RDR2's Most Disturbing Side Missions Explained (2024)

There are over 30 Stranger Missions in the sprawling, open world of Red Dead Redemption 2, and copious amounts of other scenes and interactions not lengthy enough to earn the title of a proper side quest, and some of these side missions can be rather disturbing. Although many may center around train robberies, bounty hunting, and inconsequential errands, there are a handful of adventures thatfocus on more ominous issues. These unnerving missions can be suspenseful, gruesome, or even downright creepy.

Horror and morbid content are nothing new in Rockstar’s games in general, so it isn’t a surprise to find it has injected some terror into the Old West. As players navigate the world, they can encounter multiple ghosts, UFOs, cryptids, serial killers, vampires, and people of the Red Dead Redemption 2 world that are horrifying enough all on their own.

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Some of these missions lie off the beaten path or are completely unmarked and are a bit difficult to find, so it is unlikely that players will stumble upon them without doing a bit of searching first.Some ofRed Dead Redemption 2's more disturbing side missions provide a tonal backdrop very different from most of what players will have come to expect fromRDR2. Here are some of the creepiest side missions to giveRDR2 its darkest twists.

RDR2Aberdeen Pig Farm's UnpleasantConclusion

Located south east of the Emerald Station right on the border of New Hanover and Lemoyne, for instance, players canfind the Aberdeen Pig Farm. Upon approaching the house, a man sitting on the porch will welcome Arthur and ask him inside for dinner and a drink. Once inside, players will need to explore the house a bit, looking over the couple who owns its possessions before sitting down for supper. As Arthur converses with them, they will bit-by-bit reveal a narrative that grows more confusing and upsetting with each detail.

The two reveal themselves to be an incestuous brother and sister who have recently lost their mother. If players choose to accept three drinks from them, the world will start to spin and go black. After a brief moment Arthur will wake up lying on the ground some distance from the cabin. Whatever sedatives the brother and sister put in the drinks were strong enough to knock Arthur out long enough for them to steal all of the money off his person and drag him out into the wilderness. While players can choose to return home to the Van Der Linde gang empty handed, the missing money can be found behind a portrait of the siblings' mother in the house.

An RDR2 Experiment Gone Wrong

"Mercies of Knowledge"is a marked Stranger Mission that will become available in chapter four of Red Dead Redemption 2 when players are able to go into Saint Denis. In the eastern part of the city, an inventor named Andrew Bell can be found in an alley calling out for Arthur to assist him. He will ask players to aid him in stealing one-hundred gallons of moonshine, and then to bring it back to him in Saint Denis. When Arthur returns the moonshine Andrew reveals he needed it to continue his work on creating the electric chair. He will then ask players for more favors in securing a permit from the sheriff’s office to publicly test the chair, and in capturing the criminal named Wilson McDaniels for a test subject.

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While watching Professor Bell’s public demonstration of the chair, what starteda run-of-the-millRed Dead Redemptionheist missiongoes horribly wrong. The machine does not instantly kill McDaniels, but instead begins to cook him alive, causing patrons to scream and disperse because of the foul smell. In an attempt to save his experiment and show how humane it is, Andrew Bell tries to spark the machine three more times, the third time resulting in him being electrocuted to death himself. Still alive and strapped into the chair, Wilson McDaniels begs someone to shoot him and end his life, dying moments later in what looks to be considerable pain.

Fending Off RDR2'sNight Folk is No Easy Task

Red Dead Redemption 2'sNight Folk are a band of ruthless murderers that players can encounter. In order to unlock the Stranger Mission "A Fine Night for It,"players will need to have already had a run-in with the brood. They live in the swamps of the Bayous and Bluewater March, painting and dressing themselves to look like corpses, frightening any intruders in their territory. Once an encounter has taken place, a marker will appear on the road that leads into Lagras. There, players can encounter an older man resting by a campfire who will tell Arthur a bit more about the Night Folk and who they are. He reveals that the band has overtaken his house, and asks Arthur to help him.

If players accept, they will take a suspenseful trek through the swamp in the night. Along the way the old man will point out mutilated corpses, all of which he states are the handiwork of theNight Folk. Players should be sure to have their Dead EyeCore full, as five Night Folk are patrolling the outside of the old man’s cabin and will charge Arthur wielding machetes. After heading inside, another horde of enemies will approach from the darkness. Players must be wary, as one could potentially sneak up and attack them from behind if they don’t keep a careful eye out.

Finding And Taking DownRDR2's Serial Killer

‘American Dreams’ is one of the trickierStrangerMissions tofind in Red Dead Redemption 2. While riding along side-roads throughout New Hanover, Lemoyne, and West Elizabeth, a series of gruesome murders can be discovered. At any of the scenes, a trail of blood leading off into the wilderness will be the first indicator that players are close to a crime. By following the trail of blood, eviscerated corpses can be found, along with plentiful viscera strewn around the area. Written in either chalk or blood on rocks near the crimes are a cryptic series of messages left by a serial killer, goading law enforcement to find him. Tracking the body parts a little further away decapitated heads can be found stuck on pikes. By interacting with them, Arthur will dig rolled up pieces of paper out of the heads’ mouths.These are three separate sections of a vague map on where to find the serial killer that players will need to puzzle out.

The killer’s lair can be found underneath Lucky’s Cabin, southwest of RDR2'sValentine. The gore inside of the cabin makes the previous crime scenes pale in comparison. The space is decorated with human skulls, torsos strung up on chains, and an assortment of corpses all in various stages of decay. Littered among the trophies are a few documents detailing Edmund Lowry Jr’s history offamilialand mental health issues. After being bashed over the head by Lowry Jr, the killer details to Arthur Morgan what he is going to do to him in gruesome specificity. Players can then make an escape and take the man into custody.

While these missions all focus on elements of horror, the term disturbing can take on many different meanings for players. There are a variety of quests that deal with different kinds of upsetting topics like the corruption of power, religious persecution, racial discrimination, illness, and loss. However, if players want to keep their playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2devoid ofdisturbing themes, it is fully possible to avoid all of these side missions, as they are non-essential to the main plot.

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