History Main / HarassingPhoneCall

* ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'': On Day 8, Amelia gets a phone call from an anonymous caller who claims to be her frenemy. They tell her that she can help by "crawling back under the hole [she] came from", and they also threaten her to stop digging for "things that don't concern [her]" since it didn't work out well for her mom when they threatened her, too.

* ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'': On Day 8, Amelia gets a phone call from an anonymous caller who claims to be her frenemy. They tell her that she can help by "crawling back under the hole [she] came from", and also threaten her to stop digging for "things that don't concern [her]" since it didn't work out well for her mom when they threatened her, too.

* ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'': On Day 8, Amelia gets a phone call from an anonymous caller who claims to be her frenemy. They offer to "help" her if she "crawls back into the hole [she] came from", and also threaten her to stop digging for "things that don't concern [her]" since it didn't work out well for her mom when they threatened her, too.

* In ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'', Heather gets a number of harassing phone calls dropping unsubtle hints about her true nature.

* In ''Videogame/WelcomeToTheGame'', the Breather is a local {{Serial Killer}} who taunts the player via phone call some time after they begin browsing the Deep Web, before attempting to break into their house.
* The killer in ''Videogame/KillerFrequency'' eventually calls in to the protagonist's radio show, and his first few seconds are spent breathing into the phone before he tells the protagonist to stop helping his victims and that he's coming for him.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Videogame/ManiacMansion'' where you can distract Nurse Edna by phoning the extension she has in her room. She immediately recognizes it as a joke call but scolds the caller for their poor technique. There's no heavy breathing, you see. And she proceeds to demonstrate HOW you perform a proper obscene phone call...

** In "Shark?!", Klaus wants to ask out Hayley's friend Danuta. He gets nervous and unintentionally creeps her out.

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': Francine tries to prove to Roger that Stan cares about him by using a voice modulator and pretending to hold Roger for ransom. When she returns home, Stan is nonchalant and gives surprisingly elaborate explanations for Roger's absence. Ultimately he tells Francine that [[ButNowIMustGo Roger's people came back for him]], and if they stood on the roof waving kitchen utensils they'd receive a special telepathic message. While they're waiting, [[spoiler: Stan points out that he knew it was Francine all along because they have [[DiscreditedTrope caller I.D.]] and she was calling from her own cell phone]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': PlayedForLaughs in one episode where Spongebob gets a phone call which consists of menacing heavy breathing on the other line before the caller hangs up. The caller on the other side was a jellyfish.

* The early GEICO Gecko commercials featured the Gecko getting irritated being mistaken for GEICO all the time. In the very first such commercial, Kelsey Grammer supplied the voice of the Gecko, who pleads with the press and the public to stop calling him.

[[folder: Jokes]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

* This is how the late Dr. Albert Ellis, who was a psychologist, sexologist and sex and love researcher described the guys who make obscene phone calls:
-->They are crazy and compulsive. I think they are essentially harmless and are the sort of [[SituationalSociability people who lack the guts to do more than make a telephone call]] and hide behind the anonymity of the telephone. The act is a toned-down form of sexuality.

** First aired around the same time as "Telephone Rock" in 1975 was a "''Sesame Street'' News Flash" segment with Kermit the Frog (in his news reporter role) getting a phone call from an [[AlanFridge unnamed source]] claiming someone has been standing outside in a blizzard for a long time. Kermit, determined to get a juicy news story, asks passersby if they were the person the caller was referring to; all of them deny the claim, saying they've been outside just a short time. Eventually, Kermit has been outside so long he is almost (literally) buried in snow, when notorious prankster Harvey Kneeslapper admits ''he'' made the prank call and duped Kermit into making a fool of himself. Harvey walks off laughing (and fortunate he avoided arrest on, at the very least, harassment charges) while Kermit is too frozen to care.

* This is Ghostface's modus operandi in the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' series. Despite there being [[LegacyCharacter multiple of people donning the identity]], all of them seem to love psychologically torturing their victims first before killing them.

* This is Ghostface's modus operandi in the ''Film/{{Scream}}''. Despite there being [[LegacyCharacter multiple of people donning the identity]], all of them seem to love psychologically torturing their victims first before killing them.

* The killer in ''Film/{{Scream 1996}}'' does this several times, most notably in the opening "Casey's Nightmare" sequence.

* Let's not forget obscene phone calls, where the caller gets off on delivering sexual or foul language to an unknown called party, and which to the person receiving them is a form of stalking and sexual harassment. Making such calls in many cases is a class 1 misdemeanor. Even without Caller ID, the phone company logs such calls, so the perpetrator's phone number can be discovered, but most people who regularly engage in this nowadays use prepaid cellphones or payphones, which requires a more extensive investigation.
* ''Senior Power'', an old movie meant to teach old people to defend themselves from crime ([[http://www.i-mockery.com/minimocks/senior-power/ and mockingly reviewed here]]), includes the "obscene phone call" scene. Apparently, when someone harasses you over the phone, the right thing to do is to... whistle really loud into the phone. So that the harassing caller will freak out and fall over.
** It works. Thing is, you don't just put your lips together and blow, you use a pea whistle such as sports coaches use, and you can seriously inconvenience (if not deafen temporarily) the harasser.
*** Note this is now explicitly ''not'' recommended, as the harasser may retaliate in kind on the next call. The correct procedure is to simply place the phone down and walk away for around 10 minutes, then return and quietly hang up. The caller is looking for a reaction so not giving them one of any kind stymies them.

-->"They are crazy and compulsive. I think they are essentially harmless and are the sort of [[SituationalSociability people who lack the guts to do more than make a telephone call]] and hide behind the anonymity of the telephone. The act is a toned-down form of sexuality.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'': Joker starts leaving Batman voice mails like he's a clingy girlfriend. The Joker straight up mentions their FoeYay in one of his voice mails, commenting on Batman's "repressed sexual tension".

* You can now [[http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/821591-evil-clown-hired-for-stalking-threats-and-a-pie-in-the-face hire a monster clown]] to stalk small children a week before their birthday. He'll leave phone calls, post notes about how he's watching them and how he'll attack them and on their birthday, he'll smash a cake in their face.

** First aired around the same time as "Telephone Rock" in 1975 was a "''Sesame Street'' News Flash" segment with Kermit the Frog (in his news reporter role) getting a phone call from an unnamed source claiming someone has been standing outside in a blizzard for a long time. Kermit, determined to get a juicy news story, asks passersby if they were the person the caller was referring to; all of them deny the claim, saying they've been outside just a short time. Eventually, Kermit has been outside so long he is almost (literally) buried in snow, when notorious prankster Harvey Kneeslapper admits ''he'' made the prank call and duped Kermit into making a fool of himself. Harvey walks off laughing (and fortunate he avoided arrest on, at the very least, harassment charges) while Kermit is too frozen to care.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Peter gets these from his boss Angela in the episode "Peter-assment". Also, while the Griffin's were out on vacation [[StalkerWithACrush Herbert]] kept calling the house and leaving creepy messages for Chris.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': PlayedForLaughs in one episode where Spongebob gets a phone call which consists of menacing heavy breathing heavily on the other line before the caller hangs up. The caller on the other side was a jellyfish.

* ''Webcomic/SilentHillPromise'': Vanessa is continually harassed by a "Weird phone lady" (later revealed to be named Marissa) who wants her to leave town. Admittedly, given [[SurvivalHorror the]] [[PsychologicalHorror very]] [[GeniusLoci nature]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou of]] [[TownWithADarkSecret Silent Hill]], Marissa ''could'' be trying to save Vanessa's life, depending on how the story unfolds.

* The killer in ''Videogame/KillerFrequency'' eventually calls in to the protagonist's radio show, and his first few seconds are spent breathing into the phone before he tells the protagonist top stop helping his victims and that he's coming for him.