History Main / EvilPhone

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* In ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', there's an old-fashioned home phone that can be found in Miroku Mansion. It appears in a room that Akira [[RevealingContinuityLapse already searched]], and when he answers it he's hit with intense nausea. After that point, the chapter's spirit continues to harass him through his own mobile and home phones.
* A variant in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', when Phoenix gets angry at [[spoiler:(by then revealed to be the big villain)]] Matt for phoning him.
--> ''(Phoenix's phone rings)''\\
'''Phoenix:''' (Auugh! It's that Engarde again!) ''(Answers)'' Would you stop calling me already?!\\
'''Gumshoe:''' ...You're kinda mean, pal...\\
'''Phoenix:''' GAH! Detective Gumshoe! I'm really, really sorry!
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'':
** At the end of the first arc, [[spoiler:Natsuhi, Battler, George, and Jessica]] are holed up in Kinzo's study. The phone lines have been cut, as they discovered some time before when attempting to contact the police. While they're all sitting there in tense silence, all of a sudden, the phone rings. One of them goes over and picks it up... and all they hear is Maria singing [[CreepyChild creepily]] in the distance.
** Also near the end of the fourth arc, after [[spoiler:Jessica, George, and Maria]] are sent off, the phone rings, and greets Battler with... "Congratulations."
** In the fifth arc, Natsuhi receives calls from 'the man from nineteen years ago', who blackmails her into incriminating behaviors. He continues to call even after the mainland lines are down. There are no other clues regarding him in any other arc, so it can't be certain that he is who he claims, or that he wasn't just Natsuhi's lie or delusion.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
%%* In ''Webcomic/SilentHillPromise'' expect to be unhappy whenever the protagonist's cellphone rings.
* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': At the beginning of Chapter 10, Kokoro receives a phone call, and is threatened by the seemingly inhuman presence that had previously been stalking Undine. At first, she [[MistakenForPrankCall assumes it's some kind of joke]] -- until the voice mentions her mother. ''This'' unsettles Kokoro, as [[spoiler:her mother was killed in a monster attack shortly after she was born, and the CDD forced Kokoro to cover up their connection]]. Shortly after hanging up, she receives ''another'' phone call, which turns out to be from Undine herself; Kokoro decides to invite her to discuss what just happened in person.
[[/folder]]

* The TV adaptation of ''Series/{{Scream}}'', much like the films, has the killer taunting victims through their phones, though here, it's more through text messages and videos.

* In Creator/{{Sierra}}'s ''Shivers 2'', the villain would often call to gloat and give you unsettling messages whenever you moved to a different room or building. Extra creepiness came from the implication that he must have been watching you (or ''following'' you) very closely to know where to call each time.

* ''VideoGame/Phantasmagoria2'' when you call yourself or your [[spoiler:murdered coworkers]].

* Answering a certain phone in ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon FEAR: Extraction Point]]'' will result in an Alma scream that shakes the room.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''VideoGame/GhostTrick''; [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Sissel can possess phones and use the phone lines for transportation,]] but cannot talk to people through them, even if they're holding the receiver or calling the phone he's possessing.

* ''VideoGame/TheSuffering'' and it's sequel. Sometimes nearby phones ring. Don't answer. Don't even pickup the non-ringing ones.
** On rare occasions, you need to pick them up anyway to advance the story, and on even rarer occasions, they're ''helpful''. Granted, the help comes from [[MadDoctor Doctor Killjoy]], and usually only in the "Good" morality; but those rare bits of necessity can unfortunately instill [[PlayerTic a similar response for every other phone...]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria 2}}'' when you call yourself or your [[spoiler:murdered coworkers.]]

** In the prologue of the first game, Max gets home and notices his house has been broken into. Then the phone rings, and he picks up only to hear some scratchy voice going "Is this the Payne residence?" -- when he tries to get help there all the voice says is "Good. I'm afraid I cannot help you," and hangs up. Max heads into the house, and finds some drugged-up addicts having a psychotic episode who kill his wife Michelle and daughter Rose. The voice on the phone turns out to be the BigBad [[spoiler:Nicole Horne, CEO of Aesir Corporation who's been peddling the drugs to get massively rich and had sent the druggies to kill Michelle after she accidentally found incriminating evidence of Horne's involvement while working as an office clerk.]]
** The Sequel's ShowWithinAShow ''Address Unknown'' has this at the end of the series:

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' Victor Zsasz begins a series of serial killings in which he calls random payphones and kills whomever answers them. In Batman's case he makes him track down another payphone somewhere else or else he kills innocents.
* In ''VideoGame/CryOfFear,'' your phone is mainly used as a flashlight in the game (which is always night). However, it's also used to [[spoiler:lure Simon into the dark, abomination filled apartments through a series of text messages]].

--> Bedbug: *Panicked* WHAT YOU WANT?! STOP IT!!! WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME?!

* The film adaptation of ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'': "Well, Clarice, have the little lambs stopped screaming?" The book has Lecter send Clarice a letter, instead.

* ''[[Film/BlackChristmas1974 Black Christmas]]'' practically started this trope, and was the first film to use the urban legend-based trope of [[spoiler:the killer being in the house with his victims]], which was pretty cutting edge back then.
* In ''Film/ChakushinAri'' and all its sequels and the remake, young people receive voicemail messages that detail their final moments, complete with IronicNurseryRhyme ringtone.

* ''Film/TheGate''. The protagonists are not sure what the hell (literally) is up with the huge hole in the backyard. Evidence comes when the phone rings. It seems to be Mom, checking up on the boys, but then 'Mom' screams 'You've been BAAAD!' and the phone melts. Nightmare fuel indeed.

* In the original ''[[Film/{{Halloween 1978}} Halloween]]'', Michael strangles Lydia to death with a phone cord just as she calls Laurie. Michael then picks up the phone to listen to Laurie's frantic cries, before calmly hanging up.

* And then spoofed to hell in ''Film/ScaryMovie3''. Aside from the Evil Phone getting dragged into actual conversations, it tries to contact the female protagonist's son and gets her instead, gets hung up on, calls back and poses as a solicitor, and then finally asks her to take a message for him.

* ''Film/TheRing''. ("Seven days!")
** It also pulls the "first call is fake" variant in both versions, as the first victim tells her tale of the tape, and then receives a call from her mother just to unnerve the audience. Unfortunately, it also [[NightmareRetardant takes the edge off the horror]] by having one of the real calls intercepted... by Rachel's voicemail. Which she then deletes.

* ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs''. ("Well, Clarice, have the little lambs stopped screaming?") The book had Lecter send Clarice a letter, instead.

* Ironically subverted in [[Creator/JoeHill his son's]] short story, "The Black Phone", in which a kidnapping victim receives calls from dead children on the titular phone who give him advice on how to escape his captor.
* In Creator/DeanKoontz's ''Literature/{{Phantoms}}'', the titular [[EldritchAbomination phantom]] likes doing this to the protagonists.
* In ''Literature/{{Spellbent}}'', Jessie's cellphone briefly behaves this way while she's in close proximity to a HellGate.

* Creator/AnthonyHorowitz's short story ''The Phone Goes Dead'' has a woman struck by lightning and killed while using her mobile phone. The phone's next owner, a teenage boy, soon starts receiving calls on it from beyond the grave.

[[folder:Films — Animated]]

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

** This appears quite often in the classic series. For instance, the First Doctor was attacked with a sort of hypnotising beam sent via phone. One of the Master's very first attempts to kill the Doctor was carried out with an Auton-plastic phone cord that attempted to strangle Three.

* The ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' has a chilling example in the form of [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-145 SCP-145,]] otherwise known as the "Man-Absorbing Phone". It constantly rings despite not being plugged to anything. Picking the phone up results in conversation with a woman pleading for help as she details gruesome acts of torture performed on unknown victims - and if you just so happen to be alone when you pick up the phone, ''[[NightmareFuel you're going to be joining the victims yourself]]''.

* In ''Film/OusamaGame'', the eponymous King Curse uses cell phones as its sole method of communication, including for giving death orders and announcing punishments.

* In ''Film/OusamaGame'' the eponymous King Curse uses cell phones as its sole method of communication, including for giving death orders and announcing punishments.

* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'': "Is this the Payne residence?"
** And in the Sequel's ShowWithinAShow, ''Address Unknown.''

* The Thai film ''Film/NineNineNineNineHundredNintyNine'' and its Cambodian rip-off ''Film/TheKillingPhone'' are both about a telephone number that will grant the wishes of whoever calls it, [[JackassGenie but with deadly consequences]].

* The Thai film ''Film/{{999 9999}}'' and its Cambodian rip-off ''Film/TheKillingPhone'' are both about a telephone number that will grant the wishes of whoever calls it, [[JackassGenie but with deadly consequences]].

* The Thai film ''Film/{{9999999}}'' and its Cambodian rip-off ''Film/TheKillingPhone'' are both about a telephone number that will grant the wishes of whoever calls it, [[JackassGenie but with deadly consequences]].