{"id":91495,"date":"2026-10-09T10:51:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=91495"},"modified":"2026-10-09T10:51:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:51:00","slug":"9-legend-of-zelda-side-quests-scarier-than-any-horror-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=91495","title":{"rendered":"9 Legend of Zelda Side Quests Scarier than Any Horror Game"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Legend of Zelda<\/em> has never been particularly shy about depicting curses, ghosts, and the walking dead (or ReDead). Its optional side quests are where Nintendo tends to let all three run wild. The series has always worked this way \u2014 usually giving you a bright, whimsical surface to explore with something rotten and\/or horrifying tucked away, should you decide to look under that friendly surface. In the main story, that dread hides inside dungeons and boss fights. In the side quests, the dread has moved into the house next door, where it\u2019s a bit more startling to discover. Curious what nightmares are hiding for Link throughout his various adventures? Check all the closets in the basement, first. Then read on, if you dare.<\/p>\n

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\n 9 <\/span>
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\n House of Skulltula (Ocarina of Time)
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\n
\"ocarina-spider-house\"\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s keeping us up at night:<\/em> A family is begging for your help! Unfortunately you\u2019ll need to kill 100 golden spiders to break their curse<\/p>\n

In Kakariko Village, years before the game begins, a fabulously rich family has been turned into spider people, cursed for their greed, as local rumor has it. Fortunately, there is a cure: Finding and destroying 100 Gold Skulltulas, twitching golden oversized spiders that cling to walls and trees throughout Hyrule. The hunt for curse-breaking spiders takes you from Hyrule Field to the walls of claustrophobic dungeons. You do get helpful rewards for performing pest control, but at what cost? Walking into the spider family\u2019s house in Kakariko Village \u2014 and seeing the half-spider-half-human hybrids hanging out, forlornly, awaiting your assistance \u2014 is horrifying. We wouldn\u2019t blame you for turning around, walking back out, and ignoring this entire questline.<\/p>\n

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\n 8 <\/span>
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\n The Craftsman’s Son (Ocarina of Time)
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"ocarina-craftsman\"\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s keeping us up at night:<\/em> You go looking for a man in the Lost Woods and meet a girl who cheerfully explains what exactly happens to lost adults<\/p>\n

As Young Link in Ocarina of Time<\/em>, you can spy the Master Craftsman\u2019s son hanging out, not working, not doing much, around Kakariko Village, much to his father\u2019s dismay. So far, so good. Do a bit of time travel, though, and the son\u2019s nowhere to be found. Wonder what happened to him? In the middle of Adult Link\u2019s Biggoron\u2019s Sword trading quest, you\u2019ll head to the Lost Woods and see him for a moment. He\u2019ll press a mushroom into your hands as an ingredient for medicine. Return to check in on him later, and you\u2019ll find that he\u2019s gone. A nearby Kokiri girl will explain, somewhat gleefully, that adults who get lost in the woods turn into Stalfos \u2014 skeletal warriors. She doesn\u2019t seem to see a problem with this.<\/p>\n

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\n 7 <\/span>
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\n “Them” at Romani Ranch (Majora’s Mask)
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"majoras-mask-them\"\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s keeping us up at night:<\/em> Something<\/em> comes for the ranch every year. And if you aren\u2019t careful, that something will erase your friend\u2019s memory<\/p>\n

On the first day in Majora\u2019s Mask<\/em>\u2019s Romani Ranch, young Romani practices archery. She does so to prepare herself to fight something that her older sister, Cremia, insists does not exist. According to Romani, They<\/em> come every year around the Carnival of Time to steal cows. The invaders \u2014 reportedly inspired by the Flatwoods Monster of West Virginia folklore \u2014 drift slowly toward the barn, from the wee hours of the morning until sunrise. If you fail to protect the barn from these ethereal, ominously quiet alien figures, Romani will be whisked away\u2026then returned later, without her memories or cheery personality. Win, and that doesn\u2019t happen. And you also get a bottle of milk.<\/p>\n

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\n 6 <\/span>
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\n Pamela’s Father (Majora’s Mask)
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"music-box-house-majoras-mask\"\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s keeping us up at night:<\/em> A girl is hiding her father in a closet because he’s turning into a mummy<\/p>\n

Deep in Ikana Canyon, a house shaped like a music box sits atop a tiny, cluttered basement; in that basement, there is a closet. A young girl named Pamela has been hiding her father in there. He\u2019s half-mummified, en route to transforming into a zombie-like Gibdo. Of course, she does not directly tell you this. You are left to sneak down into the basement, then stand absolutely paralyzed with fear as the closet slams open and this half-mummy, half-man creature bursts out and starts to stalk toward you. If you have your wits about you, you can play the Song of Healing to break the curse and get the Gibdo Mask. But no judgment if you don\u2019t remember to do that immediately.<\/p>\n

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\n 5 <\/span>
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\n The Ghost Ship (The Wind Waker)
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"wind-waker-ghost-ship\"\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s keeping us up at night:<\/em> There\u2019s a ghostly ship gliding through the dark water with its own theme music, and tragically (in the HD remaster) you do need something on board<\/p>\n

The Ghost Ship sails only at night. And at certain spots on The<\/em> Wind Waker<\/em>\u2019s Great Sea, based on the moon\u2019s phase. And sometimes reading the map to locate the Ghost Ship is hard. And depending on how good you are at reading context clues, you might not necessarily know you need to find a Ghost Ship \u2014 so the scariest part of this questline might be sailing around the Great Sea, wondering how you\u2019re supposed to progress the game at all. Once you do figure out how to board the Ghost Ship, you\u2019ll recover a Triforce Shard and all will be well. But the image of a pale ship rising out of the black water with eerie music playing will likely stick with you for years to come.<\/p>\n

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\n 4 <\/span>
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\n Jovani (Twilight Princess)
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"jovani-twilight-princess\"\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s keeping us up at night:<\/em> One man\u2019s soul, scattered across sixty ghosts. Can you save him by collecting every piece?<\/p>\n

In Twilight Princess<\/em>\u2019s Castle Town, you can find a man who sold his soul to the ghostly Poes for wealth. For his troubles, he and his cat were turned into solid gold statues. To free him, you must find sixty Poes across Hyrule. Many of them are visible only when you\u2019re in Wolf Link form. Even after you lift the curse, Jovani\u2019s still going through it. You can find him in Telma\u2019s bar, weeping, as his girlfriend\u2019s now with someone else. There is a silver lining to this side quest, though. Befriend his cat, Gengle, once the curse lifts, and the cat will hand over 200 rupees every time you visit.<\/p>\n

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\n 3 <\/span>
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\n Phoeni, the Ghost Hand (Skyward Sword)
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"phoeni-skyward-sword\"\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

What’s keeping us up at night:<\/em> There\u2019s a ghost hand in the bathroom. All it wants is a piece of paper, probably<\/p>\n

Early in Skyward Sword<\/em>, rumors swirl saying that a ghost haunts the Knight Academy bathroom. Go to check it out, and you\u2019ll find a hand reaching up from the toilet, asking for paper. (Odd, sure, but this isn\u2019t the only time this happens in The Legend of Zelda, so. Maybe this is actually very normal.) The only paper you have on offer is a love letter from a student named Cawlin, one of Link\u2019s tormentors. Give the love letter to the ghost, and the ghost, Phoeni, becomes so moved that she starts haunting him, watching him sleep. Deliver the love letter as promised, and Cawlin gets turned down by his intended love interest anyway. Who\u2019s to say, honestly, which is the better fate for Cawlin?<\/p>\n

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