The Five Nights At Freddy's franchise is one full of mystery, cheap jump scares, and buried lore for fans to uncover. On the surface, it seems like a franchise aimed at a younger audience, but underneath, there's a story filled with darker plots and intertwining threads that make up a larger, scarier picture.
For younger audiences, the scares are usually found in the surprise animatronics or dark figures slowly meandering around the various stages but for adults, the scariest things are a lot more nuanced. That isn't to say that adults don't get frightened from the cheap scares, but the fear lingers with more of the subtle details.
Air Supply Problems
In Five Nights At Freddy's 3, the game franchise makes a big shift in game play, adding new spice to the tried and true formula. In this installment, players have to not only manage their power usage, but also their oxygen levels in the security room. The added stress of managing oxygen makes players even more on edge, worrying about more things than in other installments.
If the oxygen levels dip too low, the main character starts to hallucinate different animatronics and beings walking around his office. It's possible to play through these hallucinations, but they make things very difficult and should definitely be avoided. The scares are entirely preventable in most cases but because of that level of control, it's even scarier when it does happen.
The Bite Of '87
The bite of '87 is one of the most important events in the world of Five Nights At Freddy's. The bite itself is the incident that causes so many different plot threads to start and intersect in the world of living animatronics.
Through 8-bit mini games in the first FNAF game, players watch a young boy attend a birthday party at a Freddy Fazbear's restaurant, despite his obvious fear of the animatronic characters. His older brother plays a "prank" on him, sticking his head in a suit, only for his head to be crushed by the mechanical jaw of Freddy Fazbear. The reason this moment is so scary is because of the devastating sound of the crunch, and the silence of the life leaving the boy's body. It's the defining moment of the series and one that will haunt adults and kids alike.
Haunted Nightmares
The 4th installment in the FNAF series is a very different experience when compared to its predecessors. Instead of checking security cameras, the player actually moves around a child's bedroom checking for monsters in the closet and under the bed. This change creates a new sense of intimacy with the stage itself, as it tells a deeper story than the stages before it.
As the game goes on, its implied that the child the player is controlling is the same one as the boy who suffered the bite of '87. His worst fears have manifested themselves in horrific fever dreams and won't let him rest. The slow realization of what the game is actually trying to tell players is a revelation that will weigh on the minds of even the most stoic players.
Golden Freddy
Golden Freddy is a recurring character in the franchise, sometimes even appearing when he shouldn't. Unlike the other animatronics of the series, he's always limp and lifeless. He seems like an empty shell which shouldn't be scary when compared to the other active characters that sprint down hallways and pound on doors to eat the player alive, but it's just so ominous.
Golden Freddy doesn't attack in the same way the other animatronics do. He can make his way into the security room without access to the doors, and he will sit there and prevent the player from using their security doors or lights. He instills fear in the player by paralyzing them and leaving them at his mercy. Sometimes he's harmless and will go away after some time, but more often than not, he's a messenger of death that should be avoided.
Ballora's Dance Hall
Five Nights At Freddy's Sister Location took a lot of creative risks in terms of deviating from the classic FNAF formula. In doing so, it created some of the scariest moments in horror gaming to date. While exploring the sister location, players do repairs on different animatronics and attractions in the venue. This means each night is very different from the last, creating a sense of mystery and wonder.
In Ballora's night, the player has to traverse a pitch black room while avoiding a dancing animatronic who would murder them if she hears or sees the player. Players can't use their sight at all and must rely on faint music box sounds to help them avoid the enemy. It's a tense moment unlike anything else in the franchise.
20/20/20 Mode
After beating the main game of most FNAF entries, players can adjust the difficulty and intensity of the enemy AI. The max level for each enemy is 20 and it'll make them faster, smarter, and more stubborn depending on the game.
These modes are some of the most stressful game play experiences out there and requires players to think on their feet, crafting unique strategies to beat them. On first attempt, there's no player who wouldn't get scared at least once because of how quickly the level will be over if they're not careful.
Candy Cadet Stories
Candy Cadet is probably the most nuanced example of a scare in the FNAF franchise. Throughout Five Nights At Freddy's 6, players can purchase certain attractions to make their pizza establishment more fun for guests. One of the attractions is Candy Cadet, a candy machine that tells stories to children.
When players approach Candy Cadet, the stories it tells are way darker than anything children should hear. All the stories have a theme of multiple parts being melded into one. The themes represent the overall story of the FNAF series, where children's souls are fused and consumed into haunted animatronic suits to become a new being.
Help Wanted Secret Ending
FNAF: Help Wanted is a wild ride into the world of virtual reality. Players complete various mini games throughout the game and can collect secret tapes that uncover details about the new world they've been thrown into. If the player can collect all of the tapes, they unlock the secret ending.
The secret ending itself isn't scary in the way that it would make someone jump out of their seat, but it would definitely weigh on their minds after. In the ending, the player accidentally releases a malicious AI into the world in place of their own psyche as it locks the player in the VR world. The idea of an evil AI body jacking you is horrifying and luckily players can remove their VR anytime, but it still feels like an invasion of agency and privacy.
Phone Guy In Distress
Phone Guy is a mysterious character who guides the player through their first nights at the Freddy Fazbear's pizza restaurant. As the nights progress, he sounds more and more worried, which makes the player increasingly uneasy as well.
On the 4th night, Phone Guy seemingly dies while on the phone with the player and it really helps the player understand that things are changing and there's no time to get comfortable. The Phone Guy is the only meaningful relationship the player has with another character in FNAF so his death really sets the tone for how dark the FNAF series is.
Ennard
Ennard is a somewhat mysterious being in the FNAF universe. Its origins are questionable and its abilities are even more confusing. Ennard looks like the skeleton of a failed animatronic that slides along the ground and pops up in the player's vision a few times throughout the series. Most of the animatronics players encounter try to consume the player and put them inside of them, so they have a soul in their suits. Ennard has a goal that's exactly the opposite. Ennard's goal is to enter a human through their mouth and control them from the inside, which explains why he looks like a skeleton.