In Fallout 4 they freak me out when they ragdoll at me

Fallout 4 really brought out the zombie factor for ghouls. Generally brings out an uncanny vibe that makes them scary, but not really terrifying.

The way they move though. Oh hell no.

Feral Ghouls look better than normal Ghouls - normal ghouls look like radiated ball bags

This was me when I first played Fallout 3 for the first time. Since I'm playing TTW yeah it happens if I'm not paying attention at all. Other that I blast them with either a shotgun with dragon breath ammo or a portable flamethrower mod at least(Like quicksliver500's homemade Last of Us inspired flamethrower on the Nexus).

the first time i saw a feral in the metro tunnels it changed my perspective drastically because up until that point ghouls were only a couple hundred pixels but seeing those things run at me in full swing it gave me the heebee jeebees but now I'm a little more accustomed to it but they still spook me

Just as a suggestion for the FO4 zombie experience, I would recommend the following mods on Survival mode. They can all be found on the Nexus.

1) D.E.C.A.Y: Makes all ghoul models look more zombiesh (more blood, visible damage, etc.)

2) Clickerfied Ghouls: All feral ghouls now emit the Clicker noises from The Last of Us

3) Darker Nights: Set this for either "Darkest" or "Darker" for the best effect

3) TNR Shoulder Lamp: I would recommend either 100% - 150% distance with dynamic shadows

4) Zombie Walkers: A couple of things for this one which can all be adjusted in game:
-> Increase the damage multiplier to whatever is a bit more than comfortable for you
-> Make their speed "Random" so you get a mix of fast and slow zombies (or you can pick your own pace)
-> Set it for headshot only kills; if you just damage them, they will go down but keep getting back up
-> For the best experience, have this set for Lethal Infection (debuffs and periodic damage), NPC resurrection (NPCs hit by zombies will resurrect as zombies upon death), and Player Alt Death. Player Alt Death is fun; if you die, you will respawn as either a settler in one of your settlements or a random settlement if you have no settlers. If you want your gear back, you will have to go back to where you died before and kill your former character.

5) Vivid Weathers: Because of the Silent Hill weather option

Have fun trying these out!

Nah not too much. They do shit me up if they pop up from out of nowhere, but they're just so damn weak. I like that they've made ghouls a little more zombie like, but maybe adding different types of ghouls would be a good option. Like more decayed ghouls who only come out at night because sunlight damages them, which would make sense since their skin is all kinds of rotten. Perhaps adding younger ghouls who just recently became ghouls or just went feral who are still able to use weapons. Adding takedowns for ghouls, to knock you down, adding biting to make them a little more varied than just swiping and give them sneak damage boosts to make wandering through abandoned buildings far more dangerous, thus forcing the player to be far more cautious.

@"Linteater" Wow! A great, awesome update for my feral ghouls. Totally changed them from 'Mashed potato men' to truly, creepy enemies :p

@"Linteater" excellent mod recommendations! This would work wonderfully with my walking dead playthrough

i love em its fallouts zombie i think they did a retty good job. yeah they are pretty scary

Zombies? Heh. Makes me think of a little line exchange with Steven Randall from New Vegas Bounties.

PC: [Earlier you described ghouls as "Zombies". You know that's offensive, right?]

Steven Randall: That's not offensive - someone putting a 12 gauge up your ass and pulling the trigger, now that's offensive.

When I first played Fallout 3 yeah lol xd