The Commonwealth can be a scary place, whether you’re running from a pack of Ghouls, confronting a band of Raiders, or simply scavenging for parts in an abandoned, unlit building in the middle of the woods. Fallout 4 has many atmospheric gems scattered across the map, each adding to the Fallout universe’s themes of post apocalyptic instability. Here are our top ten favorites, starting in the creepiest and most devastated area of all, The Glowing Sea.
Hopesmarch Pentecostal Church
As a rule, the Glowing Sea is one creepy place, worthy of an article all its own. But there are a few spots in that radioactive desert that stand out in particular. The Hopesmarch Pentecostal Church is among them. Abandoned, half buried, and filled with the Ghoulish remains of its former parishoners, encountering the building feels like an episode of The Walking Dead. Just don’t fall in unless you’re fully prepared to take on a horde.
Abandoned Shack/Federal Surveillance Center K-21B
At a glance, the ruins of this pre-War house in the Glowing Sea don’t seem unusual. But once you’re inside, a still life emerges, depicting a scene frozen in time: one secret government research facility’s tragedy on the day the bombs fell.
A worker outside the entrance. He failed to make it back inside before the bombs fell.
Those just beyond the doors were not safe.
And…an empty building, only skeletons and surveillance devices left behind.
Museum of Witchcraft
When you first encounter this building, you’re forced to follow a trail of dead bodies from the basement to the upper floors of the museum, where a Deathclaw has cornered some unlucky Gunners. The creep factor is high not just due to the dim lighting or the deep shakes rattling each floor as the Deathclaw paces above, but also thanks to the unsettling and grim displays depicting the events of the Salem Witch Trials. Which is scarier, a Deathclaw or a bunch of mannequins? You decide.
Pickman Gallery
Perhaps the most horrifying location on this list (and one of Fallout‘s ongoing HP Lovecraft references), Pickman Gallery is a bloody display of one serial killer’s greatest artistic passion: murdering and dismembering Raiders. You may randomly find a calling card for this gruesome vigilante on a dead body. Or you may stumble into the gallery unaware of what’s in store. Whatever the case, you’ll be disturbed by the grotesque paintings on the wall, each created with the blood of Pickman’s victims. Make your way to the basement and save him from a band of revenge-minded Raiders and he’ll award you with a key to his safe, where you’ll find Pickman’s Blade, a melee weapon with enhanced stealth and bleeding effects.
General Atomics Galleria
This location isn’t creepy in an atmospheric sense so much as a “These robots will kill you at the slightest provocation sense”. Something about their readiness to attack coupled with the idyllic domesticity of the setting makes even a few moments spent there seem surreal. Add to that its bizarre backstory and the rule of a robot tyrant known as The Director, and this will make for one of the most memorable encounters you have in the Commonwealth.
Dunwich Borers
This (what else?) reference to HP Lovecraft is a mining pit with some serious issues. As you make your way down its many layers, you’ll find terminals that shed light on the fate of a group of pre-War employees, leading to a pool of water where Kremvh’s Tooth, a sacrificial blade, sits at the bottom. Bonus Creepy Points for the hallucinations along the way!
A skeleton crawls away from the blade’s resting site.
Hallucinogen
This location is such a classic Fallout staple it’s almost a cliche. Stop me if you heard this one: a corrupt weapons manufacturer pairs with the US military to create a little shop of human rights violations (and horrors), and as the player you come across its ultimate demise. At Hallucinogen you’ll see the company’s chilling pursuit of militarized crowd control and its devastating aftermath, a building full of paranoid, ranting Raiders. Their panic will bring you to pity, maybe even mercy. Below is a pic of the one Raider I could never bring myself to kill.
Parsons State Insane Asylum
As a trope, “creepy insane asylum” is pretty cliche, having served as a plot device in many books and movies and TV shows pre-dating video games. Nonetheless this gorgeous but intimidating building outside of Salem hits all the right creepy notes, from the spindly trees and dead gardens to the abandoned wheelchairs and rich architecture. Inside, another HP Lovecraft inspired story awaits, one that will touch on some of the possible ancient origins of the Fallout universe. Head over to the Cabot House if you want to get that started.
Chinese Submarine
In the dim shallows of the Commonwealth coast lurks a Chinese submarine, its inhabitants now Ghoul-ified in the 200 years they’ve sat following the Great War. How has Zao survived so long? Why hasn’t he gone home? How did the U.S. remain so oblivious to the heavy presence of Chinese submarines leading up to the war? The questions are as unsettling as the answers.
Fens Street Sewer
Outside of Diamond City you’ll find entrance to the lair of a man definitely trying to give Pickman a run for his money. The Fens Phantom, was a pre-War serial killer (and an alleged reference to Boston’s real-life urban legend Phantom of the Fens) who liked to pose his victims in demeaning, sadistic fashion. You can find at least four or five different areas where the Phantom played with his victims, including one area that seems to indicate he kidnapped and killed several young women and their babies. One corpse is even shown eating from a dog dish. By far, the creepiest location in the game and sadly, there’s no indication the man was ever caught.
