As the festive season of 2025 drew to a close, the world was still buzzing with the echoes of the monumental gaming year that was 2024, crowned by the release of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Yet, for some dedicated Tarnished, the line between the Lands Between and reality had begun to blur in the most unexpected of places. Imagine walking down a bustling high street, your mind filled with holiday cheer and gift lists, only to lock eyes with a shop window display that sends a chill down your spine—a chill not from the winter air, but from a deep-seated, hard-earned instinct to dodge. This was the exact experience shared by a fan, whose casual Christmas shopping trip was interrupted by an impromptu and unsettling "boss encounter."
The fan, known online as obi-juan-kenobee, took to the Elden Ring subreddit with a photograph that immediately resonated with the community. The image showed a seemingly innocent holiday display: two mannequins in a shop window. However, their faces were completely obscured by a chaotic, glittering cluster of festive baubles in gold and red. This bizarre, bulbous headpiece was the trigger. To the untrained eye, it was just quirky decor; to a seasoned Hunter or Tarnished, it was an unmistakable, haunting silhouette. The festive orbs perfectly mimicked the grotesque, swollen heads of two of FromSoftware's most psychologically unsettling creations: the Winter Lanterns from Bloodborne and their spiritual successor in the Abyssal Woods, Elden Ring's Aging Untouchables.
The reaction was instantaneous and visceral. Fellow Redditors flooded the comments with shared trauma. "Instinctively tried to roll," one user wrote, perfectly capturing the muscle memory ingrained by countless deaths. Another lamented the "unwelcomed flashbacks to the Abyssal Woods," that eerie, Torrent-fearing region from the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC where the Aging Untouchables lurk. The discussion highlighted a fascinating split in player instinct: the Bloodborne veteran's strategy to hide and then rush past the Winter Lanterns' deadly gaze, versus the Elden Ring player's immediate panic to create distance from the Aging Untouchable's relentless pursuit. This single image had managed to bridge a decade of Soulslike dread.
But why do these particular designs strike such a primal chord of fear? FromSoftware has a noted fondness for monstrous, bulging forms that tap into a deep-seated unease. The Aging Untouchable itself is a masterclass in this, serving as a callback not just to Bloodborne, but also to the bloated, corpse-like scholars found in Dark Souls. Their design philosophy seems to ask: what is more terrifying than a familiar shape distorted into something alien and hostile? The Christmas bauble mannequins accidentally answered that question with startling clarity.
| Creature | Game | Location | Key Trait |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Lantern | Bloodborne (2015) | Nightmare Frontier, Nightmare of Mensis, Fishing Hamlet | Sings a lullaby, inflicts Frenzy with its gaze. |
| Aging Untouchable | Elden Ring: SotE (2024) | Abyssal Woods | Fast, relentless pursuit; heralded by Winter-Lantern Flies. |
| Festive Mannequin | The Real World (2025) | High Street Shop Window | Induces panic rolls and PTSD in passing gamers. |
The connection runs even deeper in the lore. Elden Ring's DLC contains a very deliberate nod to its gothic predecessor: the small, floating insects that signal the arrival of an Aging Untouchable are called Winter-Lantern Flies. This isn't just a cute reference; it's a breadcrumb in FromSoftware's interconnected design philosophy. Furthermore, the original Winter Lanterns from Bloodborne take their name from a real-life plant, the Physalis alkekengi, or Chinese lantern plant, used in Japan as both food and a sedative. Its bright, papery covering resembles the lanterns—and, apparently, a cluster of Christmas ornaments. The cycle from nature, to art, and back to an accidental real-world encounter is complete.
Nearly ten years after Bloodborne's release, with no sequel, DLC, or PC port in sight, and over three years since Elden Ring first captivated the world, the legacy of these games is undeniable. They don't just occupy players' time for months with their vast worlds and rich lore; they colonize the imagination. Players don't just play these worlds—they inhabit them, their perceptions forever tinted by the struggle and beauty of the Lands Between and Yharnam. Is it any surprise, then, that a simple holiday decoration can transform into a phantom from a nightmare frontier?
The phenomenon speaks to the powerful, enduring impact of FromSoftware's art direction. It creates a shared language of fear and recognition among millions of players. So, the next time you're out and about, take a closer look at the world around you. You might just find a hidden boss lurking in plain sight, waiting to be discovered—or, more accurately, waiting to give you a reason to panic roll into a display of holiday chocolates. After all, who needs a Frenzy meter when you have the sheer, unexpected shock of seeing your greatest digital fears materialize during a routine errand? The true Soulslike experience, it seems, never truly ends.