their cells.
• Imlad Morgul is also a Nightmare Fuel Land, as befitting a place with such a dark reputation.
  • Of note is the Circle of Despair in Minas Morgul, which is haunted by the shades of Gondorians slain when the city fell. Including the shades of dead children. Investigating this tier reveals the citizens were massacred by being taken to the bath-house by the invaders and drowned!
  • The hidden valley of Thuringwath, and Bâr Nírnaeth, the Houses of Lamentation, within. As the Witch-king says to Éowyn, this is "where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind left naked to the Lidless Eye." This is where the Nazgûl practiced unspeakable rites in worship of Sauron, and even with them gone it's still a terrifying place. Behind Bâr Nírnaeth is Morloth, a corrupted White Tree whose roots are fed the blood of the sacrificed.
• When you first enter Draigoch's Lair. You see some scattered bones and treasure, but all seems quiet, so you take a step forward and then suddenly this booming, monstrous voice speaks to you out of nowhere, taunting you to come in further.
  Draigoch: Welcome, Thieves. I can smell the dread in your sweat. I hear the whistle of fear in your breath and feel the fluttering of your little hearts as they race in your chests. But come now, why do you fear? There is plenty of treasure here... enough for all, and more to spare.
• Update 15 introduces Roving Threats, massively powerful creatures that are supposed to be defeated in level 100 raiding groups. If you're searching for them, they might not be too scary, but these creatures show up in under leveled areas such as Evendim or the North Downs unexpectedly, and can take out players in an instant, which can be shocking if you're not expecting them.
• The Bingo Boffin episodic quest line is generally light-hearted, but you end up rescuing Theodore Gorse from Draigoch's Lair at one point. One you have made it outside though, a blast of fire shoots out of the cave mouth and Draigoch beckons you.
  COME OUT, VERMIN, AND FACE THE FIRES OF YOUR RUIN.