Insanity Creatures

“Ahhh. Refreshing.”

–Maxwell

Hallucinations are hostile Mobs that begin to attack player upon reaching 30 sanity points or lower. They will spawn once the player's sanity levels are below 165, and they will gradually become more visible as the player's sanity level drops further.

Artwork of two Hallucinations attacking Wilson.

Up to three will spawn around the player, and begin to attack. Upon being killed, Hallucinations will sometimes drop Nightmare Fuel, used for crafting several Magic items.

The sanity meter will drop by both standing near and fighting Hallucinations, but it will rise by at least 15 points after killing one.

Hallucinations also appear in Ruins, They appear at high flux in Nightmare lights , regardless of sanity.

Crawling Horror

Crawling Horror
Stats
	300
Effects
	-100/min
Combat
Damage	20 (15 )
Attack Period	2.5
Attack Range	20
Movement
Running Speed	3
Traits
Loot	+ 50% + 15 sanity
Code
"crawlinghorror" (Standard version) "crawlingnightmare" (Ruins version)

Originally believed to be the name of all the Hallucinations, the Crawling Horror is now known to be just one type.

It is a large tick-like creature, with many legs, and is the most common of the Hallucinations.

While not aggressive (above 30 Sanity), Crawling Horrors will wander around, move away from players when they get too close, and occasionally teleport around the player's vicinity. They can disturb the webbing around Spider Dens, causing inhabiting Spiders to emerge and investigate the cause. They also can prevent items and the ground underneath them from being clicked on.

Crawling Horrors turn aggressive when the player's sanity is 30 or below. However, holding Crtl+Click allows you to attack them while your Sanity is above 30. Walking near these will decrease Sanity. They give 15 Sanity when killed.

A version of the Crawling Horror called Crawling Nightmares can be encountered in the Ruins.  This version is able to attack even when the player is sane, but they will only spawn from Nightmare Lights when they are completely open.

Terrorbeak

Terrorbeak
Stats
	400
Effects
	-100/min
Combat
Damage	50 (37.5 )
Attack Period	1.5
Attack Range	20
Movement
Running Speed	7
Traits
Loot	+ 50% + 33 sanity
Code
"terrorbeak" (Standard version) "nightmarebeak" (Ruins version)

The Terrorbeak is a creature with an enormous beak and slim body, with several small legs. Like the Crawling Horror, it will attack the player, but is less common. 

Players can attack them most easily by trapping them on the coast or by hitting them with a Boomerang. Killing a Terrorbeak while being attacked by Hallucinations is a good way of stopping the attacks, as they give 30 Sanity when killed causing Hallucinations to go neutral again, even at 0 sanity.

A version of the Terrorbeak called Nightmarebeaks can be encountered in the Ruins.  This version is able to attack even when the player is sane, but they will only spawn from Nightmare Lights when they are completely open.

Mr. Skits

Mr. Skits is a small serpent like creature that will watch from afar. Upon attempting to reach Mr. Skits, it turns and slithers away. It cannot attack, nor be attacked.

Mr.Skits may also flicker on the screen for a fraction of a second, then disappear.

He will only appear if the sanity level of the player is below 165. His only purpose is to scare players of Don't Starve.   

Shadow Watcher

The Shadow Watcher is a long, thin Hallucination which appears around light sources at night (which includes a charged Lightning Rod) from many angles, so it might be upside down. The Shadow Watcher will appear when the player's sanity drops below 130. It is harmless, and it cannot be attacked. It will not disappear when stood on, unlike the Night Hands, below. When it appears on snow or occasionally on a light background, it will appear as just an outline. This hallucination disappears after dawn breaks.

Besides just frightening the player at night, the purpose of a Shadow Watcher is unknown. However, there is a Shadow Watcher in the source code of the fourth William Carter puzzle, possibly a hint to a connection between the two entities.

It also appears in the source code of the sixth William Carter puzzle.

Night Hand

Standing between a Night Hand and a fire. They will attack Campfires and Fire Pits.

Night Hands are hallucinations that extend from the darkness at night. While not directly attacking the player, Night Hands will attempt to put out fires. Up to 3 Night Hands can spawn at the same time. Their appearance is also marked by a music box playing, which layers as more Hands appear on-screen.

When stepped on, Night Hands will shrink away from the player (with a small insanity aura at -40/min). Once far enough into the darkness, a Night Hand will disappear and the music box will stop playing, though usually the player has to briefly be in total darkness to chase it away. If not taken care of, a Night Hand (or more) can easily take out a small fire, reducing 50% of the fire's strength each. 

File:Hand.png

Night Hand about to extinguish a fire.

Night Hands do have the potential to actually put out a fire if this occurs; however, it is somewhat rare, and the more hands that appear, the less they can damage a fire (1 Hand = <60% per hand. 3 Hands = <30% per hand).

If the fire is at its highest strength, then it is unlikely that even three hands can completely snuff it out, so a potential tactic is to max the fire and stand near to max it out again after the attack, although this burns quite a few resources and does not get rid of the Night Hands.

Occasionally, even when sanity is over half full, this particular hallucination can still appear.

Eyes

When the player's sanity is below 160, several Eyes will pop out of the darkness. They are purely for atmosphere and have no effect. They disappear when the player goes to them or the area they are in is lit. 

The lower the player's sanity, the more eyes spawn with increased intensity. They will go from round, small, and sometimes curved eyes to larger, sharp, menacing ones. Sometimes trees or other obstacles can block eyes, commonly forming a one-eyed hallucination.

In Epilogue: Checkmate of Adventure Mode, eyes will be visible in the darkness regardless of the player's sanity.

Trivia

• Crawling Horrors and Terror Beaks will go straight through walls while not aggressive, but if sanity is 30 or lower, they will manifest into a physical form and won't be able to pass through them, provided they have been upgraded at least once (they can still pass through/over level 1 walls).
• As these entities have a physical form and effect the physical world, the name "Hallucinations" wouldn't be a proper name. They may merely be drawn by a person's insanity.
• A second fire nearby "cancels" Night Hands altogether for the night. A Miner Hat does the same.
• It is possible for a lightning strike to extinguish the Night Hand just as it spawns.
• Their behavior has references to the monsters in Lovecraftian literature. Being that they are so otherworldly they cause humans to go insane, and their ability to move through dimensions.
• When one is experiencing a sleep paralysis, it's common to see deformed shadowy creatures creeping around the room. This description fits perfectly to the Don't Starve hallucinations. Also note that sleep paralysis is commonly associated with lucid dreaming  and in the science menu, description for the Dark Sword is: "lucid dreaming damage"
• The Hallucinations spawned in ruins have different names when the Force-Attack button is held: Nightmarebeaks and Crawling Nightmares, possibly referencing how the overuse of nightmare fuel led to the civilization's downfall.
• Due to the player gathering materials and taking damage from hallucinations, and that they exsist as actual entities in The Ruins, it is quite possible that the players hallucinations become actual creatures when they go insane.

Bugs

• Sometimes, a Shadow Watcher will not disappear when day breaks, but instead a few seconds after.
• Occasionally, after defeating a Night Hand, the music won't stop playing. This appears to stop after saving, quitting, and reloading the game.
• When the player stands on a Night Hand, it will sometimes play the retreating animation, but it will still continue to extinguish the fire.
• Hallucinations can still be aggressive even if the player's sanity is above 30.
• If the player were to fuel a Campfire or Fire Pit when a Night Hand attacks, the Night Hand may appear to be shortened.

Gallery

A Crawling Horror, taking a break, standing up tall and showing its teeth.

Crawling-horror.png

Eyeless Crawling Horror

Crawling-horror-rearing.png

Crawling Horror pausing

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8 Crawling Horrors

Hallucination.png

Wolfgang being attacked by a Terrorbeak

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Two Night Hands are approaching the fire pit.

Shadow Watcher watching the player

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Hallucination on the sea

2013-06-04 00025.jpg

Mr.Skits

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A Night Hand can be on water, making it difficult for people who have campfire on a coast

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Eyes can be around the light

Terrorbeakattack.png

Wilson being attacked by a Terrorbeak

A glitched Terrorbeak

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