Focused more on adventure and heroic feats, Skyrim isn't exactly known for being a scary game. The way the game empowers you through the skill tree and litany of powerful weapons, there are few things the Dragonborn really needs to be afraid of — and that's even taking Alduin himself into consideration.

RELATED: Skyrim: The 10 Biggest Plot Holes In The Game

That being said, Skyrim is still an open-world game with hundreds of dungeons and various locations and quests with a ton of NPCs that tell their own unique stories. Unfortunately (or fortunately), not all of them are all sunshine and rainbows. From murderous chefs living in the sewers to cannibalistic cult leaders, here are the creepiest of them all.

10 Headless Horseman

Skyrim Headless Horseman Ghost

A classic reference and somewhat of an easter egg, the Headless Horseman is a specter that appears randomly sometime between 10 PM and 4 AM to spook you. He doesn't turn hostile or challenge you, but his sudden appearance might give you the chills as he rides down the path.

Following him will eventually lead you to Hamvir's Rest, where a bunch of loot guarded by the undead will await you. The fight shouldn't be too hard, so if you can pull yourself together and follow this ghostly specter, it's well worth the trek.

9 Cicero

Skyrim Cicero Modded

Clowns are hated by many for a good reason. Being so consistently happy and cheerful just doesn't quite feel right, and it becomes even creepier with a jester assassin like Cicero. He's not quite right in the head, that much is evident when he's first encountered, either at his carriage or at the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary.

RELATED: Skyrim: 10 Things You Didn't Know About How Companions Work

He's constantly giggling and chuckling to himself, and talking to the Night Mother. What could be eerier than that? To think anyone would trust this man with a dagger is insane, as he simply screams untrustworthy.

8 Babette

Babette might not look like much, but once she opens her mouth she's guaranteed to give you the shivers. This vampire, although confined eternally into the body of a child, is absolutely pure evil incarnate. She uses her looks to lure people away and gain their trust easily.

It's also quite creepy to overhear her tell a recent story about how an older man attempted to ambush her. Skyrim sure knows how to disturb its players, and leave us with an uncomfortable sensation in our guts. The worst part about her? She can sometimes be encountered in the middle of the night hunting for prey.

7 Wuunferth

Skyrim Wunferth Windhelm's Court Wizard

Wuunferth doesn't immediately come across as creepy or suspicious. He likes to be in his chambers in Windhelm and most players might not even find their way to him until a quest involving Windhelm's infamous Butcher begins.

It turns out, he's behind a series of cold-blooded murders that have left the city in a state of terror and sorrow — or so it would seem. The quest goes much deeper than that and eventually sees his name cleared once the real Butcher is apprehended, but for that golden moment, Wuunferth seems as if he fits the bill perfectly.

6 Eola

Skyrim Eola Modded

Even in the wilderness of Skyrim, cannibalism is a major taboo. The practice is associated with necromancy and the worship of the Daedric Prince Namira, which is why Skyrim's only cannibalistic cult works underground. Eola, their leader, is an evil that few can match.

RELATED: Skyrim: The 10 Weirdest & Funniest NPCs In The Game, Ranked

She basically pressures the Dragonborn to join, asserting that they must have a taste for flesh. She has no regard for human life, and will have a priest of Arkaya, Verulus, tricked and put to sleep before being basically consumed by her cult. There are few humanoid NPCs quite as evil and eerie as her.

5 Knjakr

Skyrim Knjakr The Chef In Riften's Ratways

The Ratways of Riften make for a somewhat spooky place due to the tight corners and the outlaws that inhabit them. It's clear that the worst of the city ends up down here, and someone like Knjakr fits right in with his creepy, murderous, and obsessive nature.

Knjakr may have once been a chef, but he has completely lost his mind now and has a taste for flesh instead. He'll try to lure you closer to his cell, but upon entering will instantly attack with his axe and attempt to slay the Dragonborn — presumably to have them for dinner.

4 Whispering Lady

Skyrim Whispering Lady Behind Door

Sometimes some of the worst things are those we can't see, and that much is definitely true when it comes to the Whispering Lady hidden behind a mysterious door in Dragonsreach. Apparently, Balgruuf's son has been having conversations with this door, which is probably the creepiest and most disturbing part of the quest.

As it turns out, this is actually some type of manifestation of the Daedric Prince, Mephala. While the Princes themselves aren't exactly humanoid, having Mephala personified as this disembodied voice behind a door is beyond terrifying.

3 Moira

Skyrim Moira The Hagraven

Marriage in Skyrim is usually a happy event unless one ends up in a drinking game with a certain Sam Guevenne and wakes up the next day to find out their new wife is a unique hagraven known as Moira. It's an awkward, somewhat amusing event, but also an incredibly terrifying moment.

RELATED: Skyrim: The 10 Hardest Encounters In The Entire Game

Upon approaching Moira's abode, the hagraven insists on consummating the marriage, which would probably lead to the Dragonborn's untimely death. Luckily, she can be given a sword to the face, but the extremely creepy way she speaks to you is likely to linger on for quite some time after.

2 Night Mother

There's nothing quite as horrible and macabre in Skyrim as the decomposing and mangled body of the Night Mother. This was a woman who killed her children in the name of Sithis, now forever alive as a rotting, most likely smelly corpse transported around in on ominous coffin.

One of the highlights of the Dark Brotherhood questlines is realizing that to survive the attack of Commander Maro on the Falkreath sanctuary, you need to hide in the coffin with the Night Mother. A terrible idea, to be confined in the dark with a whispering corpse, but probably slightly better than death itself, right?

1 Arondil

Skyrim Arondil At The End Of Yngvild

Sick, twisted, evil, and creepy beyond belief, one man has become absolutely infamous among Skyrim fans due to his twisted dungeon filled with the bodies of dead women. That's right, this necromancer's entire collection is of women, which he reanimates to work as his slaves, forever and ever.

It's even worse upon hearing him speak to the enslaves spirits and undead, whom he calls "his playthings" and "his lovelies." Nothing is eerier than this man's mind, and it's why no one has a problem ending his existence during any given playthrough.

NEXT: Skyrim: 10 NPCs You've Never Talked To