Most Terrifying Monsters In DND

Summary

• Mummies are eerie in desert settings; they create memorable encounters for parties.
• Crawling Claws are great for usage in unsettling traps; they conjure a sense of horror and unease for players.
• Beholders have potent abilities and are powerful foes with eye rays and manipulative dreams.

You may think that in a game like Dungeons & Dragons, there would be all sorts of terrifying foes and monsters that you could encounter. In fact, even a dragon would be terrifying to face, no matter what level you are. However, there are certain monsters that can turn any campaign into a horror. These often aren’t even because the monsters are the most powerful, but because of their abilities and what they can do, sometimes even outside the game.

We’ve dug into the lore of tons of monsters and found ones with horrifying implications that would make living in any fantasy world the last thing you want to do. Without further ado, here are the most terrifying monsters in Dungeons & Dragons to use throughout your campaign.

Updated on March 27, 2025 by Jack Filsigner: With the release of the 2025 Monster Manual, there are more terrifying monsters available in Dungeons & Dragons than ever before, perfect for any horror setting. We’ve updated this list with a few new creatures, as well as added tables with some key stats so that you can pick the scariest monsters possible for your horror campaign.

11

Mummy

There’s nothing like a classic Mummy to send chills down your players’ spines. If your campaign is set in a desert, or your party is adventuring through a set of ancient ruins, use a Mummy for a memorable creature encounter.

You can also use Mummies as part of a mob for a more difficult combat encounter. Headed up by a Mummy Lord, a swarm of Mummies can prove formidable even for experienced Dungeons & Dragons players and tables. Just make sure you create a potent curse to go with them.

10

Crawling Claws

Though not the most deadly of creatures found in the 2025 Monster Manual, the Crawling Claw makes up for its lack of power with its tone and horrifying vibes. The Crawling Claw is, in essence, a severed hand that moves and acts independently of any person.

These are great monsters to use for traps. Imagine if a player of yours stumbles upon a pressure plate, dropping them into a small trap door. They can land in a sewer system filled with Crawling Claws, leaving them with a horrifying memory they won’t soon forget.

9

Beholder

It’s a classic for a reason. Beholders are denizens of the Underdark and are floating anti-magic creatures comprised of a ball and tentacles with eye rays. You may think their design is a little silly; after all, with no limbs, how exactly are they going to fight?

But these creatures are incredibly intelligent, have eye rays that can cause all sorts of effects (including one that can just disintegrate you), and are so powerful that things they dream about can manipulate reality. Overall, you’ll be glad these things lurk in the Underdark.

8

Sibriex

A less common monster, a Sibriex is a collection of warped demons that can manipulate the flesh of other creatures. That’s right. These foes have the ability in combat to warp the flesh of any monster that is around them. You have to succeed on a saving throw or suffer a point of exhaustion per turn, repeating the saving throw each time.

If you suffer six losses, then you will instantly transform into an Abyssal Wretch that is under the control of the Sibriex. Overall, you’re going to want to be sure that you either kill this monster quickly or keep your distance and hope to never come across it in your life.

7

Bodak

The Bodak has a design and a story that could probably make Scarface run in the other direction. Also known as The Unfinished Dead, Bodaks are actually humanoids who have been touched by pure evil (though this is a little ambiguous as to what this means).

Not only are Bodaks twisted versions of people, but they can also kill others and have them rise as Bodaks twenty-four hours after they die. The idea of dying at the hands of one of these twisted creatures, only to come back as one of them is enough to make even the most seasoned adventurer writhe.

6

Mind Flayer

Another iconic and scary foe is the Mind Flayer. Also denizens of the Underdark, these creatures came from nowhere. Nobody knows the true origins of Mind Flayers, although it is theorized that they are some kind of evolved humanoid species from the future who have used magic to come back into the past to plant the seeds of their civilization.

They can suck your brains out, turn you into their thralls or other Mind Flayers, and generally just call others through their hivemind to keep coming at you if they want to hunt you down.

5

Allip

They may have a funny name but do not trust the Allip. Allips are the remnants of people whose minds have disintegrated. They now take the form of this shadowy undead, usually summoned by evil spellcasters, and are known to be aggressive creatures that attack almost anybody in sight.

As well as this, they can drain the sanity from anybody they so much as touch, meaning that they could potentially drive you to madness and force you to join them. Overall, they may not be the strongest creatures, but they are one of the saddest and scariest.

4

Oblex

At first, these oozes seem to be mostly harmless; they are just another giant red monster that resembles jelly that you have to slay. That is until they suddenly morph into an exact replica of a person you know or an NPC that had perhaps gone missing recently.

You see, an Oblex is no simple monster. They feed off the memories and personalities of those around them and then transform into exact replicas of that person, able to disguise themselves and lead others into traps for their true masters, Mind Flayers.

3

Aboleth

Just when you thought Dungeons & Dragons had it all, it shows you up with cosmic horror. Aboleths are monsters that are so old they came before the gods of the world. Nobody has any idea where they came from or what their true goals are.

But these creatures cannot die, always returning to their home, the Astral Plane, where they can lurk and attack again. They’re known to be intelligent and cunning, able to manipulate the minds of those around them to enslave them for their own machinations.

2

Slaadi

Imagine this: you are adventuring and manage to kill an odd frog-like creature called a Slaad. You get the gold, get the loot, and return home with another adventure done and an odd burning in your chest. You see, Slaadi are creatures that worship nothing but chaos, and certain Slaadi can infect you with a disease that could transform you into a Slaadi.

That means even after you dispose of them, most adventurers may not even know what the source of their disease is or that they’ve even been infected before it’s too late, making these creatures one of the most threatening monsters out there.

1

Kuo-Toa

All these creatures have one thing in common, they tend to worship some rule. Slaadi, as chaotic as they can be, still act like creatures with pack tactics and habitats and some type of goal. Liches, Mind Flayers, and Aboleths are all intelligent creatures. So what makes Kuo-Toa one of the most terrifying? It’s because they don’t know their power.

The Kua-Toa have the unique ability to create godhood, in that anything they worship, whether a creature or a concept, will transform into a deity. This means that they can perhaps rewrite reality depending on what they worship or make your villains almost unstoppable, making them one of, if not the most terrifying concept for a monster in all of Dungeons & Dragons. The 2025 Monster Manual also offers several varieties of Kuo-toa, some of which can be more powerful than your standard variety.