As a player progresses through their time with Animal Crossing: New Horizons, they rapidly discover that the game, like its predecessors, bears countless layers of endgame content to unearth. Whereas players think they've discovered the next "big thing" when they upgrade their houses into two-story suites, they shortly thereafter discover novelties like a renovated Nook Brothers' store and an expanded museum.
In a similar fashion, as most Islanders begin to collect the game's critters to fill Blathers' Museum, they subsequently discover the institution's artwork exhibits, also yet-to-be filled. Artwork in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, however, presents a particularly interesting scenario, as players can encounter both authentic, and inauthentic, works of art.
Jolly Redd, an unreliable fox, is the sole source of artwork (authentic or otherwise) in New Horizons. The mysterious character is traditionally encountered randomly in Animal Crossing titles, whereupon he'll offer the player some allegedly rare furniture, or lately, artwork he's collected on his travels. Naturally, Redd manages to stumble upon counterfeits and forgeries as he travels, and since he's no trained curator, the burden of proof is shirked onto the player.
In New Horizons, legitimate artwork can be distinguished from a forgery rather easily, as all the pieces share visual distinctions. For example, a counterfeit Serene Painting (based on Da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine") will feature a dark-colored ermine, rather than the all-white pet depicted in the original. This has been the case since New Leaf, which first introduced the ability to tell forgeries apart from real works without having to rely on Redd's dialogue.
While New Leaf first allowed players to visually differentiate between a particular piece and its fake version, New Horizons has actually taken forgeries one step further and introduced the concept of "haunted" artwork.
Haunted Art is exactly what it sounds like. That is, artwork that has been possessed by some sort of spooky spiritual force, presumably with a mind of its own. Insofar as facts, players should be aware of the following parameters:
- All Haunted Art is Fake Art
- Not all Fake Art is Haunted Art
- Authentic Art cannot be Haunted
- Haunted Art will exhibit its otherworldly properties only at night - from approximately 7 PM - 7 AM
Islanders hoping to get their hands on Haunted Art should simply keep tabs on the list of existing haunted forgeries, as any Fake Art that can be haunted will always appear as Haunted Art. So, if a player sees a Fake Informative Statue in Redd's Treasure Trawler, for example, they are safe to assume that it is indeed a Haunted Informative Statue.
These haunted works of art are possessed by varying degrees of spookiness, with the more notable ones even featuring player interaction. And in spite of their odd characteristics, these Haunted Artworks remain unmentioned by in-game characters altogether. To Blathers, the famous Nook Brothers, and even fellow Villagers, Haunted Art is no different from any other forgery, which is to say, it cannot be donated to the museum, sold for bells, or even gifted to a close NPC friend. Haunted Art fittingly remains in a player's possession until they choose to throw it away (or bury it, at risk of further haunting and/or a lower Island Rating), but thankfully, it tends to be much more intriguing than standard counterfeit artwork.
There are currently five confirmed works of Haunted Art available in Animal Crossing: New Horizons as of December 2020. The full list is as follows:
- Fake Ancient Statue | eyes glow, floats
- Fake Graceful Painting* | painted body changes directions
- Fake Informative Statue | glows
- Fake Scary Painting | turns that frown upside down
- Fake Wistful Painting | closes eyes
* The Graceful Painting also features an ominous body-shaped stain on its backside, though of course, this can only be seen when the item is placed on the ground, rather than onto a wall.
The five fake artworks mentioned above will all begin to exhibit haunted properties once dusk arrives, and some, like the Ancient Statue, will even react when interacted with. The Haunted Informative Statue is theoretically a counterfeit version of the original art that's made from ice, however, at night, the cold slab mysteriously glows blue. On the other hand, the Haunted Scary and Wistful Paintings seem to be inhabited by spirits that adjust their respective expressions - at night, players will find their Fake Scary Painting smiling, instead of frowning, as it does by daylight. Likewise, the Wistful Painting will close her eyes once night falls.
Although the Graceful Painting also presents a similar haunted feature (the painting is horizontally inverted), it's arguably more haunted by the fact it bears a body-shaped stain on its back side. Players who find themselves in possession of this particular piece may find themselves torn between the choice of hiding the menacing blemish, or airing it out for visitors to enjoy, despite any potentially spooky side effects.
The Haunted Ancient Statue is easily the most well-known of the bunch, as it presents the most elaborate abilities. At night, the Haunted Ancient Statue's eyes glow a pale blue, which is already a neat touch. That said, this pale glow often entices players to approach their artwork and interact with it, "just in case." Thankfully for those players, the Ancient Statue is very much one of those "cases," and when interacted with, it gently sways from side to side as it levitates. This makes for an interesting island attraction, as players can opt to hide it away behind cliff-sides and the like, where it can remain hidden until interacted with.
Again, Haunted Art cannot be donated to the museum, as it is ultimately comprised of counterfeit artwork. That being said, players would be wise to hold onto their copies of Haunted Art, as it's much more versatile than some of the straightforward fakes found in Redd's Treasure Trawler.
Of course, players should also bear in mind that artwork in general is one of New Horizons' newer major features, and as such, most are still working on completing their collections. Because of this, it's likely that Nintendo has been lax with adding additional "art" content to the game. That being said, if and when the game introduces new artwork for players to purchase from Redd, it's expected that some spooky pieces work their ways into his counterfeit collection.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now on Nintendo Switch.