So, Dungeon Crawler Carl is primarily a horror novel. Let’s start there. That’s not to say the book isn’t also deeply funny, thought-provoking, and fundamentally hopeful. But, Matt Dinniman is a horror novelist, and he’ll be the first to tell you that. From mass-murdering infants to chopping off poor Growler Gary’s hands thirty plus times, the series isn’t afraid to plunge some dark depths. And those two scenes I just mentioned are still kinda funny. But these five Dungeon Crawler Carl scenes truly remind us that Matt Dinniman is indeed a horror writer.
5. Maggie My Strangles Her Own Daughter to Death
See, this is why Mordecai told Carl to stay the hell away from the Ring of Divine Suffering. While this particularly atrocity happens out of Carl’s view in the first book, we learn the truth of what happened later in the series from Frank Q, and his retelling is possibly more powerful than having the scene play out right in front of Carl and Donut.
Shortly after entering the dungeon, Maggie My, Frank Q, and their daughter Yvette come to be in possession of the Ring of Divine Suffering, which allows the wearer to mark a target (using the “Mark for Death” ability) at full health, and when they die, the wearer gains a point from their highest stat. If one killed Donut, for instance, they would get a point in Intelligence. But, there’s a problem: until said target is dead, the wearer can’t heal. Still, in the hopes that it will help their daughter level up, Frank and Maggie force Yvette to wear the ring.
Early in the first book, Carl runs into Frank Q in a safe room, acting very suspicious. However, Frank isn’t aware of the safe room rules, and when he attempts to attack Carl, he’s immediately transported away. Maggie and Yvette are invisible and hiding in the safe room bathroom at the time. Carl suspects this may be the case, and leaves an exploding, booby-trapped rat corpse. Maggie and Yvette trip the explosive upon their exit.
Yvette can’t heal unless Carl dies, which he obviously does not. Yvette is terrifyingly mauled by Carl’s trap. Maggie strangles her to death to save her from further suffering, in an act of chilling mercy.
4. The Hoarder
Years ago, Matt Dinniman said the Hoarder was meant, in a fashion, as a “tone-gate” of sorts. It’s a boss battle so disturbing that anyone who wouldn’t be able to handle further content in the books would dip out then and there. I can definitely see why. A Latina woman who was a hoarder pre-collapse is turned by the showrunners into a twisted abomination, crawling through a mountains of trash while holes in her skin pukes out massive cockroaches.
I remember when I was first listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl, (the masterful audiobook performance by Jeff Hays is the definitive way to experience the series) this was the biggest roadblock I hit. I remember turning off the book in disgust just a few paragraphs in, sitting in my office pinching the bridge of my nose thinking, This is so exploitative, I thought. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to keep reading this. This isn’t funny, this isn’t entertaining. It’s just f**ked-up.
Then I went back to it, and I listened to the rest. I realized the narrative agreed with me, as did Carl. It IS exploitative, it IS f**ked-up, it ISN’T funny, and it’s NOT entertainment. The Hoarder cries out for help, unable to control what she’s been turned into. She prays to God, she begs to be let out of the hell she believes she’s in. Which, secular alien hell, but she ain’t far off. Even early in the series, Matt Dinniman is a master at weaving a metatextual political streak into the narrative, italicizing and underlining as needed to show the utter depravity of the Crawl and the Syndicate. It doubles as a sharp critique of exploitation television, such as Hoarders.
3. Lucia Mar Kills Afechi
This is one of those scenes where I said, aloud, “Oh F**K.” Sorry people next to me on the bus! Many awful things happen to Florin the Crocodilian, but none worse than the murder of his partner Afechi. We find out through the recap show of Dungeon Crawler World: Earth, a narrative tool that Dinniman knows how to make excellent use of, especially with particularly gut-punching scenes. Florin and Afechi have the misfortune to run into Lucia Mar, the oft insane street kid turned terrifying powerhouse with a large collection of player killer skulls to her name.
Florin’s main weapon is a shotgun with infinite ammo. Lucia Mar casts a shield spell that redirects attacks at her enemies. When Florin initially fires, he doesn’t realize where Lucia redirected the attack to, focused on the fight as he is. The long moment while you wait for him to realize is heart-wrenching, and a hell of a way to meaningfully introduce Florin. When he turns to see Afechi with her head blown off, slumped against the wall, is one of those indescribable horrors that sticks with you as a reader. The golden player killer skull that appears above Florin’s head is the cherry on the holy-s**t-this-is-awful sundae.
2. The Assassination of Astrid
Eye of the Bedlam Bride might be the most f**ked-up book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, as another scene from the book claims the number one spot. Number two, however, goes to the assassination of Astrid, the fairy manager of the Desperado Club, at the hands of Carl and Katia. In order to save Katia and Donut from having to fight and kill one another on the ninth floor, as they both are in the line of succession for the Blood Sultanate, they have to gain access to the Lockbox of the Night Wyrm. The Lockbox contains the Orchid of Eileithya’s Grace, which can teleport Katia off of the ninth floor to remove her from the scenario entirely when the time comes. The price? Killing Astrid.
Astrid is terrifying in her own right as a Level 120 Bloodsprite. Oh, and she set Carl’s blood on fire in one of the earlier books. Katia and Carl wreak utter and complete chaos on the Desperado Club, trying to finagle their way into murdering Astrid before getting killed themselves by Astrid’s Celestial suicide bombers, the Vorpals. The assassination itself is very brutal and physical. After begging for her children’s safety (Damascus and Anaconda Steel) Katia drives a spike through her head, killing her. This is after Carl tears her wings off, an injury which Matt Dinniman describes in excruciating detail. Shudders all the way down. It’s made all the worse when you realize the person who put the hit out on Astrid is her husband, Hamed—the Night Wyrm himself.
1. Shi Maria Fuses With Carl
Shi Maria, or as I like to call her, Trigger Warning the Character, is by far one of the most terrifying entities in the world of Dungeon Crawler Carl. Jeff Hays’ performance of Shi Maria’s silky (Get it? ‘Cause she’s a spider?) and seductive voice made her very presence deeply unnerving, even when she’s being a “team player” on the 8th floor.
However, during the epic final battle (well, series of battles, honestly) that cap off Book 6 in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, Carl and the usual suspects are locked in a T’Ghee battle that will ultimately decide all of their fates on the 8th floor. Carl tries to use a Combo card to fuse Shi Maria with Alpha Carl, but Shi Maria instantly kills Alpha Carl. Carl is currently acting as a minion for Donut, who is leading the T’Ghee match. With no other Totems left to Combo with, Shi Maria is able to fuse with Carl against his will. Carl attempts to take back control, but it’s no use. Carl is turned physically into a horrifying hybrid, watching out through his own eyes as Shi Maria uses him to grievously injure Katia and Mongo, as well as tearing out Li Jun’s eye and f**king eating it.
Carl’s got a lot of trauma, like every unwilling participant in Dungeon Crawler World: Earth. But this, in many ways, might top the pile. In the following book, he frequently mentions not being able to get the taste of Li Jun’s eyeball out of his mouth.
Dungeon Crawler Carl has many heartwarming scenes, and many funny scenes, but Matt Dinniman’s chops come through the clearest when he’s writing bone-chilling horror. If you haven’t already read the books, I don’t know why you’re here, but take this as a strong recommendation to pick up the books this spooky season.
The post The Top 5 Scariest DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL Scenes appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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