Every night in Keep the Door Locked comes down to one call: who gets in, and who stays out. Regular guests need shelter, but some of the figures knocking at 2 a.m. are anomalies that will end your run the moment you make the wrong choice. There are 20 of them, and each one has a specific tell and a specific response. Learn both and the night stops being a guessing game.
Quick answer: Pull up the hallway camera on your laptop for every knock. If the visitor looks wrong (see-through, long-armed, neck bent back, spasming, or paired with a copy or a corpse), keep the door locked. For room and door events, match the exact response in the table below.
All 20 anomalies and their responses
| Anomaly | How to spot it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Translucent Guest | See-through body on the hallway camera | Lock the door |
| Doppelganger | A copy of the visitor slumped against the wall beside them | Lock the door |
| Dead Doppelganger | A dead version of the visitor near the staircase | Lock the door |
| Long Limbs | Arms noticeably longer than normal | Lock the door |
| Neck Craner | Neck bent all the way back, staring at the ceiling | Lock the door |
| Spasming Limbs | Arms and legs flailing violently | Lock the door |
| Door Breaker | Gaunt white creature runs up and starts breaking in | Hide under the bed until it leaves |
| Headbanger | Visitor smashes their face into the door | Complete the quick-time event |
| Vent Ghost | Dishevelled man drops from the vent and crawls the room | Stand on the bed until he leaves |
| Room Hider | A hidden figure somewhere in the room | Look at it to trigger the jumpscare |
| Shadow Man | Shadowy figure watching from a corner | Shine your flashlight on it until it vanishes |
| Silent Lady | Tall, gaunt woman staring silently at the door | Look at her through the camera |
| Spiders | Spiders with egg sacs on the ceiling that explode | Stay out from underneath them |
| The Darkness | Hands cover your eyes and pull you into a void | Follow the lights to the exit |
| Window Seeker | Moans, knocks, and scratching from the window | Open the curtains and look at it |
| Bathroom Monster | Attacks if you sleep alone | Keep a safe guest sleeping in the room |
| Knife Killer | Man with a knife at the door | Turn the lights off before sleeping |
| Roach King | Giant cockroach asks for food | Let it in and give it five pizza slices |
| The Cake | A lone slice of cake on a hallway trolley | Open the door and eat it |
| Hacked Laptop | Message blocks the camera feed | Pay $300 to restore access |
Visitor anomalies you simply lock out
Six anomalies arrive at your door pretending to be guests, and every one of them is handled the same way: check the hallway camera before you touch the handle, confirm the tell, and keep the door locked. Do not rely on the peephole alone. The camera gives you the clearer view.
The Translucent Guest looks ordinary at the door, but on camera their body is see-through and you can spot the wall behind them. The Long Limbs anomaly has arms that stretch longer than they should, which is subtle enough that you should watch proportions rather than expecting something obviously monstrous. The Neck Craner shows up with its neck bent fully backward, face pointed at the ceiling. The Spasming Limbs visitor has arms and legs jerking in a violent, unnatural way. Any of these is your cue to leave the door shut.
The two Doppelgangers are close cousins. The Doppelganger places a slumped copy of the visitor right against the wall next to them. The Dead Doppelganger hides a corpse version near the staircase instead of beside the guest, so check both spots on the camera whenever someone knocks.
Room and door events that need an immediate response
These anomalies do not wait quietly outside. They trigger inside your room or at the door and demand a specific action, usually fast. Getting the response wrong, or reacting too slowly, costs you Sanity or the run itself.
The Door Breaker is a tall, pale creature that sprints to the door, pants for a moment, then starts tearing it down. When the prompt appears, get under the bed and stay there until it finishes and leaves. Coming out early gets you caught. The Headbanger smashes its head against the door instead of knocking. A quick-time event pops up, and hitting the prompt on time drives it off. The timing window is forgiving, so don’t panic, but don’t ignore it either.
The Vent Ghost drops from the ceiling vent as you head toward the door and crawls around the floor trying to grab you. Climb onto the bed and wait for it to crawl back into the vent. Every second spent on the floor near it drains Sanity. The Room Hider tucks itself somewhere in the room, often under the bed or behind the closet, and chips away at your Sanity with repeated jumpscares. Look directly at it to trigger the scare once, and it leaves.
The Shadow Man appears silently in a corner and watches you while your Sanity falls. Turn on your flashlight, aim it straight at the figure, and hold until it disappears. The Silent Lady is a tall woman who stands at the door saying nothing, and you can’t interact normally. Step back, open the laptop, and look at her through the camera. A jumpscare fires, and then she’s gone.
The Spiders crawl the ceiling with large egg sacs and eventually explode, costing significant Sanity if you’re standing beneath one. A sound cue plays before each explosion, giving you time to step clear. Spider Spray deals with them, but supplies are limited. On day four, leave the first spider alone, since the Hazmat Guys arrive shortly after and clear it for you, saving your spray. The Darkness covers your eyes with a pair of hands and pulls you into an empty void. You can’t stop it from triggering, so once you’re inside, follow the lights ahead until you find the doorway back. The void drains Sanity, so move quickly.
Overnight threats you have to manage repeatedly
Three anomalies aren’t one-and-done. They build across the night or punish you at bedtime, so they need habits rather than a single reaction.
The Window Seeker starts as moans, scratches, and knocking from outside the window, then moves through multiple stages, creeping closer until it breaks in and kills you. Open the curtains and look directly at it to force it back to stage one. You’ll need to do this again and again through the night, so keep checking the window on a regular rhythm.
The Bathroom Monster lives in your bathroom and attacks if you go to sleep alone. Prevent it by making sure at least one non-anomaly guest is sleeping in the room before you turn in. Letting in one safe visitor each night is always required, so get that done early.
The Knife Killer first shows up at the door harmlessly and leaves. The danger comes when he returns. On the night he reappears, turn off your room lights before sleeping, or he’ll walk in and kill everyone inside. In Bloodmoon mode he gives no warning, so switch the lights off the moment you see him on day three.
Special encounters that break the pattern
A few anomalies want something other than a locked door, and treating them like the rest will backfire.
The Roach King is a giant cockroach that shows up when you have pizza or Shawarma in the room and asks for a share. Refuse and a swarm of ordinary cockroaches floods the room, which is worse than the food loss. Let it in and it takes five pizza slices, or less Shawarma before leaving. Since it eats more pizza than Shawarma, keep Shawarma as your food of choice to minimize the loss.
The Cake looks like an obvious trap, a single slice on a trolley in the hallway, but it’s completely safe. Open the door and eat it to recover a chunk of Sanity. Free Sanity is too valuable to leave sitting out there. The Hacked Laptop isn’t a visitor at all. A message locks you out of the camera feed, and you pay the $300 fee to restore access. You can’t afford to be blind to the hallway, so clear it right away.
How to know you handled an anomaly correctly
Most responses confirm themselves. The Silent Lady, Room Hider, and Shadow Man each trigger a jumpscare or fade out and then leave. The Door Breaker and Vent Ghost retreat, and it’s safe to come out from under the bed or step off the mattress once they’re gone. The Window Seeker snaps back to its earliest stage after you look at it, and the Hacked Laptop returns your camera feed after payment.
The mistakes that end runs are consistent. Sleeping without a safe guest lets the Bathroom Monster in. Leaving the lights on when the Knife Killer has returned lets him kill everyone in the room. Ignoring the Window Seeker until it reaches your window is fatal, and refusing the Roach King brings the swarm. The rest is discipline: check the camera for every knock, keep the window under control, and never go to sleep alone.
