List of Nightmare Fuel/Fridge Horror Monsters?

[Nettlekid]

For those unfamiliar with the TV Tropes terms, Nightmare Fuel refers to things that are downright horrifying, while Fridge Horror is more subtle and often makes you think before you realize just how dark it is. A group of mine has requested a horror campaign one-shot, and although it's easy to slap something simply gruesome and gory together, I want to be a bit more interesting than that. Sure, I'll probably have them fight some cannibalistic Dusk Giant, or a Bonedrinker, or icky things like that, but that's not really horror. The best scary movies aren't the ones that have things that jump out and go BOO, they're the ones where you realize, far too late, what the actual implications of the characters' actions are.

For example, a monster that fits what I'm looking for ideally is the Splinterwaif from MMIII. One of its abilities is to turn dead humanoids and fey into a thorny bush. Members from a village have been going missing, so the party heads into a dense wood to look for them. They come across a maze of thorny bushes, and after giving it a shot they either make it through or cut it/burn it down. They defeat the Splinterwaifs at the end of the maze, and at some point learn of the Splinterwaif's ability...and realize that every bush they walked past and cut down was a corpse. Now that's pretty scary, right?

So, what are some monsters that fit the bill? Things that would be scary enough to see and fight, but special things about them make them downright dark? Anything regarding tormented souls or mass deaths is good material. Also ideas that may be horrific even if they aren't based on a monster are good. Like maybe in a desert where workable stone, water, and salt is limited but the population is high, the upper class has taken to using peasants as fodder for Flesh to Stone/Ice/Salt. Imagine finding that out while drinking a refreshing beverage?

[FleshrakerAbuse]

Those are some good ideas. I suggest checking out the Heroes of Horror, for it might contain what you need. Book of Vile Darkness also will help fulfill that role.
Have corrupted, possessed murderers augmented and twisted because of others; an evil who did not bring it upon itself is even more terrifying (an undead scion, once-holy accidental fallen paladins still struggling to find their path, a well-intentioned scientist twisted to madness because of a betrayal or similiar).

As for monsters:
Recently ghoul or wight slain commoners.
A warped hero who was kidnapped and tortured by a certain faction, escaped, and now prowls the alleys murdering.
Flesh golems with a twist-the minds remain.
This is an idea from another playgrounder (can't find the thread)-undead that say thank you while eating you.
Lords of Madness has info on creatures warped by aboleths or illithids.
A friendly fellow adventuring party found ripped apart, but with one missing-a shapechanger/caster (aranea, doppleganger, werecreature).

Ideas:
A quaint countryside village that is perfect... except for an annual sacrifice to appease vicious fey.

Adding children to most of any makes it scarier. The Heroes of Horror has a mini-dungeon where a hag lures in children to have them tear each other apart to feed her.

[Nettlekid]

Mm, I agree, good-gone-bad is often very horrific. Either those who might not even realize how twisted the things that they're doing are, or those who understand completely but are unable not to.

The wight/ghoul-killed thing is an interesting idea. Since a human killed by ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight, I like the thought of having some special Mass Revenance or Mass Raise Dead cast on a recently ravaged village, raising all the thankful villagers who'll band together to help you fight the ghouls that killed them...and then midnight happens. Because the terms and conditions of that disease still stand.

Ooh, Lords of Madness, why didn't I think of that? Illithid spawn and basically anything that Mind Flayers do is pretty horrible. The party could have fun with a village infested by Tsochari, and they don't know who's honest and who's a meatsuit.

I'm not sure I totally get your last idea, you mean that one of the party members was the shapechanger in disguise who killed that party, and who may be in the current party? It would be pretty good to have the party stumble on one of its own members, dead, and realize that one of their own is the shapechanging killer. Or have the killer pretend to be dead and found, the party turns on its own member, and then the killer reveals. I've thought about this in another campaign where the big bad was a psycho who loved Polymorph/Shapechange, and in the beginning I gave everyone a card, telling them that one of them was actually the villain in disguise. Every card said "You are not the villain." It turned out the villain was disguised as one of their horses.

[SiuiS]

Oh, man. I'm so stealing that.

Herp Derp forgot to contribute.
Fridge horror works best either building up to actual nightmares, or after the nightmare fuel and everyone has a chance to feel safe again. I have found the fairy tale aspect works well, where everyone acts like something is normal but it really isn't.

Something I've seen floating around the boards, actually; stealing from Lovecraft. Not too direct, no unimaginable dragon men creatures, but maybe a quiet, secluded fishing village. The only way in is through a valley that floods with fog and worse in the fall and winter (so they say, probably bull flop), an that has recently been hit by an illness. Everyone is in high sports, very jovial and gung-ho, except for the occasional fever, rash, or migraine. Only the rash is actually scales and mucus, and the migraine caused by your eyes slowly changing, becoming crosseyed and other. The locals, especially the farmers on the fringe of town, all claim to have their own down-home remedies for the malaise and those in town just don't trust their down to earth know how

Which is good! Because after failing enough covert saves, one of the party members wakes up with a hand that's mostly a lobster claw. Luckily the farmer, Jebediah, can fix it! The paltry talk to him, he examines the arm like he's checking a horse – very businesslike, professional – and says "I've got just the thing, I'll be right back." And he leaves. The party get to chatting with the wife and learn that their daughter, Isabelle, why she ha the same darn thing just two seasons ago, bless her heart. Clever players might see the daughter working and think to check her arms – both clean. Even more clever players might think to ask about her, and learn "oh, no, that's our niece. Isabelle didn't make, poor child." As the farmer Jebediah returns.

"I've got that cure I was talking about." He says, as he pulls the old barn's hack saw from behind his back. "Now you'd best relax, or you'll bleed out from all that heart pumping you'll cause."

[Xefas]

Libris Mortis has the Slaymate, tiny, weeping non-combatant female children turned undead that produce a necromancy-buffing aura, and are therefore prized as minions.

They look a bit like Little Sisters.

[Azernak0]

Ghoul Hunger (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/g/ghoul-hunger). Seriously, I haven't seen spells that messed up outside of Earthdawn.

Sure, it functions almost like Hold Person but it has a seriously messed up portion. An Evil campaign we did had the Cleric make the mother and father of two children helpless and... well, figure it out.

Have the party find an Evil Necromancer who has been killing the population of a large city to find his army. Have the party members find corpses/zombies that were chewed up. After they defeat the Necromancer, have them find that spell amongst his things. If they connect the two, it should be pretty groovy.

[sonofzeal]

Tsochari are my favorite. They are tentacle monsters of an unusual variety, in that their entire body is tentacles. There IS no non-tentacle core from which the tentacles spring, it's more like this (http://www.fishpondinfo.com/photos/reptiles/snakes/snakeball3.jpg)except {a} from the Far Realms, {b} are probably smarter than you, {c} can probably take you in a straight fight at their CR (bunch of attacks, DR, huge AC, SR), and {d} don't even NEED to because they can possess people and slave them to their bidding.

[The Mentalist]

If you're willing to go Homebrew some of Vorpal Tribble's, The Demented One's and Krimm Blackleaf's monsters may be of use to you. Let me see if I can find their homebrewer's sigs for you.

[Rubik]

Do the wight thing, but have the wights' former personalities be cognizant of what they're doing, but they're unable to stop killing and turning others. Have them beg the party in anguish to kill them, or to run, as They. Can't. Stop.

[The Mentalist]

Some Vile Feats (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74001)
RoC's Monsters are good (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11819893&postcount=127)
For Aberration horror Edro is amazing (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=11830744&postcount=128)
Afro has good pre-made villains (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=5281866&postcount=45)
For make your own Aberration Horror (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153536)
DracoDei has good bodyhorror (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3505115&postcount=11)
Krimm has good all sorts of darkness (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3715895&postcount=21)
An old horror monster competition (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7042651)

Just some suggestions, take what you will. I'll find more soon maybe. I'm still getting my bearings as to where everything is. I've been away for a while.

[Gildedragon]

Village being besieged by ghouls.
Meat is regularly served at tables, but the PC's will not have seen cows in the fields.

wait for them to remember how ghouls are created.

[Sith_Happens]

How about fey? Pretty much any of the nongood fey (or even some of the good ones) can be terrifying if you play them right.

For example, if the party is mid-level, a murderjack (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040828a) or two could be fun.:smallamused:

[ArcturusV]

Yeah, it's less about Mechanics, and more about Execution. You can't really look at stuff that mechanically is supposed to be scary, or someone slapped a "Scary" sticker on it.

As far as things I've done that have actually reached the "Fridge Horror" level, it would be perfectly mundane things.

The story of Marg, the former Fisherman and "Town Hero" fit the Fridge Horror window with my group. His fall, and just how far he fell, and the fact that a lot of his "Evil" and "Madness" was done just off screen. He was a comedic character when my players first ran into them. It was when the second session with Marg involved started that someone starting going, "... wait... wait... did he just?"

The Nightmare Fuel usually came from how I portrayed Demons and Devils. They honestly creeped out my players. It was all about slow playing them in that case. I never did anything overt with them. Everything my Demons and Devils did seemed very deliberate. Everything was done very slow. I stressed how inhuman they were not only in appearance, but also in their mannerisms. Combine with some Campfire Ghost Story telling tricks and I had people shivering when a Demon popped onto the scene.

Just, the one thing you want to avoid is going graphic. Going graphic seems like a good idea at first. You get those shock and squick points as you describe something. Maybe hear them say something like "... you're a sick bastard..." and such. But the shock wears off quickly. And gore doesn't stick in people's minds. It's the set up that does. Their own mind fills in the blanks to create fear far beyond what you could ever dream up.

[Tragak]

How about being manipulated by "perfectly normal" human beings (etc.) that were ostensibly afraid of the Eldritch Abominations, but actually manipulating the party into aiding the Eldritches?

[Krazzman]

It has been mentioned... but seriously read horror stories.

In my PF campaign I took a few inspirations from those stories... what really creeped my players out was a simple cabin... with pictures of people in there... but the problem was more or less... those pictures were windows actually... guess which party traveled through the night? :smallcool:

I took a few inspirational stuff from "scaryforkids". Will probably reread alot of those stories and creepypastas to bundle them up and bam.

On another note the party were that paranoid about a stuffed teddy bear that they burned him twice so far. (We don't play often and the Barbarian now likes his little stuffed horror bear that mocked him)

[Telonius]

The town has a well-known healing spring. Nobody's ever been able to figure out the source of its properties, but everyone who bathes in it feels very numb for a few moments, then wonderful afterwards. Every year, there's a big festival praising the gods for bestowing such a wonderful blessing upon them.

Meanwhile, down in the caverns below the surface, a derro vivisectionist is working away at his victims, creating Liquid Pain (BoVD). Unfortunately, the derro isn't particularly careful about his harvesting, and some of it always seems to leak out into the water table...

[Asrrin]

Village being besieged by ghouls.
Meat is regularly served at tables, but the PC's will not have seen cows in the fields.

wait for them to remember how ghouls are created.

This. I could imagine the PC's stumbling into a destitute village, maybe find a little girl playing hopscotch by herself and her teddybear. Maybe save her from a ghoul. She brings the party to her parents house where they are so grateful they want to throw a dinner party. Dinner rolls around and little girl is nowhere to be seen, but the meat tastes like the most tender veal, and the parents have a look in their eyes mixed with sheer terror, guilt, and desperation.

[Nettlekid]

Some of these suggestions are quite good. I wonder though, is there any moral implication to eating a boulder hit with Stone to Flesh? That would solve a lot of meat problems in any town with an arcane caster.

Can anyone think of some more monsters that are good for nightmare fuel? Creatures whose abilities or flavor is designed to be creepy and haunting. The Ghouls are a good example, because you can go with the gore aspect if you want, but the proper, more subtle horror comes in regarding their creation. I love the Murderjack too, and I think the icing on the cake is that it heals the target in order to torment it more. The "ribbons" thing is also good to slip into like, a maypole celebration thing. It would make a good boss among the Splinterwaifs.

[dysprosium]

There is also the Wendigo template from Fiend Folio.

Plenty of horror can come from coming across a survivor who had a horrible story of how he survived the disaster. Only come to find out he wasn't alone -- he had a partner (or loved one to make it more horrible) that he had to eat to survive.

The party talks and becomes friendly with this guy, maybe even going so far as to take him with them on their travels. Over time he transforms into a new wendigo. Horror ensues.

[Gildedragon]

The Morgh is good too. Start the players off catching and killing a serial killer in some city. Send them out of town for a few days, when back have the killings started all over again.
By killing the monster they'd made it stronger.

Grey Render has kidnapped someone from a village, killing any would be rescuers. Haste is asked of the heros.
In truth is defending a budding druid against the thrazidun cultists that comprise the village who wish to sacrifice/corrupt the druid.
Knowing that grey renders are protective can help set in the realization.
Best yet if the corrupted druid or the village mayor/cultist leader becomes a recurring villain.

I love the water one so hard!

[Telonius]

Raggamoffyns/Captured Ones (MM2) could be a great source, depending on how you play it out. The Raggamoffyn has total access to all the host's memories and abilities. This could be seriously creepy, if it goes on a murder spree, or takes over a child.

[ArcturusV]

I'd watch out for using the Morgh thing. While it could be good. It's also one of those things that depends on your group and how you introduce it. You want them feeling dread that someone they barely handled before is back with a vengeance. You don't want them feeling like their Good Deeds just made things worse.

I mean sometimes stories can use that. Where perfectly good, reasonable plans that should have had a great outcome just make things so much worse. But I find for games that it tends to wear down on people's eagerness.

I'll also suggest as a good Horror Monster.... the Elf.

For several reasons. One, I'm generally convinced that "normal" people who are sick and twisted do have a higher impact than some monster that the players expect to be sick and twisted. But also just the general views of Elves in particular can make it really easy to twist them into Horror realms.

Think of the typical Elvish lands that would pop into the minds of most players. What do we get?

Forest which is basically isolated (By magic, or by force, or just by being so remote that no one wants to go there). Isolation is always a good multiplier for Horror. Having the players feel there is no safe haven, no back up coming... good stuff.

The forest is almost always described as Picturesque, mostly in an English "Well Manicured" sort of way. This means the forest isn't a naturally occurring place, typically. They grow in a way that can only be maintained by deliberate control over centuries. While this is usually used for the purposes of creating a sense of Beauty. It can also create a sense of foreboding. "Natural" creatures in DnD who might mess with or try to "Preserve" the natural wild state should be remarkably absent. So no Nymphs, Dryads, Druids, etc. If you play up the fact that everything is constantly sculpted and tended, it can almost give a big brother "I'm being watched, ALL THE TIME" feeling.

The Forest is usually a broken ecosystem. Elvish forests tend to be very lopsided in that they are typically defined as having no medium or pinnacle predators. Even Elves themselves are sometimes hinted at being vegetarian/vegan (But not quite often enough to be a separate point). There's deer, squirrels, songbirds, rabbits, etc. And nothing at all which actually preys on them. There's no wolves and coyotes wandering the woods. No bears, no hawks and owls... why is that? How is the balance maintained? Why hasn't any predator moved into this rich feast waiting for it, from animals who have no idea what a predator is and how to evade it?

If you play this up right... you can create a really weird, "Something is wrong" vibe. And in the center of this Picturesque Forest of Trees and Prey Animals, you have the Elves, smiling, always the "Good" guys...

It works surprisingly well. You can skip the Either/Or switch that usually goes on with elves either being Pure Good and Strictly Better Than Thou, or being Xenophobic Asshats.

[The Viscount]

Mockery Bugs from MMIII have always terrified me. They are the result of their queen eating a human, then producing what seems to be the human. In actuality their head has been replaced with a mockery bug. They will go about their daily lives, only being able to complete a task at a time, repeating one phrase. An entire town of them can be very unsettling. When combat starts they crank up to terrifying as they burst from the body as a giant centipide with a human face. The art disturbs me greatly.

Thoon infiltrator from MMV is also one of the "inhuman things that seem human" type of horror, but they're much more intelligent. They seem entirely human unless you look really close. Best of all they have the ability to fake death, so the PCs can have a seemingly normal, yet unkillable person opposing them.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Mockery Bugs from MMIII have always terrified me. They are the result of their queen eating a human, then producing what seems to be the human. In actuality their head has been replaced with a mockery bug. They will go about their daily lives, only being able to complete a task at a time, repeating one phrase. An entire town of them can be very unsettling. When combat starts they crank up to terrifying as they burst from the body as a giant centipide with a human face. The art disturbs me greatly.
"The shopkeeper turns toward you, a silly grin on his face. “Here’s your change. Here’s your change!” he says, his voice rising to a shout. Then, in a spout of blood, his face detaches from his skull and leaps toward you, propelled by a centipedelike body with foot-long spines. “Here’s . . . your . . . change!” shouts the centipede with the shopkeeper’s face as it scuttles your way."
Seriously, there is all kinds of messed up stuff in the MMV.
Solamith demons, who off chunks of their body and throw them at you. The pieces then explode.
Demonthorn Mandrake plants are classic "vines growing through your flesh."
Everything about Mind Flayers of Thoon gives me the skeevies.
Some good gross undead-- Sanguineous Drinkers, skeletons with organs that drain blood with claw attacks; Serpentir, the top half of two human skeletons connected at the spine.
Tirbana, a bunch of gross insect-type things that take out entire villages, knock out the people and implant eggs in them.
Vivisectors, hideous flying serial killers that cut out your organs and stick them inside themselves?

And let us not forget Vinespawn, a thousand vines weaving themselves together to make a bear. Fun story: I once put one of these in a game, because hey, evil druid, evil plant, CR's right, why not? Turns out the "why not" is because it is a straight-up tentacle rape demon right out of a hentai movie. Seriously-- it entangles you in a vine net, engulfs you, and then-- and I quote:

As a standard action, a vinespawn can attempt to insert its spawning root down the throat of an engulfed humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or giant.
2d4 days later, you die when a new vinespawn bursts through your chest.

[Jeff the Green]

Spoilered in case my party comes across this thread. Seriously, guys, don't look.

The shugenja's player recently dropped out, so I took control of her. She recently took severe Wisdom damage in addition to a high Depravity score, so she went insane, becoming a tainted raver (HoH). She's still with the party for now, but she's paranoid, and has odd facial expressions. Soon she'll leave in the dead of night, with a note to one of the party members she trusts that she's convinced the shadowcaster is a mahou tsukai (blood mage).

Next time they return to the village of Barovia (oh, did I mention, this is happening in Ravenloft? :smallbiggrin:), they'll learn that a number of people have gone missing, including the granddaughter of one of the NPCs they've gotten help from and a few other children. Also, all the ravens have disappeared, which the villagers take to be an evil omen. They'll track the missing children back to the graveyard, where they'll encounter Danovich, a priest whom they killed previously, who's become a very scary undead with pounce, lots of natural weapons, and cleric casting. With him is the shugenja, who's taken levels in mahou tsukai, and a zombie murder of ravens, and behind the shugenja, in the shadows, are several figures, some child-sized.

On a rough altar, tied spreadeagled in front of the shugenja, is the most recently disappeared child. The shugenja wields a knife, which she uses to draw blood from the child to fuel her metamagic. The figures behind her are the villagers, children and all, whom she's raised as undead. If they don't stop her in time, she'll drain enough blood to kill the girl, and then animate her body as a zombie.

A few rounds after they kill the shugenja, she'll rise as a zombie due to a plague they thought they'd eradicated. A round later, if they don't destroy her by then, she'll be transported back to Rokugan, spreading the plague there.

Then, when they fight the BBEG, Strahd von Zarovich, he will have a portal from which spring infinite zombie samurai, and since the previous healer from Eberron suffered the same fate, zombie warforged.

[Tragak]

And let us not forget Vinespawn, a thousand vines weaving themselves together to make a bear. Fun story: I once put one of these in a game, because hey, evil druid, evil plant, CR's right, why not? Turns out the "why not" is because it is a straight-up tentacle rape demon right out of a hentai movie. Seriously-- it entangles you in a vine net, engulfs you, and then-- and I quote:

Originally Posted by MMV 198
As a standard action, a vinespawn can attempt to insert its spawning root down the throat of an engulfed humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or giant.
2d4 days later, you die when a new vinespawn bursts through your chest. Wow. :smalleek: So much Hurt.

[Gildedragon]

There's those constructs/dolls in pathfinder that have a child's soul in them. One wonders how they got made

A monkey in a pristine red velvet organ grinder's outfit: how'd it get there? Who dressed it? Where is its organ grinder?

Ooooh: skiurid infested forest + famine + people raiding squirrel acorn caches for food