Nightmare Fuel

Don't Starve

DST

Nightmare Fuel
"Evil residue used by the foolish and crazy."
Tab
Tier
	3 min.
Dropped by	See below
Perk	Used for dark and ancient magic.
	40
	"nightmarefuel"

“This stuff is crazy!”

–Wilson

“Eww, it's still warm!”

–Willow

“Scary stuff.”

–Wolfgang

“With the sleep of dreams comes this stuff.”

–Wendy

“DEBUGGING RESIDUE”

–WX-78

“Ectoplasmic residue.”

–Wickerbottom

“All of my fears in liquid form, eh?”

–Woodie

“Ahhh. Refreshing.”

–Maxwell

“I must find a way to return with this. It will revolutionize the world!!”

–Wagstaff

“The fuel öf darkness!”

–Wigfrid

“It's cold and slippery.”

–Webber

“The stuff of nightmares.”

–Walani

“Who in their right mind would want to fuel MORE nightmares?”

–Warly

“I've seen thet dark magic asea...”

–Woodlegs

“FUEL O' HEEBIE-GEEBIES”

–Wilba

“Dark Floaty Man”

–Wormwood

“A perfectly normal fuel source made of dark souls.”

–Wheeler

Nightmare Fuel is a refined item used in the ways of dark and ancient magic. It requires a Prestihatitator to prototype and costs 4 Dark Petals to craft. It can also be obtained as a drop from various mobs and objects.

Aside from being used to craft magic items, it is also used to fuel Night Lights and Maxwell's Codex Umbra (to summon Shadow Puppets). Chester can also transform into Shadow Chester by placing Nightmare Fuel in each of his nine inventory slots during a Full Moon.

Gathering

See also: Guides/Nightmare Fuel Farming

If a Survivors's Sanity decreases below 40% of their maximum (100 for Wickerbottom, 80 for most characters, 48 for Willow, 30 for Wes, and varies for WX-78 based on the upgrade level), all Rabbits change into Beardlings and can be killed to gather Nightmare Fuel (along with Monster Meat and Beard Hair). An easy way to do this is by trapping a large number of Rabbits and then lowering Sanity to below 40%, after which they can all be murdered all at once while in inventory. However, be careful, as this is liable to trigger the Krampus by advancing the player's naughtiness level beyond the threshold. Also unlike Beardlings, Beardlords do not drop Nightmare Fuel.

Alternatively, Nightmare Fuel can be acquired by killing Crawling Horrors and Terrorbeaks. Crawling Horrors are easier to deal with than Terrorbeaks; the latter don't appear until Sanity is very, very low, so it's possible to kill Crawling Horrors one at a time.

A safer and simpler way to get Nightmare Fuel is to capture Bees with a Bug Net and then release them at an Evil Flower patch, which can be found where the Things and Maxwell's Door are. This will eventually cause more Evil Flowers to spawn, and their petals can be crafted into Nightmare Fuel.

Perhaps the most dangerous yet lucrative way is to venture into a Ruins or Cave and find a location with Nightmare Lights and Nightmare Fissures. When the Nightmare Cycle ends, all of the Shadow Creatures that spawned from the Lights and Fissures will die and drop Nightmare Fuel.

Downloadable Content

In the Don't Starve: Reign of Giants DLC, Nightmare Fuel can be obtained by hammering Pig Heads and Merm Heads during a Full Moon.

In the Shipwrecked DLC, Nightmare Fuel can also be acquired by gambling at the Slot Machine, by hammering Wildbore Heads during a Full Moon, or by killing Crabbit Beardlings or Swimming Horrors while insane.

In the Hamlet, Nightmare Fuel is dropped by killing the Ancient Herald and from a low chance from breaking A Smashing Pot. Nightmare fuel can also be given to the End's Well for 1-3 Purple Gems each, as many times as you want for an endless supply of Purple Gems.

Drop table

Source	Quantity	Chance
	1-3	40%
	1	50%
	1	60%
+	1	3.07%
	1-3	20%
(sans gems) + (Broken by Resurrection)	1	100%
+ + + + +	1 () 2 () 1-2	100%
	3	0.46%
+	1	0.1%
	5-10	75%

Usage

×4

×7

×4

×8

×5

×5

×4

×6

×4

×4

×4

×8

×6

×4

×4

×4

×4

×4

×6

×4

×4

×4

×4

Only available in the world linked with a Shipwrecked world.

×5

×4

×4

Only available in the world linked with a Hamlet world.

×4

×4

Trivia

• The term "nightmare fuel" is a common phrase on the Internet used to describe works of fiction, or scenes therein, that are extremely likely to disturb and/or frighten the audience.
• When left to unsettle on the ground, Nightmare Fuel appears as shifting, writhing goo.
• Maxwell, upon examining the Ancient Guardian, says "My my, the fuel has changed you." This implies that prolonged exposure to Nightmare Fuel can alter creatures in some significant way. This is also proven by the ability to turn Chester into his shadow form via Nightmare Fuel.
• In DST, Shadow Creatures no longer drop Nightmare Fuel at the end of the Nightmare Cycle. It was stated by the developers that the drops in the original game were caused by a bug and not intended.

Gallery

• 

  Dropped Nightmare Fuel.

• 

  Original HD icon from Bonus Materials from CD Don't Starve.

• 

  A closed Nightmare Fissure in a Cave with Nightmare Fuel on the ground, which was dropped from Shadow Creatures.

• 

  A deactivated Nightmare Light in the Ruins with Nightmare Fuel dropped from Shadow Creatures.