When did Minecraft become a horror game?

A new Minecraft Mob, 'The Creaking', found in the Pale Gardens, and seemingly very reminiscent of the 'Weeping Angels' from Doctor Who, plays on some slightly grotesque game mechanics. As the player, you cannot actually hurt 'The Creaking', you must destroy its heart first. Where do you find this heart? Lodged in a nearby tree surrounded by an orange goo-looking resin. The Pale Gardens themselves are also incredibly spooky, with long hanging moss and eerie 'Eye Blossom' flowers providing the environment with a sufficiently alien tinge to it.

However, this is not the start of Minecraft’s slightly edgier horror phase. So was it the announcement of 'The Warden' in the 2021 update, Caves and Cliffs Part One? 'The Warden' attempted to give the game some new found jeopardy. Players can typically gain invincible status after a few hours grinding for resources and may find themselves wondering "what next?" What better to combat this than by adding a monster you are not supposed to defeat? The actual horror element of 'The Warden' is even worse, the update added the ‘darkness’ effect, which limits the players vision when inflicted by a 'skulk shrieker' (which also summons 'The Warden'). This combination of partial blindness and a roughly 12 foot tall monster roaming around as you attempt to escape, definitely produces a sense of dread that brings veteran players back to the early days of Minecraft and the fear they experienced fighting against older mobs. 

And yet, we have still not traced the source of the horror aspect of Minecraft. In reality, that is because it was never really introduced. The game has always instilled the need to avoid the night - and the monsters that come with it - within players. This, paired with the very early introduction of music discs 11 and 13 back in 2010 (which provide no music but instead heavy breathing, creepy noises, and the sound of a player running away from monsters) and those eerie cave noises you get whilst mining, showcase the elements of horror that have been tied in with Minecraft since the very beginning.