10 Terrifying Secrets Hidden In Open World Games

So alongside the breathtaking scenery and extensive list of side activities for players to complete

developers also love to fill their open world games with a vast array of secrets and easter eggs

But sometimes, my friends, you'll wish you never found them, because they are, in short, utterly terrifying

So let's have a chat about them, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 Terrifying Secrets in Open World Games

10. The Colander, Starfield When players get access to their spaceship in Starfield, they're free to traverse the stars and discover the countless wonders and secrets that this title has in store

And being a massive RPG from Bethesda, a large chunk of these surprises are easter eggs

Whether they're references to some of the developers' other titles or pop culture juggernauts, there are plenty of amusing details that players can come across during their interstellar adventure

But not all of these secrets are light-hearted, though, with one genuinely unnerving homage to Dead Space being tucked away in a far-off star system

If you travel to Schrodinger 3 within the Schrodinger system, players will be able to find

the Colander, an abandoned starship floating lifelessly amongst the stars. With no option

to hail the crew, things already seem pretty wrong with this location, with events only getting

creepier once the player boards that version of the Ishimura. Through reading the ship's logs

players can uncover the sinister events that occurred on board, and if you explore further

you'll eventually face the monstrous creature responsible for massacring the entire crew

With a fearsome power level of 85, this necromorph-like creature is likely to make short work of any unsuspecting adventurers

9. Scarecrow's Lair Batman Arkham City Like the rest of the Batman Arkham series, Batman Arkham City oozes with a gritty atmosphere that's tailor-made for the eponymous brooding hero

As well as being responsible for the chilling morgue sequence in Arkham Asylum, Scarecrow also delivers the creepiest part in the sequel

Although the character doesn't actually appear in the flesh in this game, players can find the Scarecrow's secret hideout on a boat in the Industrial District

which teases his return in Batman Arkham Knight. Upon finding the vessel and decrypting the lock to the hatch with the foreboding code City of Terror

the camera will switch to a first-person perspective when players venture below deck

What they'll find is a grimy room filled with tanks of insects and one of the Joker's henchmen sitting on a chair at the far end

While it looks like he's unconscious, getting up close will reveal a jump scare that sees him spring to life before collapsing lifelessly

back onto the chair. Not only did this scare catch everyone by surprise, but the implications of what

happened to this person, well, they're even more disturbing. 8. The Grafted Scion Secret, Elden Ring

Much like the worlds in From Software's other Soulsborne titles, the lands between in Elden

Ring are a place of decay and ruin From the swamps of the Scarlet Rot Dank Underground Dungeons and the monstrous enemies that dwell there players will discover plenty of unpleasant sights on their quest to become Elden Lord And no part of this game embodies its world

grim nature better than the Grafted Scions. Created by Godric the Grafted, these creatures

are grotesque, multi-limbed monsters made of various body parts that have been crudely stuck

together. This is the very first enemy that players face in the game, but because of how

quickly the fight ends and the fact that this boss wears a cloak, players aren't able to get a good

look at it. However, by hacking the camera and removing the garment, fans have discovered a

pretty terrifying secret. The most unnerving aspect about the grafted scion is that it has

the youthful face of a child. Given that the child wears a crown and has iconography of the golden

lineage on their weapons, the sinister implication is that Godric experimented on his young descendants

to turn them into these abominations. That's a pretty bleak revelation even for Elden Ring

7. O'Hara's Haunted House – Far Cry 5 Set within the picturesque countryside of Montana, there's tons of weird and wonderful

things for players to do and discover in Far Cry 5's fictional Hope County. That is

whenever they're not fighting back against the fanatical religious cult leader that's terrorizing the area. However, not everything that can be found within Far Cry 5's large

open world is as colorfully bizarre as collecting bull testes or working on the set of a low-budget

action flick, because by journeying to O'Hara's haunted house, players can find one of this game's

most frightening additions. It's a barn that's been transformed into a spooky funhouse, and is

full of creepy mannequins and jump scares, but the scariest thing about this place is a mysterious

man who could be seen looking out of the attic window. However, when players arrive at the attic

the man is nowhere to be seen. Instead, players will find a singular red balloon, a menacing note

and a deranged voice message in what is a spine-chilling reference to Pennywise from

Stephen King's IT. This isn't the only reference to the child-eating clown in this game either

A second-rend balloon can also be found floating next to a sewer in another nod towards this

classic horror villain. 6. Children of the Ark Cyberpunk 2077 Now given that Cyberpunk 2077 takes place in a

dystopian future where shady corporations vie for power and violent gangs rule the streets

it should come as no surprise that some of the hidden secrets that are scattered throughout

Night City serve as a reflection of the grimness of this game's setting. And one of the most

disturbing additions can be found in the Badlands south of Pacifica. Just northeast of the fuel

station Fast Travel Point, players can spot two satellite dishes in the wasteland, and if you head

there, you'll discover the grisly sight of numerous corpses lying on the ground that are wired to a

dead netrunner. As horrifying as this sight is, things only get worse when uncovering a data shard

on the deceased hacker body Reading the note reveals that these people belong to a cult known as the Children of the Ark with this location being their headquarters Believing that a rogue AI will escape from beyond Blackwall and bring about the end of humanity these cultists killed themselves so

that they could upload their consciousness to a spaceship in order to escape this supposed

judgment day. There's a lot of unpleasantness in Night City, but none quite as shocking as this

discovery. 5. The Shadow Creature Assassin's Creed Valhalla Assassin's Creed Valhalla's version of 9th century England is a huge and stunning landscape that is

packed with dozens of hours worth of side activities. However, England isn't the only

map that players explore in this rather epic game. In addition to the expansions, the base

game also includes Norway and Vinland, alongside the more fantastical realms of Asgard and Jotunheim

When arriving in this icy land of giants, players can stumble upon something pretty

unexpectedly frightening while exploring the southeast of the map. By carefully looking

it's actually possible to spot a shadowy creature peering through the fog. With its large antlers

razor-sharp claws, and glowing eyes, this entity has an imposing presence despite not being hostile

towards the player. Although there's nothing in this game that explains what the figure is

fans have speculated that this may be a reference to a similar-looking creature from over the garden wall. Whatever this creature is supposed to be

players won't forget the terror of meeting it for the first time. 4. Children of Goldshire – World of Warcraft

Since releasing in 2004, Blizzard have continued to add to beloved MMORPG World of Warcraft

bringing new secrets for players to discover with every expansion. Now regarded as having

some of the most easter eggs in a single video game, this gigantic fantasy world is overloaded

with jokes and references, but one of the spookiest secrets in the game can be found

in the town of Goldshire, which is one of the first areas that human characters will encounter

Among the friendly locals, players can spot a group of six children running through the town

They spawn every morning at 7 o'clock in server time, and if players follow them for long enough

they'll eventually leave them to an empty house in Crystal Lake, which is actually also a nod to

Friday the 13th. Once there, the children proceed to stand silently in a pentagram formation on the

second floor, before the demonic voice of Khutun, the god of madness, can be heard telling players

that their friends will abandon them and that they are going to die. Reinforcing just how frightening

demonic children can be, this is one of World of Warcraft's most unexpectedly terrifying secrets

3. The Creepy Radio Broadcast Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain

Although PT has unfortunately been removed from the PlayStation Store, this teaser for the

tragically cancelled Silent Hills game has remained firmly in the nightmares of whoever

walked through its repeating hallways. This demo was so petrified that it's been cited as the

inspiration for the likes of Lairs of Fear, Visage, and various other titles. Moreover

references to this demo have actually appeared in other games with Cyberpunk Horror Observer containing a sequence which pays homage to it But another reference to P can also be found in Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain Within the game Africa map near the Industrial Zone which is the same area as the story mission voices

players can find a small green tent in an enemy camp. And if you head inside and listen carefully

you'll hear a menacing radio broadcast that details a horrific news story about a man who

brutally murdered their family. Anyone who's played the teaser will recognize this as being

the same broadcast that is heard at the start of the PT demo. Although there's no Lisa to be found

hearing this transmission will send a chill down players' spines. While Silent Hills has been

erased from existence, PT still lives on in another of Hideo Kojima's games

2. The Ghost Girl – Pokemon X and Y Despite its colourful and child-friendly appearance, the Pokemon series can be surprisingly

dark at times. In addition to a selection of the titular critters possessing backstories that could

have been taken straight out of a horror film, the games likewise contain a collection of spine-tingling

secrets, the scariest and most infamous of which is the Ghost Girl from Pokemon X and Y

Whilst exploring the bustling luminous city, players can enter an unassuming office building

After taking the elevator to the second floor, the lights flicker and a girl appears directly

behind the player's character. Floating towards the bottom of the screen, she says

no, you're not the one, before then vanishing off-screen, never to be heard from again

As well as coming completely out of nowhere, it's the lack of information about this spectre which

makes her appearance so chilling. With nothing in the game that explains who she is or what her

cryptic words could mean, it's up to the player to come to their own conclusions about what happened

here. Out of all the ghosts that have appeared throughout the series, none have quite grabbed

the community's attention as much as this one. 1. The Strange Man's Cabin

Red Dead Redemption 2 From a literal ghost train, grisly ritual sight, a serial killer, and a vampire, Red Dead Redemption 2 is bursting with

numerous secrets that are terrifying enough to earn a place on this list. However, no inclusion

is quite as unsettling as what became known as the Strange Man's Cabin

Northwest of Calgear Hall, players can find a run-down shack in the bio called Bayal Edge

Though the small building looks unassuming from the outside, stepping inside reveals one of this

game's eeriest sights. Alongside the assortment of strange writings that are scrawled across the

furniture and walls, the cabin features an unfinished portrait that sits in the center

of the room. More is gradually added to the painting the next three times the player visits

this location, and it's only when arriving for a fourth time during the epilogue that the portrait

will be complete, revealing the strange man from the first game. Players will also be able to spot

the figure in the mirror, watching them, only for them to vanish when turning around. Raising more

questions than answers about who this seemingly supernatural top-hatted figure is, it's this

cabin's unknowable nature which makes it one of the spookiest places in the entire game