Line #31 Main/HorrorStruck


1	->''"On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow-traveller in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horror-struck on perceiving that he was headless!..."''
2	-->-- ''Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow'' by '''Creator/WashingtonIrving'''
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4	A character has been called to a small town to investigate some supernatural phenomenon. Our intrepid hero subscribes more to logic than superstition, though, and he is confident that the disturbance will prove to have mundane origins. The locals tell him tales of this horrible monster, and he laughs them off as the products of an overactive imagination. With this knowledge under his belt, he bravely sets out to catch the miscreant.
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6	This ends when he actually SEES the monster -- and finds that it is just as advertised, and worse. He sees the eerie, glowing intelligence in its eyes, smells the rotten meat on its breath, gets smacked around a bit, but survives, running back to safety to hide under the bed and refusing to come out because it's real ''it's real'' OH MY GOD ''IT'S REAL''... even though that's what everyone's been telling him up till now.
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8	Inspired by the protagonist of ''Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow'' and in particular Ichabod Crane's portrayal in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'', this state is what results when mundane presuppositions come crashing against the supernatural reality, and the character in question just can't handle it.
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10	Differs from HeroicBSOD in that this is not necessarily a result of emotional trauma.
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12	Related: GoingNative, ApocalypticLog, SupernaturalProofFather, SkepticNoLonger. Contrast AdmiringTheAbomination, where the character, whether expecting an actual monster or not, reacts with awe, excitement, or even joy upon seeing it.
13	----
14	!!Examples:
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18	[[folder: Film ]]
19	* ''Film/FourteenOhEight'': Mike Enslin, despite being a non-fiction writer about the supernatural, is a skeptic and expects a normal night's stay in the titular hotel room. It soon becomes apparent that there really is something supernatural about the room, and it intends to claim him as its 57th victim.
20	* ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'': The three leads are pursuing what they initially think to be just a local legend that happens to make a really neat ghost story, but as the Worst Camping Trip Ever progresses, they come to realize that a) the Blair Witch is in the woods with them, and b) she intends them to never leave. This causes breakdowns both mental and relationship-wise once their intended fate becomes clear.
21	* ''Film/TheBrothersGrimm''. Since the brothers are skilled at faking monster attacks for their protection racket, naturally they think the events on this small town are caused by another hoaxster like themselves. They're wrong. They are so ''VERY'' wrong.
22	* ''Film/GraveEncounters'' features the crew of a ''Series/GhostHunters''-style reality show, who are filming overnight in a mental hospital but express skepticism that any of the ghost stories about it are true. Of course, once they are in lockdown, shit gets real...
23	* In ''Film/TheMothmanProphecies'', John Klein, a journalist, investigates a mothlike creature roaming in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The usual glowing eyes, mauled livestock, scratched tree bark reported from townsfolk and cops...[[spoiler:So those phone calls and dreamlike predictions coming from this so-called Mothman? They're real. We know what's in that drawer. Chapstick.]]
24	* In ''Film/MyNameIsBruce'', Bruce Campbell follows this trope to the letter. His frenzied flight includes shooting at the men who came to help him slay the beast, stealing a bike from a little kid, and carjacking an old lady before he finally makes his cowardly escape from the town.
25	* ''Film/TheNightFlier'': Richard Dees is a tabloid reporter who has been searching for something supernatural all his life, and has become rather weary of all the cryptoid tales as a result. When he finally runs into a real vampire, the latter notes that meeting him is Richard's destiny, even if it were to kill him.
26	* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooOnZombieIsland'': Mystery Inc head to Moonscar Island to investigate reports of hauntings; Daphne wants to capture footage of a real supernatural occurrence for her TV show, although Fred and Velma are both sceptical of ghosts and monsters truly existing. Even after Scooby and Shaggy encounter ghosts and a zombie, and Velma gets levitated, [[AgentScully Fred and Velma]] keep insisting there's some rational explanation and that it's probably a [[ScoobyDooHoax crook in a mask]] like usual, but it becomes increasingly difficult to believe the paranormal occurrences are faked. When Fred tries to unmask a zombie and instead pulls its head clean off, the entire group finally accepts the monsters are real, prompting them to flee in terror from the zombie horde (even Daphne isn't thrilled despite [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor getting exactly what she wanted]]).
27	* ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'' has poor Ichabod, after spending much of the early movie strenuously denying that there is such a thing as the Headless Horseman, meeting with him face to, well, lack of face, and watching him [[OffWithHisHead take off the Magistrate's head]]. He proceeds to [[{{Fainting}} faint dead away]] after not only witnessing this, but having the Horseman pick the head right out from between his legs with his sword.
28	* In ''Film/TheWolfman2010'', Lawrence is initially skeptical to being a werewolf and towards werewolves in general, until, you know, he actually '''becomes''' one. Played a little more straight with [[spoiler:Aberline, upon realizing he's been bitten]].
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31	[[folder: Literature ]]
32	* The Creator/StephenKing short story and subsequent movie ''Literature/FourteenOhEight'' has several of these - moreso the movie, because there the protagonist has just about given up on the idea of genuine hauntings.
33	* The protagonist of the Creator/JamesHerbert novel ''Literature/Haunted1988'' is a paranormal investigator who specialises in exposing {{Phony Psychic}}s after getting burned by one in his past, and is understandably pretty skeptical (and deeply cynical, because this is James Herbert) about the supernatural. The events of the story force him to rethink his stance, to put it mildly.
34	%%* Just about every Creator/HPLovecraft story.
35	* Interestingly played with in ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}''; the people of Djellibeybi believe deeply that the sun is pushed by a scarab beetle, the stars are painted on the body of the Goddess of the Night and so on. But you're not supposed to be able to actually ''see'' them, and when they do, the idea that all the things they've sincerely believed are actually ''true'' freaks them out.
36	-->Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn't believing. It's where belief stops, because it isn't needed any more.
37	* Despite being the TropeNamer, ''Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow'' is not an example. Ichabod Crane is a deeply superstitious man who firmly believes in ghosts and witches; when he sees the HeadlessHorseman on the road he is terrified but not surprised. Furthermore, it's heavily implied that what he saw wasn't a ghost at all, but an [[ScoobyDooHoax elaborate hoax]] by a romantic rival trying to scare him into leaving town, which his worldview has already primed him to fall for.
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40	[[folder: Theater ]]
41	* Horatio, faced with the ghost of old ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''.
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44	[[folder: Video Games ]]
45	* While it's up to the player to decide precisely how to react, this is conveyed pretty well in ''VideoGame/{{Nethergate}}'' when you find out just what's living in the caves you're investigating. It's subverted later on, though--facing an assault by hordes of ghosts, you shrug it off through sheer force of badass.
46	* The ill-fated trio featured in the "Kitchen" VHS tape in the ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard'' demo. They visit an old plantation house that was mysteriously abandoned in order to film an episode of their show. Their financier is the most skeptical, just treating the expedition as another day at the office until [[spoiler:they get separated from the host of the show and when they find him, he has been brutally killed by...something.]]
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49	[[folder: Web Original ]]
50	* Present in quite a few works in Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos: especially in later blogs, where people [[WrongGenreSavvy start assuming that Slendy's just an urban legend]], and his appearance in their lives is problematic. For particular examples, see ''Blog/SeekingTruth'' and ''WebVideo/EverymanHYBRID''.
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53	[[folder: Western Animation ]]
54	* ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' has seesawed on this point in more recent adaptations, showing Freddy pulling on a mask to no effect, and everyone then running away in fear.
55	** Also, see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCGGlQ_vKms the Scooby-Doo Project]], which is a parody of ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject''
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