History Main / TheCallsAreComingFromInsideTheHouse

* ''Fanfic/AllAssortedAnimorphsAUs'': Discussed in "What if they were caught during their first mission?", where Temrash 114 compares the discovery that the kids at the construction site were people his host knows (and Tobias) to this story.

** Happens with TheReveal in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', when Raiden finds out that [[spoiler:the Codec calls from his two [[MissionControl mission contacts]] are coming from inside the Big Shell, since they're actually both AIs put there to manipulate him. Everything becomes clear when he tries to crash the Big Shell's computers with a virus, and his contacts suddenly start blurting out random gobbledegook ([[MemeticMutation "I need scissors! 61!"]])]].

* A rare written form occurs in "Literature/FeminineEndings" by Creator/NeilGaiman. What starts off as a saccharine love note written by someone whose first language is not English to the object of his affections gradually grows creepier as the text reveals that he is not just and admirer, but a StalkerWithACrush. The final paragraph reveals [[spoiler:that he is standing in the room with her--immobile and unseen--watching her read the letter]]. [[/folder]]

* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' uses [[http://xkcd.com/742/ a modernized version.]] (See also the AltText.) [[note]]The 192.168/16 block refers to a block of IP addresses that are reserved for private networks. This means that no computer on the Internet will have an address starting with "192.168." but computers hooked up to the same internal network will see each other as "192.168.xxx.xxx".[[/note]]

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* Referenced in ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'': Sydney manages to convince Heatwave that the call originates inside the phone. (And then two of her co-Superhero's get sympathy shoulder pat's for the fact that they have to work with her....)

* A rare written form occurs in "Literature/FeminineEndings" by Creator/NeilGaiman. What starts off as an {{Adorkable}} love written by someone whose first language is not English to the object of his affections gradually grows creepier as the text reveals that he is not just and admirer, but a StalkerWithACrush. The final paragraph reveals [[spoiler:that he is standing in the room with her--immobile and unseen--watching her read the letter]]. [[/folder]]

-->'''Bart''': Yawn. I heard that one when I was in the third grade. It's not scray.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': At the beginning of the first "[[HalloweenEpisode Treehouse of Horror]]" episode, Lisa is seen wrapping up the original story with Bart in the treehouse, but Bart is less than impressed.

** The amusing thing is that it is possible for two computers to have the same external IP address. That is, two computers on the same local network will share the same IP address that the rest of the world sees.

This is a partly DiscreditedTrope, because the whole urban legend relies on a myth about old analog land lines: the idea that you could, by tapping the receiver button carefully, manage to dial the telephone number of the building/home you were occupying at the time. [[note]]Tapping the switch-hook is electrically no different than what the dial does: It momentarily opens the circuit. Two momentary openings in quick succession registers at the exchange as the digit "2", six momentary openings registers as "6", and so on with ten momentary openings registering as "0" (except in New Zealand where it is backwards - two openings is "8", six openings is "4", and ten openings is "0"). The dial just does it more conveniently. And if you dial the number of the line you're on, whether with the dial or the switchhook, whether or not there are other extensions on the line, you get a busy signal; that line ''is'' off-hook, after all. Nor is it electrically possible for the exchange to ring the other extensions on a line when one of them is off-hook; the low impedance of an off-hook phone will essentially short out the ring voltage.[[/note]] However, in at least some areas of the U.S., it has been and still is possible to dial your home phone number, hang up on the busy signal and get a ring to your own line. The reason the phone company allows this isn't clear, however it has been used by some as a poor-man's home intercom. On a line which does not have caller ID, it could be used to pretend to be calling from outside the house while actually calling from another room. Of course, this scenario can also arise if said home has a phone that also functions as an intercom, two different phone numbers, or to simply call the landline by cellphone.

This trope predates the adoption of 911 services, (as well as Caller ID and Call Waiting,) especially as the original version of the legend usually highlights that the victim has to "call the operator". The terror in the trope comes from the fact that [[TechnologyMarchesOn before cellphones]] the "caller inside the house" would presumably have to be using the house phone line[[note]]Possible, but required knowing how[[/note]] or a second phone line[[note]]a luxury in pre-dialup Internet days[[/note]], so most people couldn't call someone else in the house - inside the house was the last place expected.

For the more modern variant, see ICanSeeYou. See also ShortDistancePhoneCall, EvilPhone, DisconnectedByDeath. Not to be confused with TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive.

[[caption-width-right:273:The killer was on their LAN![[note]]By perhaps hacking the wifi from the parking lot. Or using a vpn tunnel.[[/note]]]]

* In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlYtwandSU8 Halloween episode]] of ''WebVideo/RoosterTeethShorts'', Griffon gets a call from something growling and snarling that's coming from inside the office. [[spoiler:Turns out it was just Burnie, who had fallen asleep at his desk with the speaker phone on]]

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* Happens with TheReveal in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', when Raiden finds out that the Codec calls from his two [[MissionControl mission contacts]] are coming from inside the Big Shell, since they're actually both AIs put there to manipulate him. Everything becomes clear when he tries to crash the Big Shell's computers with a virus, and his contacts suddenly start blurting out random gobbledegook ([[MemeticMutation "I need scissors! 61!"]]).
* Happened in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' too, when it's revealed Master Miller [[spoiler:actually Liquid Snake in disguise]] is calling Snake from inside Shadow Moses.

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* [[Webcomic/ChoppingBlock Butch]] tried this once. [[http://choppingblock.keenspot.com/d/20000810.html Caller ID foiled him.]]

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* In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlYtwandSU8 Halloween episode]] of WebVideo/RoosterTeethShorts, Griffon gets a call from something growling and snarling that's coming from inside the office. [[spoiler:Turns out it was just Burnie, who had fallen asleep at his desk with the speaker phone on]]

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* [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants "THE MANIAC IS IN THE MAILBOX!"]]

* A rare written form occurs in "Feminine Endings" by Creator/NeilGaiman. What starts off as an {{Adorkable}} love written by someone whose first language is not English to the object of his affections gradually grows creepier as the text reveals that he is not just and admirer, but a StalkerWithACrush. The final paragraph reveals that he is hiding in the room with her, watching her read the letter.
[[/folder]]

This is a classic [[UrbanLegends urban legend]] horror scenario: A young woman who is home alone. Often she is a babysitter. She gets a [[HarassingPhoneCall creepy phone call]] asking "Have you checked the kids?" She calls the police. They trace it and they tell her "The calls are coming from inside the house."

* Used as {{foreshadowing}} in ''Film/CarryOnSpying''. When the villain threatens MI6 in a phone call, the Chief of Police makes his secretary trace the call, who discovers that the phone number is identical to theirs, making the two men assume that their technology wasn't strong enough for the signal. [[spoiler:It's revealed that the villain's lair is directly underneath MI6 and can be easily accessed through the wardrobe in the Chief's office.]]

* Referenced in ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'': Sydney manages to convince Heatwave that the call originates inside the phone.

This is a classic [[UrbanLegends urban legend]] horror scenario: A young woman who is home alone. Often she is a baby sitter. She gets a [[HarassingPhoneCall creepy phone call]] asking "Have you checked the kids?" She calls the police. They trace it and they tell her "The calls are coming from inside the house."

* ''VideoGame/LaytonBrothersMysteryRoom'' has a [[threatening fax that was sent from inside the studio]].

[[caption-width-right:350:The killer was on their LAN![[note]]By perhaps hacking the wifi from the parking lot. Or using a vpn tunnel.[[/note]]]]