Which moments in Skyrim gave you goosebumps?

[logansrun]

Mine was definitely my first trip to Bleak Falls Barrow and not having any idea what to expect. I absolutely crept inch by inch through it until the boss fight. That was my first real “dungeon crawl” in Skyrim. After escaping Helgen, I pretty much had followed the MQ storyline, made it to Riverwood and then travelled on to Whiterun receiving orders from Jarl Balgruuf and Farengar. I pretty much stayed in goosebump mode that entire trek, including hearing Arvel’s pleas for help, cringing when I saw him trapped in giant spider webs and the giant FBS. Then watching him run off and encountering Draugr for the first time in Skyrim. They weren’t nearly as bad as I expected, but I remembered how tough they were in Bloodmoon, and I was dreading encountering them again as a low level, poorly outfitted adventurer.

“I hate those damned things!” ~Ralof

Yeah, he and Farkas aren’t the only ones. There were plenty of other ones, but that was my first, most intense, and memorable, it would seem.

[warlord714]

One part that was creepy for me was sneaking into Castle Volkihar with Serana. I was with the Dawnguard the first time so I was behind enemy lines AND exploring derelict portions of an already eerie structure. I also found the temple of Auriel in the Forgotten Vale to be an awe-inspiring sight when I first saw it, and at the same time it was unsettling to see the Falmer frozen like statues inside the building.

[Exmanter]

The Music of course, but also Sovngarde, unrolling the elder scroll and all of the first ten hours I played ... without resting.

[MJJ]

The Night Mother of the Dark Brotherhood legitimately scared me the first time I interacted with her.

Also, the initial appearance of Hermaeus Mora was a shock. Entering his realm was freaky. I hope in the next TES game we get an opportunity to outsmart him.

The key to having those goosebump moments is to avoid spoilers on UESP. When I played Oblivion and Skyrim I would refer to the UESP if I was stuck or after I'd triggered an event to make sure I didn't miss anything.

[mondz_tes]

Here's my own small list of goosebumpy(?) moments/things in Skyrim off the top of my head:

1. The first time I entered Hermaeus Mora's realm of Apocrypha, especially since I roleplayed a character who is basically his disciple.
2. The first time I used Auriel's Bow to blot out the sun. It was especially jarring when the NPCs nearby were also freaking out.
3. The Sovngarde music, of course. Love that ominous choir chanting.
4. The first time I encountered Molag Bal. Never should've escorted Tyranus inside that house.
5. The first time Boethiah used a corpse to communicate with me. I was confident that I killed everyone around her shrine that I was totally caught off-guard when the camera suddenly swerved towards her.

[Jelena]

In an epic way - all of Skyrim gave me goosebumps (Sovngarde especially!). In a creepy way - those were mostly dungeons, until I started to play Morrowind, which is a generally creepy game in a weird and subtle way... all those "subhuman" creatures, that atmosphere that's getting more and more tense the closer you get to the Red Mountain, that sense of unsafety wherever you go... Skyrim simply isn't scary at any point for me anymore.

[Nord85]

Skyrim simply isn't scary at any point for me anymore.

Have you started Dawnguard yet? Combine that with a mod that makes nights dark, and the vampires can get really terrifying. At least for me they still are hair-rising. You stroll in the night-shrouded woods, and bam! a few pairs of glowing eyes appear from nowhere and the vampires attack, giving battle taunts in that creepy voice of theirs.

Also, Chauruses (Chauri? Chaurae? however the plural should be spelled). The Frostflow Lighthouse dungeon still gives me the chills, although I've completed that twice.

But yeah, I agree that Morrowind is more eerie all around. I still remember how I didn't dare even enter daedric shrines for a long time, since they terrified me with their mere appearance, and the Sixth House bases were really scary.

[WillieMakeit]

Seeing the Headless Horseman for the first time. At first I thought he was just a rumor, but he's real enough. Only ever saw him once though and that was just outside of Solitude.

[Evil-i]

After the remains of Dark Brotherhood moved into Dawnstar Sanctuary and the sanctuary was upgraded, I dropped in to see what the place was like. When the creepy old Night Mother suddenly began rasping at me, I almost had an underwear moment. Wasn't expecting that at all.

[Yaije]

The only times I've gotten the creeps so far were my first trips into blackreach, that one dark cave in dawnguard with all the spiders... and the first time running into 'blood hybrid' or whatever mobs after I installed this monster mod in a darkness enhanced night.

That last one was out in the open at night, with a darker nights mod installed... I couldn't see the things, I could hear them butchering a platoon of imperials and the closest I got to seeing them alive at that point was when I watched the imperials get picked up and eaten.

[Nord85]

After the remains of Dark Brotherhood moved into Dawnstar Sanctuary and the sanctuary was upgraded, I dropped in to see what the place was like. When the creepy old Night Mother suddenly began rasping at me, I almost had an underwear moment. Wasn't expecting that at all.

Same here. I almost jumped out of my seat, it was that startling.

For my part, I got today some real tense dungeon delving. Went to Chillwind Depths with my new character. This time around I use a mod that makes level scaling very hard for low-level characters. The falmer could two-shot my character, one-shot if they got lucky. I managed somehow, exploiting their blindness. Then I reached a room with a falmer tent.

I started to search the tent, but froze almost instantly. Chaurus were rustling somewhere very, very near! And they could see, unlike their masters. If they found me, I'd be dead meat in an instant. At first I thought they were somehow behind me, but that was not the case. They were in an adjoining room. I crept very slowly onwards, expecting to get slaughtered any moment. When I got to the other room, I saw I was on ledge overlooking an enclosure. Sure enough, there was a chaurus - and a chaurus reaper, and two or three falmer! And my character was only level four.

Then they heard something, and got alerted. Fortunately they didn't detect me, but I nearly bit my nails when they skittered around in search. It was a very slow retreat I made after they had calmed down, since they got alerted twice more. I have seldom felt as relieved while playing Skyrim as I did when I finally got away.

Looks like Skyrim got exciting again for me.

[Imbalance]

I gave a few tries at the glitch that will allow you to be a hybrid werewolf/vampire lord before realizing I needed to do things in a different order than I have with my current character, but some of the results have been hair-raising. My last attempt, I was sure I had it right, but when I woke up in the woods it became clear that it didn't take, and the sight of my naked Argonian suddenly growing a poorly fabricated rubber wolf suit (complete with bad anti-alias) definitely freaked me out. But then I heard, "Let's go. My mother must be waiting on the other side of that thing." Totally drove home that I effed up, but gave me the willies, to boot.

[H8Ball]

In Sovngarde, I got goosebumps when I first realised the tall hooded stone statues are "alive". They often turn to look DIRECTLY at you while your back is turned. Creepy with a capital C.R.double.E.P.Y.