Does anyone have any stories of when they, as a player or DM, were involved in a campaign or setting that seemed suffiently creepy, darkly scary, or truely horrifying?
I'm going to preface this by saying that definitionally, horror is different from terror, fear and suspense. Horror is repulsive, disgusting, vile, and shocking. Scary movies and horror movies are actually two distinct genres. While terror is a part of both, the element of fear is very different and more primordial in horror.
I'll use a small (condensed + modifed) session that I ran during my last campaign.
After days of travelling accross difficult terrain and bad weather Rhaz and his companions (PC's) reach the small town of Macre, resting on the cusp of the frozen northlands they seek. With the mountains in view, night nearly upon them, and empty stomachs they stop for the night.
Entering a rustic somewhat large in they find dozens of townsfolk just finishing the blessing of before beginning their meal. The priest finishes his prayer and the townsfolk dig in. The PC's receive a warm welcome and are invited to join the meal. A table is quickly prepared and food is provided, the kindly priest urges them to eat heartily, for tonight is a celebration. The harvest has been finished just prior to winters first hints of frost.
As the PC's settle in to eat an elderly Dwarf questions them about their business, and when he learns of their travel plans begins providing details of the northern trails and the dangers of blizzards or avalanches they may face along the way. A few minutes into the conversation his face begins to contort, he grabs his stomach and begins to moan. A few seconds later his stomach tears open from the inside, green bile and blood spray from the fist sized wound as hundreds of tiny black spiders begin pouring out. By this time nearly all the townsfolk are moaning, screaming, and collapsed in the fetal position, moments later their bodies spasm, contort into unnatural positions, their stomachs burst, and spiders begin pouring out from their stomachs and mouths.
As tens of thousands of spiders swarm the bar the bodies begin spewing acidic bile from nearly every oriphace and the stench of rot fills the air. The preist is nowhere to be seen, the PC's jump up-swatting spiders off of themselves-and make for the door-which will not open, it appears to have been sealed from the outside.
A black, visibly inpenetrable cloud begins rising from the floor as the room falls into near silence, the only noises made by thousands of spider feet, and the PC's vain attempts to escape. A few moments later the cloud is all but obscurring the PC's vision, and slowly, the sounds of scraping-as if someone is getting back up-(the recently risen townsfolk) begin to multiply-then the sounds of footsteps approaching from nearly every discernable direction. Rhaz's nearest companion complains of a stomach ache.
From here there are a few choices, mostly dependent on the PC's actions. I particularly like the idea of making them fight a few of the recently risen dead while being covered and continuously bitten by spiders, toss in some fortitude saves-low for the poisoned food, and the venemous spider bites-then present them with a way to escape as their HP, defenses, and powers dwindle to near nothing.
The door to the bar finally splits, moans, and gives way-but the fog has enveloped the entire town. Something large, noisy, and terrifying is moving around in the darkness and the screams of its victims come from far to nearby. By this time the PC's are well aware that their best option is to flee...flee into the mountains or the wilderness days from the nearest safe haven.
What If I told you you were wrong? What If i told you that we have gone insane and are talking to ourselves...and that we are in fact alone?
Tell them they cant even see each other. If you want the Players to feel real fear, have them roll to hit with their eyes shut. Determine who is hit by whom, and tell them that there is utter black - not even magic light will function.
There is a moment in 'Out of the Silence' by erle cox when the 'Hero' penetrates the final vault of an ancient civilization and suddenly the corridor goes black, strange noises circle him like predators circling in the dark and then something touches him about the shoulders and neck suffocating him in utter blackness.
But as for horrifying experiences? It wasn't D&D but it *WAS* the "entry exam" for a roleplaying-heavy game. It was similarly weighted along with experiences of two campaigns preceding the new game, one of which was 'Kingdoms of Kalamar'. It was fun, though "A Game of Thrones" was suggested reading.
This game in question was a one-shot game of Call of Cthulu. It was started at midnight, which meant we were all slightly more tired than normal. It was run in the game store after hours, so it was NOT a home environment, though we were familiar with it. Every time the party split, two short-range radios were used to communicate and the split party were taken into the basement of the store so we could not hear anything except what was on the radio.
It was set on an underwater vessel, so we had a CD playing which ran whalesong on a loop. We only used fluorescent lightsticks as illumination since "the lighting system was on the fritz" (it went out in the first five minutes of the game). Everything had a habit of breaking down, which was simulated by various environmental changes . . . I never realized until I consulted notes later, they shut off the air conditioning and let the temperature and humidity grow in the store. At one point they swapped the battery in the "away team" radio to one which was almost dead so it was full of crackly static.
All of this coupled with never quite SEEING the weird stuff going on and the atmosphere slowly ratcheting up until "The Reveal". And due to the pressure and atmosphere, everyone made snap decisions which were perfectly logical at the time only . . . well . . .
We TPK'd. My character thought they'd made it out, only to discover I forgot a crucial step and wound up stuck on the bottom of the ocean for about five minutes. I still like to think she cut her throat rather than be captured at that point.
) and the syciatrist half convinced them that they were stalkers of the pc's interned in a asylum when it turned out they thought that they were pc's.