The Most Terrifying Places in The Last of Us You Never Want to Visit

Summary

The Last of Us franchise’s derelict settings are often overlooked, immersing players in decimated cities overtaken by nature.
Various locations in the games, such as the forests and malls, go from serene to bone-chilling due to the presence of zombies.
The game’s snowy landscapes, eerie bridge crossings, and traumatic encounters create a terrifying atmosphere throughout the story.

The Last of Us franchise is most well known for its gut-punch storytelling and terrifying fungus zombies. A pillar of the series that is sometimes overlooked, however, is its derelict setting. Players travel through decimated cities overrun not just by the infected, but by nature itself; immersing players in a world where humanity has long since been knocked off the top of the food chain.

These overgrown locations have their moments of beauty, but with the games’ many horrors, that serenity is quickly shattered – turning idyllic sights into something to be feared. The areas below are some of the most bone-chilling that players will explore.

10. The Woodlands – The Last of Us Part 2

Home To All Manner Of Monsters

Seattle Day 2 (Ellie) – The Seraphites
Seattle Day 1 (Abby) – The Forest

Trees spanning for miles, strange noises in the dark and no clear way out – the forests of the real world are a scary place as is. The Last of Us Part 2, however, ups the dread of entering nature by filling it with zombies and fanatical cultists.

Whether it’s Ellie’s first encounter with the Seraphites, who are announced by haunting whistles as they stalk the player through the trees, or Abby’s escape from execution, where players are forced to fend off infected as they stumble through the dark of the forest – the sight of woodlands is sure to instill anxiety in any player.

9. The Mall – The Last of Us Left Behind

Childhood Innocence Destroyed

The mall in the Last of Us Left Behind campaign starts off as, barring the museum from The Last of Us Part 2, the most whimsical location in the franchise. Wanting to spend one last night with her before she’s stationed in a different city, Riley takes Ellie to an abandoned mall where they dance and have water fights, among other light-hearted activities.

However, infected drawn by the music turns their last night together into a nightmare. With the music – made haunting by the shifting circumstances – still blaring, the girls make a run for it, but each turn they make only leads to a dead end or more zombies. As escape seems less and less likely, the player shares in the duo’s horror.

8. The Snow – The Last of Us Part 2

Scared Stiff

Jackson – The Overlook
Jackson – Patrol
Jackson – The Horde
Jackson – Chalet

The Last of Us Part 2‘s opening chapter is traumatizing for a number of reasons. Not only are players pursued by a horde in one of Abby’s sections, but they also have to witness Joel’s brutal death.

Setting the atmosphere for it all, however, is the chapters’ snowy landscape. With buildings buried in mountains of snow, the surrounding area of Jackson feels cold and desolate. From beneath those mounds of snow, players can be jump scared multiple times by frozen infected who are stirred by the player’s arrival. Adding to the horror is a snow storm that obscures players’ visibility, making it feel as if infected are materializing out of thin air.

7. Skyscraper Bridge – The Last of Us Part 2

Don’t Look Down

Seattle Day 2 (Abby) – The Descent

In one of the most unsettling parts of “The Last of Us Part 2”, there aren’t any infected creatures. Instead, what makes it nerve-wracking is that Abby and Lev are navigating a rickety bridge linking two skyscrapers built by the Seraphites, as they make their way towards a hospital in search of essential supplies.

Fashioned from a crane and a few wooden planks, the bridge consists of narrow walkways segmented by gaps that’ll send Abby plummeting to her death. The whole scenario is likely to make players’ controllers slick with their own sweat as the dense fog and Abby’s heavy breathing create an immersive atmosphere.

6. Collapsed Skyscraper – The Last of Us Part 1

First Encounter With A Clicker

The Outskirts – Downtown

After encountering a deep crevice during their pursuit of Fireflies, Joel and Tess are compelled to guide Ellie through a partially collapsed skyscraper. Navigating the building is risky enough as it stands, requiring them to walk along decayed scaffolding in certain parts, but the danger is amplified by the presence of Clickers.

Being their first encounter with them, players are forced to sneak through the gloom of the ruins while developing new tactics to avoid the Clickers. While players will have to face the iconic variation multiple times across the franchise, the first encounter with them in the skyscraper stands out as one of the most memorable and frightening.

5. Stalker Nests – The Last of Us Part 1 & 2

Sneaky Zombies

Stalkers are the products of the second stage of the Cordyceps virus, where the fungal growths of the infection have started to burst from their skull. Equipped with the speed of a Runner and the fierceness of a Clicker, Stalkers act as a hybrid of the two.

Rather than outright attacking the player like other infected variations, Stalkers will – as their name implies – stalk the player. This behavior is what makes areas of the game where they are in abundance, some of the scariest – no matter how mundane they be originally. Players could be sneakily picking up supplies in one room, only to turn around and realize a Stalker has been watching them from the doorway the entire time.

One of the most notable and scariest Stalker nests is the Hotel Basement from the first game. After falling down an elevator shaft, Joel is forced to wade through the flooded basement to restart a generator. Upon doing so, the player is rewarded with the cries of an approaching stalker horde.

4. Joel’s House – The Last of Us Part 1

The Outbreak

Hometown – Prologue

The opening of The Last of Us Part 1 sees players taking control of Joel’s daughter, Sarah, as the outbreak kicks off. Before players enter the havoc the rest of the city of Austin, however, they’re first free to explore Joel’s home.

With her father nowhere to be seen, Sarah becomes increasingly frightened as the TV’s news channel recounts reports of violence and explosions rumble in the distance. The whole segment captures a childlike sense of helplessness and a rising sense of horror that makes players feel like a kid themselves. Without even seeing the Runner that makes it into Joel’s garden, the opening of The Last of Us Part 1 feels just as scary as the horrors that ensue.

3. The Barn – The Last of Us Part 2

The Horrors Of Trauma

The Farm

After her confrontation with Abby in Seattle, Ellie returns to a farm on the outskirts of Jackson where she helps Dina raise her baby. While herding their sheep into a barn, a stray lamb knocks over a shovel that throws Ellie back to the day Joel died. The wind picks up, the animals cry and the barn door slams shut – leaving Ellie in the dark. When the player can see again, they’re faced with a staircase leading down to a locked door where – on the other side – Joel’s dying cries for help can be heard.

The segment is brief but memorable. Lingering in players’ minds as a brutal representation of Ellie’s PTSD and a genuinely terrifying moment. Going from exploring the farm with JJ to the nightmarish sequence in the barn catches – much like Ellie – off guard, making the moment that much more impactful and scary.

2. The Hospital – The Last of Us Part 2

Palace Of The Rat King

Seattle Day 2 (Abby) – Ground Zero

After Abby reaches the Hospital, she has to delve into its basement in her pursuit to find medical supplies for Yara. Separated from Lev, the player goes it alone, exploring dark quarantined wards that housed some of the first infected.

With knowledge like that, players explore the hallways with constant anxiety that they’ll turn a corner and come face to face with an ancient Clicker or Bloater. The Hospital delivers on those fears and more, teasing the presence of an enormous creature with its labored steps audible through walls and locked doors.

When I stumbled upon provisions hidden at the rear of an ambulance, all hell broke loose! The Rat King, this chilling fusion of the undead, launched a vicious assault on us players, offering up one of the scariest encounters the game franchise has ever produced.

1. Silver Lake, The Restaurant – The Last of Us Part 1

The Worst Of Humanity

Lakeside Resort – The Hunt
Lakeside Resort – Cabin Resort

After an altercation results in Joel getting hurt, it falls on Ellie to nurse him back to health. During a hunting trip, she stumbles upon David, later disclosed as the head of the group they previously encountered. David apprehends Ellie, and in the process, she observes the gruesome practices of his followers, which involve consuming human flesh.

With the group being based in a town called Silver Lake, the notion of something as big as a town being occupied solely by murderous cannibals is enough to be deemed terrifying. But the restaurant where Ellie makes her final confrontation with David stands out as the scariest location in the area. Players are forced to sneak between tables to avoid being caught by David. The setting, likely once being a nice family diner, acts as a darkly ironic contrast to Ellie’s situation as she desperately tries not to become the man’s next meal – or worse.

2025-03-18 13:42