Fears to Fathom: Home Alone 

Mark in the house: “I’m shaking and crying rn”

Legit, one of the most detailed fridge interiors I've ever seen

for some reason the fact that they fully furnished the fridge makes me very happy. Usually the fridge is empty with one item in it. There were condiments, other leftovers, etc. Very appeasing.

The image attachment from the mother is AMAZING. I'll be honest, I have never felt this type of horror to this degree before. I've got chills. It's not just the fact that somebody's outside, it's the fact that this poor kid's MOTHER has obviously been contacted by a worried neighbour. Their mother is nowhere near home right now, and they get a photo sent to them depicting a creepy person standing outside their door, where their young teenager is currently all alone (or rather, less alone than they should be). The mother is likely miles away, panicking because their child may be in danger, and they can't do a thing. Truly horrifying.

It's funny how every story starts with "I don't know where to start" and immediately goes to " So here's where it all started".

Texts from mom: “Hide” Mark: “Let me just go downstairs to make sure everything is fine”

Home invasion is the ONLY kind of horror that will actually freak me out because its the most likely scenario to happen to me irl.

I actually shot cherry coke out of my nose when he said: "My crippling addiction to masturbation kept me awake at all hours." That was so unexpected and caught me completely off guard.

Jackscepticeye: _notices every small haunting detail_ Markiplier: *LOOK AT HOW MANY PLACES I CAN YEET MY LASAGNA **_FOR SCIENCE_** !*

This game is terrifying, but I swear catching that small glimpse of the feet going up stairs adds an entire new layer of fear! I can't wait for him to play the next episode of this series.

I think the reason this is scary to us humans is because we are hardwired to think that "home safe" so when something comes in that may be dangerous it's less expected and more scary

i like how the mother gave misleading advice and it was up to the player to make the decision to stay under the bed instead of going out of his room. just felt more realistic and spooky that way, unlike most horror games where the guides or wtv holds your hand through the game

this game is horrifying. It shows that even though monsters and all this stuff is indeed a scary thing, the concept of staying at home alone with a human intruder inside is very terrifying.

It’s interesting to see the different reactions of both Mark and Jack. Jack: *actually scared* Mark: *muttering to himself as he throws lasagna around the house*

This game does do an excellent job at envoking a feeling of helplessness. You never know what moves will kill you. Very unlike most horror games which will tell you how to survive, via notes left around, audio logs, or just text on the screen. Add to the fact that home invasion is a real life threat, and it makes for a chilling horror game that makes people freeze.

As someone that grew up alone at home most of the time, I appreciate that the game makes every moment, every sound really intense. Heck, even the silence itself is noisy on your head.

Markiplier: "The whole concept of eating something with nothing in front of you is so boring" Me, who looked for something to watch before I ate and chose this: Yes, yes I agree

The fact that you play as a Redditor was kinda funny to me, but when he devours a whole lasagna in about 30 seconds I instantly fell immersed in the role.

"I got up to get some water" see i prevent my home-intruder paranoia by keeping my water bottle full every night on my nightstand

As someone with general anxiety and who's been home alone before I felt this.

What is so terrifying about this game is how real they make it feel, obviously being real stories helps, but it gives a huge unsettling feeling that makes you afraid to watch it

This game does a lot of things right. The atmosphere is a big part of that. Probably the worst part about it though is how it’s perfectly reasonable. Parents leave teenagers alone all the time. Home invasions happen all the time. That little view of feet going upstairs while you watch TV could actually happen. We’ve all missed something obvious while distracted. That’s what’s so terrifying about this. We can all see this exact scenario happening to us personally. It’s a different experience to say a game that focuses on some strange supernatural entity. We all know the darkness demon isn’t real but a home invader, that could happen right now. This experience hits us on a primal level of our privacy being invaded. Absolutely perfectly crafted experience that really preys on your paranoia, and a pretty reasonable paranoia at that.

PSA: Lock your doors and windows _especially_ when you're home alone.

Jack: Who just walked up the stairs Mark: How do i eat the lasagna

Texts from mom- “hide” Mark- “let me just go downstairs to make sure everything’s fine”

One time, while home alone, I saw someone on our porch. They didn't knock. They just stood there. I saw them try to peer in through the sidelight. I freaked out, called my parents, and spent the rest of the night locked in my parents' closet with 911 on speed dial and a very confused dog. The hour or so I spent waiting in there was probably the scariest bit. I don't think my heart stopped racing the whole time. Every sound seemed amplified. The house would settle and my blood would freeze, sure I was going to hear footsteps coming down the hall. Anyways, my dad checked the doorbell footage when they got home and it turned out it had been mormons.

hearing that police siren and seeing those lights is truly the most relieving feeling ever

The fact that it actually happened to someone and they made it into a game makes it even scarier.

Finally, I saw jack playing this and think “man I want mark to play this and try to get all the ends possible”

Jacksepticeye: Game was so scary it made him cry. Markiplier: Home Alone!

This game already scared me- but mark just blatantly opening doors in a dark house was terrifying

Jumpscares/stuff ive noted for you guys, theres not a lot Sorry theres spoilers 10:25 mark opens the front door (really loud and very sudden) 16:15 man at the door thru the window. (not a jumpscare but i did jump a little because of mark’s reaction and the sound) 17:40 continuous doorbells, more like stressful 19:07 silent but sudden, the door parent’s opens If you dont like this comment just ignore it, i made it especially for people who has anxiety, paranoid or any type or issue but still wants to watch markiplier. Markiplier can be a source of comfort.

Mark: "I'm gonna need to do something about that." The game: *"Heat up this lasagna now."*

Mark: "Eating without anything in front of you is boring!" Me, shoveling Chinese Takeout into my face: "YEAH!"

Fun fact the Fear To Fathom episodes are based on true stories. Also I could never sleep in a room in which you couldn’t see the door from your bed. My soul would leave my body at every sound. Anyways, I know no one asked but I have a home alone story for y’all. Okay so this happened I’d say about a month or two after my family and I had moved into a new house. This house had, and I kid you not, a mile long driveway. It is in the middle of the woods with no neighbors. I was around 12 or 13 when this happened. I was sitting in my room while my sister, brother, and parents were all out running errands. It was currently 8 PM and they left at 6 PM, so I was hoping they were going to be home any minute, when my two dogs started barking. I was confused so I looked out the window to see a black figure with a flashlight emerging from the woods. My heart skipped a fucking beat. I grabbed my dogs and put them inside with me, locked my doors and windows, grabbed my knife, because why not, and ran into our “secret” room, which was in my brothers closet. One of the walls pushed out and there was a fairly sized room there which the old owners probably illegally grew drugs in but none of my business. My dogs were very stressed but I gave them beef jerky to distract them. Mind you, they are both over 90 pounds. Someone knocked on the door so I texted my mom about what was happening, but my phone had no service. I heard like digging in the front yard? You know when you have a shovel and you stick it in the ground and pull it out? Yeah, that. Anyway, my parents got home about 45 minutes later of me sweating and freezing at every sound. We checked the ring camera and it was a hooded drunk man who had escaped jail and was running through the woods. He buried a fork in our front yard, and left. Scariest moment in my life

this happened not long ago my family never uses the front door to our house, unless guests are coming. we have a sliding glass back door and the solid normal front door. we have two garages, a smaller one and a bigger one. we use the bigger one to get in and out of the house and at times we are forgetful to close the garage door afterwards. this obviously was very dangerous because someone could just walk in, seeing that we keep the door that LEADS to the garage unlocked. i woke up in the house all alone one morning and my parents had left me a note saying theyd gone out for a few hours. something felt off so i checked all around the house. turns out the garage door was left open and my parents forgot to close it when they left. fortunately, no one got in the house, but i remember the fear sinking in when i saw the open door and realized i could possibly be in trouble.

Markiplier: *Receives texts* Also Markiplier: "Is this pre-computer era?"

I love how terrified everyone I’ve seen play this game is while Mark is over here like “everything’s fine”

oh my god this game perfectly captures the anxiety you feel when you’re home alone and feel as though you’re in danger, it captured it PERFECTLY!

I'm literally avoiding my chemistry homework by watching this video.

_Mark texting his mom when she texts him to hide in his room:_ I'm shaking and crying rn

Normally horror games don’t freak me out because I’m aware they’re just that-games, but this, this freaked me OUT. I’ve thought about this scenario happening too many times that when I go to get water at night, all I picture is someone at my back door watching me, and I can’t see them. Im going to have to finish this video tomorrow morning because wow I’m already paranoid

11:20 "WHAT WAS THAT" *eats lasagna "Was that a shadow?"

(Each time stamp is 1-3 seconds before the jumpscare) 10:23 (Major) Jumpscare from man at the door 16:15 (Minor) Man at the window 17:08 (Minor) Sound of glass shattering from the man breaking in through the window 19:06 (Minor) Intruder opens a door in the house, causing Mark to yell

I've watched four different people play this by now, and I still get fucking scared every single time.

Let's be honest, Markiplier is the best narrator for horror games. No one can change my mind.

My heart drops everytime I see the picture sent from the mom that someones at the door. It's so unbelievably creepy and the fact that this can and does happen to people makes it worse.

Mark: "Is there a computer?" Also Mark: *Texting on a cellphone and watching TV*

the thing that I HATE and is the most scariest thing in "inside the house" horror games is seeing text on the screen saying "It got inside my house." that is the SCARIEST SHIT EVER

I'm shaking and crying rn

I Love how Mark sees him go upstairs then proceeds to close the door, go upstairs, and locks himself in his room after seeing that.

The jumscare in 10:25 is terrifying Edit: I just realized Mark's eye's moves weirdly

This is the first horror game in a while that I actually feel true terror. The way it was executed was perfect, but the fact that you *know* this is realistic and can happen to anyone is terrifying

This game is really terrifying, but I like watching scary games before I sleep.

I'm home alone while watching this and wow my anxiety has rocketed I instantly went and checked every door and window and made sure I had something to defend myself with haha

Jumpscare Timestamps: 10:25 mark opens the front door (really loud and very sudden) 16:15 man at the door thru the window. (not a jumpscare but i did jump a little because of mark’s reaction and the sound) 17:40 continuous doorbells, more like stressful 19:07 silent but sudden, the door parent’s opens

The true frozen in fear moments Mark had were so accurate to real life, standing in the hall way, to afraid to turn around and to afraid to go forward. Frozen in place as if you’re also frozen in time, waiting for your body to move, or for something to happen. This game was so simple and yet terrifying

Mark: "Eating without something in front of you is boring!" Me, Shoving Wendy's fries and vanilla icecream in my mouth while watching this: YEAH

It's unrealistic, how the character player didn't put on every single light he passed by during the every part of the game, or why the fucking doors weren't locked-

What I found disturbing is the fact that mom was always talking about "you kids", even though we were the only child... 😨

The helplessness factor is very important in horror games, it's what made Amnesia stand out so much back in the day. Nothing to defend yourself with.

"Is this pre-computer times" The main character: *is texting people*

When mark sees the picture of someone at the door, I heard my front gate open. When I tell you i had never jumped harder...

Can't wait for Mark to play the second, much longer game of these series.

This reminds me of a situation from a few years back when I was 19. Was gaming late (as in like 2am-3am) and decided I was thirsty, so I left the office where I'd put my PC, opened the sliding door and just took a step ahead when I heard a thud. Looked ahead properly and here I am, with 5 people I don't know staring back at me. I froze for a second, staring at them, then jumped backwards, closing and locking the sliding door while calling the police and the neighborhood watch. Then they scramble and are out of the window (which they'd completely removed) and were gone in seconds. I was never so freaked out in my life. Turns out the cleaning lady we'd hired had been part of a group where she'd loosen windows so these people could completely remove the glass while the home owners are either out or asleep, then they come in quietly and rob the place. They'd even taken my dad's phones from right next to his head on the bedside table... he's terrified to even think what could have happened had he woken up. We got lucky that I got thirsty when I did, it stopped them from stealing more, but it's still a terrifying thought that all that happened and he never woke up. I heard nothing at all... just walked in from gaming to see 5 unfamiliar faces in my kitchen in the dark.

The fear in this episode was so visceral because I, as a kid, imagined this scenario SO many times.

I love how this was supposed to be terrifying, and mark just goes out of the house to check if theres somebody there and goofing aroundXD

As a person who is almost always home alone at night, this is my worst nightmare

Mark: "WhO doEs hOmEworK?" Me: *cries on the equivalent to 7 trees on my table"

The most terrifying part of this entire game is the attention to detail that is given to the house. The fact that they made it look like a real house as much as they could makes the experience far more visceral

I love how mark never thinks to play the story like you should in real life and just opens the front door at like 1:30 am

I think Mark forgot or maybe didn't notice that these games are inspired by real events that people have sent in to the developer; part of what makes them so scary is knowing that it happened to someone, it could happen to you, and it's probably happening to others somewhere in the world right now. Be safe, people. -Edit- For some of the people commenting that the stories aren't real or it can't be proven, obviously certain things are changed for the sake of privacy and the threat is made to look like a 'monster' because that's expected in a horror game, but there's also an element of truth in the faceless nature of that threat, because you never know who is going to attack you or what they're going to look like...until they do.

Gods, that game pressed every damned button I have about being home alone, aside from compulsively checking whether all the doors in the house are closed and/or locked

10:23 mark opens the door and i feel a chill down my spine, mark then walks out the door to get a jump-scare and i remain unaffected... door>monster

What a beautiful little game. The atmosphere and realism was on key. I absolutely love the textures and how ur able to see the neighborhood.

Mark: "Eating without something in front of you is boring!" Me, reading all the comments of people who talk about eating something while watching this video, while eating something: "Yeah."

This game gave me genuine terror, probably because it's realistic. That jump scare scared the hell out of me and when he saw the shadow on the stairs................... NOPE! *runs out*...............

7:08 "Who does home work? What am I a nerd?" Me: watching while doing homework (Sweats nervously)

y'know it's been a while since I last got a legitimate scare but the atmosphere and build to that jumpscare at the front door really got me. I need more from this series.

This was a genuinely terrifying experience, so much so that not even Mark's commentary could completely remove the underlying sense of dread

This game just nails that feeling of standing in your bedroom doorway with the light on wanting to go down to your parents' room after a nightmare but feeling petrified by what your mind conjures as waiting for you in the dark hallway between you and them.

I love the bitter tone that Mark uses whenever he mentions "Nat". Fcking hilarious

The first scare got me. I was standing when it happened and it caused me to practically fall over when it happened.

"Who can eat a whole family-sized lasagna in one?!" Awaiting Mark's realization he's playing a Garfield simulator.

The scariest thing about this game is probably the god damn patience of that guy

I think what makes this game even scarier is the fact that we can all, in some way, relate to being home alone as a kid. I easily put myself in that scenario, where someone is trying to break in.

Haha, never change, Mark. You're one of the very few RU-vidrs I've watched since the very beginning and you always find a way to crack me up on even the worst of days. Thanks for being you!

Mason Oliver: “Want to play Mario Kart?” Markiplier: “Nat!”

This is literally one of my worst fears. I once caught a man peeking into a window of our house and thankfully my husband was able to chase him off, but seeing -eyes- lit up by the reflection of the tv at 11pm was absolutely terrifying. I can’t imagine what an actual home invasion is like.

OMG i loved this game! Gives such a good experience! Wow, please play more of this game, hope the developer makes more of these types of games, I love the fact that you can go outside, that the phone and texting looks real, and that there are these detailt with the other houses, cars driving by, tv, fridge with relistic foods etc. Loved it, and Mark, i love ur vids and ur amazing personality, ive watched you for YEARS!!!! (And i have ur unus annus merch tihi)

Most scary part of this game is that the house has no bathrooms

One thing I love about this game is how the person always exists somewhere, actually doing things, so you can catch them if you look

This game captured the anxiety and helpless we’ve all been in at one point in our lives. Be it home alone for the first time or just letting your young mind run wild with worst case scenarios. It rlly managed to take me back to that feeling, props man.

I don't normally get affected by jumpscares when I'm watching someone else play games but both of these fears to fathom playthroughs startled me to the point where I actually screamed a little. I think it speaks to how well these games build tension and how great the general ambiance is.

As someone who've been confronted with housebreakers in the past ( in Europe mind you, we don't exactly own guns around these parts ) that has been one, if not the most frightening situation i've been in. Having someone breaking in what I consider my most secure/safe place really f*** me up for a long while. This game really capture that feeling of helplessness.

You know a jumpscare is effective when it makes one's eyes move independently like a chameleon.

The premise is so basic and unoriginal yet it is executed so perfectly, along with the fact that this can and does happen to people in real life makes it so much more scary. The unsettling atmosphere couldn’t have been done better imo. This terrified me more than most of the big blockbuster supernatural horror games.

The whole thing of the person being there was really weird though, at the end when the mom said the neighbor was there. I think either the person broke in again right before they came to the door or there was something else. Either way even if the jumpscare wasn't much, it definitely was great how it built up things based on something most of us are absolutely scared of and possible lol. I think it must be more terrifying alone/if you had even no pets like a dog etc like this tbh so it makes sense

Fun fact: this neighborhood and house is a map in the most popular VR FPS (Onward), called "Suburbia. You can find this house is in the middle of the map, albeit with different furnishings.

There’s a loud jumpscare at 10:26 Although watching Mark’s reactions made me laugh, the game itself is still terrifying. I jumped so bad at the jumpscare oh my god