The sound is associated with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games created by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World, beginning with Shadow of Chernobyl in 2007. Set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, the series built its reputation on bleak ambience, where distant cries, animal howls and anomalies make the world feel alive and dangerous even when nothing is visible. Clips of those ambient screams were later shared on soundboards and in fan edits, becoming shorthand online for a place that is radioactive, abandoned and should never be entered alone.