History Main / MundaneGhostStory

* ''CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin has hiccups and asks Hobbes to tell him a scary story to cure him.

* Jason does to this Paige in ''FoxTrot''. After his conventional ghost stories fail to scare her, he tells her one that ends with "...and when she opened the closet, all the clothes were polyester!".

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The season eight episode "The Springfield Files" (the BizarroEpisode-cum-{{crossover}} episode with ''Series/TheXFiles'' that had LeonardNimoy narrating it for the first two acts) had Homer and Bart out in the woods in search of the alien. Bart asks Homer if he can have some beer, with Homer telling him that beer is only for "...daddies and [[CallBack kids with fake IDs]] [[note]]Ironic, considering that Bart had a fake ID on a previous episode and ultimately refrained from buying beer with it[[/note]]" then Homer suggests that they tell ghost stories to pass the time. This was Bart's:

* ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'' has a parody ghost story OnceAnEpisode, with a couple of them falling under this trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The season eight episode "The Springfield Files" (the BizarroEpisode-cum-{{crossover}} episode with ''Series/TheXFiles'' that had LeonardNimoy narrating it for the first two acts) had Homer and Bart out in the woods in search of the alien. Bart asks Homer if he can have some beer, with Homer telling him that beer is only for "...daddies and [[CallBack kids with fake IDs]] [[hottip:*:Ironic, considering that Bart had a fake ID on a previous episode and ultimately refrained from buying beer with it]]" then Homer suggests that they tell ghost stories to pass the time. This was Bart's:

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

* ''TheSimpsons'': The season eight episode "The Springfield Files" (the BizarroEpisode-cum-{{Crossover}} episode with ''TheXFiles'' that had LeonardNimoy narrating it for the first two acts) had Homer and Bart out in the woods in search of the alien. Bart asks Homer if he can have some beer, with Homer telling him that beer is only for "...daddies and [[CallBack kids with fake IDs]] [[hottip:*:Ironic, considering that Bart had a fake ID on a previous episode and ultimately refrained from buying beer with it]]" then Homer suggests that they tell ghost stories to pass the time. This was Bart's:

** ''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!"

* ''{{Futurama}}'', "Where the Buggalo Roam":

* The ''{{Daria}}'' episode "The Teachings of Don Jake" had Jake tell a story about a boy who hears weird splashing noises in his sleep and wakes to find his father gone. [[spoiler: Turns out it's yet another HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood story about Jake's father getting drunk during a father-son camping trip]]:

* ''FamilyGuy'': [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yNaHQZrZ90 Quagmire would find this story scary]].
* In ''{{The Fairly OddParents}}'', Timmy travels to the past and tells his dad scary stories from the future.

* An episode of JohnnyBravo had Johnny try to tell 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.

* ''TheSimpsons'': The season eight episode "The Springfield Files" (the BizarroEpisode-cum-{{Crossover}} episode with ''TheXFiles'' that had LeonardNimoy narrating it for the first two acts) had Homer and Bart out in the woods in search of the alien. Bart asks Homer if he can have some beer, with Homer telling him that beer is only for "...daddies and [[CallBack kids with fake IDs]] [[hottip:*:Ironic, considering that Bart had a fake ID on a previous episode and ultimately refrained from buying beer with it," then Homer suggests that they tell ghost stories to pass the time. This was Bart's:

* ''John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme'' has a parody ghost story OnceAnEpisode, with a couple of them falling under this trope.

* ''TheSimpsons'': The season eight episode "The Springfield Files" (the BLAMEpisode-cum-{{Crossover}} episode with ''TheXFiles'' that had LeonardNimoy narrating it for the first two acts) had Homer and Bart out in the woods in search of the alien. Bart asks Homer if he can have some beer, with Homer telling him that beer is only for "...daddies and [[CallBack kids with fake IDs]] [[hottip:*:Ironic, considering that Bart had a fake ID on a previous episode and ultimately refrained from buying beer with it," then Homer suggests that they tell ghost stories to pass the time. This was Bart's:

* Done in ''TheBigBangTheory'', where Raj and Leonard at the ending of ''The Adhesive Duck Deficiency'' were finishing up what seems to be your standard campsite ghost story (complete with flashlights to the face), only for him to say "He slept with his cousin!" (referring to something earlier in the episode where Howard, while he and his friends were high with marijuana due to cookies they unknowingly got from Music/{{Megadeth}} middle school teachers, admitted that [[KissingCousins he slept with his cousin]] during his youth without knowing it), and proceeded to laugh hysterically, with a humiliated Howard telling them that it wasn't funny to begin with.
* In Series/''Monk'', Randy Disher attempts to give a ghost story to a group of campers as part of a camping trip, but Monk basically spoils the story by pointing out inaccuracies in it.

* ''TheSimpsons'': The season eight episode "The Springfield Files" (the BLAMEpisode-cum-{{Crossover}} episode with ''TheXFiles'' that had LeonardNimoy narrating it for the first two acts) had Homer and Bart out in the woods in search of the alien. Bart asks Homer if he can have some beer, with Homer telling him that beer is only for "...daddies and kids with fake IDs [[hottip:*:Ironic, considering that Bart had a fake ID on the season seven episode in which he creates a phony driver's license while stuck at the DMV with Patty and Selma, and he did use it to get beer at Moe's, but once he saw Barney and [[ThoseTwoGuys the two drunks named Larry and Sam]], he decided not to do it]]," then Homer suggests that they tell ghost stories to pass the time. This was Bart's:

* ''Film/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.

* ''AzumangaDaioh''

* [[http://xkcd.com/647/ This]] ''{{xkcd}}'' strip.

* Done in ''TheBigBangTheory'', where Raj and Leonard at the ending of ''The Adhesive Duck Deficiency'' were finishing up what seems to be your standard campsite ghost story (complete with flashlights to the face), only for him to say "He slept with his cousin!" (referring to something earlier in the episode where Howard, while he and his friends were high with marijuana due to cookies they unknowingly got from MegaDeth middle school teachers, admitted that [[KissingCousins he slept with his cousin]] during his youth without knowing it), and proceeded to laugh hysterically, with a humiliated Howard telling them that it wasn't funny to begin with.

** [[http://xkcd.com/647/ This]] ''{{xkcd}}'' strip.

Someone tells a GhostStory 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.

* ''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!!!!!]]

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

** 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.]]

* ''[[TheAddamsFamily Addams Family Values]]'': Wednesday Addams tells a tale of reversed nose job.

* ''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]].

-->'''Rarity''': It is a ghost story. They're all made up.

* 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:

* ''{{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.

* ''[=~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]].