10 Disturbing Video Game Locations With A Dark Secret
3. Hackdirt Is An Ode To Lovecraft - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Oblivion, like all the other entries in the Elder Scrolls series, features an open-world map full of cities and settlements thriving with life.
Most of them act as stops between your journeys, so that you can have a safe place to rest after completing missions.
In the case of Hackdirt, however, the sense of security is an illusion.
Although at first glance, Hackdirt seems like any other village in Cyrodiil, as you explore it more thoroughly, you begin to notice that its residents are not exactly what they seem.
Their chapel worships mysterious entities known as the Deep Ones, and the population tends to act and look a bit odd.
Well, the reason why is because they’re all a bunch of murderous fish people!
Yes, if you start the quest “A Shadow Over Hackdirt” or break the law in the village, you will discover that it’s secretly inhabited by a cult of fish-human hybrids that kidnap people and sacrifice them for their ocean-dwelling gods.
The village and its populace are an obvious ode to Lovecraft’s story “A Shadow Over Innsmouth” about the Dagon-worshipping fishfolk.
However, because it’s ingeniously hidden among the many inconspicuous settlements in Oblivion, the reveal feels genuinely shocking and disturbing.