The Pale Watcher

The Pale Watcher

Something in the woods is watching you. Don't stare too long.

The Pale Watcher is a gaunt, skeletal horror entity for Forge 1.20.1 (requires GeckoLib 4). It doesn't charge at you like a normal mob. It watches you, follows you, and waits.

It stalks you

• Behind the trees: its long claws curl around the trunk one finger at a time, and then its face slowly leans out. If you spot it, it stares back and its jaw slowly unhinges. Five seconds later it's simply gone.
• In caves: it peeks around wall corners, or watches from the end of a dark tunnel where only its glowing eyes show.
• At your window: if you're inside, it stands outside the glass with its palms pressed flat against it.
• It only moves when you aren't looking. Turn around and it freezes mid-step.
• At the edge of your vision: it vanishes the moment you turn to look.
• Right behind you: it looms over your shoulder and whispers "I'm here." When you turn around, it lunges at your face.

It haunts you

Even when you can't see it, you'll know it's there:

• footsteps that walk when you walk and stop when you stop
• whispers and breathing right behind your ear
• faint words at the edge of your screen
• knocking on your door, and doors that open on their own
• torches going out behind your back, and someone mining in the dark
• footsteps on your roof, and chests opening
• your heartbeat getting louder the closer it gets
• being woken up if you try to sleep

If it catches you

Hit it or push your luck and it roars and comes after you on all fours. If it catches you, it grabs you by the shoulders, lifts you off the ground, and bites your head off. The camera pulls back so you watch it happen to your own character.

An AI that paces the fear

• A director tracks how frightened you should be. Encounters build slowly, peak, then go quiet for a while.
• What it does depends on where you are: forest, cave or indoors.
• After it disappears, it stays away for 2–3 minutes before showing up again.

Built for atmosphere

• Every animation is hand-built and smooth, and its hands and feet stay planted on the ground as it moves.
• 70 original sound effects, including a roar, bone cracks, a creaking jaw, whispers, a laugh, and the bite itself.
• Rare natural spawns, only one Hollow per world at a time, and it leaves once it's had its fun.

Configurable

Every major behaviour can be turned off or tuned in config/thehollow-common.toml, including:

• spawn rate, cooldown and lifetime
• chases, the head-bite death, jumpscares, door opening and light snuffing
• whispered text and the "I'm here" voice

Camera shake, screen flash and the death camera are in the client config (config/thehollow-client.toml).

Play it at night, alone, with sound on.