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| 11 | [[quoteright:350:[[Film/BlackSwan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/193051_1024_fekete_hattyu8.png]]]] |
| 12 | [-[[caption-width-right:350:If you don't reflect on your life, it might shatter under pressure.]]-] |
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| 17 | Psychological Horror is a subgenre of {{Horror}} that aims at creating horrific, paranoiac, suspenseful or unsettling effects through in-depth use of mental and emotional states or psychological conditions. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | This may involve replacing physical threats with psychological ones (e.g. madness, hallucinations), thorough exploration of the mind of the disturbed, mentally ill, or unreliable protagonists (including the bad guys/MonsterOfTheWeek), replacing [[PeekABooCorpse overt displays of horror]] (monsters, deformed killers) by more subtle, creepy details and an eerie |
| 20 | mood or atmosphere that play on the audience's fears. Often overlaps with SurrealHorror. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Often works hand in hand with NothingIsScarier, MindScrew, and ThroughTheEyesOfMadness. Due to the nature of this form of horror, it is usually NightmareFuel. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | This subgenre is particularly common in Japanese horror, or "J-Horror". |
| 25 | |
| 26 | See also PsychologicalThriller and PsychosexualHorror. |
| 27 | ---- |
| 28 | !!Examples: |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | [[index]] |
| 31 | [[folder:Creators known for this trope]] |
| 32 | * Practically everything by Creator/JunjiIto. |
| 33 | * Lots of Creator/StephenKing's stories: |
| 34 | ** ''Literature/TheShining'' |
| 35 | ** ''Literature/{{Thinner}}'', in which the cursed JerkAss protagonist finds himself starving to death with increasing speed, no matter how voraciously he eats. |
| 36 | ** ''Literature/TheTommyknockers'' |
| 37 | ** ''Literature/DoloresClaiborne'' |
| 38 | ** ''The Man in the Black Suit'' |
| 39 | * Heavily used by Creator/HPLovecraft. |
| 40 | * Most of Creator/DavidLynch's movies. |
| 41 | * Many of Creator/GeorgeRRMartin's stories use this trope heavily. For example, "A Song for Lya", "Meathouse Man", or "The Second Kind of Loneliness". Even ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' dips into this with Theon's chapters in "A Dance of Dragons". |
| 42 | * A lot of Creator/ChuckPalahniuk's earlier work (''Literature/FightClub'', ''Literature/InvisibleMonsters'', ''Literature/{{Haunted|2005}}'') falls under this. |
| 43 | * Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's main subject as well. He was writing about mental disorders that hadn't even been named or studied yet. |
| 44 | * Any movie by Creator/AndreiTarkovsky, but particularly ''Film/Stalker1979''. |
| 45 | [[/folder]] |
| 46 | |
| 47 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 48 | * ''Manga/AlienNine'' |
| 49 | * ''Manga/AsTheGodsWill'' |
| 50 | * ''Anime/BlackRockShooter'' (2012 anime adaptation) |
| 51 | * ''Manga/BloodOnTheTracks'' |
| 52 | * ''Anime/BoogiepopPhantom'' |
| 53 | * ''Manhua/CollapseOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt'' is an manhua example, but still follows with its short stories, ranging from horrible BodyHorror, to dark humor. |
| 54 | * ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' |
| 55 | ** ''Anime/DanganronpaTheAnimation'' |
| 56 | ** ''Anime/Danganronpa3TheEndOfHopesPeakHighSchool'' |
| 57 | * ''Manga/DeathNote'' |
| 58 | * ''Anime/DeathParade'' combines this with the backdrop of GothicHorror. |
| 59 | * ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'' (this anime only, not the [[Franchise/{{Devilman}} source material or the other adaptations it's based on]]) |
| 60 | * ''Manga/ElfenLied'', moreso in the manga than the anime. |
| 61 | * ''Anime/ErgoProxy'' |
| 62 | * ''Literature/TheGardenOfSinners'' |
| 63 | * ''Anime/GhostHound'' |
| 64 | * ''Anime/GregoryHorrorShow'' |
| 65 | * ''Manga/IWantToHoldAonoKunSoBadlyICouldDie'' starts as a romance manga that just so happens to have the MC's boyfriend as a ghost before diving headfirst into this a few chapters in. |
| 66 | * How much of it is intentional is debatable, but for a series about playing soccer with aliens, the second season ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' has this in spades. |
| 67 | * ''Manga/{{Kasane}}'' has the main character literally stealing other people's identities, so obviously this has some nasty psychological effects, both for her and her victims. |
| 68 | * ''Anime/KeyTheMetalIdol'', the root influence of a lot of the other anime listed here. |
| 69 | * ''Manga/TheLaughingSalesman'': Mixed with BlackComedy. |
| 70 | * ''Manga/LifeIsMoney'' |
| 71 | * ''Anime/{{Mononoke}}'' (pushing it to the limit: several complex ghost stories where exploring the minds of the ghosts and of the protagonists is a major plot point) |
| 72 | * ''Manga/{{Monster}}'': Impressively, the only threat in ''Monster'' comes from the horror/madness, as it's established very quickly that Johan specifically wants to keep Tenma from being killed. |
| 73 | * ''Manga/MPDPsycho'' |
| 74 | * ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' in some parts, especially in ''End of Evangelion''. In other parts, it's pure {{Cosmic Horror|Story}} or PsychologicalThriller. |
| 75 | * ''Manga/NightmareInspector'' |
| 76 | * ''Manga/NijigaharaHolograph'' |
| 77 | * ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' is usually considered more of a PsychologicalThriller but could easily fit into this category as well. The entire series focuses on [[CastFullOfCrazy mental illness]], [[AmnesiacDissonance amnesia]], LossOfIdentity, [[AnyoneCanDie death]], [[CataclysmBackstory trauma]], [[TheChessmaster manipulation]], and [[DysfunctionJunction other similar things]], the product being just as disturbing as expected, if not more so. |
| 78 | * ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' |
| 79 | * ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' combines this with plain CosmicHorrorStory. |
| 80 | * ''Literature/ReZero'' |
| 81 | * ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' |
| 82 | * ''Manga/ShadowStar'' |
| 83 | * ''Anime/ShamanicPrincess'' |
| 84 | * ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}'' |
| 85 | * ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' borrows heavily from the works of Creator/FranzKafka and UsefulNotes/CarlJung, often dealing with realistic portrayals of madness and trauma. In particular, the series explores the heavy toll events take on Kaneki's sanity and the coping mechanisms that Ghouls adopt to deal with having to kill and eat humans to survive. |
| 86 | * ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}}'' |
| 87 | * ''Anime/WonderEggPriority'' |
| 88 | [[/folder]] |
| 89 | |
| 90 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 91 | * Quite common in Franchise/{{Batman}} comics, especially since practically every [[RoguesGallery Bat-rogue]] is insane some way or another, and Batman himself is often described as being insane in his own special way. |
| 92 | * Creator/GrantMorrison's run of ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' was like this. So is ''Comicbook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'' also written by Morrison. They're kind of a fan of this, in case you couldn't tell. |
| 93 | * ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' |
| 94 | [[/folder]] |
| 95 | |
| 96 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 97 | * ''Fanfic/AlwaysVisible'' based on Omen IV: The Awakening. |
| 98 | * You'd be surprised but a lot of this is found in the supposedly kid-friendly ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomverse''. |
| 99 | ** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' initially starts off as a girl trying to find herself along with a dog and living book. By Arc 2, the psychological horror creeps in when there's a car based off ''Franchise/SilentHill'' along with one chapter that is essentially a NightmareSequence that causes one character (age ''10'') to be thrown into a suicide ward. |
| 100 | ** Its prequel, ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainKnightOfTheOrangeLily'' also doesn't start off with psychological horror until the fourth car and it's home to extensive brainwashing, AlternateIdentityAmnesia and set in a car that has no day/night cycle. Oh and it ''also'' has a focus on Silent Hill which somehow ends up being ''darker'' than ''Blossoming Trail''. |
| 101 | * ''Fanfic/YuyaVision'' (also written by the main writer of the ''Blossomverse'') is ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' taking inspiration from ''Series/WandaVision'' as it goes through Yuya's slowly slipping sanity as he tries to create a paradise where none of the events regarding the dimensional war ever happened. |
| 102 | * ''[[Fanfic/UltimateSleepwalker Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'' has a lot of this, particularly since the protagonist is specifically tasked with fighting demonic entities that MindRape their victims. |
| 103 | * ''[[Fanfic/UltimateSpiderWoman Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With The Light]]'' includes villains who engage in {{Gaslighting}} their victims, multiple [[StalkerWithACrush super-powered Stalkers With Crushes]], and an in-depth look at [[ArchEnemy Jack O' Lantern]]'s SanitySlippage from committing crimes ForTheEvulz to an AxCrazy psychopath to a WickedCultured SoftSpokenSadist who wants to inflict the fates of GothicHorror stories on his victims, particularly Spider-Woman. |
| 104 | [[/folder]] |
| 105 | |
| 106 | [[folder:Film -- Animated]] |
| 107 | * ''WesternAnimation/AnaAndBruno'' |
| 108 | * ''Anime/{{Ghost in the Shell|1995}} 2: Innocence'': The whole part in Kim's mansion goes quite into this. |
| 109 | * ''Anime/PerfectBlue'' |
| 110 | [[/folder]] |
| 111 | |
| 112 | [[folder:Film -- Live-Action]] |
| 113 | !!!'''Genres:''' |
| 114 | * This is a big part of Japanese horror, or "J-Horror", and why it was so popular a few years ago. |
| 115 | ** ''Film/{{Juon}}''/''Film/TheGrudge'' |
| 116 | ** ''[[Film/TheRing Ring]]'' |
| 117 | ** The film adaptation of ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}}'' |
| 118 | ** ''Film/NoroiTheCurse'' |
| 119 | ** ''Film/{{Kairo}}'' |
| 120 | ** ''Film/{{Audition}}'' |
| 121 | ** ''Film/{{Reincarnation 2005}}'' |
| 122 | ** ''Film/DarkWater'' |
| 123 | ** Dates back to 1964 and ''Film/WomanInTheDunes'', in which a man is held prisoner at the bottom of a sand pit while his will to resist is gradually broken. |
| 124 | ** Shortly after ''Women in the Dunes'' came another film by the same director, ''Film/TheFaceOfAnother'', in which a man who lost his whole face to an industrial accident gets a LatexPerfection mask. It slowly drives him insane. |
| 125 | |
| 126 | !!!'''Movies:''' |
| 127 | * ''Film/FourteenOhEight''. |
| 128 | * ''Film/AllMyFriendsHateMe'' combines this with BlackComedy. |
| 129 | * ''Alone'', by the directors of ''Shutter'', below. |
| 130 | * ''Film/AmericanNightmare2002'' combines this with the SlasherMovie. |
| 131 | * ''Film/{{Antebellum}}'' |
| 132 | * ''Film/{{Antichrist}}'' |
| 133 | * ''The Bad Seed'': |
| 134 | ** ''Film/TheBadSeed1956'' |
| 135 | ** ''Film/TheBadSeed1985'' |
| 136 | ** ''Film/TheBadSeed2018'' |
| 137 | ** ''Film/TheBadSeedReturns'' |
| 138 | * ''Film/BennysVideo'' |
| 139 | * The current trope image comes from ''Film/BlackSwan'', a story by Creator/DarrenAronofsky that follows a balerina (played by [[Creator/NataliePortman Natalie Portman]]) training to land an elusive role of the White and Black Swan in ''Swan Lake''. Things go downhill from there as the [[TrainingFromHell effort]] to portray the polar opposites and the need to outdo her competition start to chip away at her sanity. |
| 140 | * ''Film/Bug2006'' with Ashley Judd and Michael Shannon is actually this; not the Body Horror film the trailers and ads advertised. |
| 141 | * ''Film/Carrie1976'' |
| 142 | * ''Film/TheCell'' (takes place inside the mind of a serial killer. It's a very unpleasant place.) |
| 143 | * ''Film/{{Circle}}''. Fifty strangers must choose who among them deserves to live as a sinister device strikes them down one by one. |
| 144 | * The Soviet war movie ''Film/ComeAndSee'' |
| 145 | * ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' appears to have traces of this, especially ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. |
| 146 | * ''Film/DanielIsntReal'' deals with a college student being manipulated by his malevolent ImaginaryFriend. |
| 147 | * ''Film/Delirium2018'' is about a former psych patient who's trying to determine if his house is haunted, or he is. |
| 148 | * ''Film/Dementia13'', which was the mainstream film debut of Creator/FrancisFordCoppola. |
| 149 | * ''Film/DontLookBack2009'': Is the world changing and you're the only one to notice, or have you gone mad and you're the only one ''not'' to notice? |
| 150 | * ''Film/DontLookNow'' |
| 151 | * The war film ''Film/{{Dunkirk}}'' also have some elements of this. |
| 152 | * ''Film/TheEye'', which is a Hong Kong movie, also does feature some elements of J-Horror. |
| 153 | * In ''Film/TheFactsInTheCaseOfMisterHollow'' An OccultDetective investigating a MysteryCult has to slowly piece together the larger, sinister context in which a {{Spooky Photograph|s}} was taken, communicated by small details present in the photo itself, building to a conclusion that is either symbolic of the investigator's epiphany, or an explicit paranormal manifestation. |
| 154 | * ''Film/FirstBlood'' which is based on the [[Literature/FirstBlood 1972 novel]] and more of a PsychologicalThriller then its sequels contained some elements (several good examples would be Rambo's FreakOut while getting dry-shaved as he flashbacks to the time he was tortured as a [=POW=] or the MookHorrorShow for Teasle and his deputies in the forest as they are one by one dispatched). |
| 155 | * ''Film/FriendOfTheWorld'' |
| 156 | * ''Film/FullCircle'', in a somewhat similar vein to fellow Mia Farrow chiller ''Film/RosemarysBaby'' |
| 157 | * ''Film/{{Games}}'' |
| 158 | * ''Film/GeraldsGame'' |
| 159 | * ''Film/GhostsOfWar'' |
| 160 | * ''Film/Halloween1978'' |
| 161 | * ''Film/TheHandsOfOrlac''. The Tropemaker for the EvilHand trope. A concert pianist receives a hand transplant from an executed murderer. When his new hands seem to possess a will of their own, he wonders if the hands really are possessed, or if he is just going insane. |
| 162 | * In ''Film/HellraiserInferno'', the gore and Pinhead and the Cenobites' presence is toned down considerably. The horror focuses instead on the psychological descent of a flawed character subjected to nightmarish visions and seeing his reality crumble around him. |
| 163 | * ''Film/{{Hereditary}}'' |
| 164 | * ''Film/HourOfTheWolf'' |
| 165 | * ''Film/TheHouseThatJackBuilt'', about an unrepentant serial killer. |
| 166 | * ''Film/TheHunted2003'' |
| 167 | * ''Film/TheInnocents'', based on ''Literature/TheTurnOfTheScrew''. |
| 168 | * ''Film/JuliasEyes'' |
| 169 | * ''Film/{{Kisapmata}}'' |
| 170 | * ''Film/LastNightInSoho'' |
| 171 | * ''Film/LetsScareJessicaToDeath'' |
| 172 | * ''Film/TheLighthouse'' |
| 173 | * ''Film/{{Magic}}'' |
| 174 | * ''Film/Mother2017''. Well, it ''is'' a Creator/DarrenAronofsky film. |
| 175 | * Alejandro Amenabar's ''Film/TheOthers2001''. |
| 176 | * ''Film/OfUnknownOrigin'' |
| 177 | * ''Film/ThePageTurner'', a suspenseful French film about the disturbing manner of revenge exacted by a young woman against the concert pianist who carelessly shot down her dreams of becoming a pianist. |
| 178 | * ''Film/ThePaperboy'' |
| 179 | * ''Film/PatayinMoSaSindakSiBarbara'' |
| 180 | * ''Film/PeepingTom'' |
| 181 | * ''Film/ThePurgeUniverse'' |
| 182 | * ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' |
| 183 | * ''Film/RedEye'' |
| 184 | * ''Film/RightAtYourDoor'' |
| 185 | [[/index]] |
| 186 | * Then there's Creator/RomanPolanski: |
| 187 | [[index]] |
| 188 | ** ''Film/KnifeInTheWater'' |
| 189 | ** ''Film/{{Repulsion}}'' |
| 190 | ** ''Film/RosemarysBaby'' (also counts as ReligiousHorror and PsychologicalThriller) |
| 191 | ** ''Film/TheTenant'' |
| 192 | ** Arguably ''Film/{{Chinatown}}''. |
| 193 | * ''Film/SaintMaud'', a British movie involving a woman who cares for a terminally ill woman, convinced she needs to "save" her with religious fervor. |
| 194 | * ''Film/{{Sarmasik}}'' or ''Ivy'' in English. A skeleton crew of a bankrupt cargo ship is left alone for months to care for the ship and they eventually succumb to OceanMadness. |
| 195 | * ''Film/Session9'', appropriately enough for a film set in a real abandoned mental hospital. |
| 196 | * ''Film/TheShining'' |
| 197 | * ''Film/{{Shutter}}'', a Thai movie. |
| 198 | * ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' and that whole series. |
| 199 | * ''Film/TheSkeptic'' |
| 200 | * ''Film/Smile2022'' |
| 201 | * ''Film/Spiral2007'' is about Mason, a psychologically maladjusted man with an obsession with painting his coworker, who somehow relates to his dark past. |
| 202 | * ''Film/StopMotion'' |
| 203 | * ''Film/ATaleOfTwoSisters'' is Korean, and Korea is no slouch in this department, also putting out movies like: |
| 204 | ** ''Acacia (2003)'' |
| 205 | ** ''Film/Oldboy2003'' |
| 206 | ** ''Film/TheRedShoes2005'' |
| 207 | ** ''Film/WhisperingCorridors'' (and its many sequels)... |
| 208 | * ''Film/TheThing1982''. Although it's a [[{{Gorn}} gory]] monster movie, it still manages to be this on account of the fact the titular monster can [[TheAssimilator assimilate]] and [[GrandTheftMe imitate]] other lifeforms near-perfectly. A large part of the horror comes from the [[DwindlingParty dwindling group of protagonists]] not being certain [[ProperlyParanoid who of them is the Thing]] and starting to [[AHouseDivided turn on each other]]. |
| 209 | * ''Film/TruthOrDare2012'' |
| 210 | * ''Film/{{Wendigo}}'' |
| 211 | * ''Film/TheWitchWhoCameFromTheSea'': The horror is deeply intertwined with the story's exploration of madness and trauma. |
| 212 | [[/folder]] |
| 213 | |
| 214 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 215 | * ''Literature/ComeCloser'': Amanda is gradually possessed by a demon, with most of the novel taking place in her mind as her sanity gradually dissipates and she becomes more and more vulnerable, [[spoiler:ultimately culminating in becoming a SerialKiller fully under Namaah's control and being institutionalized.]] |
| 216 | * ''Literature/IAmNotASerialKiller'' varies in exactly which brand of horror it is, but the second book, ''Literature/MrMonster'', plunges straight into this with a ''{{Franchise/Saw}}''-esque plot narrated by a SociopathicHero experiencing [[SlowlySlippingIntoEvil a slow but steady]] SanitySlippage. |
| 217 | * ''Literature/HouseOfLeaves''. Does the Navidson Record really exist? Did Zampano actually write the manuscript or is it all in Johnny's head? Is the house on Ash Tree Lane a metaphor for the minotaur the darkness within the human mind? [[MindScrew Does anyone have any idea what's going on at all?]] |
| 218 | * ''Literature/TheFiftyYearSword''. Who are the five speakers? Does anyone else have one of the man with lavender eyelashes' sword? What is it that can stitch and hold the wound? |
| 219 | * "Literature/{{Miriam}}" by Truman Capote explores mental decline. |
| 220 | * ''{{Literature/Murmuration}}'' by Creator/TJKlune is part queer love story, part psychological horror as a man slowly loses his mind trying to understand the dark secrets in his seemingly perfect town. |
| 221 | * The original novel of ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' by William March. |
| 222 | * Victor Kelleher's insanely creepy ''Del-Del''. |
| 223 | * Alexandre Dumas, ''pere'', and his ''Literature/TheWomanWithTheVelvetNecklace.'' |
| 224 | * Caitlín R. Kiernan's ''[[Literature/TheRedTree2009 The Red Tree]]'' |
| 225 | * Literature/TheNecromanticMysteriesOfKyleMurchisonBooth |
| 226 | * ''Literature/TheHauntingOfTobyJugg'' by Creator/DennisWheatley |
| 227 | * "Literature/TheYellowWallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a classic example. The fact that it's semi-autobiographical just adds to the scariness. |
| 228 | * ''Literature/AShadowGirlsSummerOfLoveAndMadness'' by Jackson Boughen. It's kind of implied by the title. |
| 229 | * ''Literature/TheSisterVerseAndTheTalonsOfRuin'' is this, being told in part through visual metaphors stemming from the protagonist's constant hallucinations. |
| 230 | * K.T. Martel's ''Literature/{{MARZENA}}'' series blends this with ScienceFiction using [[ViewersAreGeniuses neuroscience]]. It's scary because it's real. |
| 231 | * ''Literature/EdenGreen'' spends the entire ride inside the title character's head as she discovers, researches, and deals with an alien needle symbiote and invasion of monsters. |
| 232 | * Part of the general spookiness that permeates the works of Creator/StefanGrabinski is psychological horror - [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness insane first-person narrators]] included. |
| 233 | * ''Literature/MySweetAudrina'' is a gothic novel in which most of the suspense is derived from how Audrina's BigScrewedUpFamily interact with one another and Audrina's psychological issues stemming from her family's extreme sheltering of her and growing up in the shadow of her beloved older sister who met a terrible end. It's famous for its plot twist of [[spoiler: Audrina and her 'sister' being the ''same'' person, with her family having manipulated her for years in an attempt to 'cure' her trauma]]. |
| 234 | * "Literature/{{Psychosis|MattDymerski}}" is a short story about a paranoid man named John who was shut and barricaded himself in his basement as he believes aliens have taken over the world. |
| 235 | * Many of Creator/RobertBloch's works fall into this, such as "Literature/{{Enoch}}" and his most famous novel ''Literature/{{Psycho}}''. |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 239 | * ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryMurderHouse'' uses it along with all the SurrealHorror, particularly in Ben's plotlines. |
| 240 | * ''Series/BlackMirror'': [[Recap/BlackMirrorPlaytest "Playtest"]] uses a version of this personal to the protagonist. Cooper watched his father succumb to Alzheimer's before the events of the episode, and he went travelling across the world to gather as many happy memories as he could, while he still could. The full-immersion horror game he volunteers to try out for a quick cash injection starts out with tame enough {{Jump Scare}}s but eventually graduates into this, tormenting him with losing his memory and ending up "just like [his] dad". [[spoiler:Then the game throws him a HopeSpot only to present him with the reveal that his mother has contracted Alzheimer's in his absence and she doesn't even recognize him when he returns home. ''Then'' it turns out the game never even started and poor Cooper actually died from the system crashing while it was booting up, and the harrowing events of the mansion were all in his head as his brain shut down. You know what they say about your life flashing before your eyes...]] |
| 241 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 242 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E10Midnight "Midnight"]], by Creator/RussellTDavies, uses a combination of PrimalFear and ParanoiaFuel to turn the act of simply repeating sentences into terrifying conversations. |
| 243 | ** Creator/StevenMoffat's take on the show plays with ideas of madness, and [[ItWasHereISwear things you think you saw from the corner of your eye]]. On the one hand, no, you're not going mad; on the other hand, yes, these things are real, and they ''are'' out to get you. |
| 244 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E11TheGodComplex "The God Complex"]], by Creator/TobyWhithouse, includes a monster that strips away your faith — not just religious faith, but faith in anything — and feeds off of it. |
| 245 | * ''Series/GirlFromNowhere'' |
| 246 | * ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'' explores the depersonalization (even dehumanization at some points) that the AmnesiacHero Sento Kiryu feels because his identity is haphazardly stitched together from leftover muscle memory and a single year's worth of memories. It only gets worse from here when he finds evidence saying that he has murdered a man, something he would have never done as he is now. ''And that's before'' [[spoiler:it turns out he is said man and the whole murder scheme was set up to make him disappear and be reused as UnwittingPawn. The revelations keep on piling up and eventually drive him to suicide]]. |
| 247 | * ''Series/Legion2017'' centers around a mutant who had a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who has struggled with mental illness since his late childhood. The series uses MindScrew to tell a story of psychological horror. |
| 248 | * ''Series/MastersOfHorror'': "Sounds Like" is probably one of the creepier episodes due to the slow-paced source of the horror. There are no monsters or killers to run away from, it's just the main character slowly growing mad because his sense of hearing keeps getting better and better and everything around him becomes intolerable. |
| 249 | * ''Series/MoonKnight2022'': A meek London man who works at a museum gift shop suffers from DID and learns that he's a chosen avatar for a god with a giant bird skull for a head. |
| 250 | * Tends to pop up in ''Franchise/TheTwilightZone'' quite frequently. |
| 251 | * ''Series/WandaVision'': a magical superheroine accidentally traps an entire suburban town in a sitcom-based alternate dimension built from her own trauma and grief while the government attempts to intervene from outside. |
| 252 | [[/folder]] |
| 253 | |
| 254 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 255 | * "Music/{{Addict}}" is a song from ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'' centering on the troubled mental states of Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb as they use sex, drugs, and violence to cope with abuse and pain in a cruel world like {{Hell}}. |
| 256 | * Music/TheCaretaker is an {{ambient}} musician known for exploring the human memory, particularly [[ScatterbrainedSenior dementia]]. His most famous project, ''Everywhere at the End of Time'', is a six-hour-long album best described as the sonic equivalent of losing one's mind, starting with staticky versions of old show tunes and ending with an incomprehensible mess. |
| 257 | * The music video for Music/TheChemicalBrothers' "Believe" (featuring Kele Okereke of Music/BlocParty) follows a paranoid factory worker hallucinating that the robotic arms he operates are stalking him. The man is eventually chased to the roof of a multi-storey car park by one of the machines, where it corners and lunges at him before... suddenly disappearing. The video ends with the man fully losing his grip on reality, laughing hysterically as he collapses in the street. |
| 258 | [[/folder]] |
| 259 | |
| 260 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 261 | * ''Theatre/TheYellowWallpaper'' is an adaptation of the short story "Literature/TheYellowWallpaper" and leans in even more to the psychological aspects as opposed to the supernatural. |
| 262 | [[/folder]] |
| 263 | |
| 264 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 265 | * ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'' is a famous example of this, in which the monsters Alice fights are physical representations of her own psychological issues, mostly regarding her survivor's guilt after the death of her family. |
| 266 | * ''VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns'', sequel to ''American [=McGee=]'s Alice'' carries on the tradition, adding [[spoiler:overhearing but not knowing to stop the rape of her sister]] to her list of guilts. Unlike the first game, parts of the plot take place in the real world, which then hammer in the horror as the two realms start to bleed together. |
| 267 | * ''VideoGame/{{Anatomy}}'' has a very slow NothingIsScarier grind in comparing the house you're in to a human mind and body, going on about how important and how deceitful a home can be. The house accommodates itself accordingly. |
| 268 | * ''VideoGame/{{Blackout}}'' follows a PlayerCharacter with a SplitPersonality and plenty of AlternateIdentityAmnesia, who tries to piece together his own identity, all while trying to get to the bottom of the mystery of the headless body that suddenly appeared in his apartment one night, before disappearing just as mysteriously almost immediately thereafter. [[spoiler:Much of it involves his DarkAndTroubledPast and AbusiveParents.]] |
| 269 | * ''VideoGame/CallOfCthulhuDarkCornersOfTheEarth'', naturally, makes heavy use of this trope due to being a first person perspective retelling of the famous "Shadow over Innsmouth" story. |
| 270 | * ''VideoGame/CondemnedCriminalOrigins'' explores themes of violent insanity and whether or not the player can trust they aren't going crazy, even as they fight off waves of delusional, psychotic killers. |
| 271 | * ''VideoGame/CryOfFear'' fits this neatly. The game is focused on exploring the madness of the main character Simon through the environment (which twists and changes whenever Simon has a psychotic fit), enemies (each of which is based on one of Simon's fears and [[spoiler:the anger he has about his unusable legs]]) and flashbacks with his doctor. |
| 272 | * ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' is more of an Action SurvivalHorror mixture, but the copious use of insanity, both in the player character and in the world around them, vivid and terrifying hallucinations, and recordings of the slow descent of the world into madness [[LateToTheTragedy before you arrived]]. All punctuated with the need to brutally rip apart corpses before they turn into horrific monsters and do the same thing to you. |
| 273 | * ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'', especially since one of the three traits in the game is Sanity, alongside vitality and Mana. Not only are you dealing with enemies that defy common logic, they are purposefully distorting your perception of reality. If you beat them [[EverythingFades they're gone]] and not only will you be trying to describe something that sounds insane, you probably are insane. Even if the psychological tricks don't scare you, let that sanity bar run out and your vitality will quickly go down the drain. |
| 274 | * ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' is a cross between Psychological and SurvivalHorror, with the overarching story being the protagonists getting trapped in haunted villages and slowly piecing together what ominous events created the various horrific ghosts that will kill them cruelly and painfully if they catch them. |
| 275 | * ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'' blends supernatural horror, achieved primarily through unnerving atmosphere rather than any overt monsters, with a scifi-ish tactical shooter set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture. |
| 276 | * ''VideoGame/FranBow'' in which the titular character, a young girl, tries to cope with the trauma from witnessing the gruesome murder of her parents, a event so awful that the thought of it regularly causes her perception of reality to break down. |
| 277 | * Every game developed by Creator/FrictionalGames, thus far, has made heavy use of this trope: |
| 278 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Penumbra}}'' is a series of SurvivalHorror games that makes copious use of ominous atmospheres, NothingIsScarier, {{Primal Fear}}s and subversions of standard horror tropes to portray a protagonist being caught in a world of inescapable madness. |
| 279 | ** ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' makes extensive use of dark, ominous atmospheres, a SanityMeter effect that causes the world around you to visually change and morph for the horrifying as you slip, and the feeling of being constantly stalked by horrific, once-human abominations (which you ''are'') to great effect. Perhaps the kicker is TheReveal which strips away the hinted AmnesiacDissonance: [[spoiler:your player character was a sadistic monster who tortured and murdered innocent people to save himself from an EldritchAbomination chasing him down, only to come to a HeelRealization and drink a memory-wiping potion to expunge the guilt of his crimes.]] |
| 280 | ** ''VideoGame/AmnesiaAMachineForPigs'' focuses much more on the psychological than the survival, as many would say to its detriment, with a deep look into madness, social and mental degradation, eerie environments, and a truly horrific reveal of AmnesiacDissonance: [[spoiler:your player character, in a fit of insanity and possibly DemonicPossession, created a ''[[GeniusLoci sentient]]'' NightmarishFactory designed to [[IndustrializedEvil industrialize the process of]] HumanSacrifice, butchering all of humanity to turn them into [[ImAHumanitarian food]] and grotesque PigMen.]] |
| 281 | ** ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'', whilst on the surface going back to more of a BodyHorror-laced SurvivalHorror game, explores deep questions about the nature of human consciousness, immortality, and the value of life through truly horrifying mediums. |
| 282 | * ''VideoGame/HellbladeSenuasSacrifice'' is very much this, since it deals with Senua, a ShellShockedVeteran who suffers from psychosis after losing her lover (and many other misfortunes). Disturbing images are everywhere, Senua is constantly fighting her own demons and voices in her head constantly bicker with each other, making it even ''harder'' to determine what is real and what is not. |
| 283 | * ''VideoGame/JimsComputer'' takes advantage of humanity's paranoia, as it abuses it to its fullest by making the player look through closets late at night each time, increasing tension that one night, something will be inside. It doesn't help that the game has a subplot of multiple people going missing over short periods of time, a nameless stranger with no profile picture messaging you randomly, the visual and auditory hallucinations, a mysterious black square, and Jim expressing his own paranoia that someone is inside his house, and saying that he feels safe again each time you finish checking the closets. All of these things make the player wonder that maybe Jim is right, that maybe something supernatural and malevolent is randomly opening and closing the door and turning on the TV late at night, and hiding in one of the closets as they do it. |
| 284 | * ''VideoGame/{{Imscared}}'' toys with the player in a very interesting way of immersion; the game torments you with the prospect that the game's villain is a real entity, and is actively playing around with your computer by downloading text files pretending it's a computer virus. That's right, a real life version of TheMostDangerousVideoGame. |
| 285 | * ''VideoGame/IronStorm'' is a shooter that has zero supernatural elements, but is set in a nigh-nightmarish DieselPunk world scarred by an increasingly insane and [[{{Dystopia}} dystopic]] ForeverWar. |
| 286 | * ''VideoGame/Madison2022'': The player character is alone in his grandfather's house with a haunting supernatural presence. |
| 287 | * ''VideoGame/Metro2033'' is a first person shooter, but while it has gunfights against bandits, mutants, and Neo-Nazis and/or Communists, those are brief levels of heart-pounding adrenaline between long stretches of isolation, unexplained but explicitly supernatural horrors such as ghosts and 'anomalies', and a growing sense of gloomy, claustrophobic despair in the tunnels that manages to evolve into agoraphobic paranoia when Artyom is in the open on the surface. Worst of all are some of the completely unexplained instances of blatant and lethal MindScrew that defy explanation -- the less said about the Dark Ones, the better. It's saying something when it's ''comforting'' to have a level with Nazis to shoot at, versus the game's alternatives |
| 288 | * Irwin Segarane's ''VideoGame/{{Mother|IrwinSegarane}}'' is about a single mother who must protect her two children from paranormal beings that stalk her apartment complex. |
| 289 | * ''VideoGame/NeedyStreamerOverload'' is about helping a girl become internet famous, but should she end up overstressed (or overdosed), the player will be subjected to her resulting mental breakdown and psychotic fits, unable to do anything but watch her fall further and further into madness. |
| 290 | * ''VideoGame/{{Okaeri}}'' is [[InformedAttribute stated to be this]] on its Platform/{{Steam}} page. This can probably be backed up by [[JumpScare the random noises]] that occur in the game. |
| 291 | * ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' is this, particularly during the real world at night via hallucinations and also during the sections inside [[spoiler:Blackspace]]. |
| 292 | * One of the reasons why the original ''VideoGame/OperationFlashpoint'' and its current successor ''VideoGame/{{ARMA}}'' are praised for their realism is how they not only accurately portray the tech and tactics employed on a modern battlefield, but also [[WarIsHell the tension, paranoia and uncompromising unpredictability of military operations]]. Compared to most other military games, which are usually action-pumped thrill rides with lots of loud set pieces, these titles have the player experiencing almost unbearable tension while moving through enemy territory. The enemies can be well hidden, may already know of your position, may be already surrounding you stealthily and killing you before you even manage to register them and realize your grave mistake. And don't even get us started on situations like being TrappedBehindEnemyLines, completely out of ammo and hiding in the bushes, because heavily armed brigades of soldiers and vehicles are combing the whole area. All of this goes hand in hand with the horror occurring commonly during missions set in broad daylight. |
| 293 | * ''VideoGame/{{Paranoiac}}'' is this overlapped with SurvivalHorror, with grief and mental illness playing large roles in the plot. After moving into her late aunt's house, Miki finds herself being stalked by a monster every night, along with other strange and spooky occurrences, but it soon becomes obvious the underlying conflict is around Miki battling with depression and guilt over her aunt's death. It's even suggested that [[spoiler:[[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane the monster may not actually be real]]; real or not, it's implied to represent Miki's inner turmoil and struggle]]. |
| 294 | * ''VideoGame/ThePath'' explores the psyches of a family of sisters by sending them one by one to [[Literature/LittleRedRidingHood Grandmother's house]]-- and forces you to disobey and send them into danger by straying from the titular path in order to progress in the game. The eerie ambiance of the forest, the JigsawPuzzlePlot wherein you discover each girl's personality by the scraps of her thoughts you see when she interacts with objects, and especially the abstract "wolf encounters" and the twisted state of Grandmother's house afterwards place it firmly here. |
| 295 | * ''VideoGame/{{Pathologic}}'' has a thick atmosphere of physical and spiritual decay, manifested through disease, that eats away both the game world and the confidence of the player actually running it. |
| 296 | * House Beneviento in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'' takes this tone compared to the rest of the game, as protagonist Ethan Winters finds himself [[NoGearLevel stripped of his items]] and is tormented with images, apparitions, and anguished recordings of his wife. This reaches its peak when Ethan finds himself [[spoiler:being pursued by a horrific giant baby monster that cannot be fought in any way]]. Even the boss fight is a rush to find a doll hiding among the other toys rather than the action formula of other bosses, making the house feel more supernatural and ambiguously real, like a mind trip that's deeply personal to Ethan's fears. [[spoiler:Indeed, Donna Beneviento, who presides over the house, is revealed to use hallucinogenic powers to torture her victims rather than brute force, and is playing on Ethan's fears after the shooting of his wife and his concerns about his baby's normalcy.]] |
| 297 | * ''VideoGame/{{Postal}}'''s first installment is VERY VERY much this with its harrowing and almost psychedelic loading screens and the protagonists' "war journal" entries elaborating on his mental state/filling in for the story. |
| 298 | * ''VideoGame/Prey2017'' has you dealing with breaks from reality, such as your reflection talking to you or hallucinating being consumed by shadowy tendrils. |
| 299 | * ''VideoGame/RootsOfInsanity'': [[PlayerCharacter Dr. [=McClein=]]] suffers from epilepsy that causes him to have scary hallucinations. Expect to see zombies and various other horrors pop in and out of existence. |
| 300 | * ''Franchise/SilentHill'': The enemies and environments of each game are pulled from the screwed-up psyche of one or more of its characters, and the series relies far more on NothingIsScarier, surreal imagery and symbolism than jump scares and gore. The games occasionally hint that the protagonist may simply be insane. |
| 301 | * ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' in particular relies on psychological horror, since it prefers to downplay the "survival" element. Especially with the reveal that [[spoiler:the entire game was literally taking place in one character's mind in response to attempt psychological therapy]]. |
| 302 | * ''VideoGame/{{Smile|2020}}'' is about a guy seeing a doctor for help with his mental health and addictions, only to end up trapped in a strange world, pursued by horrifying beings who want to kill him. |
| 303 | * ''VideoGame/{{Sofia}}'': The game starts innocuously enough; you play as a man, Crow, on a date with his partner Fio, but things take a turn for the worse [[spoiler:as Crow witnesses the murder of Fio the same night. After that night, Crow is locked in what seems to be a GroundhogDayLoop where he has to relive Fio being killed again and again]], but there seems to be something much more sinister going on under the surface as Crow investigates every avenue and relives the torment of [[spoiler:Fio's death]]. |
| 304 | * ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' is a curious example of the trope. It opens much like any other modern military shooter, but about halfway through the game (after the protagonists [[spoiler:unwittingly burn forty-seven innocent civilians to death with white phosphorous rounds]]) it starts to take on more and more elements of psychological horror, including surreal, horrific imagery, hallucinations etc. |
| 305 | * ''VideoGame/SubwayMidnight'' is set in a series of subway cars that are being haunted by the ghosts of children, and the protagonist (also a child) has to navigate them while also being stalked by the sinister figure that's responsible for their deaths. |
| 306 | * ''VideoGame/TheSuffering'' is a cross between psychological and physical horror. While you will be fighting inmates, guards, and wretched abominations, you will also encounter horrific hallucinations and the ghosts of Carnate Island's insane and psychopathic residents. |
| 307 | * One or two of the missions of ''VideoGame/{{SWAT 4}}'' tackle extremely disturbing crime cases in very creepy locales. |
| 308 | * ''VideoGame/WhenTheDarknessComes'' is a game that tries to illustrate depression and anxiety through horror visuals. |
| 309 | * ''VideoGame/WhosLila'' is a point-and-click adventure game initially concerning the murder of a woman named Tanya, but the pursuit of solving the titular question leads to a Creator/DavidLynch-inspired thriller. |
| 310 | * ''VideoGame/TheWorksOfMercy'' is about the protagonist being forced to murder people, or otherwise try desperately to save them while being tormented by an unknown psychopath. |
| 311 | %%* ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' |
| 312 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Calling}}'' |
| 313 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Manhunt}}'' |
| 314 | %%* ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose''. |
| 315 | %%* ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'' |
| 316 | %%* ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'' |
| 317 | [[/folder]] |
| 318 | |
| 319 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 320 | * While ''VisualNovel/BadFaith'' features violence and some [[spoiler:sci-fi and fantastical elements]], the true horror comes from the idea of being ostracized and dehumanized by your own community, such as the way the Haven treats anyone deemed "insane." |
| 321 | * ''VisualNovel/CookingCompanions'', openly inspired by works such as ''P.T.'' and ''Doki Doki Literature Club'' as well as actual Eastern European folklore, is a DatingSim with cutesy mascots that inevitably leads to ominous dread, as the cast is trapped in the mountains with dwindling supplies and there's NoPartyLikeADonnerParty. |
| 322 | * ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'' is a seemingly cheery, innocent DatingSim that is nevertheless prefixed with a ContentWarning about disturbing content. [[spoiler:The game turns out to be just as much about real-life issues such as SelfHarm, AbusiveParents and depression as it is an existential horror about a DatingSim character gaining MediumAwareness and struggling to cope to being a fictional character before rewriting and corrupting the game around her so that she can be with the player.]] |
| 323 | * ''VisualNovel/DoNotTakeThisCatHome'' is a story about a lonely person adopting an adorable kitten, that quickly becomes [[spoiler: a story about someone trapped in an abusive relationship with a {{Yandere}} EldritchAbomination who has taken control of their mind and perceptions, and their desperate attempts to escape it.]] |
| 324 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Echo}}'' starts off feeling like a subdued college flick that contains an air of realism. We then get a clearer picture of the cast; they are all troubled individuals bound by a traumatic moment in time, the drowning of their childhood friend. [[spoiler:The problem is that the PsychologicalTormentZone they're in reflects those personal demons back at the cast and shows us how terrifying they can be when left unaddressed.]] Addressing issues such as mental illness, toxic relationships, personal identity, and freedom, Echo is a story about breaking cycles and overcoming personal demons. Or it can be a story about succumbing to those very same demons depending on your choices. |
| 325 | * ''VisualNovel/{{MAMIYA}}'' explores the effects of [[PlotTriggeringDeath Natsume Souichirou's death]] on four of his friends. After the funeral, their mental states begin worsening, and each of Natsume's friends meet a mysterious child named Mamiya, who might be [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane a supernatural being or a delusion]]. Tackling themes of abuse, gender identity, loneliness, and illness, MAMIYA is an exploration of the effects of grief. |
| 326 | * The ''Franchise/WhenTheyCry'' series is made of this (often mixed with some gore), as the protagonists often succumb to madness and hallucinations or are mentally tortured/have their hopes crushed in various ways. |
| 327 | %%** ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' |
| 328 | %%** ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' |
| 329 | %% This entry needs to be independent of the others. |
| 330 | %%* ''Manga/TheUnforgivingFlowersBlossomInTheDeadOfNight'', by Ryukishi07, keeps a similar tone, minus the gore (with a few exceptions like the 5th story). |
| 331 | * ''VisualNovel/MilkInsideABagOfMilkInsideABagOfMilk'' and its sequel ''Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk'': Both games follow an unnamed girl with severe mental illness trying to go about her day. The first game is about her going to the store to buy milk and the sequel is about her trying to go to bed when she gets home. Both games feature strange and at times creepy imagery, but the actual horror of the games comes from the very honest message it has about living with mental illness. There is no easy, magical solution to your problems. You can't escape from your own mind, and sometimes the most you can do is to try to get through each day, even if that can seem impossible. |
| 332 | * ''VisualNovel/{{Penthos}}'' turns into this during the Second Act of the story, as the theme shifts focus from a slasher story to ruminating on death and grief, all the while utilizing a slower pace and more realistic tone that differs from the first half. |
| 333 | [[/folder]] |
| 334 | |
| 335 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 336 | * ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': |
| 337 | ** The comic dips into this any time Zimmy shows up. Her perception of the world is very abnormal--and she has RealityWarper PowerIncontinence. So when the focus switches to Zimmy, bizarre, dreamlike events are quick to follow. It's never entirely clear how much of this is real and how much is hallucination... or how much is a hallucination that's ''becoming'' real. |
| 338 | ** A non-Zimmy example happens in the chapter "A Ghost Story". Annie has to counsel a ghost--and since the ghost doesn't realize he's dead, he unintentionally creates a shared hallucination that symbolizes an event from his old life. |
| 339 | * ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' delves into this around the middle of Act 5 when [[spoiler:Gamzee goes sober and starts killing off the characters, which had already started dying by Eridan and Vriska earlier.]] Probably the creepiest part is a flash in which, after seeing a few scenes of [[ThoseTwoGuys Nepeta and Equius]] talking adorably to one another, the reader is forced to play as the both of them and lead them through a dark, deserted lab as ominous music [[spoiler:riddled with honks]] slowly grows louder. The worst part is that, unlike in a video game, the 'player' [[ButThouMust has no choice]] - they know the story depends on the two characters moving towards the threat, so unless they just stop reading altogether (which doesn't solve the problem as of course the story continues on regardless) they can't continue any other way than by leading these beloved, oblivious characters to what is likely their doom. [[spoiler:And indeed it is.]] |
| 340 | * ''Webcomic/GhostTeller'', a Korean webcomic, delves on this in the majority of the story due to it's titular theme of HumansAreTheRealMonsters. |
| 341 | %%* ''Webcomic/SilentHillPromise'' |
| 342 | [[/folder]] |
| 343 | |
| 344 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 345 | * AudioPlay/AlienAbductionRolePlay has this in spades. The plot concerns that of an alien who is tending to her human test subject, and she bluntly expresses her desire to eat the human protagonist to their face, licking them and tasting them. While she does warm up to the human and fall in love with them, her irrational desire to eat them does not go away, and she slowly becomes more and more unhinged as the series progresses. It becomes clear that this behavior is very abnormal, even for her, and that she was normally very reasonable and nice before encountering the human. |
| 346 | %%* Several ''Podcast/EarbudTheater'' episodes. |
| 347 | * A good chunk of vlogs and stories pertaining to Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos ''love'' this trope. As for ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'', one of the more prominent examples, [[MeaningfulBackgroundEvent it's pretty much made of this trope]]. Well, that and ParanoiaFuel. Lots and lots of that, too. |
| 348 | * This trope, SurrealHorror, and ParanoiaFuel are the backbone of most [[CreepyPasta creepypastas.]] |
| 349 | * ''Literature/DivisionByZero'' never lets its readers forget that no matter how strong the characters are (with most, if not all the cast [[PurposelyOverpowered capable of destroying planets as a baseline]]), [[ShatteredSanity the mind is a fragile thing]]. Emotional and psychological vulnerabilities and primal survival are a constant in its narration. [[PrimalFear Fear of death, fear of life, fear of failure]]—[[NightmareFuel it doesn’t pull punches]]. Early on the protagonist deals with a deeply traumatic event, an identification too close to home, two haunting questions: Will they ever recover? ''Can'' they ever recover? It does not shy away from suicide and we are walked through it, thoughts and all, attempt after attempt, each time raw and visceral. It is both profound and unnerving all at once, children mercilessly thrown into a cosmic war they have no business fighting—they can barely take care of themselves. It promises the gritty details into an inevitable descent into insanity (or several), and the plummeting feeling of jumping from gut-wrenching heights, and that is to say nothing of the Eldritch Horror of it all. |
| 350 | %%* ''Literature/TheSickLand'' is a CosmicHorrorStory that leans heavily on this trope. |
| 351 | %%* ''LetsPlay/TheTerribleSecretOfAnimalCrossing'' |
| 352 | [[/folder]] |
| 353 | |
| 354 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 355 | [[/index]] |
| 356 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' uses this fairly frequently. Most notably, anything having to do with [[spoiler:the Ice King's past]] is either going to be this or a TearJerker. |
| 357 | * The second-to-last episode of ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'''s fourth season is seen entirely from the point-of-view of [[spoiler:[=BoJack=]'s mother, Beatrice,]] who, suffering from [[ScatterbrainedSenior dementia]], is incapable of differentiating the present and her various memories, [[WholeEpisodeFlashback and relives all of the shitty events that shaped her to the woman she is]]. |
| 358 | * The 2018 reboot of ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'' features this, especially in season 4. |
| 359 | ** "Hero" reveals why Razz [[spoiler:seems senile. She's being shunted back and forth between two different time periods at random moments. She gets confused as to what time period she's in and whether she's talking to Adora or Mara. Her disorientation at being toggled between two different time periods can be interpreted as an allegory for dementia.]] |
| 360 | ** Beast Island, the island to which the Horde exiles powerful enemies and screw-ups, [[spoiler:wears away visitors' willpower by preying on their deepest pain and insecurities. Vines then absorb visitors who have lost the will to resist.]] |
| 361 | ** [[spoiler:Horde Prime uses mind control to deny his clones free will, personalities, and even names. He's capable of entering their minds and probing their most intimate memories. Most frightening of all, he can perform a mind-wipe on any of his clones, as he does to Hordak at the end of season 4.]] |
| 362 | [[/folder]] |
| 363 | |
| 364 |
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