Favorite scary moments in Doom

[SPG]

What are your favorite scary moments in Doom? What made them scary for you?

By scary, I mean earnestly caused apprehension or fear or make you jump-out-of-your-seat, and other such reactions, not "I was scared when I first played Super-Stupid-Hard-WAD-with-a-zillion-enemies" or "I was scared when I played this really awful-made WAD" or the like. It doesn't have to scare you now (though bonus points if it does).

 

By "Doom" I mean at least any official Doom game, though unofficial is fine if it feels like it could have been official (i.e. not a total conversion that turns Doom into something completely different). Bonus points the closer it is to OG shareware Doom 1.

Example: Picking up the blue key in E1M3, with the lights turning off and imps appear out of a nearby closet. Monsters appearing after you get something valuable is the norm now, but that first moment of grabbing the key, only to turn out the lights and have to deal with monsters certainly caused panic in a pretty classic horror way.

[DavidN]

E1M3 was a sudden introduction to the things that Doom could do :) I always used to get a massive jump on E1M4 as well, with the key on the ledge poking out into the acid, where you turn around and there’s a pinky right behind you!

[St. Mildly Annoyed]

My favorite scare would have to be the massive heart attack I got the second time I played E2M8 and found the Cyberdemon on the other side of the door. It would probably be a more mediocre memory if I didn't beat it that time.

[Individualised]

Whenever I see a topic like this, the scrolling face room in E2M4: Deimos Lab always comes to mind. I remember when I first saw that, and I realised that the game was getting serious. It's a feeling I obviously can't get anymore having played the same levels for a long time.

[Sammy J]

The last room of Shareware.

After that it was the sound of the Nightmare Spectres.

[St. Mildly Annoyed]

11 hours ago, Individualised said:

Whenever I see a topic like this, the scrolling face room in E2M4: Deimos Lab always comes to mind. I remember when I first saw that, and I realised that the game was getting serious. It's a feeling I obviously can't get anymore having played the same levels for a long time.

Yeah, that texture is pretty creepy as well. I wish that scrolling face texture was used more, even as a base for other textures. I even think I found it used in a sky box once.

 

[Lonespacemarine]

The crusher from doom 2

First when I saw the spider demon I was like aw hell naw and it shocked me and little did I know the crusher will crush it 😳

[StarTanned]

Some things off the top of my head: the first time I ran into a spectre. The lights suddenly going out for the Imp ambush in E1M3. The E1M5 music was an eerie change of pace. A couple of ambushes in E1M6. The last teleporter in E1. First time I was caught by a slow crusher (E2M4 I think). The fake exit and dark area in E2M6 (and other spots too). The "hot start" and early ammo shortage in E3M3. The general ambiance and weirdness of E3M4. The NiN trap in E4M1. The first time I heard the revenant and arch-vile screams. A caco silently floating up right in front of me in Chasm. Hunted (and an assortment of well-known traps in Plutonia). Several spots playing fast monsters, like the caco room in Doom 2's Factory. The first time I experienced the all-ghosts bug.

Edited April 9, 2023 by StarTanned

[St. Mildly Annoyed]

12 hours ago, Lonespacemarine said:

The crusher from doom 2

First when I saw the spider demon I was like aw hell naw and it shocked me and little did I know the crusher will crush it 😳

That reminds me, did anyone else lure that one cacodemon under a crusher in E2M4?

[Maximum Matt]

When you open up the door to the final room in E1M5, you see the lights strobing on and off, and you're all like 'aw HELL naw'.

[Hawk of The Crystals]

Any time a Spectre follows me into a dark area.

[TheMightyWhoosh]

The beginning of TNTs ‘Human BBQ’, witnessing the moving corpse being burnt alive. 

Edited April 23, 2023 by TheMightyWhoosh

[Lonespacemarine]

On 4/10/2023 at 3:07 AM, St. Mildly Annoyed said:

That reminds me, did anyone else lure that one cacodemon under a crusher in E2M4?

Nah

[St. Mildly Annoyed]

I know this is around a month late, but it was fun the first time I managed to do it, do you think that was planned?