History Main / MundaneGhostStory

* An episode of JohnnyBravo had Johnny try to tel a traditional campfire tale...to a bunch of computer-geeks, who of course aren't scared because the monster is "impossible." Then Carl tells a story about a kid who discovers his hard-drive has crashed and all content on his computer is deleted, which gets a much better reaction.

* ''FridayThe13th Part VI'', one camp counselor scares the others with the story of Jason Voorhees, and then follows up with, "I can only think of one thing even more terrifying." That thing is a bus load of rowdy, bratty kids. "I think I'd rather deal with ol' Jason," [[TemptingFate replies]] another camp counselor.

--->'''Quinn:''' So the fairy godmother waved her wand and behold, she was wearing a gown of silver and gold. Big, ''clunky'' silver and gold like you wouldn't wear to one of those 70's retro dances let alone a formal gettogether at a ''palace''. And when she looked in the mirror, the one that usually made her look skinny, it made her look all ''bloated!''
--->'''Helen:''' Quinn, this is supposed to be a scary story.
--->'''Quinn:''' Wait! I haven't even gotten to the ''shoes'' yet!

** Of course if you do own a computer, you can truly appreciate just how scary Carl's story is.

* ''FridayThe13th'' Part 6, one camp counselor scares the others with the story of Jason Voorhees, and then follows up with, "I can only think of one thing even more terrifying." That thing is a bus load of rowdy, bratty kids. "I think I'd rather deal with ol' Jason," [[TemptingFate replies]] another camp counselor.

* Konata's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgZ4d_DUZk8 scary story]] from ''LuckyStar''.

-->'''Jake''': Then, lying there in the darkness, the boy heard a tiny splashing sound. ''Psh''! ''Psh''! Like waves on a faraway shore. ''Except''...the nearest ocean was a hundred miles away. The boy reached out for his sleeping father...but he was gone. Shaking with fear, the boy stumbled out of the rickety lean-to, and that's when he saw it: his father, sitting alone at the campfire. ''ALONE''!...with a whole case of beer! Psh! Psh! ''(pantomimes drinking)'': The selfish old bastard was WASTED AGAIN!

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* ''[[TheAddamsFamily Addams Family]] Values'': Wednesday Addams tells a tale of reversed nose job.
* ''{{Cheaper by the Dozen}} 2'' did this. The rich kids were reading about a family that was worrying about how to pay their car payment that month, and then they all shuddered in fear and disgust at the thought of not being super-rich.
* RoleModels included a scene where Paul Rudd's character told the "true scary story" about the facts of child slavery and abduction around the world.
* ''FridayThe13th'' Part 6, one camp counselor scares the others with the story of Jason Voorhees, and then follows up with, "I can only think of one thing even more terrifying." That thing is a bus load of rowdy, bratty kids. "I think I'd rather deal with ol' Jason," [[TemptingFate replies]] another camp counselor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:{{Webcomics}}]]
* In ''UnwindersTallComics'', Unwinder seeks to exploit his friend Barbecue Sauce's greatest fear. Turns out Sauce's greatest fear is DyingAlone; so Unwinder tells him a campfire story about the dreaded Dying Alone Snakes.
-->'''Unwinder:''' Never heard of them before? They wait to strike until you're all by yourself... Then as you lay on the ground, dying slowly from the deadly venom... they abandon you.
* ''PennyArcade'' features [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/10/31/ every gamer's worst fear]].
** IIRC they also did another one where someone had been playing FFVII for 20+ hours nonstop before suddenly realizing [[spoiler:he had no room left on his memory card.]]
** [[http://xkcd.com/647/ This]] ''{{xkcd}}'' strip.

* ''{{iCarly}}'s'' bra. He seems to be scared of things like washing machines, and Spanish as a primary language, as seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7z2RR1CgnQ here]].
* In the KenanAndKel Halloween special "Two Heads Are Better Than None," Kel mishears "ghost stories" as "toast stories." Cue his attempt at a scary campfire story:

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* The Yuletide ghost stories in KingdomOfLoathing usually do involve ghosts, but most of them have incredibly mundane endings, like an IndianBurialGround being dealt with by lawyers, but cursing all burgers cooked on the site to be raw on the inside but burnt on the outside.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]
* This Youtube video called [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttz3Twr_Bus Disney Horror]], about overcrowding at Disney World during Christmas.
[[/folder]]

Someone tells a ghost story in classic fashion, probably around a campfire or with a flashlight aimed up under the face, only the ghost story is about something that is not really scary in the traditional nightmare sense, but is more like [[AdultFear Adult Fears]]: being stuck in a loveless marriage, dying alone, bigotry, living an unfulfilling life, being homeless after losing your job, sexual inadequacy, or the death of offspring. However, this is usually played for laughs, avoiding anything involving physical pain or death, dealing with [[FauxHorrific something sillier]] like having to wear a stupid outfit to school, or having a bad haircut, or eating tofu burgers.

* In the MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic episode "Look Before You Sleep," [[NoSocialSkills Twilight Sparkle]] is throwing a slumber party by the book, running down a checklist of activities that includes ghost stories. [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Applejack and Rarity]], however, are not feeling charitable toward each other, and have been using each activity to snipe at each other, and this is no exception:

* ''{{iCarly}}'s'' brother. He seems to be scared of things like washing machines, and Spanish as a primary language, as seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7z2RR1CgnQ here]].

* ''{{iCarly}}'s'' bra. He seems to be scared of things like washing machines, and Spanish as a primary language, as seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7z2RR1CgnQ here]].

* ''{{iCarly}}'s'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7z2RR1CgnQ bra]]

[[folder:RealLife]]
* The shortest scary story ever written goes as follows: [[LastOfHisKind "The last person on Earth sat alone in a room.]] [[MindScrew There was a knock at the door."]]
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* The shortest scary story ever written goes as follows: [[LastOfHisKind "The last man on Earth sat alone in a room.]] [[MindScrew There was a knock at the door."]]
** [[SoBadItsGood/NewMedia Then who]] [[MemeticMutation was]] [[EvilPhone phone?]]
** Could also be considered the shortest ''sexist'' story ever written.
*** Maybe, but then you're just picking hairs. Since 'man' is a general semi-slang term for human. I mean "The last human on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door." Doesn't really add anything except two letters...which would make it so it was no longer the shortest.

Someone tells a ghost story in classic fashion, probably around a campfire or with a flashlight aimed up under the face, only the ghost story is about something that is not really scary in the traditional nightmare sense, but is more like [[AdultFear Adult Fears]]: taxes, or being stuck in a loveless marriage, dying alone, bigotry, living an unfulfilling life, being homeless after losing your job, sexual inadequacy, the death of offspring, or a stupid religious-nut oil-baron becoming president through election fraud and exploiting terrorism. However, this is usually played for laughs, avoiding anything involving physical pain or death, dealing with [[FauxHorrific something sillier]] like having to wear a stupid outfit to school, or having a bad haircut, or eating tofu burgers.

Someone tells a ghost story in classic fashion, probably around a campfire or with a flashlight aimed up under the face, only the ghost story is about something that is not really scary in the traditional nightmare sense, but is more like [[AdultFear Adult Fears]]: taxes, or being stuck in a loveless marriage, dying alone, bigotry, living an unfulfilling life, being homeless after losing your job, sexual inadequacy, the death of offspring, or a stupid religious-nut oil-baron becoming president through election fraud and exploiting terrorism. However, this is usually played for laughs, avoiding anything involving physical pain or death, dealing with something sillier like having to wear a stupid outfit to school, or having a bad haircut, or eating tofu burgers.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Television]]
* ''TheSimpsons'' were sitting around a campfire, Bart was holding the flashlight:
-->'''Bart''': ...and that's how much college will cost for Maggie.
-->'''Homer''': [[BigNo Nooooo!!!!!]]
** ''TheSimpsons'', again, featured a carnival "house of horrors" ride that presents an old woman in a rocking chair who says, "Behold! The ravages of age!"
* ''{{Arthur}}'', Arthur was the carnival barker at a "house of horrors" that featured the most embarrassing moments of his friends, such as the Brain wearing pajamas to school.
* ''{{Futurama}}'', "Where the Buggalo Roam":
-->'''Bender:''' ...and even though the computer was off and unplugged, an image remained on the screen. It was... ''the Windows logo!''
-->'''Leela:''' Pfft! That's not scary.
-->'''Bender:''' It is if you're a laser printer.
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[[folder:Comics]]

* There was a particularly disturbing (by its standards) ''{{Family Circus}}'' Sunday strip with Jeffy asking his dad about monsters, the dad assuring him there were none, and the final frame showing the dad walking out of Jeffy's room with Not Me ghosts marked "taxes", "recession" and "war" floating around him.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''{{Freakazoid}}'': The scariest thing in the world would be if Sinbad got another TV show! (the comedian, not the adventurer)

[[folder:Real Life]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The Yuletide ghost stories in KingdomOfLoathing usually do involve ghosts, but most of them have incredibly mundane endings, like an IndianBurialGround being dealt with by lawyers, but cursing all burgers cooked on the site to be raw on the inside but burnt on the outside.
[[/folder]]

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* RoleModels included a scene where Paul Rudd's character told the "true scary story" about the facts of child slavery and abduction around the world.