It’s Christmas time at my house. I love the smell of pine trees and cinnamon, as well as the sound of caroling outside on a snowy evening. It reminds me that there is hope for man in this world. But every year on December 25th, when I turn off all my lights and sit in darkness with only the glow from a fireplace to keep me company, something else comes to mind: The Dark Souls Christmas Carolers. For those who don’t know what they are (and you’re lucky if you don’t), these carolers will visit your home every night until New Years Eve carrying lanterns that can be lit up by dark souls…
In the Dark Souls series, there are uthresized carolers that will visit you every night to sing a Christmas song and drop off presents. Usually they show up around midnight or in the morning depending on how generous they were feeling when it came time for their shift. The gifts could be anything: weapons, armor sets, consumables… even an NPC companion that would help out with certain aspects of combat. It was always fun opening these packages from anonymous givers and I had made it my annual tradition to do so without looking at any spoilers beforehand as not to spoil what might have been inside waiting for me. Every year though one thing has been consistent; hanging outside next door is this strange group of people carrying lanterns instead of Christmas lights.
They don’t sing and they just stare at you from the other side of your window with their soulless eyes until they eventually leave without saying a word to anyone else in the process. I had always thought there was something odd about them though, so when one day during my morning routine I noticed that this group of people were still there from last night and hadn’t gone home like any normal person would have done after spending an entire day outside in December’s cold weather (especially if it wasn’t even your house!)I decided to go out for a closer look.
I’d recognize those suspicious eyes anywhere. It was the same group of people that had been outside my window for weeks and I think they knew I noticed them because as soon as i got close, their eyes welled up with tears before disappearing from sight like a ghost in front of me. The perfect moment to take out my phone and snap a picture!
It wasn’t until much later when I looked at the photo more closely did i notice what it was about these people that made them so strange: each one is carrying an empty lantern instead of the traditional Christmas lights you would expect on this street during Christmastime season. Surely there’s something wrong here? Who are these carolers trying to emulate by having a dark heart?
I’ve never seen these people before and I’m not sure if this was some sort of sick joke or a bad prank. But it doesn’t change the fact that i felt uneasy all day after seeing them outside my window for so long with their lanterns. It’s like they were trying to tell me something, but I don’t know what. What was their purpose?
It wasn’t until much later when I looked at the photo more closely did i notice what it was about these people that made them so strange: each one is carrying an empty lantern instead of the traditional Christmas lights you would expect on this street during Christmastime season. Surely there’s something wrong here? Who are these carolers trying to emulate by having a dark heart?
I’ve never seen these people before and I’m not sure if this was some sort of sick joke or a bad prank. But it doesn’t change the fact that they scared me.
It is not known what these people are trying to communicate as well as their objectives with this form of Christmas Caroling that appears in Dark Souls games – though it is possible for them to be a representation of death’s arrival and other fundamental aspects associated with winter such as darkness.
The player may experience feelings of unease from seeing the long-form content posted outside their window throughout December because they feel like something just isn’t right about the way things appear during Christmastime season; even if there are traditional lights around on various houses after being told by NPCs in dialogue that they’re celebrating Christmas.
In the game, it is possible for the player to kill these people and retrieve their souls – which can be used as currency in some instances. It’s also been reported that they are seen singing different verses of Silent Night when invaded by hostile players in multiplayer mode online; with one line being “all is calm” while another says “the first Noel has come.”
If you find yourself having a hard time figuring out what your feelings are about this phenomenon then I recommend looking up videos on YouTube where Youtubers have captured footage during gameplay or screenshots from Dark Souls games in order to see them firsthand and decide whether you like them or not. Then again, there may be nothing wrong at all.
