The horrors of a non-horror game.
For example, let’s consider one of Hyrule’s creepiest enemies, the ReDead. The Zelda series has plenty of unsettling moments, but none match my first encounter with a ReDead inside the Kakariko Village cemetery crypt.
I was an innocent 12-year-old boy when I first entered the dark, dank crypt where these human-like creatures rested. Not knowing what they were, I casually sauntered over. As I drew closer, the creature stood up and turned around. That infamous shriek froze Young Link in his tracks, and seriously spooked me, as the creepy enemy shuffled toward my character. I figured this baddie was like any other and could be taken out with simple brute force. Oh, how I was wrong! After two strikes from Link’s sword, the ReDead jerked into an animation and began wrapping itself around him. It was riding Link’s back and nibbling on him! What in the world!? Where did this come from!?
I furiously mashed buttons in an effort to get this reanimated cadaver off of Link. It finally slid off, and I ran past the ReDeads, even dashing through poison pools of water to avoid any other confrontations.
My reward for this agonizing and disturbing occurrence was none other than Sun’s Song, a helpful tool in freezing ReDeads in their tracks. Little did I know they could soon revive themselves and resume their creepiness once more. Ocarina of Time’s rating must have meant “E” for “Every time I see a ReDead, even to this day, I cower in fear.”
