Horror to humour: The affective transformation of the moment of death in Little Nightmares

This article explores the affective shift from horror to humour in Little Nightmares when transitioning from gameplay to stream viewing. Employing microethology, a methodology suitable for analysing shorter gaming experiences, this study scrutinises avatar death scenes as moments of affective transformation. It introduces the concept of ‘empathetic horror’, defined as the fear, distress, and nervousness that arises from players’ deep empathetic bond with their avatar through embodied and affective involvement in a game. Conceptualising the moment of death as an assemblage, this study examines how watching Danmaku game streams on Bilibili reframes this fear-inducing moment as humorous. It identifies three factors responsible for this transformation: a change in ludic engagement and the player’s perspective, altered meanings of critical actors within the assemblage (including monsters and death), and the introduction of new participants (such as Danmaku game streams) into the networked assemblage. This analysis underscores the role of Danmaku streams in creating a humorous environment, strengthening entertaining effects, and foregrounding the performative dimensions of play, providing insights into the evolving affective responses across gaming and streaming contexts.