archive-of-fear

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Vasta Nerada

Source: Doctor Who

Category: Creature

Alignment: The Dark

Description: Literally known as "the shadows that melt the flesh", the Vashta Nerada were microscopic carnivorous beings found on most planets. On their own and in small swarms they were not a threat however, once a swarm was big enough, they could strip the flesh off living creatures in seconds. Believed to be the reason many species have a fear of the dark, they live in darkness and would mimic their prey's shadow when hunting. While light slowed them down somewhat, in high enough concentrations they could block even strong sources of light and once a victim had more than one shadow, it was too late.

#doctor who #vashta nerada #category: creatures #the dark

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Cobb Avery

Source: Lord Huron Lore

Category: Avatar

Alignment: The Desolation

Description: Cobb Avery was once a construction worker who was murdered with his family in a house fire deliberately set by a corporation looking to get a hold of his land through any means necessary. He crawls out of his grave a new man – if he can even be called a man at all – brought back by some beyond his understanding. He’s unable to bleed, age or die, and is only fuelled by his need for revenge for his family.

Cobb tracks down each of the people responsible for the fire and kills them in brutal, destructive ways (trapping one in a burning gas station, killing another in with a corkscrew, derailing a train and lighting it on fire, etc). He begins to gain a reputation, becoming something of an urban legend, “The World Ender.” He forms a gang of equally restless and destructive folk, with himself at the head, to take down the cooperation with fire and bloodshed. He killed the CEO of the company by trapping them both inside the headquarters and blowing it up, yet he walks out entirely unscathed. Even after his vengeance has been fulfilled, the legend of the World Ender and his violence strikes fear into the hearts of the greedy, and a similar fire in the hearts of the scorned.

#submission #category: avatar #the desolation #cobb avery #lord huron #strange trails #submitter: danidoesathing

[archive-of-fear]

Name: The endless city 

Source: Gone with the Blastwave 

Category: Stronghold 

Alignment: The Slaughter, The Vast, elements of almost all in parts of the city 

Description: We find an unnavigable, ruined city that is the site of a war that has lasted so long none know the reason but to win. There are three main extent factions left go simply by colour as opposed to national identity of any form. There are the Reds, who seem to have poor equipment, but, rather clever, if boredom driven tactics, The Blues, who are better equipped for small arms, and the Yellows, who are the only faction that seems to field significant amounts of armoured vehicles, for all the good it does them.

The city does have some civilians, but they appear almost uniformly to be unaligned, begging the question of where any supplies for this war come from. Lastly, the city appears to resist attempts to escape it, generally, it is locally possible to reach locations, but any attempt to leave seems to inevitably lead to getting lost.

Curiously, the war in this location has continued so long that most survivors are inured to it’s terrors, but, there are plenty of apparently new recruits who have not become numb yet as well.

#submission #category: stronghold #the slaughter #the vast #submitter: faolonfiendrender #the endless city #gone with the blastwave

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Help I'm Alive

Artist: Metric

Alignment: The Hunt

Lyrics:

I tremble They're gonna eat me alive If I stumble They're gonna eat me alive

Can you hear my heart beating like a hammer? Beating like a hammer?

Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer Hard to be soft Tough to be tender Come take my pulse, the pace is on a runaway train Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer Beating like a hammer Beating like a hammer Beating like a hammer

If we're still alive My regrets are few If my life is mine What shouldn't I do? I get wherever I'm going I get whatever I need While my blood's still flowing And my heart still beats

Beating like a hammer Beating like a hammer

Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer Hard to be soft Tough to be tender Come take my pulse, the pace is on a runaway train Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer Beating like a hammer Beating like a hammer Beating like a hammer

If we're still alive My regrets are few If my life is mine What shouldn't I do? I get wherever I'm going I get whatever I need While my blood's still flowing And my heart still beats

Beating like a hammer Beating like a hammer (Beating like a hammer) Beating like a hammer (Beating like a hammer) Beating like a hammer (Beating like a hammer)

I tremble They're gonna eat me alive If I stumble They're gonna eat me alive

Can you hear my heart beating like a hammer? Beating like a hammer? Beating like a hammer Beating like a hammer

Help, I'm alive, my heart keeps beating like a hammer

#category: song #the hunt #metric #help i'm alive #Youtube

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Compliance

Artist: Muse

Alignment: The Web

Lyrics:

Compliance We just need your compliance You will feel no pain anymore And no more defiance We just need your compliance Just give us your compliance We won't let you feel lost anymore No more self-reliance (Com-com-com-com-compliance)

Fall into line, you will do as you're told No choice fatigue, your blood is running cold We lose control, the world will fall apart Love of your life will mend your broken heart Life lived in fear, you need protection You're all alone, too much rejection We have what you need, just reach out and touch We can save you (We can save you), we just need your

Compliance We just need your compliance You will feel no pain anymore No more defiance Just give us your compliance

Cover your tracks, we know what's best for you You've bitten off much more than you can chew You're running scared, you'll run into our arms Come join our clique, we'll keep you safe from harm Our toy soldier, you'll do the dirty work Stay loyal to us, we'll take away the hurt We have what you need, just reach out and touch We can save you (We can save you), just give us your

Compliance We just need your compliance You will feel no pain anymore No more defiance Just give us your compliance

(Com-com-com-com-compliance) (Com-com-com-com-compliance) Ooh Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh Ooh ooh ooh Ooh ooh ooh ooh (We can save you, we can save you)

Compliance We just need your compliance You will feel no pain anymore And no more defiance We just need your compliance We just need your compliance We won't let you feel lost anymore No more self-reliance (Com-compliance)

Compliance We just need your compliance You will feel no pain anymore And no more defiance We just need your compliance

Oh (Com-com-com-com-compliance) Fear is controlling you (Com-com-com-com-compliance) It's time to give it up (Com-com-com-com-compliance) And give in to us (Com-com-com-com-compliance) (We can save you, we can save you) Give us your compliance

#category: song #the web #muse #compliance #Youtube

[archive-of-fear]

(Fanart credit goes to @jaedoesart​ on tumblr)

Name: Nathan Brindesi

Source: The Grand Cyberpunk Gala of Gabriella Gadfly

Category: Victim

Alignment: The Eye 

Description: Nathan Brindesi was an author who usually kept to himself. He had crippling social anxiety and was borderline agoraphobic. He gained the attention after one of his books became popular: a teen detective novel – initially written as a birthday present for his friend’s daughter –  called Gabriella Gadfly and the Secret of the Cyber Eye. That book spawned a franchise consisting of the novels, video games, and a feature film. Despite all of his efforts to remain alone and secluded, the media didn’t listen. Paparazzi often broke into his home just to take pictures of him, even in extremely private situations. Having had enough of his privacy violated, he killed himself on a livestream.

#submission #category: victim #the eye #the grand cyberpunk gala of gabriella gadfly #the ballad of lost hollow #nathan brindesi #submitter: puppywritesthings

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Grace Chasity



Source: Hatchetfield Universe (Perky’s Buds/Abstinence Camp; Nerdy Prudes Must Die)



Category: Avatar



Alignment: The Eye
 


Description: First of all, Grace Chasity’s a little snitch! She obtains secrets and spreads it around like the gospel, although this isn’t in any way malicious. She genuinely means well, even though her sharing results in ruined reputations or police arrests. She also just seems to  How else would she know about the Waylon Place? How does she know how to hide a body? Why does she know how to hide a body? The stories that have her as a main character usually end with her being a moral judge, jury, and (sometimes) executioner. Purity and abstinence will be achieved! After the Jerri’s are dead and Lumber Axe is gone, she’s in charge of Abstinence Camp and she WILL make sure the abstinence is enforced one way or another. She has an axe, and she’s not afraid to use it.

#submission #category: avatar #grace chastity #the eye #nerdy prudes must die #nightmare time #hatchetfield #submitter: puppywritesthings

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Scorched Girl 

Source: Lobotomy Corporation, Library of Ruina 

Category: Avatar/Creature (depending on your definition) 

Alignment: The Desolation 

Description: Scorched Girl is an Abnormality, an inhuman creature born from the collective human consciousness, one of many contained by Lobotomy Corporation and used for the creation of energy. There’s little directly stated about her backstory, but it seems that much like the Little Match Girl she’s based on, she had dreams of a happier life she saw in the lit matchstick’s flame, but either became overzealous in her attempts to make the dreams last longer and enter the happy world she saw within, jaded at the people around her who were happy while she wasn’t, or some mixture of both. In any case, she burned herself to death, possibly taking the rest of her town with her. Upon breaching, she will target a random employee and attempt to self-detonate in their vicinity, often killing other employees standing nearby in the process. This is implied to be done out of resentment, as reflected by a few of her Abnormality quotes:

“I am coming to you. You, who will be reduced to ash like me.” (LobCorp)

“If I must perish… Then I’ll make you meet the same fate.” (Ruina)

Additionally, here’s a quote taken directly from her Abnormality story log:

Excerpt from Abnormality Specialist Doctor ’s Research Log> “The charred body represents the child’s crumbled hope, while the ever blazing flame represents the obsession for affection. It’s always in conflict with the contradiction between these two.” “We paid a boatload and that’s all they have to say?”

Finally, here’s the flavor text for her unique E.G.O. equipment, Fourth Match Flame:

The archetype was already charred at the moment of extraction. Although the exterior is scorched, it has no adverse effects on the E.G.O’s performance. The ashy design reminds one of the hatred against all the merry things in the world, and the desire to burn it all. The light of the match will not go out until it has burned away the happiness, warmth, light, and all the other good things of the world, so there’s no need to worry about it being quenched.

– Lobotomy Corporation Artbook

#project moon #lobotomy corporation #library of ruina #scorched girl #category: avatar #category: creatures #the desolation #submission #submitter: random-person-number-52

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Grizzco Industries 

Source: Splatoon franchise 

Category: Organisation 

Alignment: The Extinction 

Description: A company that recruits Inklings and Octolings to kill Salmonids and harvest their golden eggs. These eggs were then used to create Fuzzy Ooze which covers whatever it made contact with in a layer of fur. Mr. Grizz, the head of Grizzco had plans to cover the world in that fur after learning that he was the last mammal left on the planet.

#submission #category: organisation #the extinction #splatoon #salmon run #submitter: puppywritesthings

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Castrovalva

Source: Doctor Who

Category: Stronghold

Alignment: The Spiral

Description: A city reminiscent of M. C. Escher's works, including a print of the same name, it was created to be a disorienting trap for its intended victim/s. Any attempts to escape lead to walking around in endless circles, with victims ending up back in the main square regardless of which direction they took.

#classic who #doctor who #castrovalva #the spiral #category: stronghold

[archive-of-fear]

Name: The Hand

Source: Talk to Me (2022)

Category: Artefact

Alignment: The End

Description: The Hand is an embalmed hand of an unknown origin. If a person is to hold onto the hand and say “talk to me”, they are able to see and communicate with whichever spirit appears to them. If the person then follows this up by saying “I let you in”, the spirit is able to possess the person so long as they are still holding onto the hand. The longer the person is possessed by the spirit, the stronger and more influence they have over the person and their mind/soul. The hand must be removed from this person before the 90 second mark to prevent the spirit from latching onto the person. If it is to go over 90 seconds, the spirits will attempt to harm and kill their host by any means necessary. Even going over time limit by a few seconds can have dangerous effects on the person’s mind and body, even if the spirit is not fully able to possess the person.

Separation from the Hand will not remove the spirit from the person. However, the longer the person is removed from the Hand, the weaker the spirit becomes until it is entirely expelled from the body. On the opposite end of this, using the Hand more will make any spirit(s) attached to the person grow stronger. If the person is to die before the spirits have entirely left their body, their own spirit will become trapped with the hand – left to wander a dark void until they themselves are summoned by someone deciding to use the hand.

#submission #category: artefact #the end #talk to me #talk to me 2022 #submitter: danidoesathing

[archive-of-fear]

Name: The Organism

Source: The Thing (1982)

Category: Creature

Alignment: The Stranger, the Flesh

Description: The Organism (or Imposter/Alien/Thing etc) is a hive-mind of parasitic cells with the ability to shapeshift, replicate, and mimic any living organism whose DNA it has come into contact with. It can infect and assimilate any organic host by introducing it’s own cell into their system and having it take over their cells, effectively turning the host into another instance of itself. When it successfully assimilates a host, it will pretend to be the original person or animal for as long as possible and subtly infect anyone around it. It can often perfectly imitate whatever organism it has taken over/replicated, going as far as to be able to display their personality and recall memories. This is likely due to the brain still being in tact, which then further blurs the line between the original host’s consciousness and assimilated one. It’s ultimate goals beyond survival and assimilation are unknown.

While the Organism can be damaged and injured, it can only be truly destroyed on a cellular level, such as fire and acid. It can maintain and sustain a body that lacks any amount of vital organs. It appears to be able to retain the DNA of past hosts. It typically will not fully mimic a species it has taken on in the past, instead preferring to use pieces and parts to alter it’s current body. It is, however, somewhat limited to which form it is currently taking. It has been shown to inherent the physical problems a host might’ve had, as shown when it imitating Norris, it suffers from a heart attack during a confrontation with MacReady (as this put it in a position where it was forced to reveal itself, I doubt this was a choice they made). Shapeshifting for them is a slow, grotesque process, thus it is more advantageous for the Organism to remain hidden among it’s host’s species/group. It’s ability to perfectly mimic someone in both personality and physicality make it nearly impossible to differentiate from anyone else.

#submission #the flesh #the stranger #category: creatures #the thing #the thing 1982

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Stefan Butler

Source: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

Category: Victim

Alignment: The Web, The Spiral

Description: Stefan is a programmer attempting to adapt a choose your own adventure book into video game. Overtime, it becomes clear to him that he’s not entirely in control of his actions. He starts making decisions he can’t explain, and begins to see the recurring symbol of a “branching pathway” all over. He becomes paranoid and convinced that he’s being controlled by something outside of his reality: You.

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is an interactive movie in which you, the viewer, are prompted to make several choices that determine the course of the story. You’re given a huge amount of control over Stefan’s life; what he eats, where he goes, what music he listens to on the bus, if he takes his medication or flushes it down the toliet, if he destroys his computer or leaves it be, whether he does to therapy or does LSD with his coworker, if it’s him or Colin that jumps off the balcony, if he kills his father, and if so how he deals with the body, and of course, how well the game turns out. Even the foundations of Stefan’s reality change depending on what you chose. Is he being experimented by the government or is there some supernatural force behind the story that causes anyone who tries to adapt it to go mad? Is there some great conspiracy behind everything or is Stefan just losing his mind under the stress? That’s all decided by you, the viewer. And after a while, Stefan becomes aware of this. In some routes, you are even able to speak with him for a brief amount of time. You are entirely in control of his fate, and you are the one ultimately causing him harm.

There is no “main ending” in which both the game turns out well and Stefan is either alive, sane or out of prison. The best outcome for him is to take an early ending: accept the Tuckersoft offer, take your medication, destroy the computer, putting down the ashtray instead of hitting his father with it – all of those lead to the game getting release to poor reviews, but at least Stefan is alive and out of prison. But those all end the game too early, and you are always given the prompt to try again. By playing the movie’s game, you’re ultimately robbing Stefan of his free will and dooming him to whatever fate your decisions lead him to. Regardless of what he wants, you are the one in control. But hey, if you choose wrong, you’re always welcome to try again.

#submission #category: victim #the spiral #the web #black mirror #bandersnatch #stefan butler

[archive-of-fear]

Name: The Mountain

Source: Resolution (2012), The Endless (2017)

Category: Stronghold

Alignment: The End, The Eye

Description: The Mountain is a stretch of land in the backwoods of California, marked by a series of stakes in the ground whose reality is under the influence of a mysterious entity. Within it’s boundaries, the world is trapped in an eternal cycle marked by the changing phases of it’s three moons. Anyone is welcome to enter and leave the boundaries during this time – so long as they leave before the end of the third full moon. If they fail to leave, or die upon the Mountain before that time, the person (or people) become trapped within a pocket of time – which can range from a few weeks to ten seconds long, in which they become unable to leave the newly created loop or are even able to see beyond the boundaries of it. It will observe those trapped on the Mountain constantly, and will often make scare appearances to make itself known – and to remind them that they are never given a moment to themselves, as it is always watching them. At the end of their loop, it will kill the people within and/or cause them to experience a gruesome death. Throughout the loop, the entity will torment them with recordings (film reels, video tapes, records, etc) of their violent deaths from it’s perspective, and the brutality amusing. Those within are aware of their situation, and will often end their own lives in order to avoid whatever fate the entity has in store for them (and out of spite). At the end of the Mountain’s cycle, on the night of the third full moon, the entity will fully manifest and destroy the Mountain and everything within, killing anything that remains within its space.

#submission #category: stronghold #the end #the eye #the endless #resolution 2012 #the endless 2017 #submitter: danidoesathing

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Max Jägerman

Source: Nerdy Prudes Must Die (2023)

Category: Avatar



Alignment: The Hunt, The Desolation 


Description: In life, Max was a stereotypical high school bully out of an 80s movie. He’s a quarterback on the football team, not very bright, and has a penchant for making nerdy students’ lives miserable. He had a god complex and a superiority complex that makes him believe that he controls the social hierarchy in Hatchetfield High. He solely decides who hangs out with who and any defiance towards that gives you a black eye or a swirly.

Max almost had a chance at redemption after the nerds he tormented pulled an innocent prank on him, but his life was tragically cut short by some loose floorboards and a three story fall. In his dying breaths, he swears revenge on the nerds. Nerdy prudes must pay. Nerdy prudes must die. Luckily for him, nothing really dies in the Waylon Place.

Upon his resurrection, he loses all of his other interests and has solely focused on that revenge. He kills two of the nerds: one via wedgie and the other having drowned mid-swirly. his rage isn’t fully directed towards the nerds though, he ends up killing the people closest to them to make them more vulnerable. He kills the adults in Steph’s life and gravely injures the cop who was investigating their case.

#submission #category: avatar #the desolation #the hunt #nerdy prudes must die #max jagerman #max jägerman #npmd fanart #submitter: puppywritesthings

[archive-of-fear]

Name: The Evil Thing

Source: RL Stine’s The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It

Entity: The Dark

Category: Leitner

Description: When read aloud and when a subject thinks about the monster described in the book, the monster is then summoned.

#submission #category: leitner #the dark #the haunting hour: don’t think about it #rl stine #submitter: puppywritesthings

[archive-of-fear]

Name: Hybrid Soldiers/Shapeshifters

Source: Fringe (TV)

Category: Creatures

Alignment: The Stranger

Description: Inorganic human hybrids from an alternate universe who can impersonate another person both physically and through copying their memories, experiences and skills. Sent to the prime universe as the first wave of an attack, they can kill and replace their victims within minutes, infiltrating all levels of society, including high ranking government officials. They have no identity outside of their orders and the personas they take on and can't stay in one form for long periods of time without it causing pain. In the rare instance where one has settled too much into their new persona, they are forced to change under threat of death from their superiors.

#fringe #fringefox #the stranger #category: creatures