A scary moment in Super Mario 64? You might be asking yourself "is he friggin' serious?" And the answer is "you betcha." Although boos had been haunting Mario since the 8-bit years, being trapped in two dimensions allowed those with phasmophobia an easy escape: ghosts to the right? Then run left.
So perhaps it was the open 3D feeling of isolation which made the atmosphere that much more spooky, as something about "Big Boo's Haunt" seems out of place in the Mushroom Kingdom. There's the ominously dark sky, the man-eating pianos (admit it; they got you the first time), and of course the oversized boos. In particular, the merry-go-round sequence is somewhat disturbing. The whole thing just screams macabre. Whereas other stars in Super Mario 64 have the portly plumber racing turtles or rescuing baby penguins, this particular mission requires that you enter the creepy shack which leads to a underground passage. After making your way through the sewers, the strains of that haunting tune slowly get louder. Entering the room, you find a mysterious and weird carousel spinning. As you make your way on, you're forced to fight several smaller boos before facing off against the XL variety. Though it's not particularly scary in the traditional sense of the word, it is unmistakably creepy and decidedly out of place in an otherwise cheery romp.
