During our original Spooptober event, I made a post positing that Creepy Castle was not, in fact, “creepy,” but actually just spoopy. My evidence at the time included its goofy enemies, cliche sound effects and the fact there wasn’t actually anything in it that presented a real threat gameplay-wise.
And that’s the thing, it’s very spoopy when analyzed in a meta sense, but does that hold true if you allow yourself to fully immerse in its atmosphere (like you would have as a kid playing for the first time)? I’m not so sure.
It’s easy to just rest on the idea that you can never really invest yourself in a game again once you’ve beaten it, but I’m not so sure that’s true. True, you can never experience something for the first time again, but you can still enjoy it in much the same manner. You just have to let go and allow it to happen.
See, I actually played through DK64 again recently, and while I can’t say that I managed to make it feel like new again, I did manage to get a taste of that initial immersive feeling again. I just had to kind of put aside my gamer brain for a bit and just take it all in again. Again, it wasn’t the same as my first experience all those years ago, but some of the feeling did come back!
Jungle Japes was homey; Angry Aztec was mysterious; Frantic Factory was dreamy, and Creepy Castle was, actually, kind of creepy. Not in a threatening kind of way, mind you. I don’t think Creepy Castle ever had any true feeling of menace to it, even as a little kid. Rather, it was more like a goosebump-inducing kind of creepy. You’re not outright scared, yet you get a little bit of a chill all the same.
I think there are two reasons for this, with the foremost being the music. Every track has a different quality, but I noticed that they all have a little scare factor to them. The main outdoor theme blends a somber with slow sustained synth notes that bring about a sense of tension in you whether you want it or not.
I liken it to the kind of tension that comes about when you find yourself walking alone in a great open space or even just along the road at night. It’s not frightening, but you’re still uncomfortable. The dungeons go for low tones and ghostly wails, the kind you might hear in a haunted corn maze. Again, you’re safe, but you’ll definitely jump if something were to pop out at you.
The Great Hall with the giant candles is that unsettling feeling of being a tiny creature in a world of giants. They don’t have to take notice of you in order to bring about a sense of dread in you. Then there’s Lanky’s tall tower and its fast-paced and urgent high tones. You feel like there’s some invisible clock ticking down, that never fails to inspire nervousness.
The other quality that actually makes it a bit creepy is actually pretty simple: the place just looks spooky. No matter how you might try to intellectualize it away, the fact is that old, abandoned places are inherently unsettling. And the older they get, the stronger that quality grows. Consider also that the concept of the old haunted castle is archetypal. The idea has been around for a very long time, and most of us encounter it for the very first time at a very young age.
It’s one of those things that, even if you can’t remember that first encounter, it still leaves an impression upon your psyche strong enough that it always evokes unease and even a little fear every time you see it. It might not register very strongly, but it’s there all the same.
So, was my initial take on Creepy Castle wrong? Is it just “spoopy” and nothing more? Well, yes and no. If you look at it purely in terms of gameplay and tropes, then yeah it’s mere goofy, spoopy fun. If you put that aside and take it in purely as someone enjoying a game, then no. There’s more to it than that.
Creepy Castle isn’t a scary level; I don’t think it was ever meant to be. Yet, if you fully invest yourself in the moment and really try to take it in, then it does manage to cross over from spoopy to spooky. Just like everything else, you just have to give it a chance, I suppose.
What’s your take on Creepy Castle? Do you think there are some genuine creeps to be had here, or can it only ever be spoopy in your eyes? Let’s discuss below and then stay tuned for more Revenge of Spooptober!
Image by TheDuckofIndeed and Hatmonster