History Main / LostInTheMaize

* After the crash of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232 United Airlines Flight 232,]] many of the surviving passengers got lost in the cornfields next to the airport.

Note that despite the trope name, scenes like this don't necessarily have to involve corn.[[note]]Which is a good thing, as precisely which cereal crops are defined as "corn" differs between America and Europe - in Europe, corn typically refers specifically to sweetcorn, a variety of maize, with other varieties being referred to as Maize, while in America there's usually no distinction, with all varieties of maize being referred to as corn.[[/note]] Long grass is also popular, especially in wilderness settings, and this trope can apply to other kinds of vegetation where it's hard to see anything below neck level. Compare TheLostWoods, where non-domestic plant life is overwhelming or spooky.

Note that despite the trope name, scenes like this don't necessarily have to involve corn[[note]]Which is a good thing, as precisely which cereal crops are defined as "corn" differs between America and Europe[[/note]]. Long grass is also popular, especially in wilderness settings, and this trope can apply to other kinds of vegetation where it's hard to see anything below neck level. Compare TheLostWoods, where non-domestic plant life is overwhelming or spooky.

* Grandparents born before TheGreatDepression who grew up on farms have told stories about how farmers of that day were afraid that gypsies would kidnap their children, and instructed their children to hide in cornfields whenever gypsies were around. The children were told to stay in one row of corn to avoid getting lost, themselves.

* The game ''VideoGame/{{Maize}}'' begins with you waking up in the middle of a cornfield, and traversing it becomes one of your initial goals while sifting through the puzzles and dealing with the oddly talking corn.

** The fourth campaign of [[VideoGame/Left4Dead1 the first game]] has a corn field in the last level. As you walk by, you disturb [[CreepyCrows a murder of crows]], and the noise attracts a horde.
** The sequel has a section set in a field of sugar cane beside a decrepit sugar mill in the fifth campaign, "Hard Rain". You have to cross it two times: the first time is during the day, cutting off the visibility you're used to when the sun is out, and making it very easy to bump into one of the ''many'' [[SavageSetpiece Witches]] in the level. The second time, you backtrack through it [[HostileWeather in the middle of a hurricane storm]], so while the cane cuts your vision to a few feet, [[InterfaceScrew the storm cuts your hearing]][[note]]both versions are a very popular ambush zone in Versus[[/note]]. And while the downpour has washed away the scent of sugar that brought out so many Witches before, a few can still spawn, and as it's dark, they're stationary and their aggro range is larger; also, that section is frequently a Tank spawn point. The only boon the survivors get is a section of pipe that leads back to the main ruins and makes traveling by hopping on it faster than slogging through the water.

* Averted in ''Discworld/ReaperMan'', where the term "corn" actually refers to wheat.[[note]]"Corn" in general means any cereal grain, or indeed anything small and edible, as in "peppercorn" and "corned beef" where the "corns" involved are actually the large grains of rock salt used in the process; outside North America, the word used to refer to the kind of corn Americans usually mean when they say "corn" is "maize".[[/note]] This doesn't stop many American readers from getting a mental image of Death toiling in a creepy cornfield when they read this Literature/{{Discworld}} novel.

* The above painting, "Cornfield with Crows", is generally agreed to be the last thing Creator/VincentVanGogh painted before he killed himself.

Note that despite the trope name, scenes like this don't necessarily have to involve corn. Long grass is also popular, especially in wilderness settings, and this trope can apply to other kinds of vegetation where it's hard to see anything below neck level. Compare TheLostWoods, where non-domestic plant life is overwhelming or spooky.

* The fourth campaign of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' has a "crescendo event" (scripted horde sequence) in a corn field in the last level.
** The sequel has a section set in a field of sugar cane. Not only that, you have to go through it in the middle of a howling storm, so while the sugar cuts your vision to a few feet, [[InterfaceScrew the storm cuts your hearing.]]

* In the horror AdventureGame ''VideoGame/{{Sanitarium}}'', there's a creepy pumpkin patch in one chapter that fits this trope.
* There is exactly one frightening scene in ''VideoGame/LandOfTheDeadRoadToFiddlersGreen'' and it involves having to run through a cornfield as you hear zombies crashing around you unseen.
* In ''VideoGame/BatmanDoom'', one such maze pops up near the beginning of the level with the Scarecrow boss fight. It's full of gangsters and even spotting the passages is a problem (the automap helps). Once you're past this part, the rest of the level is thankfully free of confusing view-obfuscating maize.
* A chase through a corn field takes place near the end of the playable demo for ''VideoGame/OutlastII''. Although there are pathways in between certain sections, along with trash cans and pools of water to (temporarily) hide in, it doesn't make it any less terrifying when you see the flashlights of Knoth's followers coming from ''somewhere'' to hunt you down.

* Creator/StephenKing's short story ''Franchise/ChildrenOfTheCorn'' served as [[InNameOnly loose inspiration]] for an endless string of movies which are probably the example that a lot of people remember, and contributes a great deal to cornfields being associated with creepiness. The page quote above, from the original story, gives an example.

-->-- '''Creator/StephenKing''', ''Franchise/ChildrenOfTheCorn''

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer once got lost in a corn maze.

* The Jerome Bixby short story "Literature/ItsAGoodLife", where the RealityWarper Anthony Fremont literally buries people who do anything he doesn't like in the cornfield behind his family's home. Served as the basis for a memorable episode of ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}''.

* The Jerome Bixby short story "Literature/ItsAGoodLife", where the RealityWarper Anthony Fremont literally buries people who do anything he doesn't like in the cornfield behind his family's home. Served as the basis for a memorable ''Series/TheTwilightZone'' episode.

* In ''[[SyfyChannelOriginalMovie The 12 Disasters Of Christmas]]'', two teenage girls flee from a tornado through an orchard of Christmas trees.

** "The corn! IT ALL LOOKS THE SAME!"

* Averted in ''Discworld/ReaperMan'', where the term "corn" actually refers to wheat.[[note]]"Corn" in general means any cereal grain, or indeed anything small and edible, as in "peppercorn" and "corned beef" where the "corns" involved are actually the large grains of rock salt used in the process; outside North America, the word used to refer to the kind of corn Americans usually mean when they say "corn" is "maize".[//note]] This doesn't stop many American readers from getting a mental image of Death toiling in a creepy cornfield when they read this Literature/{{Discworld}} novel.

* Averted in ''Discworld/ReaperMan'', where the term "corn" actually refers to wheat. This doesn't stop many American readers from getting a mental image of Death toiling in a creepy cornfield when they read this Literature/{{Discworld}} novel.

* ''{{Fillmore}}!'': "Two Wheels, Full Throttle, No Brakes". Of course X Middle School has its own corn maze. Why wouldn't it?

* Grandparents born before TheGreatDepression who grew up on farms have told stories about how farmers of that day were afraid that [[UnfortunateImplications gypsies would kidnap their children]], and instructed their children to hide in cornfields whenever gypsies were around. The children were told to stay in one row of corn to avoid getting lost, themselves.

* Grandparents born before TheGreatDepression who grew up on farms have tole stories about how farmers of that day were afraid that [[UnfortunateImplications gypsies would kidnap their children]], and instructed their children to hide in cornfields. The children were told to stay in one row of corn to avoid getting lost, themselves.

* Grandparents born before TheGreatDepression who grew up on farms have tole stories about how farmers of that day were afraid that [[UnfortunateImplications gypsies would kidnap their children]], and instructed their children to hide in cornfields. The children were told to stay in one row of corn to avoid getting lost, themselves.