The Fallout series is full of strange, eerie, and uncomfortable tales from a post-nuclear war world. In every corner, you can be met with an enraged mutant, an irradiated roach, or some gun-toting dweller who doesn’t trust you. With tons of games under its belt, the world of Fallout has no shortage of quests for you to embark on.
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With the many stories you can explore, there are quite a few that stand out as being particularly terrifying, even if you’re wearing power armor. Since there are plenty of scary locations throughout the world of Fallout, this simply lists particular quest lines and not just places you can discover.
9 Pickman’s Gift - Fallout 4
Nobody likes raiders, but the self-styled artist Pickman takes it to a whole new level. A serial killer with a thirst for brutally killing raiders, Pickman is known in the Commonwealth area. You can first find out about him by looting a dead raider who happens to have one of Pickman’s calling cards in his inventory.
Finding your way to Pickman’s Gallery, you soon find the building overrun by raiders who are hunting the serial killer for picking off their pals. Of course, they mistake the Lone Survivor for Pickman, which means you’ll have to fight your way through the grotesque gallery. You’ll eventually make your way to the man himself, and certain choices may net you some cool rewards.
8 Our Little Secret - Fallout 3
“Desperate times call for desperate measures” is a saying the people of Andale have obviously taken to heart. In the unmarked quest Our Little Secret, the Lone Wanderer finds themself unraveling the truth behind what the residents call “the greatest town in Virginia.”
Despite looking like a charming town on the outside, Andale has a sinister tradition of cannibalism and incest. To begin the quest, you first have to interact with resident Old Man Harris, who warns you to stay away from the town. Regardless of how you go about this quest, you will be discovered by some of the inbred townsfolk. If you play it right, the town becomes friendly to the Lone Wanderer. Otherwise, you may find you’ve bitten off more than you can chew (pun intended).
7 Become An Initiate - Fallout
Before becoming a part of the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout, the Vault Dweller must complete a task from the High Elder Maxson. The quest involves retrieving a disk from an “ancient order” that once dwelled in what is now called “The Glow.” Known as a mysterious and highly radioactive location, the Glow is actually what remains of the West Tek research center after being hit by a nuclear bomb in 2077.
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While it’s not the most action-packed quest, the stillness of the facility and its history of human testing feel more ominous than anything else. Speaking to the center’s supercomputer-turned-true AI Zax 1.2 is even more unsettling. Unable to leave but capable of sentient thought, Zax is doomed to spend the rest of his existence in the isolated darkness of the Glow. You can return to the Brotherhood as soon as you find the disk in question, but if you want to find out more about the Glow and the fate of those who had the disk before you, there are six more levels in the facility that each reveal more about West Tek’s dark history.
6 Devil’s Due - Fallout 4
Being set in the Museum of Witchcraft, it’s unsurprising that the Devil’s Due side quest has its fair share of what feel like unexpected scares. Located just west of Salem, the Museum of Witchcraft once housed artifacts and memorabilia related to the grim events of the Salem witch trials.
In the Sole Survivor’s time, though, the museum is the location of a bloody massacre. After receiving a tip about strange occurrences in the museum, you can take a trip to the forsaken location. As you piece together what evil now occurs here, you face a heart-racing mission with limbs falling, disembodied growls, creepy dioramas, and unexpected soundtrack cues to make you jump. While you track down what happened to the museum and the now-dead team that came before you, Devil’s Due will have you feeling more like the prey than the predator.
5 The Coyotes - Fallout: New Vegas
Although a pretty straightforward quest that poses no real danger to you, The Coyotes is still up there in terms of creep factor with its seedy characters, mysterious disappearances, and disturbing proclivities. According to Captain Parker, a worrying number of refugees have started vanishing without a trace. There seems to be no pattern except that most had dealings with two local scavengers, Dermont, and Saint James.
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With a few bribes (or threats) here and there, you can find very incriminating evidence against both men. A look through these clues reveals that the scavengers have been selling off the missing refugees to human traffickers. Even worse, the men seem to be making most of their money selling girls, with Dermont having his hands full, preventing Saint James from “sampling the goods.” This may be one of those times when you'd be justified in bringing out the big iron.
4 Cold Case - Fallout 76
If liminal spaces freak you out, then pursuing the Cold Case side quest in Fallout 76 will do it for you. The quest starts after you find the robotic nanny Miss Annie in Wavy Willard’s Water Park. She shares that she’s been looking for her ward, Freddy, for a very long time. As you start searching for any clues that hint at his well-being, you soon find yourself discovering a kidnapping case and facing off against hostile ghouls and super mutants, including Mad Dog Malone.
The various attractions at the abandoned water park and the controversy that surrounded it in its heyday really do the work to make this case unsettling. The entire park is designed with the quintessential exaggerated colors and characters that make these attractions equal parts exciting and terrifying, except this one can actually pose a threat should you get attacked. While the Vault Dweller gets some perks for completing this quest, it is left vague whether the ending is truly happy for Miss Annie or little Freddy.
3 Cleansing The Commonwealth - Fallout 4
This is a radiant quest that, on its own, isn't necessarily scary. The Brotherhood of Steel just needs you to clear out some ne'er-do-wells and knaves that are in high supply in the Commonwealth.
However, this quest gets significantly more terrifying when you get sent to Dunwich Borers. Every single aspect of this location is meant to make your skin crawl, from the tight pathways filled with the sound of lurking ghouls to the flashbacks and remnants of a cult that aims to summon great terrors that lie in wait. Even turning the lights on is punished by sending more enemies your way.
2 Destroy The Super Mutants At The Watershed - Fallout
With a name like Necropolis, you know things aren’t going to be happy and lively. Formerly Bakersfield, Necropolis is now a ghoul city. When the Vault Dweller comes into the picture, super mutants control the water supply at the aptly named Watershed.
Set, the leader of Necropolis, then tasks you to rid the city of the super mutants. When you explore the City of the Dead, you go through dank and desolate sewers inhabited by feral ghouls that make the underground tunnels even creepier.
As if fighting off super mutants wasn’t bad enough, the entire city of ghouls can turn hostile at any point. If you don't ace the Charisma and Speech checks, you won't get out unscathed.
1 Tranquility Lane - Fallout 3
Uh oh, are we in the bad place? If there's any quest that aims to mess with your mind, it's this one. It flips Fallout 3 on its head as you go into an eerie pre-war simulation of the world where all is not as it seems.
Things take a turn as you are tasked with increasingly upsetting objectives that bring harm to the other residents, who have no idea this is a simulation. Whether you lean into becoming a slasher villain or find an alternate solution depends on your own in-game morality. As if things weren't unnerving enough, you have no access to your Pip-Boy, and you have to interact with old dudes pretending to be kids.
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