Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Trope was cut/disambiguated due to cleanup
Deleted line(s) 62 (click to see context) :
* KickTheSonOfABitch: On the occasion that both the protagonist and antagonist are horrible people, then at least there's a chance that the former would be the one to triumph over the latter in a rather murderous way. In those cases, it's easy to take sides with an individual who decides to murder somebody after being bullied, harassed, and disrespected one too many times.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: On the occasion that both the protagonist and antagonist are horrible people, then at least there's a chance that the former would be the one to triumph over the latter in a rather murderous way. In those cases, it's easy to take sides with an individual who decides to murder somebody after being bullied, harassed, and disrespected one too many times.
Changed line(s) 73 (click to see context) from:
* PuttingThePeeInPool: In the second video of the Hot Tub stories, the protagonist has to deal with a recurring customer, Willie, who aggravates her with his sexist remarks and condescending nature as well as using his size to take over her preferred tub. The two challenged each other to see who would remain in the tub the most, prompting Willie to pee in the tub. Despite the protagonist resisting, Willie proceeds to [[ExcrementStatement fart in the tub]], smothering the protagonist with his feces and forcing her to leave in disgust. This motivates her to plot a plan to kill Willie in the tub the next time they meet, [[KickTheSonOfABitch which is exactly what she does]].
to:
* PuttingThePeeInPool: In the second video of the Hot Tub stories, the protagonist has to deal with a recurring customer, Willie, who aggravates her with his sexist remarks and condescending nature as well as using his size to take over her preferred tub. The two challenged each other to see who would remain in the tub the most, prompting Willie to pee in the tub. Despite the protagonist resisting, Willie proceeds to [[ExcrementStatement fart in the tub]], smothering the protagonist with his feces and forcing her to leave in disgust. This motivates her to plot a plan to kill Willie in the tub the next time they meet, [[KickTheSonOfABitch which is exactly what she does]].does.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 14 (click to see context) from:
* AnachronismStew: An example of this occurs in the third [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUs5H1kZHgw&ab_channel=HorrorShortsParty Homeless Horror Stories]] video, where it's said that the incident took place in UsefulNotes/TheNineties. Throughout the video, there is this dialogue about a certain popular anime that was released in ''2019''...
to:
* AnachronismStew: An example of this occurs in the third [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUs5H1kZHgw&ab_channel=HorrorShortsParty Homeless Horror Stories]] video, where it's said that the incident took place in UsefulNotes/TheNineties.UsefulNotes/The90s. Throughout the video, there is this dialogue about a certain popular anime that was released in ''2019''...
Changed line(s) 52 (click to see context) from:
* TheGrinch: Well, certainly ''not'' [[Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas that Grinch]], but a version of the character is the main antagonist of a trio of Christmas videos centered on Grinch Horror Stories. The Grinch does make an attempt to ruin Christmas for others, but his attempts here are [[AdaptationalVillainy far more malicious]] to the extent where he would horribly maim someone under the false pretense of gifting him and his cousin a UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, or challenge a boy to tobogganing on a slippery slope that leads to his burial and death.
to:
* TheGrinch: Well, certainly ''not'' [[Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas that Grinch]], but a version of the character is the main antagonist of a trio of Christmas videos centered on Grinch Horror Stories. The Grinch does make an attempt to ruin Christmas for others, but his attempts here are [[AdaptationalVillainy far more malicious]] to the extent where he would horribly maim someone under the false pretense of gifting him and his cousin a UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, Platform/PlayStation5, or challenge a boy to tobogganing on a slippery slope that leads to his burial and death.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Trope was cut/disambiguated due to cleanup
Changed line(s) 2,3 (click to see context) from:
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[{{Catchphrase}} "Leave me alone, or I'm calling the cops!"]]'']]
to:
Changed line(s) 35 (click to see context) from:
* {{Catchphrase}}: '''''"Leave me alone, or I'm calling the cops!!!"''''', which is said by several characters whenever they feel threatened. It was first said by Terrance, but it became quite quotable to the point of being a meme for fans, and soon enough, the quote would be used for merch as well as Bound by Imagery and Arianne sometimes saying it in some variation.
to:
* {{Catchphrase}}: CharacterCatchphrase: '''''"Leave me alone, or I'm calling the cops!!!"''''', which is said by several characters whenever they feel threatened. It was first said by Terrance, but it became quite quotable to the point of being a meme for fans, and soon enough, the quote would be used for merch as well as Bound by Imagery and Arianne sometimes saying it in some variation.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
* AssholeVictim: Some of the victims are these, especially shown when the VillainProtagonist tend to get irritated and antagonized by them and they decide to strike back murderously. Some examples include the second hot tub, second massage parlor, and third beach stories.
to:
* AssholeVictim: AssholeVictim:
** Some of the victims are these, especially shown when the VillainProtagonist tend to get irritated and antagonized by them and they decide to strike back murderously. Some examples include the second hot tub, second massage parlor, and third beach stories.
** One such example is Cartman in the second part of the "South Park Theories" video. Cartman ends up killing Kyle, Butters and his own mother for the crime of not letting him go to Casa Bonita, then does the same with Stan and Kenny. He then uses the money he stole from them to go to Casa Bonita himself, only to be [[AmbiguousSituation seemingly]] haunted by their ghosts. Eventually, [[spoiler:his crime is found out and he's thrown back into juvie, where a fellow inmate beats him up for his crimes and Kenny takes advantage of [[TheyKilledKennyAgain his own immortality]] to come back from the dead and mock Cartman about it]].
** Some of the victims are these, especially shown when the VillainProtagonist tend to get irritated and antagonized by them and they decide to strike back murderously. Some examples include the second hot tub, second massage parlor, and third beach stories.
** One such example is Cartman in the second part of the "South Park Theories" video. Cartman ends up killing Kyle, Butters and his own mother for the crime of not letting him go to Casa Bonita, then does the same with Stan and Kenny. He then uses the money he stole from them to go to Casa Bonita himself, only to be [[AmbiguousSituation seemingly]] haunted by their ghosts. Eventually, [[spoiler:his crime is found out and he's thrown back into juvie, where a fellow inmate beats him up for his crimes and Kenny takes advantage of [[TheyKilledKennyAgain his own immortality]] to come back from the dead and mock Cartman about it]].
Changed line(s) 45 (click to see context) from:
* EvilLaugh: ''Hoo Boy!'' There's hardly a moment when a villain doesn't laugh while doing something evil or horrendous. They'll even do it casually whilst meeting a protagonist and haven't enacted their schemes yet.
to:
* EvilLaugh: EvilLaugh:
** ''Hoo Boy!'' There's hardly a moment when a villain doesn't laugh while doing something evil or horrendous. They'll even do it casually whilst meeting a protagonist and haven't enacted their schemes yet.
** A rare non-villainous variant occurs in the second installment of "South Park Theories", when [[spoiler:Kenny mocks Cartman by laughing at him as he's beaten up in his jail cell. Given that Cartman had previously murdered not just Kenny but all their friends and Cartman's mother, it's honestly justified, but still extremely creepy.]]
** ''Hoo Boy!'' There's hardly a moment when a villain doesn't laugh while doing something evil or horrendous. They'll even do it casually whilst meeting a protagonist and haven't enacted their schemes yet.
** A rare non-villainous variant occurs in the second installment of "South Park Theories", when [[spoiler:Kenny mocks Cartman by laughing at him as he's beaten up in his jail cell. Given that Cartman had previously murdered not just Kenny but all their friends and Cartman's mother, it's honestly justified, but still extremely creepy.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: A lot of villains are drawn with a lot of sharp teeth, to show off how evil they are.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Deleted line(s) 22,24 (click to see context) :
* AnAxToGrind:
** The boyfriend in the third Christmas story takes out an axe in his cottage retreat and hacks his girlfriend, Cindy, to death after being convinced that she was disturbing him during the nights by tapping on the windows and leaving behind a well-made snowman outside the cottage. Though as it turns out, the boyfriend may be mentally disturbed, as revealed in his last lines, and regretted his act of violence.
** The masseuse in the second massage parlor story kills her demeaning and rude customer by inviting him to a supposedly private massage and then hacking his neck repeatedly with an ax after he decides to have the "happy ending massage".
** The boyfriend in the third Christmas story takes out an axe in his cottage retreat and hacks his girlfriend, Cindy, to death after being convinced that she was disturbing him during the nights by tapping on the windows and leaving behind a well-made snowman outside the cottage. Though as it turns out, the boyfriend may be mentally disturbed, as revealed in his last lines, and regretted his act of violence.
** The masseuse in the second massage parlor story kills her demeaning and rude customer by inviting him to a supposedly private massage and then hacking his neck repeatedly with an ax after he decides to have the "happy ending massage".
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* AnimatedAnthology: The videos are usually compiled into a trio of shorts recounting a horror story of a similar theme and environment. Each short also has it's own list of voiceovers and animation styles.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/horror_shorts.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[{{Catchphrase}} "Leave me alone, or I'm calling the cops!"]]'']]
''[[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsCAWoG-SagS7aFuWT1IZPw Horror Shorts Party]]'' is a Website/YouTube channel that, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as its name suggests]], focuses on telling a series of horror stories, real or fictionalized, in animated segments. Much like other horror story-based channels, Horror Shorts Party tends to focus each individual video on a particular subject whilst containing three stories focusing on an individual setting whilst keeping a similar premise, though there are occasional compilations that make up for around 8-10 segments. Whilst innocent characters make up for most of the central focus, there are times when [[VillainProtagonist the villain is the central character]], leading to all sorts of variable narratives and twists.
This [=YouTube=] channel tends to employ a collection of voice actors in the videos, usually playing the central character of a segment. The most recurring actor to appear in these videos is [[https://www.youtube.com/user/jadethedragon1 Terrance Nicholson]], with [[https://www.youtube.com/user/Liteitup576 Bound in Imagery]] being a close second. Female voice actors, such as Arianne and [[https://www.youtube.com/c/MiaYimOfficial Mia Yim]] (yes, ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia_Yim that]]'' Mia Yim) often provide additional background voice acting, either playing supporting roles or an antagonist.
!!Horror Shorts Party provides the following tropes...
* AdaptationalVillainy:
** Creator/GordonRamsay in the second Hell's Kitchen and Music/{{Drake}} in the second Drake stories are reimagined as unhinged, psychopathic madmen who use their authority to aggressively hound and demean their chefs and a fan respectively. Both take it up a notch in different ways; Gordon kills one of his chefs sometime after firing him and this terries another chef into being trapped in his job and workplace when he realizes why the other chef hasn't been heard of since while Drake is angry at his fan for trying to leave him with the intent to capture her and keep her as his sex slave.
** Music/MichaelJackson is also given a similar treatment in one of his stories, being an unhinged madman and creepy father who cackles puns of his songs when he corners the protagonist of the first MJ Horror Story. The same applies in the second Mario story where [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] becomes a cannibalistic monster who kills and eats humans any time he catches the scent of mushrooms.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsOFc8jreGY&ab_channel=HorrorShortsParty Dramatized retellings of memes and events involving]] ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' also feature [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMrKrabs Mr. Krabs]] in the first story and [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSpongeBobSquarePants SpongeBob]] himself in the third story reimagined as being little-to-nothing like the original source material. Mr. Krabs is a killer who slaughters whales and cuts and cooks their flesh to serve as part of his Krabby Patties. It's also said that Mr. Krabs killed Pearl's parents for exactly that reason and then adopted her, with further implications that Mr. Krabs would do the same to Pearl as what he did to her parents. [=SpongeBob=], on the other hand, is obsessed with finding out about a photograph that was hidden by [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsPatrickStar Patrick Star]] and kills him (as well as the rest of the series cast prior hand) when [=SpongeBob=] realizes that the hidden photo was of [=SpongeBob=] holding the head of a beheaded fish and was angry to learn that Patrick didn't destroy the photo as [=SpongeBob=] had asked him to do so years ago.
* AnachronismStew: An example of this occurs in the third [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUs5H1kZHgw&ab_channel=HorrorShortsParty Homeless Horror Stories]] video, where it's said that the incident took place in UsefulNotes/TheNineties. Throughout the video, there is this dialogue about a certain popular anime that was released in ''2019''...
-->'''Homeless Man:''' "So this guy walks up to me and says "hey man, have you seen the newest ''[[Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba Demon Slayer]]'' episode, and I said "I can't watch ''Demon Slayer'', I'm homeless"."
* AnguishedOutburst: The central character of the second Amusement Park Story undergoes a drastic one here after having to cope with the murder of his friend Simon, and the breakup of his girlfriend Maya due to a cursed Psychic Clown that he and Simon stumbled across during their trip to a nearby amusement part. When he stumbles upon the Psychic Clown again months later and waits until everyone leaves, Simon frantically and emotionally starts pounding on the glass screen where the Psychic Clown is and rants with tears in his eyes.
-->'''Protagonist:''' "I know you're alive! You were right beside the freaking hot dog stand! You wouldn't think I'd notice?! I'd knew damn well you were the reason my friend is dead and why my girl and I are separated!"
* ArtShift: Several stories have different animation styles, from your typical animation and something similar to ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' to more specialized art styles reminiscent of works by Creator/TimBurton and even a faithful recreation of the art style of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
* AssholeVictim: Some of the victims are these, especially shown when the VillainProtagonist tend to get irritated and antagonized by them and they decide to strike back murderously. Some examples include the second hot tub, second massage parlor, and third beach stories.
* AxCrazy: Most villains featured in HSP's tales are basically bloodthirsty maniacs who are either causing some sort of mayhem or are killing people either for [[EvilIsPetty slight mishaps]], or [[ForTheEvulz for the hell of it]].
* AnAxToGrind:
** The boyfriend in the third Christmas story takes out an axe in his cottage retreat and hacks his girlfriend, Cindy, to death after being convinced that she was disturbing him during the nights by tapping on the windows and leaving behind a well-made snowman outside the cottage. Though as it turns out, the boyfriend may be mentally disturbed, as revealed in his last lines, and regretted his act of violence.
** The masseuse in the second massage parlor story kills her demeaning and rude customer by inviting him to a supposedly private massage and then hacking his neck repeatedly with an ax after he decides to have the "happy ending massage".
* BadHumorTruck: The third Summer story has this trope in play as the protagonist, a little girl, wants ice cream really badly, but encounters a suspicious-looking man in an ice cream truck who claims to be Willy Wonka. Her desperation causes said ice cream man to return during the night and give her [[ExcrementStatement poop disguised as chocolate flavor]] to make her puke before trying to kidnap her. Fortunately, she is saved by her father, though [[BreakTheCutie not without having her innocence shattered and being traumatized]].
* BadSanta: This trope is the central basis of the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtD3OjFZtrU 3 True Santa Claus Horror Stories]]''.
** The Santa Claus in the first story, who is almost naked and carrying a light, barely stuffed pouch, happens to be lurking in a hotel wandering in the corridors to encounter anyone whom he stumbles across. He intends to give children a crudely-made Christmas candy cane which, unbeknownst to them, contains an extremely potent poison that would [[CruelAndUnusualDeath cause them to convulse into an uncontrollable seizure and asphyxiation that would kill them within minutes]]. While the protagonist does take a cane mainly because he was being forced into it, he doesn't have any intention to eat it mainly because of his encounter with the Santa. His friend, unfortunately, is not as lucky, as he is found dying in agonizing pain and nothing could be prevented. In court, the protagonist questions just [[InsaneTrollLogic how incomprehensible]] the Santa's motivations were, which was to "bring them closer together in Christmas by sending them all to Heaven".
** The Santa Claus of the second story is a Mall Santa whose main purpose is to entertain and endear visiting children by interacting with them and doing his best to convey the image of a jolly old man that Santa is usually depicted as. The protagonist takes up a job as a {{Christmas El|ves}}f meant to look after Santa. However, the actor playing Santa Claus is not only rude and demeaning but also tends to treat the Christmas Elves as his "deers", which takes a horrifying turn when on the last day shift which involved the Santa actor getting kicked out, the protagonist, on his way home, stumbles across the actor eating venison from a reindeer's corpse. It traumatizes him to the point of him wanting to eat venison later on.
** The Santa Claus of the third story, also a Mall Santa, is a [[ZigZaggedTrope complicated case]]. At first, it seems to be a jolly old man that the protagonist, a child, wants to meet with, but couldn't due to having a long line. Later on, near the end of the shift, the protagonist manages to encounter Santa... only to realize that his facial features had become different. He proceeds to rip off the beard of Santa, only to instead tear out his face, revealing a gruesomely mangled face, after which Santa ran off. Later on, it's discovered that who the protagonist encountered wasn't even meant to play Santa Claus; the actual actor took a break, never to be found again because he was murdered by the pretender who then cut off his face and then wore it onto his own to masquerade the role with poor results.
* BaitTheDog: Some protagonists often start off innocently... until later on, it's revealed that [[EvilAllAlong they're the main source of horror in their own stories]]. One of the best examples is in the second part of the ''True Hooters Horror Stories'' where the main character attends a Hooters bar to grab a drink and stands up for a bartender after she was harassed by a rude customer. Prior to this, the bartender told the protagonist that there were rumors of Hooters bartenders going missing. Later on, the protagonist allows the bartender a drive home... only to reveal midway through the ride that ''he'' is the one behind the disappearances, after which he proceeds to viciously kill the bartender.
-->'''Protagonist:''' "You know, you should really be more careful before getting into a stranger's car. After all, Hooters waitresses have been disappearing, haven't they?"
-->''The protagonist sports out a creepy SlasherSmile whilst the bartender trembles in utmost terror.''
-->'''Bartender:''' "No! No, stop! Stop! Somebody help me!" ''(The bartender screams as the protagonist [[EvilLaugh laughs]] and sounds of stabbings and blood splattering occurs)''
* BreakTheCutie: The expected result of any central character who happens to be a child. For example, Max in the first Foster Care story admits in the beginning that what happened between him and Oliver caused him to take meds and become an alcoholic, never being able to have good sleep for a decade. The third Summer story has a little girl almost being kidnapped by a man by luring her with ice cream, and though she is saved by her father, she concludes that the incident has left her traumatized.
-->'''Little Girl:''' "I'm grateful that he [my father] was able to get me in time, but I've never been able to forget about it. I'm still traumatized years later and every night, I can't stop myself from wondering what would have happened in that motel room or what he called his "chocolate factory"."
* {{Catchphrase}}: '''''"Leave me alone, or I'm calling the cops!!!"''''', which is said by several characters whenever they feel threatened. It was first said by Terrance, but it became quite quotable to the point of being a meme for fans, and soon enough, the quote would be used for merch as well as Bound by Imagery and Arianne sometimes saying it in some variation.
* CursedItem: The second segment of the ''Amusement Park Stories'' focuses on a psychic clown that gives out answers in yes and no, that the main character and his friend, Simon, take notice of. Having stayed in the amusement part late and having five bucks to spare, the boys each use their remaining money to ask the clown about questions such as whether the protagonist has a girlfriend if Simon was to be a virgin before reaching 40, and if Simon's shirt is white, and later if it's red. Despite the protagonist and Simon deriding the psychic clown as a fad, their answers come off in the worst way possible; Simon is later attacked outside the fair bleeding heavily before dying and months later, the protagonist and his girlfriend, Maya, break up she wanted to prioritize her studies.
* DeathOfAChild: Children dying at the hands of a vicious murderer or abuser is an occasional sight in HPS's stories. Expect them to be as heartbreaking as they are mortifying.
* DemonicPossession A variant of this occurs in the second part of the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXPz0v-6HHo&t Videos with Disturbing Backgrounds]]'' collection, where the character Subin is watching the livestream of the last makeup video of South Korean actress Oh In-Hye when the viewpoint character, Tom joins along in time to see the section where the video glitches as Oh tries to comb her hair. Tom notices the number 48 and leaves perplexed. Hours later, Tom starts hearing frantic chants from Subin and when leaving to go to the toilet in the night, Tom finds Subin hunched backward and acting like a crazed beast, giving chase until Tom escapes Subin's house. Whilst crashing into a friend's house, Tom still gets frantic responses from Subin from his voicemail and returns to Subin's house to recollect his belongings, only to find her dead with her throat slit. Tom mentions that Oh In-Hye died at around the same time and believes that the number 48 might have had something to do with it[[note]]the number ''4'' is seen in Korean culture as a sign of bad luck[[/note]].
* DepravedDentist: This trope is the main theme of the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S00optPPD5k&ab_channel=HorrorShortsParty True Dentist Horror Stories]]'' collection.
** The first story is a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion as the main character doesn't have enough money to afford a dentist and decides to remove his teeth by using shoelaces as a lasso to pull them out of his gums. Of course, it's about as painful as it sounds.
** The second story focuses on a single mother whose son, Tommy, has a dentist's appointment and after the operation, he ends up displaying signs of extreme tiredness, [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior followed by being increasingly rude and having cruel morbid thoughts]], especially towards his sister, Sarah. After a while, the mother goes to the doctor and it turns out that the dentist who operated on Tommy, Dr. Teal, had used some kind of "formula" added into the happy gas that caused Tommy to undergo severe brain damage. As it turned out, the dentist's office the mother went to had been shut down, and Dr. Teal had been on the run since. Despite undergoing an MRI and observation, Tommy seems to be recovering... [[BaitTheDog and then he kills his older sister by chopping off her skull and showing it to his mother in fascination, emulating a past drawing he made about said murder]].
** The third story is based on a news story regarding [[https://abcnews.go.com/Health/dentist-accused-harming-child-patients-making-millions-dollars/story?id=36528657 Dr. Howard Schnieder]], who made headlines when he operated on several children during his tenure as a dentist in Jacksonville, Florida and extracted healthy baby teeth from the children he operated on. The central character, Alex, recalls his experience with Dr. Schnieder who operated on him without any care, assistance or attempts to numb his pain via numbing agents and happy gas. As revealed later on and on the newsreel, Dr. Schnieder lost his job as a dentist after reports came in on how he tortured and harmed children during his time as their dentist and the children's families protesting about it.
* DownerEnding: Most stories end on a depressing, tragic note with the protagonist either being unable to overcome the antagonist or the protagonist succumbing and becoming demented and twisted by the end of the story. These sorts of endings are also common when {{Villain Protagonist}}s are given, considering they would find some sort of way to triumph in the end.
* ExactWords: This is how the Psychic Clown works regarding the questions it's given and the answers it responds with. By asking whether the protagonist would have a girlfriend, meant that his then-girlfriend would break up with him after a couple of days. By asking whether Simon would be a virgin before he hits 40 and if his shirt is red, the clown meant that Simon would get stabbed, drenching his clothing in blood, and die in the hospital only moments after asking questions.
* EvilIsPetty: Some villains would antagonize the protagonists if they ever feel as if they're being slighted and want to get back at them. The most absurd example comes in the first Foster Care story where Max gets a new foster brother named Oliver, who turns out to be a sociopathic brat who feels that his sister, Nadia, is taking his attention away from Max. This, coupled with the fact that Max doesn't want to play games with Oliver during nighttime spurs the latter into killing Nadia the next day by tying her up to a tree and manipulating Max into unknowingly strangling her in a game of tug-of-war.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Sometimes when an antagonist makes a sarcastic or humorous remark, it's to further emphasize their insanity and their repulsive nature. As noted in AdaptationalVillainy above, the adaptations of certain characters and figures would make a pun about their works whilst musing about what to do with their victims.
* EvilLaugh: ''Hoo Boy!'' There's hardly a moment when a villain doesn't laugh while doing something evil or horrendous. They'll even do it casually whilst meeting a protagonist and haven't enacted their schemes yet.
* EvilSoundsDeep: When Terrence plays a villainous role, he tends to deepen his voice as his way to create some sort of characterization for them, be it either menacing or revolting.
* EvilSoundsRaspy: On the other hand, Bound in Imagery puts on a raspier, husky vocal tone when he plays the villain.
* TheGrinch: Well, certainly ''not'' [[Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas that Grinch]], but a version of the character is the main antagonist of a trio of Christmas videos centered on Grinch Horror Stories. The Grinch does make an attempt to ruin Christmas for others, but his attempts here are [[AdaptationalVillainy far more malicious]] to the extent where he would horribly maim someone under the false pretense of gifting him and his cousin a UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, or challenge a boy to tobogganing on a slippery slope that leads to his burial and death.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Whenever a kill occurs, the screen blurs to not clearly show the scene, only leaving behind sound effects of blood gushing, screaming, and a blade being repeatedly swung and hacked onto something.
* HalloweenCostumeCharacterization:
** One story set on Halloween revolves around a pair of boys, Mark and Sam, who are ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' fans and dress up as the character for Halloween after watching ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. Whilst going to "The Pit"[[note]]actually the nickname for an in-town forest reserve[[/note]] first to reach home quicker despite night time, Sam is killed by someone who dresses up as [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyTheJoker The Joker]]. When Mark encounters the cosplayer, The Joker, with some blood on his costume, jokingly asks "why so serious?" upon seeing Mark's terrified face. Though it isn't until much later that Mark realizes that Sam was missing and then made the connection between him and The Joker cosplayer. Sam was eventually found decapitated somewhere in The Pit.
-->'''Mark (internally):''' ''(whilst walking away from The Joker cosplayer)'' "What the hell was that? Was that some real-life Joker?!''
** Downplayed with the protagonist of the first Trick or Treat story; Mike, the protagonist, dresses up as [[Characters/NarutoNarutoUzumaki Naruto]] as [[Manga/{{Naruto}} the eponymous series]] is his favorite anime and does the title character's pose as his way of having fun during Halloween. His friends, Tom and Jerry, are dressed as [[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Goku]] and [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Spider-Man]] respectively for the same reasons. It's played much straighter with the antagonists of the first and third story; the former is an adult playing as [[Characters/FridayThe13thJasonVoorhees Jason Voorhees]] who intends to kill Mike and Tom by leading them to a desolate spot in a nature reserve and force them to be buried alive, and the latter is a butcher dressed up as [[Characters/HalloweenMichaelMyers Michael Myers]] who is seen dissecting a corpse and is more than willing to kill the protagonist once he's discovered.
* HateSink: Sometimes the main source of horror in a story wouldn't just be a murderous lunatic, but he would also be an asshole of the highest order, being incredibly rude, demanding, and remorseless towards anybody they get into contact with. Sometimes they wouldn't be killers at all, just someone who would have other unsavory activities in their mind, though this also makes them just as susceptible to being the victim, whereupon [[AssholeVictim they'll surely have it coming]].
* HeroicBSOD: By the climax of the last Dark Web horror story, Terrence is so emotionally distressed, physically ill, and terrified of the sheer amount of depraved and disgusting content the "Pigman" has that he could barely keep himself together whilst trying to search up on what happened to Cindy.
* HeroicRROD: Related to the above, Terrence's psychological and emotional crippling is physically shown with him having bloodshot and baggy eyes, bleeding from the nose and ears, and even popping a bloodied SnotBubble.
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: As the horror stories are themed, holidays are no exception, up to and including Halloween and Christmas.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: On the occasion that both the protagonist and antagonist are horrible people, then at least there's a chance that the former would be the one to triumph over the latter in a rather murderous way. In those cases, it's easy to take sides with an individual who decides to murder somebody after being bullied, harassed, and disrespected one too many times.
* LethalEatery: Most horror stories featuring a restaurant brand as the main setting tends to have one of these in play. Case in point, somebody enters a restaurant, orders food from a creepy and/or malicious customer service and the food turns out to have something that not only wasn't part of the order, but has something insidious put inside of them, be it human remains, needles, or bolts.
* TheMentallyDisturbed: The protagonist in the third Christmas story is revealed to be this after killing his girlfriend Cindy for supposedly disturbing and distressing him during a day out for a vacation on New Year's Eve. Unlike most killers, the protagonist expresses remorse for his action and wonders how the next time he goes to his cottage retreat, he would have to remind his girlfriend to remember his meds.
-->'''Protagonist:''' "Looking back, even though she betrayed me, I do regret how I handled the situation. I was a little brash, but maybe next time I go on a cottage retreat, my new girlfriend will remember to pack my meds.
* MonsterClown:
** It may be an animatronic, but the psychic clown still evokes the trope as creepily and scarily as it could with its blunt, yet disturbing responses to the protagonist and Simon's questions and bopping its head onto its class case rapidly whilst laughing madly.
** Two people cosplaying as [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] during Halloween are the main point of horror in the stories they're featured in, with the first cosplayer viciously killing Sam and terrifying Mark by his sheer presence and vocal inflections and the second cosplayer becoming fixated on another cosplayer playing [[Characters/HarleyQuinnTheCharacter Harley Quinn]].
** Anytime [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]] is shown on-screen, he's seen as a deranged lunatic who constantly stalks any customers and staff members of whatever [=McDonald's=] restaurant he stumbles across. One such iteration of the character is a horrendously BigEater who expects fries to be given to him by anyone he encounters, and in case there's somebody with no fries, Ronald decides to go [[ImAHumanitarian full-on man-eater on the poor lad]], as John unfortunately discovers.
* ObviouslyEvil: Anytime a villain appears, expect them to have the most stereotypically evil, creepy, disgusting, or dark facial looks possible. Or better yet, all of the above.
* PsychoStrings: Used very frequently whenever a villain is about to make a move and to emphasize the danger a protagonist is under. This being a horror series with a high success rate for the villains, it makes these just as disturbing as it is upsetting.
* PuttingThePeeInPool: In the second video of the Hot Tub stories, the protagonist has to deal with a recurring customer, Willie, who aggravates her with his sexist remarks and condescending nature as well as using his size to take over her preferred tub. The two challenged each other to see who would remain in the tub the most, prompting Willie to pee in the tub. Despite the protagonist resisting, Willie proceeds to [[ExcrementStatement fart in the tub]], smothering the protagonist with his feces and forcing her to leave in disgust. This motivates her to plot a plan to kill Willie in the tub the next time they meet, [[KickTheSonOfABitch which is exactly what she does]].
* RedIsViolent: Played With; there are times when villains possess bloodshot eyes to highlight their insanity and murderous intent. At the same time, innocent characters have those too, albeit when they're either extremely scared, exhausted, and/or under shock.
* {{Sadist}}: Most killers in the story have a tendency to muse about just what exactly they would like to do with their victims before killing them, in addition to mocking their predicament and laughing about it. The fact that they want to savor the torment and suffering of their victims before murdering them is not too subtle it seems.
* TheScream: There are a number of occasions when the protagonist screams in horror and shock whenever they witness something terrifying. There's also a villainous version in the third Trick or Treat story when the Michael Myers lookalike notices that he's being seen by a Patrick Star cosplayer whilst dissecting a body and then chasing him.
* SiblingMurder:
** The first Foster Care story ends with Oliver tricking his foster brother Max into strangling his sister, Nadia, to death whilst making it look like Max was playing tug-of-war whilst blindfolded. Oliver did this [[EvilIsPetty only because Max wouldn't play games with him and felt that Nadia was taking away Max's attention towards him]].
** The second Tinder story revolves around a date Jeff sets off via the titular app, being unaware that it's with twin sisters, Tina and Lina, who are {{conjoined|Twins}}, and it turns out that both sisters can't stand one another and argue against each other for Jeff's attention. The date ends with Tina threatening Jeff with her fork, prompting Lina to stab her sister repeatedly in the face with her knife. Given that this is a conjoined twin, both sisters die soon afterward.
** The second Dentist story ends with Tommy killing his older sister Sarah by chopping off the top half of her skull and showing it to his mother. Tommy's psychotic behavior was influenced by the secret "formula" in the happy gas that Dr. Teal administrated into the boy during his dental operation, which gave him severe brain damage and contributed to his change in personality.
* SlasherSmile: ''Very frequently'' sported by someone whenever they're about to do or are doing something sinister and they'll keep grinning even if they've been foiled. Some notable examples include the killer in the second Hooters short story, the Santa Claus with the poisoned candy canes, and the trick-or-treating story with someone cosplaying as [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]].
* SnuffFilm: The Dark Web horror tales focus on the discovery of Red Rooms hosted by a sadistic butcher wearing the facemask of a pig and dubbing himself the "Pigman". As it turns out, Eric, one of Terrance's netizen companions and the one who showed Terrance and his friends one of the livestream videos, is in league with the "Pigman" and possibly behind the disappearance and kidnapping of Cindy.
* StalkerWithACrush: This being a channel focusing on horror stories, stalkers are a given, with examples like the woman having to deal with a crazed Michael Jackson lookalike in the third MJ short and the third gym story where a woman has her privacy invaded by someone relentlessly and even attempts to capture footage of her behind the scenes. [[ExaggeratedTrope The most extreme example of this trope]] comes into play in the first part of the second collection of Hooters shorts which is based on [[https://www.insideedition.com/179-former-hooters-waitress-killed-by-stalker this news story]] about the murder of Alissa Blanton at the hands of Roger Troy.
* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: This happens on a number of occasions.
** Restaurant horror tales are the most recurring ones with this trope in play, usually involving something disgusting (puke, a dead rat), hard and inedible (a bolt), or something harmful (needles and poisons) would be slipped into a meal and served unsuspectingly, causing chaos and horror once the foul item has either been ingested or taken a bite and taste.
** The first Santa Claus story has someone severely underdressed as the titular Saint Nicholas walking around a hotel giving out candy canes that are coated with poison that would kill anyone after a painful seizure if ingested. The protagonist expects foul play and only takes a candy cane out of fear of not offending Santa Claus. His friend, on the other hand, is not as lucky and dies a horrible death.
** There's an example done by a protagonist, namely Terrance in the last of a series of Dark Web horror shorts. When spending time with a net acquaintance named Eric in an effort to learn more about Cindy, a friend who was kidnapped, tortured, and maimed by a Red Room/Snuff Film creator known as "Pigman" Cindy was designated as "Doll Number 21". Realizing that Eric is secretly a Dark Web enthusiast and likely behind Cindy's disappearance, Terrance sneaks some sleeping pills into Eric's beer to knock him out, allowing Terrance, without interruption, to discover the full depths behind Cindy's kidnapping and how many women the "Pigman" had kidnapped, tortured, and killed as part of his doll collection.
* ThreateningShark: The main horror in the second beach story is a Great White Shark who attacks a surfer and swims around him. Despite a bystander's efforts to save the surfer, it's proven futile when the shark attacks again and devours the surfer and nearly knocks out the bystander's jet ski, who is then forced to escape with his life and ends up a traumatized man for life.
* TooDumbToLive: Some characters end up making very bad decisions that end up with them either killed or horribly traumatized. {{Subverted|Trope}} when it comes to children who are usually shown to be naive and impressionable, which is a realistic take on them. The masseuse in the second massage parlor story {{lampshade|Hanging}}s how nobody tends to read about what exactly happens in the Happy Ending Special massage before signing to do that just. She narrates this after killing one of her clients who constantly harassed and annoyed her with sexist remarks.
--> "the client will receive a butchering at his request, with consented authorization of the massage therapist's weapon of choice"
* UngratefulBastard: The second video of the ''Halloween Horror Stories'' involves a father and his two sons going out on trick-or-treating, only to run into an obviously creepy witch-lookalike, who invites the boys into her home for candy. The father, already suspicious barges into the house and saves his sons by killing the witch who was about the sacrifice the boys. However, the boys angrily complain to their father for ruining their moment in trick-or-treating. The father's response? He promptly calls them out for their ungratefulness and abandons them in their cages. The next shot shows the boys as rotten skeletons, [[OffingTheOffspring having died because of their father's decision to abandon him]].
* UnsatisfiableCustomer: Another recurring type of antagonist where restaurant stories are concerned.
** The first Popeye's story is about a customer who is so pissed off at not being able to get a chicken sandwich that he constantly talks about it to the staff member at the cashier and the store assistant, ignoring the fact that the chicken sandwich has been sold out. Even the offer of a coupon falls flat and serves to infuriate the customer even more, prompting him to jump over the counter and attack the store manager, who due to his larger size, [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown reacts accordingly]].
--->'''Customer:''' "What? You're out?! What do you mean Popeyes is out of chicken sandwiches? Y'all are a bunch of frauds!"
--->'''Staff Member:''' "I'm really sorry sir, but the sandwich is extremely popular. We'll have more tomorrow if you'd like to come back."
--->'''Customer:''' "Are you trying to tell me that I waited in this ridiculous line for 45 minutes, just for you tell me to come back tomorrow?!"
--->'''Staff Member:''' ''(nervously)'' "Well, if you're really hungry, we have plenty of chicken tenders and biscuits."
--->'''Customer:''' ''(continually raising his voice)'' "'''I don't! Want! Chicken tenders! I want the chicken sandwich! You hear me! Sandwich! Sandwich!''' '''''Get me the sandwich!!'''''"
--->'''Staff Member:''' ''(fearfully)'' "Let me go get my manager."
--->'''Manager:''' (after arriving a few minutes later) "Sir, we deeply apologize that you wouldn't able to get the meal you were looking for. We try to make sure everyone gets what they want, but everyone wants the same thing and we have a limited supply."
--->'''Customer:''' "Screw your limited supply, I want a chicken sandwich!"
--->'''Manager:''' ''(sighs)'' "How about this; since you waited in line, I'll give you a coupon for half off the meal combo. Does that work for you?"
--->'''Customer:''' "'''''[[AxCrazy I WANT IT!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!]]'''''" ''(cue the customer jumping over the counter and attacking the manager, only for the manager to fight back)''
** The first Arby's story centers on a police officer who is frustrated and exhausted over arresting a criminal and tries to order a burger at Arby's to quell his anger, albeit failingly as he responds to everybody around him as rudely as he can, to the point where he complains about the amount of time that had passed since he placed his order and threatening to arrest the manager for "public nuisance" if not delivered on time. Once he gets his burger, the officer takes a bite, only to chomp down on a piece of bolt that was slipped under by a staff member who had unintentionally angered the cop. Turns out that said staff member was the sister of the criminal at the beginning of the video who was trying to take revenge on the cop for not going easy on her brother and disrespecting her at Arby's, even when she was apologizing
* UnsexySadist: This happens occasionally where some antagonists try to pose themselves as suave, polite, and even handsome, despite their appearances being described as anything but, which only serves to make them much more repulsive towards the protagonists, other characters, and the audience.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Some stories have a disclaimer at the beginning of their videos with either Terrence or Bound by Imagery providing context about real-life events that have inspired the stories.
* VillainProtagonist: Some storylines have the culprit, or killer being the main point-of-view character and delving into their warped point-of-view of how they integrate themselves into society and how they lure their victims into their presence before revealing their malicious intent. These usually conclude with chilling {{Downer|Ending}} or {{Gainax Ending}}s.
* VillainousBreakdown: This happens on a number of occasions, usually when an antagonist is surprised, caught off-guard, or injured, whereupon they would freak out and complain about how they're being bested, complete with loud shouting and screaming as well as declaring the intent to kill. The Michael Myers cosplayer is noticeable in that he has one after realizing he was being watched, prompting him to yell loudly and bolt towards the Patrick Star cosplayer, intending to kill him.
* WouldHurtAChild: A lot of the stories have the villain targeting children and teenagers to hunt and hurt and they have absolutely no qualms about killing them if given the opportunity if mainly because they tend to be more vulnerable targets and the villain would very likely exploit that opportunity.
* {{Yandere}}: A Hooters animated story was inspired by [[https://www.insideedition.com/179-former-hooters-waitress-killed-by-stalker this news event]] where a former waitress, Alissa Blanton, 23, (referred to as Liz in the story) was murdered by a former Hooters recurring customer, Roger Troy, 61, who had been stalking her for two years, even when she got married. The extent of Roger's stalking was such that it terrified Alissa to the point of moving states with her husband, Brent, though it didn't stop him from pursuing her. When Roger killed Alissa after hearing news of him being alerted to a hearing about his stalking, he soon took his own life.
----
[[caption-width-right:350:''[[{{Catchphrase}} "Leave me alone, or I'm calling the cops!"]]'']]
''[[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsCAWoG-SagS7aFuWT1IZPw Horror Shorts Party]]'' is a Website/YouTube channel that, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as its name suggests]], focuses on telling a series of horror stories, real or fictionalized, in animated segments. Much like other horror story-based channels, Horror Shorts Party tends to focus each individual video on a particular subject whilst containing three stories focusing on an individual setting whilst keeping a similar premise, though there are occasional compilations that make up for around 8-10 segments. Whilst innocent characters make up for most of the central focus, there are times when [[VillainProtagonist the villain is the central character]], leading to all sorts of variable narratives and twists.
This [=YouTube=] channel tends to employ a collection of voice actors in the videos, usually playing the central character of a segment. The most recurring actor to appear in these videos is [[https://www.youtube.com/user/jadethedragon1 Terrance Nicholson]], with [[https://www.youtube.com/user/Liteitup576 Bound in Imagery]] being a close second. Female voice actors, such as Arianne and [[https://www.youtube.com/c/MiaYimOfficial Mia Yim]] (yes, ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia_Yim that]]'' Mia Yim) often provide additional background voice acting, either playing supporting roles or an antagonist.
!!Horror Shorts Party provides the following tropes...
* AdaptationalVillainy:
** Creator/GordonRamsay in the second Hell's Kitchen and Music/{{Drake}} in the second Drake stories are reimagined as unhinged, psychopathic madmen who use their authority to aggressively hound and demean their chefs and a fan respectively. Both take it up a notch in different ways; Gordon kills one of his chefs sometime after firing him and this terries another chef into being trapped in his job and workplace when he realizes why the other chef hasn't been heard of since while Drake is angry at his fan for trying to leave him with the intent to capture her and keep her as his sex slave.
** Music/MichaelJackson is also given a similar treatment in one of his stories, being an unhinged madman and creepy father who cackles puns of his songs when he corners the protagonist of the first MJ Horror Story. The same applies in the second Mario story where [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] becomes a cannibalistic monster who kills and eats humans any time he catches the scent of mushrooms.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsOFc8jreGY&ab_channel=HorrorShortsParty Dramatized retellings of memes and events involving]] ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' also feature [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsMrKrabs Mr. Krabs]] in the first story and [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsSpongeBobSquarePants SpongeBob]] himself in the third story reimagined as being little-to-nothing like the original source material. Mr. Krabs is a killer who slaughters whales and cuts and cooks their flesh to serve as part of his Krabby Patties. It's also said that Mr. Krabs killed Pearl's parents for exactly that reason and then adopted her, with further implications that Mr. Krabs would do the same to Pearl as what he did to her parents. [=SpongeBob=], on the other hand, is obsessed with finding out about a photograph that was hidden by [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsPatrickStar Patrick Star]] and kills him (as well as the rest of the series cast prior hand) when [=SpongeBob=] realizes that the hidden photo was of [=SpongeBob=] holding the head of a beheaded fish and was angry to learn that Patrick didn't destroy the photo as [=SpongeBob=] had asked him to do so years ago.
* AnachronismStew: An example of this occurs in the third [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUs5H1kZHgw&ab_channel=HorrorShortsParty Homeless Horror Stories]] video, where it's said that the incident took place in UsefulNotes/TheNineties. Throughout the video, there is this dialogue about a certain popular anime that was released in ''2019''...
-->'''Homeless Man:''' "So this guy walks up to me and says "hey man, have you seen the newest ''[[Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba Demon Slayer]]'' episode, and I said "I can't watch ''Demon Slayer'', I'm homeless"."
* AnguishedOutburst: The central character of the second Amusement Park Story undergoes a drastic one here after having to cope with the murder of his friend Simon, and the breakup of his girlfriend Maya due to a cursed Psychic Clown that he and Simon stumbled across during their trip to a nearby amusement part. When he stumbles upon the Psychic Clown again months later and waits until everyone leaves, Simon frantically and emotionally starts pounding on the glass screen where the Psychic Clown is and rants with tears in his eyes.
-->'''Protagonist:''' "I know you're alive! You were right beside the freaking hot dog stand! You wouldn't think I'd notice?! I'd knew damn well you were the reason my friend is dead and why my girl and I are separated!"
* ArtShift: Several stories have different animation styles, from your typical animation and something similar to ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' to more specialized art styles reminiscent of works by Creator/TimBurton and even a faithful recreation of the art style of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
* AssholeVictim: Some of the victims are these, especially shown when the VillainProtagonist tend to get irritated and antagonized by them and they decide to strike back murderously. Some examples include the second hot tub, second massage parlor, and third beach stories.
* AxCrazy: Most villains featured in HSP's tales are basically bloodthirsty maniacs who are either causing some sort of mayhem or are killing people either for [[EvilIsPetty slight mishaps]], or [[ForTheEvulz for the hell of it]].
* AnAxToGrind:
** The boyfriend in the third Christmas story takes out an axe in his cottage retreat and hacks his girlfriend, Cindy, to death after being convinced that she was disturbing him during the nights by tapping on the windows and leaving behind a well-made snowman outside the cottage. Though as it turns out, the boyfriend may be mentally disturbed, as revealed in his last lines, and regretted his act of violence.
** The masseuse in the second massage parlor story kills her demeaning and rude customer by inviting him to a supposedly private massage and then hacking his neck repeatedly with an ax after he decides to have the "happy ending massage".
* BadHumorTruck: The third Summer story has this trope in play as the protagonist, a little girl, wants ice cream really badly, but encounters a suspicious-looking man in an ice cream truck who claims to be Willy Wonka. Her desperation causes said ice cream man to return during the night and give her [[ExcrementStatement poop disguised as chocolate flavor]] to make her puke before trying to kidnap her. Fortunately, she is saved by her father, though [[BreakTheCutie not without having her innocence shattered and being traumatized]].
* BadSanta: This trope is the central basis of the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtD3OjFZtrU 3 True Santa Claus Horror Stories]]''.
** The Santa Claus in the first story, who is almost naked and carrying a light, barely stuffed pouch, happens to be lurking in a hotel wandering in the corridors to encounter anyone whom he stumbles across. He intends to give children a crudely-made Christmas candy cane which, unbeknownst to them, contains an extremely potent poison that would [[CruelAndUnusualDeath cause them to convulse into an uncontrollable seizure and asphyxiation that would kill them within minutes]]. While the protagonist does take a cane mainly because he was being forced into it, he doesn't have any intention to eat it mainly because of his encounter with the Santa. His friend, unfortunately, is not as lucky, as he is found dying in agonizing pain and nothing could be prevented. In court, the protagonist questions just [[InsaneTrollLogic how incomprehensible]] the Santa's motivations were, which was to "bring them closer together in Christmas by sending them all to Heaven".
** The Santa Claus of the second story is a Mall Santa whose main purpose is to entertain and endear visiting children by interacting with them and doing his best to convey the image of a jolly old man that Santa is usually depicted as. The protagonist takes up a job as a {{Christmas El|ves}}f meant to look after Santa. However, the actor playing Santa Claus is not only rude and demeaning but also tends to treat the Christmas Elves as his "deers", which takes a horrifying turn when on the last day shift which involved the Santa actor getting kicked out, the protagonist, on his way home, stumbles across the actor eating venison from a reindeer's corpse. It traumatizes him to the point of him wanting to eat venison later on.
** The Santa Claus of the third story, also a Mall Santa, is a [[ZigZaggedTrope complicated case]]. At first, it seems to be a jolly old man that the protagonist, a child, wants to meet with, but couldn't due to having a long line. Later on, near the end of the shift, the protagonist manages to encounter Santa... only to realize that his facial features had become different. He proceeds to rip off the beard of Santa, only to instead tear out his face, revealing a gruesomely mangled face, after which Santa ran off. Later on, it's discovered that who the protagonist encountered wasn't even meant to play Santa Claus; the actual actor took a break, never to be found again because he was murdered by the pretender who then cut off his face and then wore it onto his own to masquerade the role with poor results.
* BaitTheDog: Some protagonists often start off innocently... until later on, it's revealed that [[EvilAllAlong they're the main source of horror in their own stories]]. One of the best examples is in the second part of the ''True Hooters Horror Stories'' where the main character attends a Hooters bar to grab a drink and stands up for a bartender after she was harassed by a rude customer. Prior to this, the bartender told the protagonist that there were rumors of Hooters bartenders going missing. Later on, the protagonist allows the bartender a drive home... only to reveal midway through the ride that ''he'' is the one behind the disappearances, after which he proceeds to viciously kill the bartender.
-->'''Protagonist:''' "You know, you should really be more careful before getting into a stranger's car. After all, Hooters waitresses have been disappearing, haven't they?"
-->''The protagonist sports out a creepy SlasherSmile whilst the bartender trembles in utmost terror.''
-->'''Bartender:''' "No! No, stop! Stop! Somebody help me!" ''(The bartender screams as the protagonist [[EvilLaugh laughs]] and sounds of stabbings and blood splattering occurs)''
* BreakTheCutie: The expected result of any central character who happens to be a child. For example, Max in the first Foster Care story admits in the beginning that what happened between him and Oliver caused him to take meds and become an alcoholic, never being able to have good sleep for a decade. The third Summer story has a little girl almost being kidnapped by a man by luring her with ice cream, and though she is saved by her father, she concludes that the incident has left her traumatized.
-->'''Little Girl:''' "I'm grateful that he [my father] was able to get me in time, but I've never been able to forget about it. I'm still traumatized years later and every night, I can't stop myself from wondering what would have happened in that motel room or what he called his "chocolate factory"."
* {{Catchphrase}}: '''''"Leave me alone, or I'm calling the cops!!!"''''', which is said by several characters whenever they feel threatened. It was first said by Terrance, but it became quite quotable to the point of being a meme for fans, and soon enough, the quote would be used for merch as well as Bound by Imagery and Arianne sometimes saying it in some variation.
* CursedItem: The second segment of the ''Amusement Park Stories'' focuses on a psychic clown that gives out answers in yes and no, that the main character and his friend, Simon, take notice of. Having stayed in the amusement part late and having five bucks to spare, the boys each use their remaining money to ask the clown about questions such as whether the protagonist has a girlfriend if Simon was to be a virgin before reaching 40, and if Simon's shirt is white, and later if it's red. Despite the protagonist and Simon deriding the psychic clown as a fad, their answers come off in the worst way possible; Simon is later attacked outside the fair bleeding heavily before dying and months later, the protagonist and his girlfriend, Maya, break up she wanted to prioritize her studies.
* DeathOfAChild: Children dying at the hands of a vicious murderer or abuser is an occasional sight in HPS's stories. Expect them to be as heartbreaking as they are mortifying.
* DemonicPossession A variant of this occurs in the second part of the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXPz0v-6HHo&t Videos with Disturbing Backgrounds]]'' collection, where the character Subin is watching the livestream of the last makeup video of South Korean actress Oh In-Hye when the viewpoint character, Tom joins along in time to see the section where the video glitches as Oh tries to comb her hair. Tom notices the number 48 and leaves perplexed. Hours later, Tom starts hearing frantic chants from Subin and when leaving to go to the toilet in the night, Tom finds Subin hunched backward and acting like a crazed beast, giving chase until Tom escapes Subin's house. Whilst crashing into a friend's house, Tom still gets frantic responses from Subin from his voicemail and returns to Subin's house to recollect his belongings, only to find her dead with her throat slit. Tom mentions that Oh In-Hye died at around the same time and believes that the number 48 might have had something to do with it[[note]]the number ''4'' is seen in Korean culture as a sign of bad luck[[/note]].
* DepravedDentist: This trope is the main theme of the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S00optPPD5k&ab_channel=HorrorShortsParty True Dentist Horror Stories]]'' collection.
** The first story is a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion as the main character doesn't have enough money to afford a dentist and decides to remove his teeth by using shoelaces as a lasso to pull them out of his gums. Of course, it's about as painful as it sounds.
** The second story focuses on a single mother whose son, Tommy, has a dentist's appointment and after the operation, he ends up displaying signs of extreme tiredness, [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior followed by being increasingly rude and having cruel morbid thoughts]], especially towards his sister, Sarah. After a while, the mother goes to the doctor and it turns out that the dentist who operated on Tommy, Dr. Teal, had used some kind of "formula" added into the happy gas that caused Tommy to undergo severe brain damage. As it turned out, the dentist's office the mother went to had been shut down, and Dr. Teal had been on the run since. Despite undergoing an MRI and observation, Tommy seems to be recovering... [[BaitTheDog and then he kills his older sister by chopping off her skull and showing it to his mother in fascination, emulating a past drawing he made about said murder]].
** The third story is based on a news story regarding [[https://abcnews.go.com/Health/dentist-accused-harming-child-patients-making-millions-dollars/story?id=36528657 Dr. Howard Schnieder]], who made headlines when he operated on several children during his tenure as a dentist in Jacksonville, Florida and extracted healthy baby teeth from the children he operated on. The central character, Alex, recalls his experience with Dr. Schnieder who operated on him without any care, assistance or attempts to numb his pain via numbing agents and happy gas. As revealed later on and on the newsreel, Dr. Schnieder lost his job as a dentist after reports came in on how he tortured and harmed children during his time as their dentist and the children's families protesting about it.
* DownerEnding: Most stories end on a depressing, tragic note with the protagonist either being unable to overcome the antagonist or the protagonist succumbing and becoming demented and twisted by the end of the story. These sorts of endings are also common when {{Villain Protagonist}}s are given, considering they would find some sort of way to triumph in the end.
* ExactWords: This is how the Psychic Clown works regarding the questions it's given and the answers it responds with. By asking whether the protagonist would have a girlfriend, meant that his then-girlfriend would break up with him after a couple of days. By asking whether Simon would be a virgin before he hits 40 and if his shirt is red, the clown meant that Simon would get stabbed, drenching his clothing in blood, and die in the hospital only moments after asking questions.
* EvilIsPetty: Some villains would antagonize the protagonists if they ever feel as if they're being slighted and want to get back at them. The most absurd example comes in the first Foster Care story where Max gets a new foster brother named Oliver, who turns out to be a sociopathic brat who feels that his sister, Nadia, is taking his attention away from Max. This, coupled with the fact that Max doesn't want to play games with Oliver during nighttime spurs the latter into killing Nadia the next day by tying her up to a tree and manipulating Max into unknowingly strangling her in a game of tug-of-war.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: Sometimes when an antagonist makes a sarcastic or humorous remark, it's to further emphasize their insanity and their repulsive nature. As noted in AdaptationalVillainy above, the adaptations of certain characters and figures would make a pun about their works whilst musing about what to do with their victims.
* EvilLaugh: ''Hoo Boy!'' There's hardly a moment when a villain doesn't laugh while doing something evil or horrendous. They'll even do it casually whilst meeting a protagonist and haven't enacted their schemes yet.
* EvilSoundsDeep: When Terrence plays a villainous role, he tends to deepen his voice as his way to create some sort of characterization for them, be it either menacing or revolting.
* EvilSoundsRaspy: On the other hand, Bound in Imagery puts on a raspier, husky vocal tone when he plays the villain.
* TheGrinch: Well, certainly ''not'' [[Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas that Grinch]], but a version of the character is the main antagonist of a trio of Christmas videos centered on Grinch Horror Stories. The Grinch does make an attempt to ruin Christmas for others, but his attempts here are [[AdaptationalVillainy far more malicious]] to the extent where he would horribly maim someone under the false pretense of gifting him and his cousin a UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, or challenge a boy to tobogganing on a slippery slope that leads to his burial and death.
* GoryDiscretionShot: Whenever a kill occurs, the screen blurs to not clearly show the scene, only leaving behind sound effects of blood gushing, screaming, and a blade being repeatedly swung and hacked onto something.
* HalloweenCostumeCharacterization:
** One story set on Halloween revolves around a pair of boys, Mark and Sam, who are ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' fans and dress up as the character for Halloween after watching ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. Whilst going to "The Pit"[[note]]actually the nickname for an in-town forest reserve[[/note]] first to reach home quicker despite night time, Sam is killed by someone who dresses up as [[Characters/TheDarkKnightTrilogyTheJoker The Joker]]. When Mark encounters the cosplayer, The Joker, with some blood on his costume, jokingly asks "why so serious?" upon seeing Mark's terrified face. Though it isn't until much later that Mark realizes that Sam was missing and then made the connection between him and The Joker cosplayer. Sam was eventually found decapitated somewhere in The Pit.
-->'''Mark (internally):''' ''(whilst walking away from The Joker cosplayer)'' "What the hell was that? Was that some real-life Joker?!''
** Downplayed with the protagonist of the first Trick or Treat story; Mike, the protagonist, dresses up as [[Characters/NarutoNarutoUzumaki Naruto]] as [[Manga/{{Naruto}} the eponymous series]] is his favorite anime and does the title character's pose as his way of having fun during Halloween. His friends, Tom and Jerry, are dressed as [[Characters/DragonBallSonGoku Goku]] and [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Spider-Man]] respectively for the same reasons. It's played much straighter with the antagonists of the first and third story; the former is an adult playing as [[Characters/FridayThe13thJasonVoorhees Jason Voorhees]] who intends to kill Mike and Tom by leading them to a desolate spot in a nature reserve and force them to be buried alive, and the latter is a butcher dressed up as [[Characters/HalloweenMichaelMyers Michael Myers]] who is seen dissecting a corpse and is more than willing to kill the protagonist once he's discovered.
* HateSink: Sometimes the main source of horror in a story wouldn't just be a murderous lunatic, but he would also be an asshole of the highest order, being incredibly rude, demanding, and remorseless towards anybody they get into contact with. Sometimes they wouldn't be killers at all, just someone who would have other unsavory activities in their mind, though this also makes them just as susceptible to being the victim, whereupon [[AssholeVictim they'll surely have it coming]].
* HeroicBSOD: By the climax of the last Dark Web horror story, Terrence is so emotionally distressed, physically ill, and terrified of the sheer amount of depraved and disgusting content the "Pigman" has that he could barely keep himself together whilst trying to search up on what happened to Cindy.
* HeroicRROD: Related to the above, Terrence's psychological and emotional crippling is physically shown with him having bloodshot and baggy eyes, bleeding from the nose and ears, and even popping a bloodied SnotBubble.
* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: As the horror stories are themed, holidays are no exception, up to and including Halloween and Christmas.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: On the occasion that both the protagonist and antagonist are horrible people, then at least there's a chance that the former would be the one to triumph over the latter in a rather murderous way. In those cases, it's easy to take sides with an individual who decides to murder somebody after being bullied, harassed, and disrespected one too many times.
* LethalEatery: Most horror stories featuring a restaurant brand as the main setting tends to have one of these in play. Case in point, somebody enters a restaurant, orders food from a creepy and/or malicious customer service and the food turns out to have something that not only wasn't part of the order, but has something insidious put inside of them, be it human remains, needles, or bolts.
* TheMentallyDisturbed: The protagonist in the third Christmas story is revealed to be this after killing his girlfriend Cindy for supposedly disturbing and distressing him during a day out for a vacation on New Year's Eve. Unlike most killers, the protagonist expresses remorse for his action and wonders how the next time he goes to his cottage retreat, he would have to remind his girlfriend to remember his meds.
-->'''Protagonist:''' "Looking back, even though she betrayed me, I do regret how I handled the situation. I was a little brash, but maybe next time I go on a cottage retreat, my new girlfriend will remember to pack my meds.
* MonsterClown:
** It may be an animatronic, but the psychic clown still evokes the trope as creepily and scarily as it could with its blunt, yet disturbing responses to the protagonist and Simon's questions and bopping its head onto its class case rapidly whilst laughing madly.
** Two people cosplaying as [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] during Halloween are the main point of horror in the stories they're featured in, with the first cosplayer viciously killing Sam and terrifying Mark by his sheer presence and vocal inflections and the second cosplayer becoming fixated on another cosplayer playing [[Characters/HarleyQuinnTheCharacter Harley Quinn]].
** Anytime [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]] is shown on-screen, he's seen as a deranged lunatic who constantly stalks any customers and staff members of whatever [=McDonald's=] restaurant he stumbles across. One such iteration of the character is a horrendously BigEater who expects fries to be given to him by anyone he encounters, and in case there's somebody with no fries, Ronald decides to go [[ImAHumanitarian full-on man-eater on the poor lad]], as John unfortunately discovers.
* ObviouslyEvil: Anytime a villain appears, expect them to have the most stereotypically evil, creepy, disgusting, or dark facial looks possible. Or better yet, all of the above.
* PsychoStrings: Used very frequently whenever a villain is about to make a move and to emphasize the danger a protagonist is under. This being a horror series with a high success rate for the villains, it makes these just as disturbing as it is upsetting.
* PuttingThePeeInPool: In the second video of the Hot Tub stories, the protagonist has to deal with a recurring customer, Willie, who aggravates her with his sexist remarks and condescending nature as well as using his size to take over her preferred tub. The two challenged each other to see who would remain in the tub the most, prompting Willie to pee in the tub. Despite the protagonist resisting, Willie proceeds to [[ExcrementStatement fart in the tub]], smothering the protagonist with his feces and forcing her to leave in disgust. This motivates her to plot a plan to kill Willie in the tub the next time they meet, [[KickTheSonOfABitch which is exactly what she does]].
* RedIsViolent: Played With; there are times when villains possess bloodshot eyes to highlight their insanity and murderous intent. At the same time, innocent characters have those too, albeit when they're either extremely scared, exhausted, and/or under shock.
* {{Sadist}}: Most killers in the story have a tendency to muse about just what exactly they would like to do with their victims before killing them, in addition to mocking their predicament and laughing about it. The fact that they want to savor the torment and suffering of their victims before murdering them is not too subtle it seems.
* TheScream: There are a number of occasions when the protagonist screams in horror and shock whenever they witness something terrifying. There's also a villainous version in the third Trick or Treat story when the Michael Myers lookalike notices that he's being seen by a Patrick Star cosplayer whilst dissecting a body and then chasing him.
* SiblingMurder:
** The first Foster Care story ends with Oliver tricking his foster brother Max into strangling his sister, Nadia, to death whilst making it look like Max was playing tug-of-war whilst blindfolded. Oliver did this [[EvilIsPetty only because Max wouldn't play games with him and felt that Nadia was taking away Max's attention towards him]].
** The second Tinder story revolves around a date Jeff sets off via the titular app, being unaware that it's with twin sisters, Tina and Lina, who are {{conjoined|Twins}}, and it turns out that both sisters can't stand one another and argue against each other for Jeff's attention. The date ends with Tina threatening Jeff with her fork, prompting Lina to stab her sister repeatedly in the face with her knife. Given that this is a conjoined twin, both sisters die soon afterward.
** The second Dentist story ends with Tommy killing his older sister Sarah by chopping off the top half of her skull and showing it to his mother. Tommy's psychotic behavior was influenced by the secret "formula" in the happy gas that Dr. Teal administrated into the boy during his dental operation, which gave him severe brain damage and contributed to his change in personality.
* SlasherSmile: ''Very frequently'' sported by someone whenever they're about to do or are doing something sinister and they'll keep grinning even if they've been foiled. Some notable examples include the killer in the second Hooters short story, the Santa Claus with the poisoned candy canes, and the trick-or-treating story with someone cosplaying as [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]].
* SnuffFilm: The Dark Web horror tales focus on the discovery of Red Rooms hosted by a sadistic butcher wearing the facemask of a pig and dubbing himself the "Pigman". As it turns out, Eric, one of Terrance's netizen companions and the one who showed Terrance and his friends one of the livestream videos, is in league with the "Pigman" and possibly behind the disappearance and kidnapping of Cindy.
* StalkerWithACrush: This being a channel focusing on horror stories, stalkers are a given, with examples like the woman having to deal with a crazed Michael Jackson lookalike in the third MJ short and the third gym story where a woman has her privacy invaded by someone relentlessly and even attempts to capture footage of her behind the scenes. [[ExaggeratedTrope The most extreme example of this trope]] comes into play in the first part of the second collection of Hooters shorts which is based on [[https://www.insideedition.com/179-former-hooters-waitress-killed-by-stalker this news story]] about the murder of Alissa Blanton at the hands of Roger Troy.
* TamperingWithFoodAndDrink: This happens on a number of occasions.
** Restaurant horror tales are the most recurring ones with this trope in play, usually involving something disgusting (puke, a dead rat), hard and inedible (a bolt), or something harmful (needles and poisons) would be slipped into a meal and served unsuspectingly, causing chaos and horror once the foul item has either been ingested or taken a bite and taste.
** The first Santa Claus story has someone severely underdressed as the titular Saint Nicholas walking around a hotel giving out candy canes that are coated with poison that would kill anyone after a painful seizure if ingested. The protagonist expects foul play and only takes a candy cane out of fear of not offending Santa Claus. His friend, on the other hand, is not as lucky and dies a horrible death.
** There's an example done by a protagonist, namely Terrance in the last of a series of Dark Web horror shorts. When spending time with a net acquaintance named Eric in an effort to learn more about Cindy, a friend who was kidnapped, tortured, and maimed by a Red Room/Snuff Film creator known as "Pigman" Cindy was designated as "Doll Number 21". Realizing that Eric is secretly a Dark Web enthusiast and likely behind Cindy's disappearance, Terrance sneaks some sleeping pills into Eric's beer to knock him out, allowing Terrance, without interruption, to discover the full depths behind Cindy's kidnapping and how many women the "Pigman" had kidnapped, tortured, and killed as part of his doll collection.
* ThreateningShark: The main horror in the second beach story is a Great White Shark who attacks a surfer and swims around him. Despite a bystander's efforts to save the surfer, it's proven futile when the shark attacks again and devours the surfer and nearly knocks out the bystander's jet ski, who is then forced to escape with his life and ends up a traumatized man for life.
* TooDumbToLive: Some characters end up making very bad decisions that end up with them either killed or horribly traumatized. {{Subverted|Trope}} when it comes to children who are usually shown to be naive and impressionable, which is a realistic take on them. The masseuse in the second massage parlor story {{lampshade|Hanging}}s how nobody tends to read about what exactly happens in the Happy Ending Special massage before signing to do that just. She narrates this after killing one of her clients who constantly harassed and annoyed her with sexist remarks.
--> "the client will receive a butchering at his request, with consented authorization of the massage therapist's weapon of choice"
* UngratefulBastard: The second video of the ''Halloween Horror Stories'' involves a father and his two sons going out on trick-or-treating, only to run into an obviously creepy witch-lookalike, who invites the boys into her home for candy. The father, already suspicious barges into the house and saves his sons by killing the witch who was about the sacrifice the boys. However, the boys angrily complain to their father for ruining their moment in trick-or-treating. The father's response? He promptly calls them out for their ungratefulness and abandons them in their cages. The next shot shows the boys as rotten skeletons, [[OffingTheOffspring having died because of their father's decision to abandon him]].
* UnsatisfiableCustomer: Another recurring type of antagonist where restaurant stories are concerned.
** The first Popeye's story is about a customer who is so pissed off at not being able to get a chicken sandwich that he constantly talks about it to the staff member at the cashier and the store assistant, ignoring the fact that the chicken sandwich has been sold out. Even the offer of a coupon falls flat and serves to infuriate the customer even more, prompting him to jump over the counter and attack the store manager, who due to his larger size, [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown reacts accordingly]].
--->'''Customer:''' "What? You're out?! What do you mean Popeyes is out of chicken sandwiches? Y'all are a bunch of frauds!"
--->'''Staff Member:''' "I'm really sorry sir, but the sandwich is extremely popular. We'll have more tomorrow if you'd like to come back."
--->'''Customer:''' "Are you trying to tell me that I waited in this ridiculous line for 45 minutes, just for you tell me to come back tomorrow?!"
--->'''Staff Member:''' ''(nervously)'' "Well, if you're really hungry, we have plenty of chicken tenders and biscuits."
--->'''Customer:''' ''(continually raising his voice)'' "'''I don't! Want! Chicken tenders! I want the chicken sandwich! You hear me! Sandwich! Sandwich!''' '''''Get me the sandwich!!'''''"
--->'''Staff Member:''' ''(fearfully)'' "Let me go get my manager."
--->'''Manager:''' (after arriving a few minutes later) "Sir, we deeply apologize that you wouldn't able to get the meal you were looking for. We try to make sure everyone gets what they want, but everyone wants the same thing and we have a limited supply."
--->'''Customer:''' "Screw your limited supply, I want a chicken sandwich!"
--->'''Manager:''' ''(sighs)'' "How about this; since you waited in line, I'll give you a coupon for half off the meal combo. Does that work for you?"
--->'''Customer:''' "'''''[[AxCrazy I WANT IT!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!]]'''''" ''(cue the customer jumping over the counter and attacking the manager, only for the manager to fight back)''
** The first Arby's story centers on a police officer who is frustrated and exhausted over arresting a criminal and tries to order a burger at Arby's to quell his anger, albeit failingly as he responds to everybody around him as rudely as he can, to the point where he complains about the amount of time that had passed since he placed his order and threatening to arrest the manager for "public nuisance" if not delivered on time. Once he gets his burger, the officer takes a bite, only to chomp down on a piece of bolt that was slipped under by a staff member who had unintentionally angered the cop. Turns out that said staff member was the sister of the criminal at the beginning of the video who was trying to take revenge on the cop for not going easy on her brother and disrespecting her at Arby's, even when she was apologizing
* UnsexySadist: This happens occasionally where some antagonists try to pose themselves as suave, polite, and even handsome, despite their appearances being described as anything but, which only serves to make them much more repulsive towards the protagonists, other characters, and the audience.
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Some stories have a disclaimer at the beginning of their videos with either Terrence or Bound by Imagery providing context about real-life events that have inspired the stories.
* VillainProtagonist: Some storylines have the culprit, or killer being the main point-of-view character and delving into their warped point-of-view of how they integrate themselves into society and how they lure their victims into their presence before revealing their malicious intent. These usually conclude with chilling {{Downer|Ending}} or {{Gainax Ending}}s.
* VillainousBreakdown: This happens on a number of occasions, usually when an antagonist is surprised, caught off-guard, or injured, whereupon they would freak out and complain about how they're being bested, complete with loud shouting and screaming as well as declaring the intent to kill. The Michael Myers cosplayer is noticeable in that he has one after realizing he was being watched, prompting him to yell loudly and bolt towards the Patrick Star cosplayer, intending to kill him.
* WouldHurtAChild: A lot of the stories have the villain targeting children and teenagers to hunt and hurt and they have absolutely no qualms about killing them if given the opportunity if mainly because they tend to be more vulnerable targets and the villain would very likely exploit that opportunity.
* {{Yandere}}: A Hooters animated story was inspired by [[https://www.insideedition.com/179-former-hooters-waitress-killed-by-stalker this news event]] where a former waitress, Alissa Blanton, 23, (referred to as Liz in the story) was murdered by a former Hooters recurring customer, Roger Troy, 61, who had been stalking her for two years, even when she got married. The extent of Roger's stalking was such that it terrified Alissa to the point of moving states with her husband, Brent, though it didn't stop him from pursuing her. When Roger killed Alissa after hearing news of him being alerted to a hearing about his stalking, he soon took his own life.
----
