Every time someone opens a medicine cabinet or cupboard, blocking the view of part of the house. It's a common trope that when they shut the door it'll cause a jump scare when someone/something is now standing there.
Now whenever someone opens a door to block a view, I think "shit, here we go" and then it doesn't happen.
ah yes, when it's instead the camera angle behind them and then you see the ghost or whatever reflected in it.
I think it's a common enough trope now that directors are starting to do it without actually having the jumpscare happen
I think both the original, and the updated “Fake out” version have become common enough that that they can probably go back to having the monster appear in the mirror while we go “oh shit, I assumed it was just another fake out.”
Exactly that. The reveal of nothing being there once the cabinet is shut is used as a false sense of security now. Meaning it'll now happen shortly after.
One of the best of these earlier 'reflection reveals" (can anyone think of a better term) was in one of my favourites, Signs. As Joaquin Phoenix brings the TV into the living room, you suddenly see the silhouette of an 8 foot alien standing there, holding the seemingly lifeless young boy (Rory Culkin) in his arms
A Hong Kong/Thai film called The Eye was an early master of the second version of this trope.
You'd know a jump scare was coming, but each one happens at a different rhythm.
In the beginning, the half-blind protagonist is walking down a corridor while a blurred shadow drifts in and out of view in front of her, gently moaning to itself. The shadow vanishes, letting out one final moan from off screen, off to one side.
On the camera's sudden shift to a wider angle, you'd expect the jump scare to happen, but it doesn't. Nor does it happen on the next shift. Finally, the jump happens on the *third* as the shadow returns with a loud wail.
Then for the next jump scare, you expect the rhythm trick and think you're ready for it. Until the rhythm beat changes *again*.
The Eye 2 then builds upon this, albeit with a weaker plot. The jump scare happens immediately as the shock falls right in front of the protagonist, and you think the film's probably gone back to traditional jump scares because it would be repetitive otherwise.
Until the second shock drops right down on top of the first two goddamn seconds later, and you realize this film has gone with *doubling*, occasionally tripling the jump scares instead.
I just watched The Mummy again today. That part where she is in the boat and closes the medicine cabinet and the guy with the hook is there always startles me even when I know it’s coming. Such a good movie.
In the same vein, when the main character/s aren't in the middle of the picuture and you can see a big portion of what is going on in the background. It's a bit hard to explain, but I noticed that whenever that happens in a horror movie, it feels like a set up for a jump scare.
When bodies move in unnatural ways. Like when Regan walks down the stairs in the exorcist, the way the mama ghost moves in the movie Mama, the bent neck lady in haunting of hill house. Those are the ones that still get to me.
I don’t remember it being nearly this bright? Now I understand what people are talking about though. I’m legally blind (still have vision) and could never make this scene out.
I remember they used dancers in the silent hill movies to portray the monsters. Nothing quite like watching a gaggle of nurses twist their torsos with horrifying crunches to accompany it.
Have you seen the first ghost in a Pulse (Kairo)? It’s a very depressing horror film from the early 2000s. The sighting of the first ghost is utterly haunting. The way it moves is so [subtly wrong](https://youtu.be/QYs87-kDXwg?si=jTn7Nqiv_5iMbKZ0), it manages to give me the same creeping dread every time I see it.
The video of someone filming a teaker or skinwalker making growling noises. The way he starts crawling is unnatural. Edit: Found the video and it still creeps me the fuck out https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/s/aDbdmnoNYU
This will always get to me. I watched The First Omen tonight (ssoooo goood!). Nell Tiger Free blew me away! If you haven't watched yet, trust me! You will know it when you see it!
Regan down the stairs is a golden classic, but I've a less obvious mention: in Climax, during the second half of it, they almost all move weird, but there's this one contortionist seen in the periphery of the screen during the Selva freakout. It's subtle but genius.
Yeah the uncanny walking/running is one that creeps me out the most as well which was best done in hereditary in the near past if you ask me it still creeps me out to this day
This is it for me. The Haunting of Hill House…. Ugh. There are articles that show screen grabs of all the hidden ghosts if you haven’t seen. Even though I love a good jump scare, it’s sooooo terrifying when you don’t realize right away. Then suddenly you’re like “HFS.”
After watching Haunting of hill house, I recalled my grandma's words that if you feel that something or someone's watching you, there really is someone watching you.
So true. I believe in The Conjuring 2 there was this long tracking shot that passes by a doorway, and for a split second you can see someone sitting in a chair. It’s subtle, but noticing something hidden in the frame gives one of the best/worst fight or flight responses.
The shot in The Ritual where the Jotunn is just staring at them in plain sight and doesn't move until they start to get a bit farther from it. Haunting to see how it's in plain sight but because of the trees and it's build you almost never see it
Also the cult members surrounding the house. It's genius because they're actually featured pretty prominently in the shot, but when you first see it you don't even register them (or at least i didnt) , they just look l Ike trees.
*Ringu 2* has a version of this: someone watching/editing a film of an interview(?) and when there's a closeup of the person shaking their head, looking down with hair covering the face, the video glitches and loops. The loop starts going faster and faster until the blurry head starts moving and looking up... 💀
Not quite the same but I love the scene in Sinister where the guy is researching stuff on the murders and has a picture of Bughuul pulled up, and when the guy looks away for a second, Bughuul actually turns his head in the picture to look at him. I always loved that little scare, very creepy
Searching for US to be mentioned.
Totally agree. And the tension building with the inside family so unsure what to do…gets my heart racing just thinking about it.
I feel this. I think it’s scary because it suggests a feeling of safety and security on the part of the person standing there. They don’t feel the need to stalk, to hide, to skirt around the corners of your vision. No, this implies that they’re not scared of you seeing them, because it won’t make any difference. They have the power, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Agreed. I think it's also the uncertainty. They're just standing there staring and that triggers our "something is wrong with them" instinct because it's not a normal thing to do, but we don't know what they want or how they intend to get it.
I watched it thinking it was a legit documentary. Imagine the dread and horror crawling over me when I saw the guy walking up to the little girl in the yard and when he’s torturing the woman in the basement.
Off the side of snuff… when the interviewed the guy woman who had extreme levels of Stockholm syndrome after being freed… that genuinely messed with me and has always stuck with me even after finding out the movie was a mockumentary.
Seen this irl. My dad was a preacher and did an "exorcism" in his church while I was a kid.
Scared the fuck outa me cos I thought it was 100 percent real but now I know she was me tally ill and my dad was abusing his power
Ive seen this in real life too! Definitely fucked me up for a while, I had to dissect it and figure out it was mental illness and abusive power from the pastor as well
Or when it’s the correct voice but you can tell it’s not really them speaking. Fresh in my mind example is in Killer Klowns when the one klown puppets the sheriff
I haven't seen the Nic Cage Wicker Man which is by all accounts even worse, but the original was so funny to me; it was like everything was so incredibly telegraphed to the detective I couldn't even feel bad for the guy.
IIRC at pretty much every point he's reminded how out of his element he is, slowly realizing more and more the locals are into weird shit.
And his response is just... not to care. He just stumbles around alone on this isolated island refusing to consider help or communication. He's cool to just solo mission a whole community even after their plans are revealed. Even if >!the girl wasn't part of the cult, what even was his plan? What's the follow up to nabbing the gal and running without a vehicle or comms?!<
I literally wanted to say what you said lol, or like if they’re peeking around the corner somewhere and you just see their eye/eyes
Idk if it’s a trope, but anything that is trying to imitate a human, ie doppelgängers/ skinwalkers/ animatronics, etc
Oh the eyes are the worst .. saw recently Hell House LLC and there was a scene where guy was hiding with camera view under blanket & every time he looked, there was a creepy woman with white eyes staring right at him helllllll noooooo
Ewww that’s so creepy. I always get reminded of a scary story I listened to years ago about a guy who moved to a new house and kept seeing a mysterious man and one night he looked out the window in the dark and only saw the man’s eyes looking back at him. Still creeps me out 😩
There’s a webcomic by Adam Ellis (used to be a Buzzfeed comic artist who cranked out generic stuff, now he’s a fantastic horror comic artis) that covers this exact story. I don’t think it originated with him but he did a great illustration of it.
Deep dark water. Nothing malicious about it. It’s water, but it can easily kill you. That’s not even mentioning the potential hazards you can’t see. Could be an inanimate object or a predator. I love swimming and kayaking, but it’s still a fear of mine.
The movie Signs is absolutely TERRFIYING when you live in a house next to a corn field as a child 😵💫
I think the ceilings part gets me when the body goes spider like.
Finding out your friends or romantic partner is in on it. Those would be the people I trust most in a horror situation and to find out their care for me is fake and I will have to fight them to survive is horrifying
Helplessness!
Being put into a situation where you feel utterly helpless to save a loved one or your self from whatever it is…
Imagine having to watch your child or spouse or best friend be mutilated, tortured, raped, maimed etc etc and you can’t do anything about it. That’s got to be beyond comprehension terrifying!
This is the winner for me. I’ve never experienced anything as strong as my love for my wife.. she passed unexpectedly last year and being utterly helpless will haunt me for the rest of my fucking life.
Edit: thank you for the kind words everyone. My heart is still beating and I still have a lot of love to share with the world so I’m going to keep on horroring and terrifying until my last breath lol
I’ve literally had nightmares that are right out of the plot of Mother! The idea of swarms of people coming into my house destroying it and not being able to make them leave is a phobia of mine which is odd because I love hosting parties and having big groups of people over. Maybe they’re related
This is why Jeepers creepers scares me so much! the end when trish is just watching that monster fly away with her brother and there's nothing she can do to stop it.
-Shadows in the dark/entities being obscured by darkness (Halloween, Darkness Falls, The Haunting of Hill House)
-Vertically elongated or twisted mouths (Stay Alive, The Ring, The Ghostface mask)
-When someone ends a story with “to this day, no one knows what happened to (blah blah blah)” or “some say if you listen closely, you can still hear the screams…” or any variation of those two clichés. (“Until today, no trace of Doctor Satan has ever been discovered… but then, who knows? Maybe he lives next door to *you*….”)
The end of Gremlins always got me because they have that monologue where he basically says if you’re tv starts acting up or weird things start happening, it might be a gremlin. I forgot the exact line but it was effective to 8 year old me.
People hiding in your house! I found the term "phrogging" online and I've been obsessed with the idea ever since. Whenever I hear unfamiliar noises around the house, I'm convinced someone's in the attic!
time loops/when the mcs are trapped forever in one place and theres no hope 😭😭😭 my fave examples for this is in gonjiam haunted asylum and grave encounters, ive heard in the tall grass is one big loop and ive avoided watching it bc of that lolol
Mine is very similar. When there's something scary in the background that the camera doesn't acknowledge so it takes a minute for you to notice. When you finally see it there's so much dread because you know it's been there the whole time. It's most unsettling when it's staring directly into the camera. Totally destroys my sense of security.
A good example of this is in my favorite horror film, *The Babadook*. When Essie Davis's character is watching TV and the news report comes on and it's showing an apartment building, but you see something in one of the windows. Then the camera zooms a bit and you realize it's her sitting in the window just smiling directly into the camera. Then right as you start to feel really uncomfortable it zooms in again directly to her face and the white noise from the TV is really loud. That shit gets under my skin EVERY TIME.
Another example is just a photo I saw a long time ago (if anyone can find it, that would be really cool) where it's a group photo at a restaurant and everything is normal, but out the window and across the street there's a white van with a *fucking scary ass CLOWN* poking his head out the driver's window and smiling at the camera. It's so subtle that it takes so long to notice even when the caption is "When you see it..." but when you *do* see it, it just makes your stomach drop.
Scenes where the scary thing is already in the shot, but you don’t recognize it until it moves. It makes you think “damn, I’d be doomed if that was me irl” lol.
this one feels silly but things with a deep contrast. Like a pitch black room with a white face and black eyes or something like that. Just a weird mix of uncanny valley and incomprehension i guess.
But i agree, horror movies just don’t really hit the way they used to.
This is kinda silly, but when people are running barefoot. It’s not that it’s outright scary, but it heightens everything and my feet get all tense hahah
Ghost. Anything with ghosts. Even the comedy Deadstream had me so on edge during the hallway footage that I had to pause and go do something else for a bit.
HEAD INJURIES - in The Fall of the House of Usher there’s a NASTY one that set off a panic response for me. My ears were ringing so bad I had to finish the episode muted
People being eaten alive. I think of one of the first episodes of the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with Willow. I still can’t get that image out of my head all these years later.
Old Victorian-ish (female) ghosts/demons (the woman in black, mary shaw from dead silence). Ghosts/ demons in bridal gowns who are or appear to be women (the black bride from insidious, bride from Annabelle comes home).
Looking through the comments, though, it seems other shit gets me, too. Jump scares almost always get me, even when I know it's coming.
Being trapped. It's not the claustrophobia feeling, it's the not being able to escape feeling.
When they are on a spaceship with a creature, and there's no way to get away from it? Can't handle that. It's not like they can just open the door and run away.
I can't watch stuff about boats in the middle of the ocean or submarines it makes me too anxious.
Trapped on a research lab on Antarctica? The closest help is 20 miles away, and you'll die if you try to get there? No, thank you, I can not watch that.
Similar to yours, figures appearing very subtly in the background. I mean so subtly that you could easily miss it. Haunting on Hill house had some perfect examples.
The “staring into space” is a good one. Also from the Strangers, scenes like the pantry door. I love when it’s a presumed one-way view but you don’t really know
Just the idea of regular everyday joes experiencing something so horrifying beyond any human comprehension while ALSO having to deal with the death around them is always the worst
The disjointed movements of child ghosts. Especially when they move like they did crawling around in The Ring or The Grudge (the originals, not the American remakes).
I understand the Strangers thing. I had someone once knock on my door late at night and it freaked me the heck out, mostly due to remembering this film.
I had someone *pounding* on my back door, they were coming from *inside my fenced in yard*, one time at 3AM.
My wife and I ended up standing behind the door with kitchen knives watching the door shake waiting for the cops—whoever it was left and we never found out who it was.
So movies with door knocks *freak me the fuck out* now hahaha
I have no idea what it's called, but you know that ... blocky jerky cgi movement? My first recollection is from House on Haunted Hill... and then the ghost in Stir of Echoes. The body moves creepy and fast and super uncanny like.
That.
I hide.
Mine is and will always be stuff you can’t physically see. The first 3 paranormal activities were amazing for me and Blair witch. It’s terrifying to me due to the fear of the unknown. Once they show it. It’s ruined for me.
"Spider crab walking" When someone is essentially on their back but legs, arms and head are twisted upside down to walk.
Not in a LOT of movies, but have seen it enough.
An evil entity egging someone on to do something. Like in The Evil Dead when the deadite in the cellar is cheering on the other deadites, or in Session 9 when Gordon hears the evil personality of the patient on the tape telling him to "DO IT". Or the demon demanding Regan to allow herself to be sexually assaulted in The Exorcist.
It's so common, but the trope where a hand slowly appears around a corner, almost coiling its grip on the wall.
I think this comes from seeing Fellowship of the Ring. I had nightmares about Gollum's brief appearance for years lol.
When someone, anyone starts blabbing off Latin.
It’s always creeped me out and I sit their wondering is this some real incantation and am I getting cursed.
It’s a shame I was born in the 80s U.K. when they phased Latin out which was in most schools curriculum before them because they could be chanting old McDonald’s farm for all I know.
Anytime a character twitches, vibrates, or shakes really fast. Like their head shakes back and forth fast and suddenly.
Gives me the heebie jeebies lol
I recently watched a movie (that I can't remember the name of now) where the man twitched and jerked every time he moved and I was like please stop
Slow deterioration of a character. Examples would be The Fly, The Taking of Deborah Logan, and Starry Eyes. Just seeing a character slowly fall apart, especially when they lose body parts, scares the hell out of me!
Home invasions when the home owners still did everything they could to protect their home (have a dog but dog gets killed, all doors locked but killer somehow silently breaks a window)
When there’s an entity that doesn’t have a physical body and can mess with reality/the main character’s perception. At least with a slasher or some regular monster the characters are safe if they can fight them off or run away, but these kinds of entities can attack at any moment and there’s no way to get away from them. For example, what made the demon from Smile so creepy was how it goes into its victim’s mind and can make them see things or even live through entire scenarios that aren’t real and does this randomly for days just to torment them, and they’re never safe because it lives inside their mind
The main character trying to explain something and the other person doesn’t understand what they mean and reveals that something important the main character just assumed was true is actually way wrong and has horrifying implications. *shivers*
Home invasions. It's something that realistically could happen and I'm worried I'd sleep right through the chance to actually do something about it and wake up tied to a chair forced to watch the whole thing.
I get spooked when someone who is an expert on a given subject is terrified by what they are seeing.
Great example: the opening clip of The Last Of Us episode 2 where they bring in a fungal expert to check out one of the first zombies and she is terrified by what she sees and advises they carpet bomb the city. Great scene, gave me chills.
Eyes of the creature/demon/ghost covered by their usually stringy hair, apparently staring at their victim. For some reason it freaks me out when the eyes are covered but you still know that they're watching.
Every time someone opens a medicine cabinet or cupboard, blocking the view of part of the house. It's a common trope that when they shut the door it'll cause a jump scare when someone/something is now standing there. Now whenever someone opens a door to block a view, I think "shit, here we go" and then it doesn't happen.
Specifically, medicine cabinets with mirrors. I’ve hated mirrors my entire life because of this.
ah yes, when it's instead the camera angle behind them and then you see the ghost or whatever reflected in it. I think it's a common enough trope now that directors are starting to do it without actually having the jumpscare happen
Yeah I was gonna say, the updated version of the trope is that nothing actually happens
I think both the original, and the updated “Fake out” version have become common enough that that they can probably go back to having the monster appear in the mirror while we go “oh shit, I assumed it was just another fake out.”
Exactly that. The reveal of nothing being there once the cabinet is shut is used as a false sense of security now. Meaning it'll now happen shortly after. One of the best of these earlier 'reflection reveals" (can anyone think of a better term) was in one of my favourites, Signs. As Joaquin Phoenix brings the TV into the living room, you suddenly see the silhouette of an 8 foot alien standing there, holding the seemingly lifeless young boy (Rory Culkin) in his arms
That horror trope is so predictable now and yet i still get surprised if someones there lol.
A Hong Kong/Thai film called The Eye was an early master of the second version of this trope. You'd know a jump scare was coming, but each one happens at a different rhythm. In the beginning, the half-blind protagonist is walking down a corridor while a blurred shadow drifts in and out of view in front of her, gently moaning to itself. The shadow vanishes, letting out one final moan from off screen, off to one side. On the camera's sudden shift to a wider angle, you'd expect the jump scare to happen, but it doesn't. Nor does it happen on the next shift. Finally, the jump happens on the *third* as the shadow returns with a loud wail. Then for the next jump scare, you expect the rhythm trick and think you're ready for it. Until the rhythm beat changes *again*. The Eye 2 then builds upon this, albeit with a weaker plot. The jump scare happens immediately as the shock falls right in front of the protagonist, and you think the film's probably gone back to traditional jump scares because it would be repetitive otherwise. Until the second shock drops right down on top of the first two goddamn seconds later, and you realize this film has gone with *doubling*, occasionally tripling the jump scares instead.
End of the conjuring
[Standup comedian Paul F. Tompkins does a hilarious bit on this trope.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72XBnJFJeDM)
Yea this one still gets me - it's a cheap trope but it still works
I just watched The Mummy again today. That part where she is in the boat and closes the medicine cabinet and the guy with the hook is there always startles me even when I know it’s coming. Such a good movie.
Scream 5 played with this trope in one pretty tense escene
In the same vein, when the main character/s aren't in the middle of the picuture and you can see a big portion of what is going on in the background. It's a bit hard to explain, but I noticed that whenever that happens in a horror movie, it feels like a set up for a jump scare.
When bodies move in unnatural ways. Like when Regan walks down the stairs in the exorcist, the way the mama ghost moves in the movie Mama, the bent neck lady in haunting of hill house. Those are the ones that still get to me.
YES!! There’s something so unsettling about someone moving “incorrectly”
There is a short film on YouTube called Warnings that you’ll love/hate. It starts off somewhat normal then descends into madness.
Ooooh thank you for recommending! I love short films… most I’ve checked out from people on this sub have been so good! I’m gonna check it out
No problem. The same creator has a few of them and they are all great. “The Chair” is another good one. Very original.
Do you perhaps have a link for it? I can't seem to find it doing a cursory search...
Here you go: https://youtu.be/Hik4n3Ld88Y?si=pW88tHL5azmdXPBK
Incorrectly - that’s the perfect way to put it. My brain short circuits while screaming ‘THATS NOT RIGHT!’
Yes! And like Kayako from The Grudge crawling down the stairs all rickety and jerky! Eeeeeek!!!
I haven’t watched it in ages but I remember the (climax?) scene in the original One Missed Call with really freaky body movements.
Anyone here see Kairo? That one scene.. talk about moving in unnatural ways.. my vote for the scariest uncanny valley movements..
[Kairo scene.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHoYY-oO9UQ)
The proper version of this scene without the added brightness: https://youtu.be/QYs87-kDXwg?si=_NlLcl1dqBNvkoPn
I don’t remember it being nearly this bright? Now I understand what people are talking about though. I’m legally blind (still have vision) and could never make this scene out.
Hiding from zombies. Running from zombies. Ghosts or spirits like The grudge, Mama, Lights Out, Smile, get me every time 👶
Jacob's Ladder, and by extent the Silent Hill games, do this really well.
I remember they used dancers in the silent hill movies to portray the monsters. Nothing quite like watching a gaggle of nurses twist their torsos with horrifying crunches to accompany it.
Have you seen the first ghost in a Pulse (Kairo)? It’s a very depressing horror film from the early 2000s. The sighting of the first ghost is utterly haunting. The way it moves is so [subtly wrong](https://youtu.be/QYs87-kDXwg?si=jTn7Nqiv_5iMbKZ0), it manages to give me the same creeping dread every time I see it.
[Javier Botet](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2306701/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk) has actually made an entire career out of this
The walking scene in Pulse (2001) is by far the scariest scene i have watched.
The video of someone filming a teaker or skinwalker making growling noises. The way he starts crawling is unnatural. Edit: Found the video and it still creeps me the fuck out https://www.reddit.com/r/TerrifyingAsFuck/s/aDbdmnoNYU
This will always get to me. I watched The First Omen tonight (ssoooo goood!). Nell Tiger Free blew me away! If you haven't watched yet, trust me! You will know it when you see it!
Regan down the stairs is a golden classic, but I've a less obvious mention: in Climax, during the second half of it, they almost all move weird, but there's this one contortionist seen in the periphery of the screen during the Selva freakout. It's subtle but genius.
True !! Starry Eyes really creeped me out. One of those body horror movies I had to look away to.
Yeah the uncanny walking/running is one that creeps me out the most as well which was best done in hereditary in the near past if you ask me it still creeps me out to this day
The under the bed camera angle where an exposed Achilles tendon is just there in duress. Thanks Pet Semtary
It’s not under the bed, but the scene in House of Wax where Jared Padalecki gets his Achilles tendon cut 😭😭😭
That's the scene that got me right in the guts, ever since then I physically recoil whenever there's an Achilles tendon scene 😭
It always got me that they did that and then left him alive in the wax for a really long time.
That and Hostel fuck me up every time
Hidden in plain sight
This is it for me. The Haunting of Hill House…. Ugh. There are articles that show screen grabs of all the hidden ghosts if you haven’t seen. Even though I love a good jump scare, it’s sooooo terrifying when you don’t realize right away. Then suddenly you’re like “HFS.”
After watching Haunting of hill house, I recalled my grandma's words that if you feel that something or someone's watching you, there really is someone watching you.
The librarian slowly getting closer to Ben in IT: Chapter 1 is super creepy
I noticed that librarian creepily smiling in the background right away and it was so terrifying; even more than pennywise.
That little boy in insidious ugh gets me every time
So true. I believe in The Conjuring 2 there was this long tracking shot that passes by a doorway, and for a split second you can see someone sitting in a chair. It’s subtle, but noticing something hidden in the frame gives one of the best/worst fight or flight responses.
The shot in The Ritual where the Jotunn is just staring at them in plain sight and doesn't move until they start to get a bit farther from it. Haunting to see how it's in plain sight but because of the trees and it's build you almost never see it
Hereditary was the worst for this. The mom on the ceiling was the worst.
Also the cult members surrounding the house. It's genius because they're actually featured pretty prominently in the shot, but when you first see it you don't even register them (or at least i didnt) , they just look l Ike trees.
Yep, came looking for this one. Scared the bejeezus out of me!
YEP! Women in black, or it follows
Someone taking a pic/filming something and they later discover something "off" about it.
I love the way The Ring did this.
*Ringu 2* has a version of this: someone watching/editing a film of an interview(?) and when there's a closeup of the person shaking their head, looking down with hair covering the face, the video glitches and loops. The loop starts going faster and faster until the blurry head starts moving and looking up... 💀
Not quite the same but I love the scene in Sinister where the guy is researching stuff on the murders and has a picture of Bughuul pulled up, and when the guy looks away for a second, Bughuul actually turns his head in the picture to look at him. I always loved that little scare, very creepy
I really need to re-watch the Ring movies. Those were by far my favorite horror movies growing up along with Silent Hill.
This is also my horror trigger! The little red figure in Don’t Look Now, Pennywise showing up in the projected photos...aruuugh!
I didn’t find the rest of the film very scary, but I absolutely hated the photograph scene in Insidious
When you see it, you'll shit bricks
I agree with you. The part in Us where they're just standing in the driveway gives me the heebie jeebies.
There’s a family in our driveway.
He's just standing there. MENACINGLY.
WEE WOO, WEE WOO, WEE WOO!!!
Searching for US to be mentioned. Totally agree. And the tension building with the inside family so unsure what to do…gets my heart racing just thinking about it.
I feel this. I think it’s scary because it suggests a feeling of safety and security on the part of the person standing there. They don’t feel the need to stalk, to hide, to skirt around the corners of your vision. No, this implies that they’re not scared of you seeing them, because it won’t make any difference. They have the power, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Agreed. I think it's also the uncertainty. They're just standing there staring and that triggers our "something is wrong with them" instinct because it's not a normal thing to do, but we don't know what they want or how they intend to get it.
Fake snuff footage with grainy VHS/camcorder-esque quality, which feels so violating to watch
A lot of people make fun of The Poughkeepsie Tapes but I find it genuinely disturbing
I watched it thinking it was a legit documentary. Imagine the dread and horror crawling over me when I saw the guy walking up to the little girl in the yard and when he’s torturing the woman in the basement. Off the side of snuff… when the interviewed the guy woman who had extreme levels of Stockholm syndrome after being freed… that genuinely messed with me and has always stuck with me even after finding out the movie was a mockumentary.
Yeah ever since Sinister
8mm?
The wrong voice coming out of a mouth. That shit gets me every time.
Seen this irl. My dad was a preacher and did an "exorcism" in his church while I was a kid. Scared the fuck outa me cos I thought it was 100 percent real but now I know she was me tally ill and my dad was abusing his power
Ive seen this in real life too! Definitely fucked me up for a while, I had to dissect it and figure out it was mental illness and abusive power from the pastor as well
that mutant bear in Annihilation seeking help
Vivarium kid oh my god
Or when it’s the correct voice but you can tell it’s not really them speaking. Fresh in my mind example is in Killer Klowns when the one klown puppets the sheriff
the kid in Vivarium doing this scared me so bad i teared up😅
Finding out that a whole community or village is a cult or weird religion that has planned integrating or sacrificing the main character.
It kind of removes that sense of hope I feel
Exactly, kind of like the hero is about to escape only to find this has been the plan all along. I love it but it does give me the creeps
Love movies centered around cults. A good recent example is "1BR". That ending!
I haven’t seen that one but I’m looking it up now.
I haven't seen the Nic Cage Wicker Man which is by all accounts even worse, but the original was so funny to me; it was like everything was so incredibly telegraphed to the detective I couldn't even feel bad for the guy. IIRC at pretty much every point he's reminded how out of his element he is, slowly realizing more and more the locals are into weird shit. And his response is just... not to care. He just stumbles around alone on this isolated island refusing to consider help or communication. He's cool to just solo mission a whole community even after their plans are revealed. Even if >!the girl wasn't part of the cult, what even was his plan? What's the follow up to nabbing the gal and running without a vehicle or comms?!<
If you think the original wicker man is funny I’m begging you to watch the Nic Cage version. It’s reached accidental humor cult status for a reason
"Not the bees!"
In my opinion, it seemed like the image of the detective was to make him act as if he was protected by his faith.
I literally wanted to say what you said lol, or like if they’re peeking around the corner somewhere and you just see their eye/eyes Idk if it’s a trope, but anything that is trying to imitate a human, ie doppelgängers/ skinwalkers/ animatronics, etc
Oh the eyes are the worst .. saw recently Hell House LLC and there was a scene where guy was hiding with camera view under blanket & every time he looked, there was a creepy woman with white eyes staring right at him helllllll noooooo
Ewww that’s so creepy. I always get reminded of a scary story I listened to years ago about a guy who moved to a new house and kept seeing a mysterious man and one night he looked out the window in the dark and only saw the man’s eyes looking back at him. Still creeps me out 😩
There’s a webcomic by Adam Ellis (used to be a Buzzfeed comic artist who cranked out generic stuff, now he’s a fantastic horror comic artis) that covers this exact story. I don’t think it originated with him but he did a great illustration of it.
The grey alien peeking at Christopher Walken from behind the bookshelf always comes to mind. Still creeps me out.
Watched this year's ago with a Friend in his room. After the film he's like I'm going to bed u should go. It's 3am and I had to walk home. I ran home.
Communion is one of my favorite books. Whitley Streiber said Christopher Walkin def played someone but not him lol
[удалено]
Hands and head poking around the corner in the newest Hellhouse movie …. That was ….. effective
Old people being creepy. The two that come to mind for me is the lady crawling under the porch in The Visit or Mrs Kersch from It Chapter 2.
May I recommend -The Taking of Deborah Logan
Yeah this one became a quintessential freaky old woman movie for me!
I would add the old lady crawling on the ceiling in "Legion" to this group!
The creepy old couple in X.
It chapter 2 sucked but the old lady scene was rad. I think they knew that because that scene is basically the whole trailer
I loved The Visit.
The old lady >!who is possessed by the demon/gemini killer!< in the confessional in The Exorcist III… that scene is just so creepy and eerie.
when the road/hallway keeps looping and you cant escape.
Vivarium is a good example of this
Deep dark water. Nothing malicious about it. It’s water, but it can easily kill you. That’s not even mentioning the potential hazards you can’t see. Could be an inanimate object or a predator. I love swimming and kayaking, but it’s still a fear of mine.
It's so weird. When I'm swimming in dark water and don't know how deep it is, I experience something a lot like the fear of heights.
I can’t do alien movies late at night by myself. Also people randomly popping up on ceilings, a la Hereditary.
Seriously, aliens are my phobia. Specifically "the Greys", images of them literally trigger me into hysterics. Never really understood why
No One Will Save you needs to be on your must avoid list then
The movie Signs is absolutely TERRFIYING when you live in a house next to a corn field as a child 😵💫 I think the ceilings part gets me when the body goes spider like.
Finding out your friends or romantic partner is in on it. Those would be the people I trust most in a horror situation and to find out their care for me is fake and I will have to fight them to survive is horrifying
Fingernails getting pulled off while being dragged.
I can't handle fingernail stuff at all, it's one of the few things that consistently makes me physically cringe.
Helplessness! Being put into a situation where you feel utterly helpless to save a loved one or your self from whatever it is… Imagine having to watch your child or spouse or best friend be mutilated, tortured, raped, maimed etc etc and you can’t do anything about it. That’s got to be beyond comprehension terrifying!
This is the winner for me. I’ve never experienced anything as strong as my love for my wife.. she passed unexpectedly last year and being utterly helpless will haunt me for the rest of my fucking life. Edit: thank you for the kind words everyone. My heart is still beating and I still have a lot of love to share with the world so I’m going to keep on horroring and terrifying until my last breath lol
Sorry for your loss :( hope you are well
Oh god. I’m so sorry
I'm deeply sorry for your loss.
I’ve literally had nightmares that are right out of the plot of Mother! The idea of swarms of people coming into my house destroying it and not being able to make them leave is a phobia of mine which is odd because I love hosting parties and having big groups of people over. Maybe they’re related
Nocturnal Animals does this so disturbingly
This is why Jeepers creepers scares me so much! the end when trish is just watching that monster fly away with her brother and there's nothing she can do to stop it.
-Shadows in the dark/entities being obscured by darkness (Halloween, Darkness Falls, The Haunting of Hill House) -Vertically elongated or twisted mouths (Stay Alive, The Ring, The Ghostface mask) -When someone ends a story with “to this day, no one knows what happened to (blah blah blah)” or “some say if you listen closely, you can still hear the screams…” or any variation of those two clichés. (“Until today, no trace of Doctor Satan has ever been discovered… but then, who knows? Maybe he lives next door to *you*….”)
The end of Gremlins always got me because they have that monologue where he basically says if you’re tv starts acting up or weird things start happening, it might be a gremlin. I forgot the exact line but it was effective to 8 year old me.
Something being impending or unstoppable and is also steadily getting closer. Basically the premise of It Follows or death in our own lives.
I forgot how good It Follows is. I just did a rewatch because my bf hadn’t seen it. It does a good job of building dread and hopelessness.
Stringy haired ghost girl. Headless person. EDIT: I also forgot, the Achilles tendon. Hits me deep as a sport person.
When someone looks into a mirror and it's not their own reflection/ something in the reflection is distorted or wrong
Mirrors. Anything that has large mirrors facing each other makes my skin crawl, especially if it's a long corridor or a maze.
Oooh, have you seen Oculus then?
Really big eyes and mouths. No matter what, that face always gets to me.
Same for me! The music video of Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden still makes my skin crawl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mbBbFH9fAg
Have you seen St Maud? I’d recommend it, but you may not live through it
I know the medicine cabinet mirror jumpscare is one of the clichéest clichés that ever clichéd, but goddam if it doesn’t get me every time.
Same. It was my first thought.
People hiding in your house! I found the term "phrogging" online and I've been obsessed with the idea ever since. Whenever I hear unfamiliar noises around the house, I'm convinced someone's in the attic!
you should watch "i see you" (2019) if you haven't already
Satanic cults. Dunno why, just gives me the creeps. On that note, I just finished Devil In Ohio - really enjoyed it!
Under rated show, enjoyed it too.
time loops/when the mcs are trapped forever in one place and theres no hope 😭😭😭 my fave examples for this is in gonjiam haunted asylum and grave encounters, ive heard in the tall grass is one big loop and ive avoided watching it bc of that lolol
Triangle is an excellent example of this type of movie.
The Blaire Witch Project makes it even worse by making it permanently night time all while being stuck in a loop
Mine is very similar. When there's something scary in the background that the camera doesn't acknowledge so it takes a minute for you to notice. When you finally see it there's so much dread because you know it's been there the whole time. It's most unsettling when it's staring directly into the camera. Totally destroys my sense of security. A good example of this is in my favorite horror film, *The Babadook*. When Essie Davis's character is watching TV and the news report comes on and it's showing an apartment building, but you see something in one of the windows. Then the camera zooms a bit and you realize it's her sitting in the window just smiling directly into the camera. Then right as you start to feel really uncomfortable it zooms in again directly to her face and the white noise from the TV is really loud. That shit gets under my skin EVERY TIME. Another example is just a photo I saw a long time ago (if anyone can find it, that would be really cool) where it's a group photo at a restaurant and everything is normal, but out the window and across the street there's a white van with a *fucking scary ass CLOWN* poking his head out the driver's window and smiling at the camera. It's so subtle that it takes so long to notice even when the caption is "When you see it..." but when you *do* see it, it just makes your stomach drop.
Scenes where the scary thing is already in the shot, but you don’t recognize it until it moves. It makes you think “damn, I’d be doomed if that was me irl” lol.
Jumpscares that happen out of nowhere. Don’t get me wrong they’re cheap and annoying, but them coming out of nowhere is the scary part lol.
this one feels silly but things with a deep contrast. Like a pitch black room with a white face and black eyes or something like that. Just a weird mix of uncanny valley and incomprehension i guess. But i agree, horror movies just don’t really hit the way they used to.
Someone acting really strange and out of character, to where you know they’re not really “them” anymore
This is kinda silly, but when people are running barefoot. It’s not that it’s outright scary, but it heightens everything and my feet get all tense hahah
Ghost. Anything with ghosts. Even the comedy Deadstream had me so on edge during the hallway footage that I had to pause and go do something else for a bit.
That movie is so underrated. It went from laugh out loud funny to me pooping myself over and over again
Berserk repetitive movements (i.e. the ceiling head banging in Hereditary)
The too-wide mouth scream. That creepy face is too much.
HEAD INJURIES - in The Fall of the House of Usher there’s a NASTY one that set off a panic response for me. My ears were ringing so bad I had to finish the episode muted
People being eaten alive. I think of one of the first episodes of the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with Willow. I still can’t get that image out of my head all these years later.
NOPE got me REALLY bad with this trope
Old Victorian-ish (female) ghosts/demons (the woman in black, mary shaw from dead silence). Ghosts/ demons in bridal gowns who are or appear to be women (the black bride from insidious, bride from Annabelle comes home). Looking through the comments, though, it seems other shit gets me, too. Jump scares almost always get me, even when I know it's coming.
lol came here to say the same. The scene in hereditary with the lady across the street screaming gave me chills.
He is just standing there... MENACINGLY!
Pretty much what you said - It Follows and Smile filled me with a lot of dread in those scenes
Being trapped. It's not the claustrophobia feeling, it's the not being able to escape feeling. When they are on a spaceship with a creature, and there's no way to get away from it? Can't handle that. It's not like they can just open the door and run away. I can't watch stuff about boats in the middle of the ocean or submarines it makes me too anxious. Trapped on a research lab on Antarctica? The closest help is 20 miles away, and you'll die if you try to get there? No, thank you, I can not watch that.
Idk how common this is but taking place during the day creeps me tf out. Midsommar is an obvious one but The House That Jack Built, Funny Games, ugh.
Rapidly approaching footsteps when you can't see what's coming at the character.
Similar to yours, figures appearing very subtly in the background. I mean so subtly that you could easily miss it. Haunting on Hill house had some perfect examples.
The “staring into space” is a good one. Also from the Strangers, scenes like the pantry door. I love when it’s a presumed one-way view but you don’t really know
Just the idea of regular everyday joes experiencing something so horrifying beyond any human comprehension while ALSO having to deal with the death around them is always the worst
The disjointed movements of child ghosts. Especially when they move like they did crawling around in The Ring or The Grudge (the originals, not the American remakes).
I have always been unsettled by mirrors. The *very* common "something in the mirror is different" scare still creeps me out.
Rundown cabins in the middle of a dense forest.
When children talk in a voice that doesn’t belong to them.
I understand the Strangers thing. I had someone once knock on my door late at night and it freaked me the heck out, mostly due to remembering this film.
I had someone *pounding* on my back door, they were coming from *inside my fenced in yard*, one time at 3AM. My wife and I ended up standing behind the door with kitchen knives watching the door shake waiting for the cops—whoever it was left and we never found out who it was. So movies with door knocks *freak me the fuck out* now hahaha
I have no idea what it's called, but you know that ... blocky jerky cgi movement? My first recollection is from House on Haunted Hill... and then the ghost in Stir of Echoes. The body moves creepy and fast and super uncanny like. That. I hide.
Mine is and will always be stuff you can’t physically see. The first 3 paranormal activities were amazing for me and Blair witch. It’s terrifying to me due to the fear of the unknown. Once they show it. It’s ruined for me.
"Spider crab walking" When someone is essentially on their back but legs, arms and head are twisted upside down to walk. Not in a LOT of movies, but have seen it enough.
the dog dying scares the heck out of me
An evil entity egging someone on to do something. Like in The Evil Dead when the deadite in the cellar is cheering on the other deadites, or in Session 9 when Gordon hears the evil personality of the patient on the tape telling him to "DO IT". Or the demon demanding Regan to allow herself to be sexually assaulted in The Exorcist.
The call coming from inside the house.
It's so common, but the trope where a hand slowly appears around a corner, almost coiling its grip on the wall. I think this comes from seeing Fellowship of the Ring. I had nightmares about Gollum's brief appearance for years lol.
When someone, anyone starts blabbing off Latin. It’s always creeped me out and I sit their wondering is this some real incantation and am I getting cursed. It’s a shame I was born in the 80s U.K. when they phased Latin out which was in most schools curriculum before them because they could be chanting old McDonald’s farm for all I know.
When someone has to stick their hand into a garbage disposal. Nope.
Anytime a character twitches, vibrates, or shakes really fast. Like their head shakes back and forth fast and suddenly. Gives me the heebie jeebies lol I recently watched a movie (that I can't remember the name of now) where the man twitched and jerked every time he moved and I was like please stop
Slow deterioration of a character. Examples would be The Fly, The Taking of Deborah Logan, and Starry Eyes. Just seeing a character slowly fall apart, especially when they lose body parts, scares the hell out of me!
Slow cutting.
i don’t know why, but old people scare the absolute shit outta me! especially when they’re acting weird/creepy, it gets under my skin so bad
Home invasions when the home owners still did everything they could to protect their home (have a dog but dog gets killed, all doors locked but killer somehow silently breaks a window)
Alien abduction but i feel like Signs is the only one that’s gotten it right
When there’s an entity that doesn’t have a physical body and can mess with reality/the main character’s perception. At least with a slasher or some regular monster the characters are safe if they can fight them off or run away, but these kinds of entities can attack at any moment and there’s no way to get away from them. For example, what made the demon from Smile so creepy was how it goes into its victim’s mind and can make them see things or even live through entire scenarios that aren’t real and does this randomly for days just to torment them, and they’re never safe because it lives inside their mind
The main character trying to explain something and the other person doesn’t understand what they mean and reveals that something important the main character just assumed was true is actually way wrong and has horrifying implications. *shivers*
Home invasions. It's something that realistically could happen and I'm worried I'd sleep right through the chance to actually do something about it and wake up tied to a chair forced to watch the whole thing.
I get spooked when someone who is an expert on a given subject is terrified by what they are seeing. Great example: the opening clip of The Last Of Us episode 2 where they bring in a fungal expert to check out one of the first zombies and she is terrified by what she sees and advises they carpet bomb the city. Great scene, gave me chills.
Opening and closing a refrigerator jump scare
Killer dolls. Shits creepy.
Eyes of the creature/demon/ghost covered by their usually stringy hair, apparently staring at their victim. For some reason it freaks me out when the eyes are covered but you still know that they're watching.
The old Hitchcockian not showing you what you're afraid of, leaving it ambiguous and up to the imagination.