This page is proof positive that while Rifts might run on 90% Rule of Cool the other 10% is nothing but pure Nightmare Fuel. You might want to pack some more Mega-Damage weapons before exploring this little corner of the Megaverse...
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
- There's some stuff, like the Soul Harvesters (guess what they do) from Psyscape, which is so disturbing that the book has a disclaimer right before that section warning off folks with timid sensibilities.
- Speaking of Psyscape that whole book is best described as 50% cool psychic powers and 50% horrible night terrors. While the main focus of this world book is Psyscape and the various psychic classes and their powers a large amount of lore is dedicated to other creepy locations and monsters in the Magic Zone. One such terror is the being known as "Necrophim & Soul Snake" that appears near the end of the book. This walking nightmare is the result of a deadly spirit creature possessing a normal mortal being to serve as its host and partner. The resulting fusion is a tall humanoid figure with tentacle arms and a skull for a head that looks like it walked straight out of the underworld. Don't be fooled by its frail appearance however, as it is a powerful M.D.C. monster with hundreds of hit points and supernatural powers... so it's basically a magic psychic demon ghost zombie parasite abomination that can shrug off all but the most powerful of attacks. Better yet, while they are most common in the Magic Zone and a few other obscure areas they can appear anywhere on Rifts Earth at any time. Think about that the next time a member of the party decides that exploring the nearby dark creepy woods or dank misty cave is a good idea.
- Soul Harvest. It's a nightmarish region of rural Kentucky that makes the rest of the Magic Zone look like a playground. The whole place is basically what happens when you take the Überwald and Lovecraft Country, mix them up in a blender and then pour the resulting nightmare sludge on the edge of Appalachia far away from any sort of modern civilization. As you may have guessed from the name the area plays host to all manner of undead abominations and necromantic magic from simple carriages pulled by skeletal horses all the way up to demonic summoning. Worse than what the Soul Harvesters (mentioned above) do with their victims is the reason why they do it. They all serve a dark elder god known as Nxla that is slowly worming its way into our dimension through its army of loyal followers and zombified minions, growing in power with each additional soul taken. At higher levels this thing has over twice the health of a Splugorth alien intelligence and can only be sent back to its realm of origin if more than 30% of its health is depleted or if enough of its servants are slain by the heroes... yeah, fat change on achieving either of those under normal circumstances.
- The artwork and concepts of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Africa world book.
- Even with all of their powerful abilities they're nothing compared to the Armageddon Creature they create when all four are merged together. This deadly entity has all of their powers combined and stands well over fifty feet tall with a total health pool of 36,000 M.D.C(enough to tank multiple nuclear missiles) and a Horror Factor of 19! That's right, this horrifying beast is nearly unstoppable and will likely leave your group of badass adventurers cowering in fear when they first see it. Oh, and did we mention that it can easily regenerate thousands of hit points and severed limbs due to its potent Healing Factor? It's speculated that such a powerful abomination could easily reduce the entire planet to a lifeless ball of mud within a decade if not stopped... so yeah, good luck with that.
- The worst thing about Death is that he never kills anyone who doesn't attack him first... but just being near him is such an assault on the mind and the senses that people inevitably attack him to make it stop. All his undead horrors are the same - you could save yourself by just standing still, but being in their vicinity is sheer Mind Rape that drives you to attack and get yourself killed.
- The mutants in Madhaven. Their freaky appearance is bad enough until you remember that they're all descended from humans.
- Gorgons have a nasty habit of enslaving and raping human and humanoid men. Afterward, they generally petrify their slaves and keep them that way until they want to rape them again.
- The xiticix, a warlike race of Insectoid Aliens that live on what was once the border of Canada and north america. They're extremely hostile towards all other sentient beings and represent a threat to all life on earth! And the worst part? People have only recently realized this!
- The Ee-Bee-Gee-Bees. At first they seem to be friendly ewok-like creatures until you notice a few strange things about their anatomy. First, they scuttle on two pairs of crab like legs. second, they have two extra pairs of eyes. Lastly, they usually lead their "new friends" back to their den to web them up to be eaten alive later. sound familiar?
- That's not the worst part though, the worst part is that they're fully aware of how cute they look and use it to lure prey to them, not out of any malicious intent though, it's just one of the best ways to get food.
- Black Faeries are grotesque little abominations with bloated disgusting bodies and two maws filled with jagged sharp teeth. Far worse than their appearance, however, is their twisted and sadistic nature. Black Faeries love attacking and torturing other prettier races and seem to have a particular fondness for young children and cute animals. Once it has found an appealing prey it will kidnap the victim and ambush its would-be rescuers using hit and run tactics in a grim game of cat and mouse. After it gets bored with its demented games it will then kill the hostage and leave its mutilated body out for its loved ones to find, just to cause more sorrow and pain for its own amusement. Perhaps even more nightmarishly, if not for their numbers being greatly thinned due to their ongoing feud with Psi-Stalkers there would likely be thousands or perhaps even millions of swarms of these vile things covering all of North America. Even now they can still be commonly found all over the United States and southern Canada... Oh wait, then Tolkieen summoned and unleashed entire swarms of them during the war with the Coaliton!
- Hope you're not afraid of Giant Spiders because Rifts has an abundance of them, including an especially nightmarish breed called the Death Weaver Spider, a nearly 10 foot tall immortal monstrosity that has both intelligence and cunning in addition to its physical attributes. And did we mention that they're demonic beings with supernatural abilities that seek out magical objects and secrets and often inspire depravity in humans? That's right, ladies and gentlemen... Rifts has literal Demonic Spiders stalking players in addition to all of the other intradimensional terrors. Appropriately, they even have a Horror Factor of 16, which means adventurers are likely to be paralyzed in fear when encountering one. Needless to say, Death Weaver Spiders are pure Nightmare Fuel both in universe and out...
- The dimension of Wormwood. Take The Dung Ages, a legion of demons that would make the forces of Chaos cry for mommy, and a good spoonful of Body Horror, and you get one of the most messed up (yet kinda cool) dimensions in Rifts. And this is the first Dimension Book released.
- Demonic Possession is the least of your worries here. The demons can and will hook up your soul to some Organic Technology to fuel their weapons of war. Or they could turn you into one of their mindless soldiers as Worm Zombies or a Beast Man. They have a million ways to inflict suffering on you, and will do so with glee.
- Even the good guys here have some scary members among them. Take the Apok: they once served the forces of evil, but now bring terror to the armies of the Unholy. They wear terrifying demonic masks, can commune with the planet of Wormwood itself (which is very much alive), and are feared by demon and the peasants they protect. And they unquestionably seek to leave behind their past transgressions.
