Although not designed as a horror game in any sense, Elden Ring has its fair share of frightening and disturbing moments. The most common of these is the stress and terror created by the game's intense fights, but Elden Ring also has some horror elements baked into certain locations, enemies, and concepts.
For example, Elden Ring's Dung Eater character is one of the most horrifying enemies and concepts in the game. The character's introduction, lore, and quest line all serve to tell a revolting story that left many players furious at the character as well as frightened by his implications. While the game gives the option to carry out the Dung Eater's will, many players instead chose to slay the monstrous NPC.
In the case of zones, Caelid is a festering wound of an area, filled with scarlet rot and mutated, horrifying creatures, and that's without mentioning Elden Ring's Starscourge Radahn boss who waits at the far end of the zone for players to discover. However, perhaps none of the areas in the game are as terrifying as the gardens of Caria Manor, which are dim and filled with mist. As if the atmosphere of the area wasn't enough, the area is teeming with one of the game's scariest enemies: the fingercreepers, more commonly known as the spider hands.
While Elden Ring's Godrick may have an inferiority complex, rest assured that fingercreepers are nightmarish beasts with zero qualms about their existence. They come in a small size and a much larger, more terrifying form. Their attacks are quick, and include a terrifying grab attack that crushes the player in their many-fingered grasp. However, perhaps the scariest aspect of these creatures is that they can be found hiding underground, lying in wait for players like a trapdoor spider. Recently, Reddit user F_M119 was travelling through Azerbaijan and noticed there was a chilling scultpure that looked exactly like the hiding hands of Caria Manor.
F_M119 noted in their title that they couldn't even bring themselves to approach the sculpture due to memories of being snatched up and crushed to death by the hiding hands. Reddit users echoed these feelings, with many making jokes about requiring fire to deal with the sculpture since the fingercreepers are very weak to fire damage. Other users joked about the fact that the creepers typically set up their traps underneath items, further enticing players to their deaths.
The sculpture feels perfect for Elden Ring, as not only does it look like the creepers, but it is also centered around a tree, creating a seemingly perfect symbol for the game. Regardless, much like Elden Ring's creepy Grafted Scion, the fingercreepers and the sculpture bring forth nightmares for any player who has reached Caria Manor's gardens.
Elden Ring is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.