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4[[quoteright:350:[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E2IntoTheBunker https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stat_2232.png]]]]
5''[[caption-width-right:350:"Should I be one, or the other? [[TakeAThirdOption How about]] [[MergingMistake BOTH?!]]"]]''
6
7->''"Heh heh, good luck sleeping tonight!"''
8-->-- '''Soos''', "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E2IntoTheBunker Into the Bunker]]"
9
10From the mind of [[WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack Flapjack]] alum Creator/AlexHirsch comes WesternAnimation/GravityFalls, a town known for the paranormal and supernatural oddities discovered in it every day. It also happens to be the location of a NightmareFuel/{{Disney}} show, so there’s about to be a lot of those moments that really show just how [[DarkerAndEdgier dark]] this show can get, to the point where making ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' (which already has enough scary moments [[NightmareFuel/InvaderZim for its own page]]) look like ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'' by comparison and [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids somehow managing to get shown on]] Creator/DisneyChannel of all networks will be the least of your concerns. And considering the length of this page, there is a really great reason why a certain author of three strange journals warmed future readers to not trust whoever lives in this living nightmare...
11
12'''Beware of unmarked spoilers!'''
13
14* ''NightmareFuel/GravityFallsJournal3''
15* ''NightmareFuel/GravityFallsLostLegends''
16----
17[[foldercontrol]]
18
19[[folder: General, Shorts, and Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained]]
20
21[[AC: General]]
22* Right off the bat, it's worth noting that the entire show tends to maintain a ''vaguely'' creepy tone at all times, even when it's lighthearted, heartwarming or funny. The general mystery of what's going on in Gravity Falls is all there, in the background or the foreground, constantly hanging over the show like a grim reminder of everything you know, [[NothingIsScarier or don't know,]] about this weird little town in the middle of Oregon.
23* The [[BlackSpeech creepy whispering]] in the intro, along with those unsettling chords and flickering subliminal imagery, and the dying/fading on the last note, from the intro will never cease to send a chill down your spine.
24** It's "Three Letters Back" in reverse -- the cipher for the initial end-of-episode codes. It eventually switches to other messages when the cipher changes accordingly. Still pretty creepy, though.
25** Before figuring out that the message was in reverse, many fans assumed that the phrase was, "I'm still here".
26** ''STAN IS NOT WHAT HE SEEMS''
27* [[EldritchAbomination Bill Cipher]], full stop. Introduced near the end of the first season, he's described as the most powerful and dangerous being in Gravity Falls, and while a very strong target of LoveToHate among the fandom, everything about him is unsettling at best and horrifying at worst. In some circles, he's even considered to be the ''scariest Disney Villain of all time'', which is impressive considering his competition includes characters who have haunted the nightmares of generations; from [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] to [[WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron The Horned King]] to [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Scar]]. To elaborate:
28** He's a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]]. No kid-friendly minced expressions here; he's explicitly identified as a [[OhCrap demon]].
29** He's '''completely insane''' and '''impossible''' to predict. Besides talking, his very first on-screen action was randomly ripping the teeth out of a nearby deer, showing them to the person who summoned him just to give them a scare, and then putting the teeth back in and acting as if nothing happened.
30** However, despite this, he seems to have near-omnipotent intelligence. The casual way he talks to the characters makes it seem like he's constantly one step ahead of them; like he can predict every individual thought and motive that goes through their heads and always knows the exact words to say in order to play them like a fiddle. He may have very limited power over the physical realm, but every time you're near him, you get this underlying feeling of helplessness.
31** He has the power to enter your mind and read as many of your memories as he pleases. And if you want to defend yourself from this, you're apparently going to need something as drastic as a metal plate embedded into your skull.
32** If he's able to persuade you (which, again, is very easy for him), he can [[DemonicPossession take over your body]]. And he has ''no'' regard for your body's physical well-being when he does so; quite the contrary, he [[TooKinkyToTorture goes out of his way to abuse it as much as possible]].
33** [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou I'M ALWAYS WATCHING YOU NERDS. ALWAYS.]]
34** Bill answered a bunch of questions [[http://www.reddit.com/user/_BILLCIPHER/comments/ from the show's fans on Reddit]]. Some of his replies were funny, others were darkly comedic, and there was a fair number that... weren't very nice.
35** This little tidbit from the Reddit AMA is especially unsettling, considering there are images of Bill freaking ''everywhere'' in Gravity Falls (you just have to look carefully to find them, they're easily missed). And that's not counting all the [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou Bill merchandise and fanart]] and such in RealLife...
36---> "INCREASING MY POWER IS EASY AND ANYONE CAN DO IT! JUST DRAW MY FORM ANYWHERE IN YOUR HUMAN WORLD - EACH IMAGE OF ME ACTS AS A PEEPHOLE FROM MY DIMENSION TO YOURS, THE MORE I SEE, THE MORE I KNOW. THE MORE I KNOW, THE GREATER MY POWER. THE GREATER MY POWER, THE MORE ENEMIES OF YOURS I CAN CRUSH. JUST SHAKE MY HAND"
37** When asked on that thread what his long-term plans were, he responded with "I'M THINKING OF BRINGING BACK MKULTRA". [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_MKUltra This does not bode well at all]]...
38** Want a little more ParanoiaFuel? Pay close attention to the pictures of Bill on the journal page Gideon uses to summon him. It's at 0:10 seconds of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvWFY6mJpWA&feature=youtu.be&t=1m this video]]. There's a picture of the triangle symbol that's on every dollar bill in America, with the caption "HE'S IN MY WALLET!" That's right. Do you have bills on you? Then you ''literally'' [[{{Pun}} have Bills on you]] - he can see you through all of them.
39** In "Dipper and Mabel Vs. The Future", he finally achieves a goal he's been working towards for a billion years: being the harbinger of the apocalypse.
40*** Also, in the preview for the next episode, Bill is missing from the end of the TitleSequence! As in, there's a blank spot where he usually is...
41** Another point from the AMA. Bill opens it after his introduction with a video giving proof that it's him. What is the video? ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6sFP_7Vezg# A timelapse of a real life decomposing rabbit]]''.
42*** As seen in "Weirdmageddon III", He has no problem with harming children and even claims he "wants to make corpses out of the twins" and was about to kill Mabel for the heck of it!
43** Bill has always been a weird mix of [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou knowing he's an animated character and being summoned from the real world]]. He only talks to the viewers via the cryptograms (sometimes threatening the viewers, sometimes just adding in fun info), and by taking over Creator/AlexHirsch. There is a physical statue of him in Oregon. A few times he's looking at the viewers through the screen. He's not all the way like ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} where it loops back around to being fictional. Nor is he openly fictional like Dipper. It's a weird, unsettling, mix between the two that makes you wonder if he is, somehow, actually real.
44** In 2018, the complete series was released on DVD and Blu-ray. This was great news for fans and was also how some people got into the show. But then you take a look at the back of the case and you find a hidden message. What does this message say, you ask? [[OhCrap "bewarecipher".]]
45** And then there are all of his [[https://gravityfalls.fandom.com/wiki/Bill_Cipher#Cameos cameos]] throughout the show. It does a really good job of making you feel like he's absolutely '''[[ParanoiaFuel everywhere]]''' and ''nowhere'' is safe from him...
46** His {{Leitmotif}}, with how soft it is, you might not hear it due to the low volume, but it's utterly nightmarish.
47* The "Shop at Home with Mr. Mystery" shorts, while amusing, have one or two creepy points. In two of them ''Bill Cipher'' somehow manages to call the Mystery Shack! And his offer to Stan in the ad for the [[FandomNod Nacho Necklace]]…
48-->"How about you keep the necklace, and I'll take…'''YOUR SOUL…'''" ''(Ominous sting)''
49
50[[AC: Shorts]]
51* We get to see Gideon in prison. He's clearly got a huge amount of influence, and the people he's lording over are clearly pretty unstable, and coordinating a mass breakout is hardly beyond his means...
52** That aside, the fact that a child who might be no older than 10 would be put in a maximum security prison with people who have probably done some horrifying things to end up there seems like a big concern.
53** We get more {{Yandere}} antics from our favourite CreepyChild in [[https://youtu.be/9kLBaPyiCgA Creepy Letters from Li'l Gideon]]. He sounds rather unhinged when he mentions counting the bricks in his cell and says he hopes he'll see Mabel "real soon". And in the second one...
54--->'''Gideon:''' I'll be getting out of here before you know it. Can't wait to together with the ol' book club: you, me and Bill Cipher! Let's see how YOU like being tickled... in your soul.
55* Octavia the 8-legged cow from "Mabel's Scrapbook". She looks harmless enough... until she zaps a passing eagle with her LaserEyes and eats it with her OverlyLongTongue.
56-->'''Stan:''' ''Run.''
57* The very first promotional short, ''Creature in the Closet'', ends with Dipper slowly opening the closet door...only for the creature to lunge out of the closet, and attack him and Mabel (off-camera). The sudden JumpScare, as well as Mabel's voice becoming distorted and glitchy as the camera's batteries die out, likely scared a ''lot'' of small children who were watching Creator/DisneyChannel when this aired, and [[EstablishingSeriesMoment proved that this show]] was ''not'' going to be your typical Disney show.
58
59[[AC: Dipper's Guide to the Unexplained]]
60* "Stan's Tattoo" has Stan go berserk when Dipper tries to look at his tattoo.
61-->'''Stan''': I'M GONNA FIND YOU KID!!!!
62** This one's HarsherInHindsight when you find out in "A Tale of Two Stans" Stan's "tattoo" is actually a ''burn scar'' from part of the machinery powering the Interdimensional Portal. It's no wonder [[BerserkButton he's so touchy about it]].
63* "Lefty": Dipper spies upon a man who never turns right and literally does everything left. Then Dipper later gets him to turn around and he's not human, but a robot controlled by tiny little creatures. TheReveal was both creepy and unexpected (if also a bit hilarious).
64** And then ''they all [[CyanidePill commit suicide]].''
65---> '''Creature 1''': The time has come, brother!
66---> '''Creature 2''': I can't! {{I have a family}}!
67---> '''Creature 1''': You signed the oath! ''(both swallow poison and die)''
68* [[https://youtu.be/96FEhn_N76Y The "Tooth" short.]] Dipper finds a giant tooth on the shore, and tries to figure out where it came from. As he and Mabel row out into the lake to find out, it's revealed that the tooth came from a huge monster with an ugly human-ish face disguising itself as an island, which then rises up from the water to attack the twins.
69** [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/gravityfalls/images/7/70/Short5_Giant_island_head.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20131019215723 Here's]] what it looks like. It's not pretty.
70** If you look closely when it chases after the kids, you can see a SKELETON hanging off the bottom of it.
71** It also speaks backwards, and here's what it says:
72--> "''You have awoken me from my slumber! '''Enter my mouth, children! ENTER YOUR DESTINY!!! RAAAGH!'''''"
73** Bear-O, Mabel's creepy and disformed bear puppet, is also pretty creepy.
74* [[https://youtu.be/NXrmRW_v1s8 The Hide Behind]], a mysterious creature that no one has ever seen, as it is always living up to its name and hiding behind everything. It has a rather creepy design, although fortunately it doesn't do anything harmful or malicious.
75** If anything, it seems to be having fun trolling Dipper, making a very audible sound and then darting behind a tree.
76** Though, if it's anything like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidebehind the folklore creature it's based on...]]
77* Watching all of the shorts and then putting the pieces at the end of them together nets [[http://gravityfalls.wikia.com/wiki/File:Shorts_the_hidden_page.jpg this wonderful image]].
78** When you decrypt the Red Code along the edge, it spells I WAS SO BLIND, HE LIED TO ME, THE DARKNESS IS NEAR. Becomes even more chilling after watching ''The Last Mabelcorn'', and realizing that "he" refers to Bill.
79
80[[AC: Legend of the Gnome Gemulets]]
81* A conversation with Grunkle Stan has him recount being present for the twins' birth, recalling the day fondly. That said, while he happily mentions that Mabel came out swinging, having punched the doctor that delivered her, he also reveals that Dipper nearly ''died'' from asphyxiation as a newborn, having been strangled by his own umbilical cord to the point that his face was blue.
82
83[[/folder]]
84
85[[folder:Season 1]]
86
87[[AC: Tourist Trapped]]
88* A bunch of [[FairFolk gnomes]] wanted to kidnap and marry Mabel, a ''twelve-year-old'' girl, which is unsettling as it is. That's not even considering the fact they can be ''old'' even by human standards.
89** They were rather feral when Dipper comes to rescue Mabel, one of them attempting to eat Dipper's face off.
90*** And then there's the big gnome monster that they all form together...
91
92[[AC: Legend of the Gobblewonker]]
93* [=McGucket=] has made [[KillerRobot these robots]] before, and has used them on populated areas just to get attention. As is hinted later, this is probably him being ''nice.''
94
95[[AC: Headhunters]]
96* As Mabel and Dipper say, the wax figures look very lifelike. Later on, they "kill" every single one of them.
97* Wax Sherlock Holmes tries to outright ''murder'' Stan with an axe.
98* [[BodyHorror Wax Sherlock Holmes melting, and his half-liquid head dripping off the roof as he speaks his last words.]]
99
100[[AC: The Hand That Rocks the Mabel]]
101* Lil Gideon, [[NotGoodWithRejection after he shows his true colours.]] He's unstable, violent and [[VillainousCrush seems to believe that Mabel is secretly in love with him.]] This kid's just three years younger than Dipper, and yet he's so far gone that [[GreenEyedMonster he attempted to cut out Dipper's tongue and]] ''[[MurderTheHypotenuse kill him]]''.
102** It doesn't help for the fact that Gideon has the voice of [[WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack Flapjack]] and while he sounds a tad goofy, it also proves to be quite unsettling.
103** One has to wonder if he was born this deranged or if his contact with the forces in the Journal caused him to be this way.
104*** Later [[AllThereInTheManual materials]] reveal that the amulet Gideon used for telekinesis [[ArtifactOfDoom corrupts the soul]], and it appears that Gideon had '''no idea''' because this information was written in a journal he didn't have. Likewise, he probably had no idea how dangerous Bill is, since Journal 2 was written before the author had found that out.
105* Toby asking Dipper if he's noticed anything unusual around town [[CerebusRetcon becomes a lot more menacing]] after we learn he's a member of the Society of the Blind Eye.
106* The ending. Gideon makes toys out of Mabel, Stan, and Dipper, making them say things that aren't true. (ex. [[MadLove "Gideon, I still love you!"]]) This kid is '''seriously''' messed up.
107** It gets worse. The last shot of the episode reveals ''he has Journal 2.''
108* Mabel's situation with Gideon, in general, is creepy in a more grounded way than many of the show's creepy elements. Gideon's magic amulet and journal filled with information on the supernatural might be fantastical... but being pursued by a jealous, clearly unstable individual who won't take "no" for an answer and uses tools such as guilt-tripping to keep someone who's clearly very uncomfortable in a relationship with them - and who even turns outright violent when faced with her rejection, [[MurderTheHypotenuse albeit towards Dipper]] - is a ''very'' realistic kind of unsettling.
109** ''Especially'' the way onlookers and townspeople in the episode d'aw at how cute it is that [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Li'l Gideon]] has a girlfriend, with their adoration of him making them ''completely'' gloss over Mabel's potential feelings about the situation. The way so many people around her - even Stan (albeit purely for business reasons) - [[ShipperOnDeck are voicing their support for the relationship]] and heaping pressure on the poor girl to be with someone she doesn't want to be is an uncomfortably real kind of scenario, one a lot of teenage and adult viewers will know the feeling of... and Mabel is ''twelve''!
110** There's also the fear of being in Dipper's position of a close person to a victim of such a situation and watching it play out.
111
112[[AC: The Inconveniencing]]
113* Mabel becomes possessed by a ghost, which is pretty creepy to witness.
114* [[http://i.imgur.com/7MFPwlA.png The cooler monster.]] WordOfGod says [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment it'll never be explained]].
115* When Dipper turns around and sees that his and the others' reflections have become ''skeletons''. Then Robbie, Tambry, and Wendy’s skeletons turn their heads towards Dipper.
116* The fates of the teenagers that the twins venture to the store with: Being trapped inside a television screen, a video game, a cereal box cover, and a hot dog ''[[AndIMustScream that's being cooked]]''.
117** And judging by the sound effect and reactions of the characters watching, the cereal box one was a GoryDiscretionShot.
118--->'''Cereal Box Bird''': I'm bonkers for eating you alive!
119* It's really really surprising the show was allowed (being Disney) to get away with using the word "Murder" and showing two corpse outlines. DarkerAndEdgier Disney indeed.
120
121[[AC: Dipper vs. Manliness]]
122* The pain hole. Whenever you put your hand in there, you automatically feel a lot of pain. [[NothingIsScarier What's worse is that we don't know what causes the pain]].
123
124[[AC: Double Dipper]]
125* The copy of Dipper's dismembered arm. It crawls towards Dipper, with unnerving music playing, and then it just bubbles and melts away.
126* Paper Jam Dipper, an irregular and deformed copy of Dipper. While PlayedForLaughs, it still doesn't feel, look, or sound... normal, unlike the other copies. And then it welcomes its death.
127* The mere possibilities of a machine that can produce clones of anyone without limit. Suppose Gideon found it? Just one of him was almost enough to take over the entire town, imagine an army of Gideons.
128** Although, given his nature, they would probably get even less done than the Dippers did.
129* The fact that Dipper's CloneArmy assaulted him when they realized he wasn't going to follow the plan. Are the clones just inherently aggressive? Or is this a direct result of someone with Dipper's trust issues and neurosis being placed into a closed echo chamber of identical voices all validating his decisions and his fears? If so, just how unbalanced is Dipper?
130
131[[AC: Irrational Treasure]]
132* For that matter, the fact that the whole town can be controlled by a horrible family and there are no limits to what the police can do to uncooperative citizens.
133
134[[AC: The Time Traveler's Pig]]
135* [[https://youtu.be/2ltJnhoTKZ4?t=40s The way time travel apparently works.]] The twins press the backwards button, and everything reverses: Waddles, who ran away in fear, is pushed backwards again, Soos gets an unsettled look when he stops eating his sandwich as if he's aware of something strange happening, the ball flies back into the man's hand, and all while eerie, reversed music plays.
136* The Time Baby, a huge baby with a large head and [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]] that seemingly controls all of time.
137* Even though it's PlayedForLaughs and parodied, the idea of actually time-traveling to the end of all time, where nothing exists anymore but you, is actually kind of unsettling.
138
139[[AC: Fight Fighters]]
140* Dipper ends up in a shockingly realistic "fight with a bully" scenario, especially by Disney Channel standards.
141** On the flip side, Robbie being chased by Rumble is also horrifying. Sure, he was acting like a [[JerkAss massive jerk]], but he didn't deserve to ''[[DisproportionateRetribution literally be killed]]'' because of it. The worst part is how Robbie seems genuinely and ''reasonably'' terrified while Rumble is attacking him.
142** Rumble [=McSkirmish=] on a rampage in the real world has some of this too, in retrospect. He's acting exactly like you'd expect a character from a fighting game to act when loosed in the real world (i.e. attacking everything in sight.) He also almost knocked over a water tower that Mabel and Stan were on just because Robbie tried to hide in it.
143
144
145[[AC: Little Dipper]]
146* Gideon returns to thwart the Pines family to come after the Mystery Shack. He really loses his grip and has some pretty {{Yandere}} tendencies and {{Nightmare Face}}s.
147** [[EnfantTerrible The way he screams at his parents,]] demands [[PushoverParents his father]] look him in the eye and grabs him by the face, etc., are all ''strongly'' reminiscent of a habitually abusive parent lashing out at a child rather than simply an outrageously bratty kid acting out.
148-->'''Gideon's mother''': ''[[MadnessMantra Just keep vacuuming just keep vacuuming just keep vacuuming...]]''
149** Speaking of his mom, we see that she's very neurotic and dead-set on just vacuuming all the time.
150** Then he decides to shrink Stan...
151-->'''Gideon:''' [[LaughingMad Heh heh heh... Hahahahah!]] ''WHAT AM I DOIN'!?'' I don't need ransom! I have ''this!'' I'll just shrink Stan and take the Shack by force! And if the rest of you get in my way... ''(Rips heads off Pines family figurines)'' SMASH!
152** And this kid's only ''ten years old''. What will he be capable of when he's an adult?
153
154[[AC: Summerween]]
155* The Summerween Trickster is a monster who tasks Dipper and Mabel to bring him candy, or he'll eat them. He's scary enough at first, but his transformed state is even scarier.
156** To demonstrate his seriousness, the Trickster grabbed a random kid and just ''ate him whole'', in the first five minutes of the episode.
157** The Trickster's actual face and his overall true appearance looks like [[Anime/SpiritedAway No-Face]].
158* Stan's attempts to scare the two Trick-or-Treaters are kind of scary, even if the kids don't think so. His first attempt is to wear a mask that makes it look like his '''face is melting off his skull'''.
159* Gorney as he's being eaten alive.
160-->'''Gorney''': REMEMBER ME!
161* "Knock knock..."
162[[AC: Boss Mabel]]
163* Dipper caused a couple to go insane by having them look into the [[DeadlyGaze Gremloblin's eyes]]. They're last seen carried away on stretchers in catatonic states, with their eyes wide in frozen terror.
164
165[[AC: Bottomless Pit!]]
166* Stan's little speech about life in "Truth Ache".
167* The cowboy skull in "Soos's Really Great Pinball Story" can be both funny and terrifying. Such as when he uses his VacuumMouth to suck in Dipper and Mabel to who knows where.
168
169[[AC: The Deep End]]
170* The [[http://i.imgur.com/SWCWqA1.jpg dead, mummified looking merman]] seen in episode 1 becomes extremely unsettling now that the twins have learned merfolk are real, intelligent beings.
171** Most likely it's intended to be a reference to the Fiji Mermaids, a common carnival attraction about a century ago. Mind you, they were nightmare fuel in their own right and usually consisted of a mummified ape sown together with a fish. Of course, the one shown in this episode IS human-sized... and could be a fake considering this is Grunkle Stan we are talking about...
172* The kid in the pool filter is PlayedForLaughs, but to keep a kid stuck in there all year is just needlessly cruel.
173* Mr. Poolcheck's behavior throughout this episode is rather unsettling.
174
175[[AC: Carpet Diem]]
176* Dipper and Mabel's horror at learning they switched bodies. Sure, it's mainly PlayedForLaughs, but they are clearly terrified and keep in mind that they don't know why they switched or if it's possible to switch back.
177* Soos's body is switched with Waddles, and while he's being hunted by Old Man [=McGucket=], Waddles is off-screen. Whatever he was doing, it resulted in a marriage proposal with a woman being so unbalanced that a mute, bumbling man with no indication of sapience can go from total stranger to marriage material in the space of a few hours -- and when he ''does'' start behaving like a human being, she's no longer interested.
178** Some of the expressions that Waddles makes in Soos's body is pretty creepy. At one point, he puts his whole hand over Stan's face and just...stares, understandably freaking him out.
179** When Soos tells [=McGucket=] that he's a man trapped in a pig's body, [=McGucket=] replies: "That's what they all say..." in a very unnerving manner. Of course, this is [=McGucket=] we are talking about. He may have hallucinated that they were speaking. Still creepy but in a different way...
180** [[ImAHumanitarian [=McGucket=] telling Soos he'll still eat him in his human body.]]
181
182[[AC: Boyz Crazy]]
183* The producer of Sev'ral Timez genetically engineered the band and keeps them locked in an oversized hamster cage, like lab rats.
184* The clones were kept in test tubes. There was an adult, an older kid, a younger kid, a baby... and a fetus.
185* Robbie brainwashing Wendy with his song. The backmasked message itself is pretty damn creepy, too:
186--->'''Low Voice''': You are now under my control. Your mind is mine.
187** Plenty of scare chords related to that above message.
188** The shit-eating grin Robbie has on his face before he brainwashes Wendy with his song. He ''knows'' damn well that what he's doing is despicable and disgusting.
189* Sev'ral Timez is released as babes in the woods. Candy says casually, "They won't last a week."
190
191[[AC: The Land Before Swine]]
192* When our heroes come across the pterodactyl's nest, ''several skeletons are seen nearby''.
193* As the gang runs from the pterosaur, they pass a ''T. Rex'' stuck in amber that wriggles its arms, suggesting that it might free itself someday. And earlier, they see [[AndIMustScream a trapped dromaeosaurid wiggling its free finger]].
194* Old Man [=McGucket=] getting swallowed alive by the baby pterodactyl, and implied to have eaten his way out of it at the end.
195* There's also the general fear of having a beloved pet being snatched away by a predator.
196
197[[AC: Dreamscaperers]]
198* Gideon wants the shack so badly that he summoned a ''demon'' to do the job for him. And he summons him with backmasked words, while his eyes glow and the scenery turns greyscale. While the words being said are literally just "Backwards message", the scene is still pretty creepy.
199* When he rips the deer's teeth, very ominous music plays.
200* The page in Dipper's journal for Bill's entry is bloodstained, and the author's note warns not to ''EVER'' summon Bill. Out of all the horrible things that haunt Gravity Falls, this being scared the author the most. It's entirely possible Bill is the "Him" the author speaks about in the first episode that is watching him.
201** Not to mention the fact that the page of the Journal 2 describing him says that he's appeared in the author's dreams every night for weeks, and the page before his entry in Journal 3 says "Can't sleep can't sleep can't sleep" leading to some interesting implications.
202** The (real-life) third journal also gives us the reason ''why'' the page is bloodstained - Ford's prolonged bouts of letting Bill possess his body [[EyeScream started causing his eyes to bleed]].
203* Mabel losing her cuteness and temporarily becoming {{Gonk}} isn't a pretty sight.
204* Dipper getting a hole blown through his body.
205* Bill Cipher, the most deranged and scariest being in the entire show.
206** He knows [[https://youtu.be/TvWFY6mJpWA?t=1m lots of things]]... '''[[VoiceOfTheLegion LOOOOOOOTS OF THINGS]]'''
207** Remember how Gideon was once angry enough to try to cut out Dipper's tongue with lamb shears? Bill [[TheToothHurts tears out the teeth]] of a deer and hands them to Gideon, who shrieks in horror and drops them all.
208---> '''Bill:''' Deer teeth! For you, kid. [[LaughingMad Ahahahaha!]]
209---> '''Gideon:''' Ah- ahhhh! You're insane!
210---> '''Bill:''' Sure I am, what's your point?
211** Bill when he gets angry, with his VoiceOfTheLegion being taken to great effect when he's foiled.
212---> '''Bill:''' [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry Do you have any idea what I'm like]] '' '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis WHEN. I'M. MAD?!]]'' '''
213---> '''Bill:''' '' '''EAT NIGHTMARES!''' ''
214** Bill leaving was incredibly creepy as well, complete with flickering and flashing imagery, and a healthy serving of scary sounds.
215** While he was leaving, his last words were "I'LL BE WATCHING YOU..."
216*** Worse still, the way in which he repeats it. The first time, he's clearly bent over the gang, addressing them. The second time, he's assumed his zodiac form, which is oriented outward, ''at the viewer''.
217** Hell, just the fact that Bill wasn't ''actually defeated'', he decided to just leave, because he thought the Pines were amusing and worth keeping an eye on.
218* TheStinger is the icing on the creepy cake. It's a view of a forest scene with "To Be Continued" written at the bottom, with an eerie remix of the theme song playing in the background.
219** If you look, you can see Bill's eye on some of the trees.
220** You can see his eye ''[[https://imgur.com/a/13o57Av everywhere]]''. [[note]]With red circles for your convenience[[/note]] Take a look at Dipper's cap. It's from the first episode.
221* Before the episode even aired, Bill was a source of unnerving content. On Disney's website for ''Gravity Falls'', the game "Rumble's Revenge" yields twelve special cryptograms. When transcribed, they read:
222-->"i bet you're wondering who I a'''M'''."
223-->"i don't give up answers easil'''Y'''.."
224-->"i k'''N'''ow things. Fascinating things..."
225-->"your reality is a game to me. And I like g'''A'''mes...."
226-->"mischief is my '''M'''iddle name, but not my first....."
227-->"th'''E'''re are six hints I will give you......"
228-->"1. there is a secret soc'''I'''ety in Gravity Falls......."
229-->"2. the Handyman know'''S''' more than he thinks........"
230-->"3. gideon has '''B'''een searching for something........."
231-->"4. what goes up '''I'''s sure to come down.........."
232-->"5. dipper is p'''L'''aying with fire..........."
233-->"6. i will be returning to Gravity Fal'''L'''s............"
234
235[[AC: Gideon Rises]]
236* [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals Gideon screaming at Waddles to get back in the corner, coupled with his terrified expression.]]
237%% * The giant robot Gideon.
238* Gideon's as {{Yandere}} ever, and uses the aforementioned Gideon robot to grab Mabel and demand she be his queen.
239* Dipper nearly gets himself killed trying to fight a giant robot, and the twins would've died [[JustInTime if Mabel hadn't used her grappling hook in time.]]
240* TheStinger: We see Stan work on a mysterious portal underneath the Shack.
241--> '''Stan''': Here we go...
242* The fact that someone so twisted [[VillainWithGoodPublicity can have the support of an entire town]] until his true colors and acts at their expense are revealed, to the point where no-one will stand up for the heroes even when it is obvious who the monster is, is a more mundane kind of horror, and because of this it is also the worst for some people.
243* Stan had Journal 1 ''the entire time''. He always knew about the secrets of Gravity Falls and had been secretly searching for Dipper and Gideon's journals for years. He stealthily stole Gideon's journal when the little brat was arrested, and Dipper unknowingly just handed Journal 3 to him while confessing about how he found it at the start of the summer. Remember the cipher from episode 1- ''STAN IS NOT WHAT HE SEEMS''.
244* There's a cleverly hidden cipher on the pipes during the transition to the last scene of the episode. What does this cipher say when translated? [[ParanoiaFuel "BILL IS WATCHING"]]
245
246[[/folder]]
247
248[[folder:Season 2]]
249
250[[AC: Scary-oke]]
251* This episode has a zombie invasion, and poor Soos gets infected and becomes a zombie.
252** Soos still being a goof makes it either less scary or even ''more'' unsettling, since he's as obsessed with eating Dipper and Mabel's brains as the other zombies are.
253* The glove Stan puts on in the bunker has ''six fingers''.
254** Which may be foreshadowing to TheStinger at the end of "Not What He Seems," because the Author/Stan's brother Ford has six fingers.
255* The black light reveals that there was blood on the journal's cover.
256** There’s also some rather...disturbing messages hidden on the pages, such as CAN’T SLEEP CAN’T SLEEP CAN’T SLEEP.
257
258[[AC: Into the Bunker]]
259* The Shapeshifter, which does [[VoluntaryShapeshifting exactly what its name implies]]. It tricks Dipper into thinking he's met the author of the journals, before revealing its terrifying, somewhat [[EldritchAbomination eldritch true form]] and trying to kill Dipper and take the journal. Dipper even discusses the fact that [[ParanoiaFuel if it got loose, it could turn into anyone and you would never know it.]] What makes it worse is that it is actually malevolent, unlike the other creatures which are usually TrueNeutral. The Shapeshifter is a horrifying monster who taunts Dipper about what may happen to him if he goes too deep, transforming into a horrified Dipper before he is frozen in a chamber. Soos even lampshades it with a "Good luck sleeping tonight!" All of this is a pretty good reason why one of its most terrifying forms is the page image!
260-->'''Shapeshifter:''' ''(In Mabel's form)'' Should I be one, ''(takes Dipper's form)'' or the other? How about both? ''[[http://i.imgur.com/wQyGkDs.png (transforms into a Body Horror mixture of the two)]]''
261** The buildup to the creature's reveal was well done and very creepy. Dipper and Wendy, separated from Soos and Mabel, apparently run into "the author of the journals". Everything's going fine, Dipper is happy they managed to find him and everything seems to be going okay. Then Wendy realizes that the man they're talking to is the [[OhCrap mascot on the can of beans down in the bunker]]. Realizing how bad this is, Dipper tries to head out. And then the Shape Shifter takes quite a lot of notes from [[Film/TheThing1982 another certain shape-shifting alien...]].
262** One of the worst parts about the Shapeshifter? He makes the exact same sound effect as the [[WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand Zurg-a-Tronic Megaray,]] the source of many kids from the 90s nightmares.
263** The overall similarities to [[Film/TheThing1982 The Thing]] also add a lot. Wendy's ''bleeding'' after the initial fight with the monster...
264** A closer look at its [[http://gravityfalls.wikia.com/wiki/Shape_Shifter/Gallery#Concept_and_production_artwork transformations]].
265** Its last words.
266-->You think you're so clever, don't you Dipper? But you have no idea what you're up against. You will never find the author, and if you keep digging, you'll meet a fate worse than you can imagine, and ''this'' will be the last form you'll ever take! (''As the shapeshifter is frozen it takes the form of a screaming and terrified Dipper.'')
267** And all of its lines are made even scarier thanks to it being voiced by [[Creator/MarkHamill the Joker and Fire Lord Ozai.]]
268*** And the worst part? Experiment 210 is ''correct'': When Dipper dies for the first time via being transformed into wood in "Northwest Mansion Mystery", he takes that exact same pose. [[https://youtu.be/IGt87p9Xt-I See here.)]]
269*** Another worrying element? The Shapeshifter froze in the form of a terrified Dipper. While most likely Ford would make sure that wasn't a problem before leaving Gravity Falls, if he didn't someone else could come across the bunker, and seeing what appears to be a terrified twelve year old in a cryo tube might lead someone to let them out.
270* Whatever that monster in the shadows was. It appears to be a spider, but [[UnseenEvil we never actually see it in full form.]] It's also mentioned to have regenerative properties... This is assuming, of course that the monster wasn't Experiment 210 and the "author's" battle with it wasn't some sort of ruse to gain Dipper and Wendy's trust, such as shapeshifting part of itself into the "author" and ripping out the monster's tongue.
271* Long before any of the monsters showed up, this episode managed to make TheWallsAreClosingIn ''scary'' again. Unlike the traditional version, this one has little steel cubes pushing in from ''every'' direction, meaning that instead of just squishing you in one painful but (hopefully) short go, it will probably [[CruelAndUnusualDeath catch and mash up your body parts one by one]]. And if, by some miracle, you hit the four-button OFF sequence? [[OhCrap That doesn't stop the mechanism.]] All it does is open the emergency exit, and reaching that exit is still ''your'' problem.
272
273[[AC: The Golf War]]
274* The Lilliputtians tie up Pacifica because they think Mabel would like them best if they ''murdered'' her. Then, when they all decide to work together they plan to ''cut Mabel open''.
275** Franz in particular, as performed by Creator/PattonOswalt, is just so [[DissonantSerenity cheerfully cold-blooded]] in everything he says, and - unlike many of the other villains - [[BlueAndOrangeMorality barely seems to understand he's even doing anything wrong]].
276* There is a bit of existential horror at the thought that Big Henry, an obviously beloved and valued member of his community, not only ''dies on-screen'', but dies for a ''sticker''- one that they ''didn't even win''. And on top of that, no one outside his tiny community ''will ever even know he existed''.
277** To make matters worse, everyone on the surface is completely oblivious to what’s happening. Mabel and Pacifica are just waiting for the ball and Dipper cheerfully speculates on what “adorable things” are going on under there.
278
279[[AC: Sock Opera]]
280* Bill Cipher's back. And true to his word, he has been [[ParanoiaFuel watching the twins]], and returns in this episode while being even creepier.
281** Bill first appears as a shadow following the twins out of the library while being accompanied by a creepy chord of music.
282** Dipper's trying to find out how to crack the laptop's code, and wishes for some clue or hint. Then the full moon rolls over, and it's revealed to be Bill's eye.
283** [[ParanoiaFuel "I've been keeping an-"]] ''*Bill briefly turns massive, red, and [[EvilSoundsDeep Satanically deep-voiced]]*'' "'''EYE ON YOU''' [[ParanoiaFuel since then..."]] This [[https://images.discordapp.net/attachments/322591969853308929/326139778254766090/image.png?width=400&height=226 animation error]] didn't [[BlankWhiteEyes really help]].
284** When Bill shows up to taunt Dipper, he conjures up an ''eternally screaming head'' for no reason other than to frighten Dipper. Then he snaps his fingers and the head unravels, stripping away hair and skin, then flesh and eyes, and finally pulling the skull out of frame. [[http://i.imgur.com/tlyhbje.gif The head is, of course, screaming the entire time.]] And its tongue ''ties itself in a knot'' as it unravels.
285** Dipper tries to make a [[DealWithTheDevil deal]] with Bill to get some information out of a laptop, but Bill ends up double-crossing him and possesses Dipper's body. While it's quickly PlayedForLaughs as Bill gets used to a physical body, but the music that starts playing combined with Dipper's screaming and Bipper slowly climbing to his feet as all the lighting goes red is pretty terrifying.
286** Bill!Dipper, or Bipper, is both hilarious and terrifying. Bill enjoys causing Dipper's body pain [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything way too much]] and his expressions when threatening Mabel are cruel in ways Dipper's face should never get.
287** Bipper wears a wicked grin on his face, half CheshireCatGrin, half SlasherSmile, and it's exceptionally creepy to look at. The animators made his face more frightening than it should be, as in close-up, you see ''actual individual teeth and gums'', which rotate with the angle of the head and everything, as opposed to the usual nondescript white bar you usually see in characters' mouths. It makes him look more than a little disconcerting.
288** Seeing him dressed as a reverend makes for an incredible contrast; coupled with the dark clothes, unnatural eyes, and a SlasherSmile, it makes him look especially sinister.
289*** WordOfGod says that his mannerisms and reverend costume were based on two sources, Reverend Henry Kane of the ''{{Poltergeist}}'' film series and Reverend Harry Powell from ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter''. That's right, an eldritch cult leader and a serial killer who threatens children. Seriously, all he needs is Reverend Powell's iconic "LOVE-HATE" tattoos to make the ensemble complete.
290** Our heroes were lucky that A, Dipper was still able to possess a sock puppet to communicate, and B, Dipper's physical body was worn out. The thought of Bill, a being with knowledge and observation spanning time immemorial and [[{{Sadist}} a known sadist]] with very little reason to show restraint, running around in the real world in a functioning vessel is not a pleasant one.
291** His fantastic NightmareFace when he asks, "But how can you stop me... [[http://i.imgur.com/1sIG0kT.gif if you don't exiiiiist?]] *[[LaughingMad echoing laughter]]*"
292** One unnerving thing is how nobody finds ''anything'' strange about how Bipper acts, although WordOfGod stated that we don't get to see this because of time restrictions.
293** The sheer amount of body horror. Bill inhabits and ''damages'' Dipper's body, while Dipper watches helplessly. There's ''nothing he can do.''
294---> ''"Race you down the stairs!"'' ''[falls down steps]''
295---> ''"Boy, these arms are durable!"'' ''[slamming arm repeatedly in a drawer. When he removes it, it's stuck full of forks]''
296*** When Dipper finally does get his own body back, what is his first reaction? "Ooooooh everything hurts..." "No seriously I really think I need to go to a hospital..." Has Bill been experimenting with his body off-screen too?
297** Even the episode's code, once translated, makes an incredibly creepy poem. Just what the hell is Bill planning?
298-->''NO PUPPET STRINGS CAN HOLD ME DOWN''\
299''SO PATIENTLY I WATCH THIS TOWN''\
300''ABNORMAL SOON WILL BE THE NORM''\
301''ENJOY THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM''
302* This one is subtle. Observe the room right before Bill appears. After the flash, very faintly there's a rubics cube in the corner. ''It was not there before.'' Later episodes have shown a rubics cube in Dipper's possession.
303* Here's another one; the phrase Bill says before taking Dipper's body ("Eenie meanie miney... YOU!")? It's the exact same one Grunkle Stan used in the first episode.
304* The release of the third journal reveals that, had he succeeded in his plan, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Bill was going to]] ''throw Dipper's body from the water tower so that everyone would think he'd committed suicide''. And probably do the same to Mabel afterward...though the passage could also be read as him just anticipating she'd do it naturally, either [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone out of guilt]] or just [[TogetherInDeath to be with her brother]], which is hardly better. Even for a creature that delights in causing chaos and pain, it's a sickening new low.
305
306[[AC: Soos and the Real Girl]]
307* The animatronics at the SuckECheeses knockoff restaurant were pretty creepy to look at even before they were taken over. It doesn't help that one of them looks disturbingly like Mabel's puppet Bear-O.
308** On a similar note, some of the things that they have built into them don't really make a whole lot of sense, like the clawed hands on the Barrel Rat Robots. Considering that they looked like they were all endoskeleton they obviously weren't meant to be seen, making one wonder why they were even put on, to begin with.
309** While it is a complete coincidence, as the episode was finished long before the game came out, the animatronics have reminded many of the indie horror game ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', which also had killer animatronics.
310* The episode centers around Soos coming across [=.GIFfany=], a {{Yandere}} in a dating sim that ends up possessing the aforementioned animatronics to get Soos and ''delete'' Dipper, Mabel, and Melody.
311** She has a split second NightmareFace seen [[http://i.imgur.com/GnEN96c.jpg here]] when she's going full {{Yandere}}, and even resembles a face that the {{Yandere}} queen herself, [[Manga/FutureDiary Yuno Gasai]] would pull.
312** The camera cuts away from Soos playing on the dating sim... only to reveal that his computer is unplugged.
313** It's revealed that [=.GIFfany=] killed her creators, and they show that she electrocuted anyone who tried to destroy her.
314** [=.GIFfany=] herself has an unsettling and shaky pixelated art style that clashes with everyone else on the show, ''especially'' when she starts showing off her ContagiousAI powers and combined with her AccentOnTheWrongSyllable voice. Worse, apart from her brief screaming fit when she realized Soos was putting her up for a while, she never loses that [[FauxAffablyEvil cheerful, polite tone]].
315*** The aforementioned screaming fit is accompanied by the game music turning from a cheerful tune into an eerie beeping, which adds to the creepiness of her breakdown.
316** Her death is also nothing to sneeze at, complete with a horrifying scream while the robot she was possessing melts.
317*** Worse than that, we actually see [=.GIFfany=] get deleted ''before'' the scream. So who's screaming? Well, the other robots she controls maintain personalities and sentience of their own... so it's very likely that the beaver robot she was possessing woke up ''just in time to horrifically die.''
318** Game companies needed to produce many, ''many'' copies of a game to recoup the expenses in creating a game in the days before direct download. How many other players are dead, trapped in the game, or forever under [=.GIFfany's=] digital thumb? And what happened to the three people who owned the game before Soos?
319*** We're told that they returned the game to the store, which implies that they freaked out before [=.GIFfany=] had the chance to get into the serious assault phase. So it's possible that ''Romance Academy 7'' failed miserably as far as sales went, and Soos is the only one unlucky enough to have [=.GIFfany=] around long enough for her to build up to "YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE ME". Still a disturbing prospect, though.
320** This episode is frightening because unlike Rumble [=McSkirmish=], [=.GIFfany=] ''thinks''. She's not locked into a set of rules like Rumble is. She's a living, thinking entity capable of complex planning and emotional manipulation. Move past her screaming match when Soos says he's leaving her to the end of the episode; she goes right back to being her charming self, gleefully describing to Soos how no real woman would ever be with him, but how she's always predictable no matter what. You can tell by the look on Soos' face that [=.GIFfany=] knew exactly where to hit, and that, even for a brief second, Soos really considered giving his mind to Giffany.
321** As if to prove a point how different [=.GIFfany=] and Rumble are, she rather casually vaporizes him in passing when her programming moves through his game.
322** The worst part of it all, though, is that the entire episode is a ''massive'' dose of TruthInTelevision as far as the emotional manipulation that occurs in abusive relationships is concerned. [=.GIFfany=] telling Soos that no real woman will ever love him the way she does, stalking Soos wherever he goes, and going out of her way to destroy Soos's relationship with Melody (even willing to go as far as outright ''murder'') are all textbook examples of ways abusers manipulate their victims into submission. For anyone that's actually been in an abusive relationship, the entire episode hits a little too close to home.
323* Take a closer look at the dumpsters when Stan is being attacked by the badger robot. One has Robbie's "explosion" painted on it, but the second has a much more [[http://i.imgur.com/9uV2LZL.jpg sinister symbol]].
324* Goldie, an old coin-operated machine in the Mystery Shack that malfunctions and spews oil from its face while screaming, terrifies a poor unfortunate little boy to tears.
325-->'''Wendy''': It's time to throw that thing out. Its face reminds everybody of the inevitability of death.
326* That random woman that Soos accidentally bumped into is unnecessarily creepy, even if it was also funny at how absurd the scene was.
327-->''You can't undo who you are.''
328* [=.GIFfany=] brings all the animatronics to life... including the one Stan was stealing. The way Will E. repeats his catchphrase right before attacking Stan was especially creepy.
329
330[[AC: Little Gift Shop of Horrors]]
331* An unnamed person is greeted into the Mystery Shack late at night. After Stan tells three different stories about some of the items he's selling, the person decides not to buy anything. Then, Stan gives them a "potion" that knocks them out. They wake up in the shack the day after, trapped in a case and apparently glued to the stand, being shown off as an exhibit called "The Cheapskate".
332** Made worse by Stan's continued creepy smile as the person's vision blurs and they fall over.
333--->''"You shoulda bought something while you had the chance..."''
334** Then, Mabel and Dipper see the person in there and don't seem to care ''at all''. There's a thin line between RuleOfFunny and RuleOfScary. At the least, this episode is hinted at to be non-canon.
335* One of the items Stan talks about is this some... blob creature... with an unnatural appearance and a high amount of eyes and other orifices.
336* The swarm of disembodied hands in the Hand Witch story.
337* If you're scared of stop-motion/claymation, like Mabel is, then seeing the claymation monsters won't be a nice sight. Worse yet, is Mabel's creation: Shimmery Twinkleheart, somehow even '''more''' terrifying when rendered in claymation than in regular animation.
338* Somehow, Soos still ended up turning into a clay creature, resembling WesternAnimation/{{Gumby}}. Despite doing nothing dangerous and just being creepy-looking, Stan ends up ''[[OffWithHisHead decapitating him]]''. Even worse, Soos didn't appear again after the segment, which can give creepy implications. Be thankful it's non-canon in the same vein as ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror''.
339
340[[AC: Society of the Blind Eye]]
341* This episode features a secret society that has been erasing the memories of people in Gravity Falls, making them blissfully unaware and ignorant of the horrors and mysteries of the town. And it includes recurring characters like Toby Determined and Bud Gleeful.
342** To take it a bit further, it seems that various people of Gravity Falls suffer a bit of brain damage because of it.
343** Lazy Susan is seen on a payphone trying to call for help, when she's suddenly abducted by two members of the society, then they tie her down and erase her memory.
344** They’re also not above doing it to children and teenagers, judging both by the video they have of erasing Robbie’s memories of the events of "Fight Fighters", and Blind Ivan nearly erasing Dipper, Mabel, and Wendy’s memories along with Soos.
345** The fact that there are ''hundreds'' of memory canisters.
346* The scene where the main characters get to watch [=McGucket=]'s memories is really unnerving, as it shows his [[SanitySlippage descent into insanity]], leading up to him being the crazy old coot that we know him as now.
347** It starts with him saying that he's been assisting a visiting researcher for the past year, but [[VaguenessIsComing "something went wrong"]] and so he decided to quit. But he continues to lay awake at night, haunted by everything that he's seen and done during that time. As such, he's decided to make a machine that'll erase these bad memories to finally give him some peace. And it works, to the point that every single time something goes wrong in his life, whether it's seeing something disturbing or getting into a car accident, he uses it on himself. It gets to the point where he seems to be looking for excuses to use it on himself, since he even uses it just to forget about seeing the Gnomes, even though they are pretty harmless compared to most of the supernatural things in Gravity Falls, not unlike someone overdosing on a drug. This results in the aforementioned SanitySlippage, as the effects of the memory gun mess with his mind.
348** By day 74, he's beginning to show signs of his increasing insanity, to the point that the words [[RoomFullOfCrazy "HELP ME"]] are written on the wall in the background.
349** By day 189, his arm is broken, his glasses have begun to break and he has a slightly manic look in his face.
350** By day 273, he's staying at some motel and had begun pulling out his hair and has stopped using his glasses entirely.
351** By day 618, he's begun wearing his [[SignatureHeadgear hat]] as his hair continues to fall out and even comments that his pants are on backwards.
352** And finally, by [[NothingIsScarier day ???,]] he's a complete raving lunatic, spouting the seeming gibberish of '''YROO XRKSVI GIRZMTOV;''' which translates from Atbash to English, saying [[OhCrap Bill Cipher Triangle.]] He even emphasizes his point by making a triangular shape with his fingers over his eye. And then the tape fades out, leaving the group stunned at what they just saw, to the point that Mabel can only apologize to [=McGucket=] for what he just witnessed himself go through.
353* The credits scene shows Grunkle Stan, and he's working on his mysterious machine. A portal is open, sucking some things in, even a pipe which manages to hit Stan's hand (and we even get to see blood as he patches it up). Then there's some cryptic possible {{Foreshadowing}} as he says that no matter how dangerous this is or how long it takes, he will pull something off and no one will get in his way... right as the camera focuses in on a picture of Dipper and Mabel.
354* The first video journal of [=McGucket's=] shows that something he worked on becomes more and more unstable as time passes. And at the very end, Stan comments that the portal is "growing stronger every day." The video diaries also reveal that [=McGucket=] worked on the portal with the author of the journals. This is a disturbing example of how erasing your memory many times due to denial can lead to complete and utter insanity.
355
356
357[[AC: Blendin's Game]]
358* While a tame episode overall, it was not above showing the loser of a gladiator tournament screaming in agony as his body is disintegrated.
359* During the time travel segment, the Gleefuls can be seen walking by in the past, looking like a perfectly normal family... but there's also an advertisement that shows Bud having a 'just had a baby' sale. But someone drew on the advertisement, referring to Gideon as a 'demon' while drawing horns on him.
360** Beyond painful Foreshadowing, it just raises the question... ''What the hell happened?'' How did everything go ''so'' wrong...?
361* Blendin was going to ''RetGone Dipper and Mabel out of existence if he won''.
362
363[[AC: The Love God]]
364* This episode is pretty light-hearted, although it does place this show in a rather stark perspective to realize that an episode that begins with an angst-ridden teenage boy moaning at the bottom of an open grave could be considered comic relief. Or that said comic relief includes a pair of cheerful undertakers who place plates of cookies on top of ''occupied'' glass caskets.
365** There's also Robbie's parents giggling as they exclaim that they hope nobody died in the balloon crash. [[SarcasmMode Sure you do]], your dread of the extra business is written all over your faces.
366** That open grave scene? It features the Mystery Shack kids encouraging Thompson to look inside by chanting "Gaze upon death! Gaze upon death!"
367* It's subtle, but the model of the town Mabel makes while trying to find a date for Robbie has a slightly unsettling resemblance to the one seen in Li'l Gideon's bedroom in "The Hand that Rocks the Mabel".
368* That horrible, HORRIBLE balloon created by Stan. It's deliberately over the top and darkly hilarious, but it just looks... ''wrong''.
369** His original blueprints are also pretty creepy. And let's not forget a mother and child's reaction to the balloon heading toward them:
370-->'''Kid''': Mommy, is the floating head going to eat us?
371-->'''Mother''': Yes he will, Charlie, yes he will!
372* Robbie has a picture of Dipper on a dartboard. This isn't too weird, we've seen Bud Gleeful with a picture of Stan on a dartboard, the same with Pacifica Northwest and Mabel's picture. But Robbie's dartboard is filled with ''knives and shurikens'', and there's writing next to it reading '''DIE DIPPER DIE'''. It's quite unsettling, especially when you consider their age difference...
373* And of course, there's the fact that Mabel drugs Robbie and Tambry's food with potion that manipulates their feelings and perceptions of reality...and the chef at Greasy's is ''totally chill with it.''
374
375[[AC: Northwest Mansion Mystery]]
376* The Lumberjack Ghost. He's got a big, menacing, and terrifying design, including an axe sticking out of his head.
377** To herald his arrival to Dipper and Pacifica he had the mounted animal heads bleeding out of their mouths and eyes as they ominously chant, "'''[[MadnessMantra Ancient sins... Ancient sins...]]'''"
378*** The rhyme the trophies chant is pretty creepy in its own right:
379--> ''"Ancient blood and blackened skies,''
380--> ''[[VoiceOfTheLegion The forest dark shall once more rise!]]"''
381** When all the taxidermied animals come to life during the party, we get lovely sights such as [[RaisingTheSteaks the front half of a deer dragging itself forward and a goat stiffly flailing on its side, as well as various animals attacking people while bound to pieces of wood.]]
382** After escaping from the mirror, he starts ''turning people into wood!'' And as if ''that'' weren't over the top enough, the final act of his rampage was to ''set the house on fire with all of the people turned wooden statues in it!''
383** While everyone turning into wood by the Lumberjack Ghost was horrifying enough, we get a rather disturbing CallBack. When Dipper was turned into wood, his position and scream mirrors exactly how the Shapeshifter froze after transforming into him from Into The Bunker. What's even worse is that might not even be "his fate".
384** The fact that the Northwest parents and their butler were gonna ''let'' the ghost rampage and burn everyone else. Also, while it's more of dark comedy due to the delivery of the line, the fact that Preston was seriously planning on ''eating the butler'' once food ran out is still disturbing and just further shows what a depraved man he is.
385** The ghost's backstory. Did ''anyone'' expect to see that axe go flying at his head?
386** His first appearance is a flaming skeleton crawling out of the fire. While his final form is terrifying, its cartoony beard and eyes soften the blow. The skeleton, however, is rather realistically drawn.
387* There's some disaster that's coming in 21 hours, and a terrifying tapestry hints that Bill may be behind it!
388** Said tapestry seemingly depicting people worshiping Bill while being ''consumed alive by flames!''
389** Worse, on his AMA, Bill revealed that the tapestry is a PROPHECY.
390* We see why Pacifica is the way she is: her father is treating her like a dog and has her at his beck and call with the ring of a bell. Considering how scared she was of tracking mud on the carpet and how scared she is of her parents in general. She doesn't even try to rebel or ask for help, she stops dead in her tracks and is visibly unnerved. In the end, she's obviously building a lot of willpower and courage to simply defy the bell and pull the lever.
391* The [[FreezeFrameBonus Page Cryptogram]] at the end reads [[MadnessMantra STANISNOTWHATHESEEMS STANISNOTWHATHESEEMS STANISNOTWHATHESEEMS!]] Now what is the name of the next episode? Not What He Seems.
392
393[[AC: Not What He Seems]]
394* We finally find out the "truth" behind Grunkle Stan: [[DeadAllAlong he's been dead for thirty years.]] The Stan that the twins have been living with all summer, the Stan that we've grown to know and love, [[ParanoiaFuel might be an imposter]]. This is somewhat mitigated by the fact the following episode revealed that Stan faked his death in order to impersonate his brother.
395** The close-up of Stan's portrait when the twins come to the conclusion that Stan might not be Stan. It's like he's caught them finding out about something they shouldn't have and he's about to do something unpleasant to them. ''All while smiling about it.''
396** Not to mention the fear for Dipper and Mabel’s parents if Stan ''really was'' a dangerous grifter who had attacked, killed and impersonated their relative....and is now '''taking care of their children.''' the twins are ''very lucky'' that it’s not the case.
397** Highlighted by Dipper saying, "Are you crazy ?! We're going to [[NeverSayDie d-]]". That is a huge fear that you're facing your mortality and your sibling sealed the deal.
398** Made worse by the fact that, apparently, she ''was'' wrong. She was right about Stan not ''intending'' to destroy the Universe, but even his brother is disturbed by the fact that he actually opened the portal. He asks whether Stan read the warnings, and Stan responds that he did but decided to go through with it anyway. The portal apparently is capable of enormous destruction. Mabel was just very lucky.
399* The moment where Stan's machine starts activating. [[RedSkyTakeWarning The sky goes red]], [[GravityScrew gravity begins to distort]], [[DivideByZero and it appears that the very fabric of reality is tearing itself apart.]] Though it actually didn't cause the apocalypse, it sure as hell ''looked'' like it was!
400* The scene when the countdown reaches zero, gives us a closeup of Dipper, Mabel, Stan and Soos being engulfed by the machine's energy, making it look like they were ''vaporized''.
401* A bit mundane compared to the rest of the episode, but Mabel's escape plan was ''seriously'' risky. If the humvee had crashed in any other way, they might not have been able to walk away like they did.
402** Following that thought, Agent Trigger is lucky that tree branch only kept him in place rather than [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice the alternative]].
403** Continuing to follow that thought, it's pretty horrifying to realise that Manly Dan (the parent of a main character, and possessed of ''extreme'' strength) is the sort of person who would willingly and impulsively ''drive a lumber truck into a car with children in it'' just because someone in that car insulted his favourite band.
404* The Author has been trapped in a dimension where [[NarniaTime he hasn't aged for thirty years]] from Earth time. [[AndIMustScream Think on that]].
405** He actually has aged, as he looks far older than he did when he was thrown into the portal. He just looks younger than Stanley.
406** Also, the Author is shown to have gotten on Bill's bad side before, and the Author has just returned as well as being revealed to be Stan's brother. If Bill wasn't angry with the Pines already...
407
408[[AC: A Tale of Two Stans]]
409* An accidental screwup made in a fit of frustration gets a still-underaged and still in high school Stanley completely disowned by his entire family and thrown out to live in his car with no money and a single bag of clothes. A frighteningly realistic nightmare for a lot of teenagers.
410** It’s a bit messed up how Stanford didn’t say anything against Filbrick kicking Stanley, his brother and best friend, out of their home.
411* It's revealed that between his high school days and the present, Stanley has not only become a wanted man in several states and countries, but also, has some beef with someone named Rico. Who is implied to be a goon leader. Meaning that Stanley has made enemies with some dangerous fugitives as well too. Just how many people have a vendetta against Stanley? [[ParanoiaFuel And are they still alive today?]]
412* Remember Stan's tattoo? The one he claimed didn't exist despite the obvious evidence to the contrary? Well, as it turns out, he actually ''isn't'' lying, because that ''isn't'' a tattoo- It's a ''scar''. A scar from a ''hot metal brand''. And during the flashback to the night his brother disappeared, they actually ''show'' him getting it- during a fight with Stanford over Journal 1, Stan claimed Ford left him behind and ruined his life. Ford, in retaliation, pushed Stan onto the side of one of the portal's controls- where the mark was - accidentally in the struggle for the Journal, all the while claiming that Stan ruined his ''own'' life. You can hear Stan's scream and see his shoulder ''steaming from the heat''. It's ''incredibly'' painful to watch.
413** The whole fight is pretty scary at the end. Stan and Ford are pounding away at each other, taking out their pent-up anger over perceived betrayals. Then, Ford knocks Stan into the hot computers, burning him. The look on Ford's face is one of a man who's realized he's gone too far. And when Stan retaliates, Ford is sucked into the Portal; Stan's expression is that of confusion and fear, as his brother is pulled into the weird thing he didn't understand. All he can do is watch as his brother is taken away from him. The last thing Stan hears before Ford vanishes? "Stanley! Do something! Help me! ''Stanley!!''"
414* Seeing Stan and Ford going from close-knit brothers as children, to borderline hating each other and coming to blows in their adulthood is quite shocking to see, and frightening in its own way.
415* When Stanford and [=McGucket=] were first testing out the portal, [=McGucket=] was partially sucked in. Although he was completely unharmed, whatever he saw on the other side (from a recent convention, Alex claims he saw "the kinds of places Bill likes to hang out'', and [=McGucket=]'s mind wasn't as prepared for such surreal things and strangeness as Ford's was, as Ford had been preparing himself for quite some time) appeared to traumatize him, causing him to quit the project. Stanford then shouts after him, only to be answered by incoherent whispers, which led him to think he was going insane.
416** Journal 3 states what [=McGucket=] saw too in a code. Bill claimed that he saw him removing his Exoskeleton to feed. What's scarier, that the somewhat funny-looking appearance of Bill being removable with something worse underneath, or that Bill feeds on something. What does he eat?!
417** Subsequently, whatever happened between [=McGucket=] quitting the project and Stanley arriving at Stanford's house. It apparently caused Stanford to undergo SanitySlippage and turned him very paranoid, to the point where Stanley is the only person he still trusts. In fact, it's likely that it was during this period of time where he encountered Bill Cipher. We later see this time in ''Literature/GravityFallsJournal3''.....'''It’s not pretty.'''
418** He's particularly suspicious that something wants to steal his eyes. Just the paranoia talking, or did he really run into something that tried to do it?
419*** It's later revealed that to an outside perspective, there's no actual way to tell if Bill is in control of somebody [[VoicesAreMental from the sound of their voice alone]], and the only way to be sure is checking their eyes to see if they have his HellishPupils. In that regard, it's clear that Ford was paranoid that Cypher would be looking to [[EyeScream remove]] one of the surefire ways Ford had to tell if he was present or not within somebody... and raises the disturbing implication that if such a thing had come to pass, Ford would have become ''even more paranoid and self-isolated'', unable to fully trust '''anybody''' he was nearby incase Bill would take advantage of his (literal) blind spot to steal the portal. From what we see of Bill, such a tactic would have certain been something he'd consider.
420*** In ''The Last Mabelcorn'', it's revealed that Bill Cipher plans to create a bridge between the living world and the Nightmare Realm, so it might have been that [=McGucket=] had seen what humans brush off as "just a bad dream." And it turns out they aren't just real, but coming for the human race. That's enough to traumatize anybody.
421
422[[AC: Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons]]
423* The creature that Ford wanted to contain before it could eat human flesh ended up eating some flesh off of his face later. This does not spell good things...
424* Stan's attempt at a fan sculpture of Ducktective, made of spare taxidermy parts. Complete with artwork that's a bit more detailed than usual to send it straight into the UncannyValley.
425* There's quite a lot of BodyHorror in this episode. First, we have the Cycloptopus, whose eyeball is also its mouth. Then there's the centaurtaur, which is a centaur with an upside down horse's body where its torso should be. And then there's the Impossibeast, which is a creature that's practically MADE of BodyHorror.
426** Of course, the centaurtaur (a creation of Mabel's ''unique'' imagination) is also made into a combination crowning moment of funny and crowning moment of heartwarming by Stan's comment:
427--> '''Stan''': Mabel, I am so confused and so proud right now.
428* A bit of Cosmic Horror for you: according to Stanford's wording about the nature of the Infinity-sided Die, there are beings or organisations [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens capable of policing thousands of reality at once.]]
429
430[[AC: The Stanchurian Candidate]]
431* Gideon is back, and while well over the MoralEventHorizon still manages to be completely despicable. His most heinous action is ''mind-controlling his own father'' and using him to win the election. This kid is all kinds of fucked up.
432** And as of the end of the episode, it looks like Bill will be making his return very shortly...
433* The twins themselves crossed straight into CreepyChild territory with how quickly they took to and delighted in mind-controlling their own family members. Posted reactions to this on Tumblr consisted mostly of three words and ended in [[PrecisionFStrike expletives]].
434** In particular, Soos is terrified by the experience, and his reaction isn't portrayed lightly ''at all'', complete with ScareChord when the mind control wears off. Meanwhile, [[ComedicSociopathy Mabel and Dipper see nothing wrong with Soos' reaction]], and Mabel even says "Mind control is awesome!" and makes Soos ''eat a whole pinecone''. [[KarmaHoudini They receive no comeuppance for essentially mind-raping their grand-uncle and their friend.]]
435** Stan finds out about the tie and walks out in anger, making the twins realize they need a new candidate to defeat Bud. They're still planning on using the tie to "mold" someone to their needs. Cue Soos coming out of the washroom complaining about getting a sweater stuck to his head... and Mabel and Dipper suddenly look at each other and ''smile''.
436-->'''Mabel:''' What we need is a blank slate, someone totally suggestible! An empty piece of clay we can mold to our whims.
437** In addition, the fact that Ford not only ''invented'' said mind-controlling tie, but also turned it over to two children to control his twin brother. And clearly has no compunction about doing so.
438*** Ford also nonchalantly revealing that: "A long time ago I designed a prototype for UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan's masters."
439** Even more horrifying is Gideon ''[[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame complimenting]]'' them on [[NotSoDifferentRemark becoming just like him]], a fact that they do not even acknowledge or deny!
440* The mind control itself is portrayed in quite a creepy manner. When Stan is being controlled his eyes look as if he has been concussed. Gideon's possession of Bud is even worse, he's screaming for his son to stop as his eyes turn white and his son takes hold.
441** With Bud the possession is more seamless, but it is very disconcerting to see a grown man behaving like a sickeningly cute child. Things don't get any better when Gideon abandons any pretense that Bud is acting under his own free will and Bud becomes a zombie.
442* Gideon literally ''tearing his hair out'' when he loses.
443
444[[AC: The Last Mabelcorn]]
445* The entire episode is rife with nightmare fuel.
446** Just the introductory sequence alone has a dream between Grunkle Stanford and Bill. It goes about as well as you'd expect.
447*** The dream ends with a [[ArtShift very realistic]] shot of Stan's hand and eye. It's incredibly unsettling.
448** The later scenes with the unicorns, with the fact that one of the unicorns BLEEDS after Mabel punches it, after learning the whole "pure of heart" thing was a lie.
449** The scene with Grunkle Stanford where it's revealed Stanford had been working with Bill in the past to help further his research.
450** The credits scene where Bill Cipher starts looking for someone in Gravity Falls to possess so he can get into the shack. The fact that in ''The Stanchurian Candidate'' Li'l Gideon decides to make a deal with Bill Cipher at the end, means it can only go so well.
451** The fact that Bill Cipher's plan is revealed to be bringing the Nightmare Realm into the world of the living is terrifying in and of itself.
452*** It gets worse when you think about what this specifically means for Bill. The episode shows that the Real World and Nightmare Realm are linked by the Dreamscape, which is ''why'' Bill can interact with others through dreams alone. It requires an unconscious body. What does this mean? It means that all of Bill's powers --his limitless omnipotence, the ability to warp, rewrite and conjure reality in dreams as he sees fit-- '''''they're all REAL.''''' Everything, every single thing he has ever done within the Dreamscape, he can actually ''do''. If he gets through that rift, there is no question about it, he ''will'' be a godlike force of ultimate power.
453*** Even worse is the fact that Ford said that TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is all fun and games to Bill.
454** There are other things like Bill lurking in the Nightmare Realm. [[NothingIsScarier We don't know what they are yet]], but it can't be pretty.
455--->'''Bill''': Let's just say that when this portal finishes charging up, your dimension is going to learn how to '''party'''! '''[[ForTheEvulz Isn't that right guys?]] ''
456--->''[Nightmarish laughter from a realm of fire, showing the dark silhouettes of countless demonic beings]''
457** The scene where Dipper believes Ford is possessed by Bill and Ford backs him into the wall is incredibly tense, and thanks to ScaryShinyGlasses it's easy for the viewer to forget that Ford already said he's immune to being possessed thanks to a metal plate in his head. And if Ford didn't have that metal plate, Dipper would have accidentally wiped his mind with the Blind Eye gun.
458* Speaking of the metal plate, the scene where Ford reveals he has it is not played for laughs. And think about how terrifying Bill really is when a guy is willing to undergo the dangerous procedure of having metal put into his skull.
459* At the end, the unicorn hair Mabel got gets used to draw a protective ward around the Mystery Shack, protecting the minds of those within. All solved, right? WRONG. Bill is watching and is already picking out a potential candidate to possess and set his plans in motion... [[NothingIsScarier And the worst thing is we never do see who he picks.]] It could be anybody. We can't even be sure if Soos and Wendy, two people who ''work'' at the Shack but don't ''live'' there, are safe. Even worse, the next episode involves Dipper, Mabel, Stan, Candy, and Grenda going on a road trip, meaning that they'll be out of the Shack...
460
461[[AC: Roadside Attraction]]
462* Darlene. Being a spider-person with a knack for deceiving flattery, she's claimed the lives of many men before (Dipper, confused, even questions just how a cheesy roadside museum in the middle of nowhere can promise "fresh mummies daily"), and with her being still alive by the episode's end, she isn't going to stop any time soon.
463** While her human form is unsettling enough in its NonstandardCharacterDesign -- garishly loud makeup, arched eyebrows, over-tanned skin with freckles and premature wrinkles, and a permanent sultry grin -- the episode shows in full detail just how she removes her disguise: by wrenching her lips apart, ''turning her elastic dermal layer inside-out like rubber and stretching it across her body''. Stan is rightly terrified.
464--->[[LampshadeHanging "Allow me t' change into somethin' more horrifyin'."]]
465** Plus, the fact that she's far outside Gravity Falls, meaning that either the influence of Bill's dimension has a much further reach than we thought, or this kind of thing just exists in our world on its own.
466* The fact that Darlene's mummy museum is a gallery of corpses. Not fake props, not hundreds/thousands-of-years-old people that got preserved naturally: they're all people that were alive until a few weeks/days ago and were killed by what is effectively a SerialKiller.
467** No mention of the lair she brings Stan to? You can see the ''corpses'' of her previous victims in the background among the webbing. ''Yeesh''.
468* One thing the animators of this show have shown themselves to be unnervingly good at? Spider movement. Don't like spiders? Several episodes of season 2 will leave you squirming in a corner.
469* By the end of the episode, Darlene is '''still alive'''. She is left temporarily trapped, but she does not seem to have sustained any damage and she can still shapeshift. It's only a matter of time before new visitors to the park find her and come to her rescue, and Darlene's gruesome business continues as usual.
470* An easily missed tidbit: Darlene refers to herself as part of a "weird species". If there is a "species" to speak of, that means Darlene is not a singular anomaly - and she never said she was the LastOfHerKind either. '''How many more spider-creatures like her are out there right now, preying on the unwary?!'''
471
472[[AC: Dipper and Mabel vs. The Future]]
473* A distraught Mabel runs off from the Mystery Shack and into the woods. She meets Blendin Blandin, who talks to her about something... He apparently noticed her plight of wanting things to stay as it is and offers to keep time as it is, if she just gives him the pocket dimension that Ford and Dipper have been trying to protect. She hands it to him, and he drops it on the ground. Blendin was possessed by '''Bill Cipher''' and with a snap of his fingers, knocks out Mabel cold. It's the end of the world.
474* Blendin takes off his ScaryShinyGlasses to reveal Bill's slitted yellow eyes. (Not even the somewhat rounded, cartoony eyes that Dipper and Ford showed when possessed, but the disturbingly realistic ones with lashes, wrinkles, and lacrimals that [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/gravityfalls/images/b/ba/S2e4_red_eye.png Bill often gets when angry or excited]].) And Bill ''bursting'' out of his chest a moment later.
475** Listen to Bill's voice: it gets even ''crazier'' and at times [[EvilSoundsRaspy raspy]] once he pops out of Blendin. Bill has ''already gone'' DrunkWithPower.
476--> '''Bill''': At last! At long, long last! The gate between worlds has opened! The event [[TimeAbyss one billion years prophesied]] has come to pass! The day has come! '''THE WORLD IS FINALLY MINE!'''
477** As if this moment isn't scary enough, Bill [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou looks straight at the camera as he says this]].
478** What to know what ''else'' is scary? [[MeaningfulBackgroundEvent The background flickers between red and grey before finally settling on red.]]
479* Ford, knowingly or not, is emotionally manipulating Dipper in a very similar way that Bill did to him.
480* Even for a show that is ''very'' liberal with horrifying imagery, the credits clip is a new high for them. The end credits show nothing but a close-up of a crumpled invite for Dipper and Mabel's party, while [[NothingIsScarier the screams of the entire town can be heard in the background]], leaving it up to the viewer to imagine the kind of nightmares Bill has just unleashed upon the world. Whatever he is doing, it is living up to the idea of it being TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, with sirens blaring in the distance, helicopters flying about presumably trying to rescue people, and all we can do is just ''imagine it''. And then there’s the final Vigenere message. When translated with the keyword "BLUEBOOK," it reads, "[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou Did you]] [[ParanoiaFuel miss me?]]"
481
482[[AC: Weirdmageddon Part 1 [[labelnote:*]] A.K.A: "Xpcveaoqfoxso"[[/labelnote]]]]
483* This is by far, the scariest episode in the entire show. It's most likely Alex was saving the scariest for last and it ''damn well shows''. How about we start with [[https://youtu.be/Zh95qwyZ2oQ this promo]]? It looks like something straight out of a creepypasta, but at least you go into a creepypasta knowing it can be scary. This promo is the equivalent of a JumpScare: It starts out normally, using the shot of the water tower from the show's opening. Then suddenly, Bill cuts through the promo and says, "For one trillion years, I've been trapped in my own decaying '''[[VoiceOfTheLegion dimension!]]''' ''Physical form?'' Don't mind if I DO!" While Bill may be prone to using a VoiceOfTheLegion, it is the sudden shift to a higher-pitched voice, the maniacal laughter in the background, and the disturbing and glitchy imagery that makes this one of the scariest things to have ever come out of the show. When Bill shows up in the trailer, he is made of ''flesh'' and is ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou right up against the camera]]''. The screen glitches into images of Bill on top of backgrounds, like the page with the [[ArcSymbol Cipher wheel]] depicted in the previous promo (the very same one where Bill's drawing ''escaped''), a black background containing some three-dimensional blocks (which is jarring considering the show's two-dimensional format), and what looks like Hell, but is most likely ''[[HellOnEarth the remains of Gravity Falls]]''. Something else to consider is that the Creator/DisneyXD logos glitch and flash at some point in the promo, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou which suggests he has invaded our side]]. Creator/AlexHirsch presumably approved of this promo too, [[DarkerAndEdgier despite this being the darkest, creepiest, and most terrifying promo yet]]. Suffice it to say, this one promo has shocked and scared many people. And all this in just ''nine seconds''!
484* Bill has entered the physical plane, and [[https://youtu.be/kZJGrukiOGY has a new three-dimensional form]] and [[ForcedTransformation a whole set of new powers!]]
485* The title of the episode. It can be deciphered to "Weirdmageddon" using the Vigenere key "BLUEBOOK", but... There is just something alien and eldritch about it, due to how strange and different it is, compared to past episode titles. [[TheUnpronounceable One has to wonder how to even pronounce it]]...
486** The title being [[TheUnpronounceable encrypted within the Vigenere cipher]] has been revealed to be [[SubvertedTrope subverted.]] The title is actually "Weirdmageddon Part 1." However, we didn't know that for a long time. After all, Gravity Falls went to [[GoshDarnItToHeck poop]] in this episode, and we knew that before the episode aired. Some people may have thought that the supposed title was encrypted because ''Bill had [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou become able to manipulate our side as well]].'' In that case, the nightmare fuel may still apply.
487* The episode has a [[https://youtu.be/uWvdqkl2UH4 new intro.]] It's a glitchy, eerie, distorted version of the regular theme, starting with the image of the waterfall vista transformed into a burnt-out wasteland with a river of blood falling into a hole in the sky. It then proceeds to show [[EldritchLocation Gravity Falls]], destroyed by Bill, and Bill himself, along with his [[EldritchAbomination eldritch buddies]], replace the Mystery Shack in the intro, except for one part where you just see the terrified citizens of Gravity Falls. There's a shot of a skeleton wearing Dipper's hat that's chained up, and the photographs that appear near the end have all the characters in them replaced by Bill. The kicker? The end says "[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou Created by: Bill Cipher]]", instead of Alex Hirsch.
488** Also, Bill has a [[http://i.imgur.com/uf45GNV.jpg mouth]]. It's just ''wrong.''
489** And, the very last shot of the intro is notably different. Bill's picture was torn out. Bill has ''escaped''.
490** Also, the backward message. It's not a hint from a random voice as to the code in the credits like normal... it's ''Bill'' saying, "[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou I'm watching you, nerds!]]" Implying ''[[ParanoiaFuel Bill knows about us]].''
491* One of Bill's friends, Teeth, is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a set of teeth]] with [[BodyHorror arms and legs growing out of his gums]].
492* Preston tries to ally with Bill. What does Bill do? He decides to twist Preston's face into... something... '''[[NightmareFace horrible]]'''. [[http://i.imgur.com/KD6Oi15.jpg View at your own risk.]] More specifically, Bill rearranges the functions of every orifice on his face; his mouth becomes a giant eyeball, his eyeholes become a set of ears, and both his ears become a pair of noses. To make matters worse, his muffled screaming and anguish indicate that this is '''NOT''' pleasant at all. One has to wonder how this even got past the censors.
493* Ford tries to fire a disintegrating ray at Bill but misses due to the weirdness seeping into the town startling him and throwing off his aim. Bill seizes Ford quickly and offers to let Ford join his freakish group. Ford refuses, so, what does Bill do? Trap him in gold to use as a ''backscratcher''-and when Bill sees Dipper has the journals, he ''burns all three of them'', all the while claiming Dipper "shouldn't be a hero", uses Ford as an example of what happens to "heroes" in his world, and that Dipper's "not so much of a threat now'' without them.
494** Backing up a bit, Ford may have missed Bill's body but what did he hit instead? His ''hat'' which, instead of puncturing a hole cleanly through cloth, graphically shows exposed ''[[{{Squick}} flesh and bone]]''. This means Bill's hat, his bowtie, and possibly his cane aren't just accessories: '''[[BizarreAlienBiology they're part of his body]]'''. This may also mean that shooting Bill was a lost cause all along since hitting him '''anywhere''' may just have had the same effect.
495** The journals wouldn't have helped anyway. The last we saw of them was the blacklight message on Bill's page. "IF HE GAINS PHYSICAL FORM ALL IS LOST!"
496** Then, when Dipper tries going up against Bill, Bill suddenly grows in size to intimidate Dipper.
497--> '''Bill''': "Well, isn't... this... '''[[JumpScare INTERESTING?!?!]]'''"
498* Bill ''incinerates Time Baby'' [[TheWorfEffect without breaking a sweat.]]
499* During the chase scene where Dipper and Wendy are fleeing from Gideon and his men, the giant head with an arm growing out of it catches one of the convicts' cars and shoves it in his mouth. And then begins eating it, with the driver still inside.
500* When Gompers destroys the prison walls, allowing Gideon and his prison mates to escape, you notice the art teacher was ''crushed to death by falling'' debris.
501* Dipper was alone for ''three'' days in constant danger from monsters before he found Wendy. '''Imagine something like that happening to you, or someone you care about'''. And Dipper is still a kid. And over the course, he hasn't had food, water, or even shelter to go by.
502** Wendy's also probably been through some serious crap too, including seeing her friends essentially ''die before her eyes'', and she's only fifteen.
503* The Weirdness Bubbles, described by Bill as ''Bubbles of pure madness'' can be very jarring, to say the least. When Dipper and Wendy drive right into one, it ends up transforming them into things like Birds, [[{{Animesque}} anime caricatures]], ''TALKING MEAT'', and their live-action voice actors.
504** Their ''Meat'' forms stand out in particular, as they have essentially taken the form of butchered animal parts and are still screaming while Dipper waves his 'arms' about. Are they both in unbearable pain when this happens? The heavy metal music playing in the background doesn't help in the least.
505* The ending cryptogram is (by now) standard creepy gloating from Bill, but its last line? Now let's see which Pines survives.
506
507[[AC: Weirdmageddon 2: Escape From Reality]]
508* The episode starts with a cute little squirrel going about its business- and then the mailbox shoots out its ''prehensile tongue and EATS IT.'' Welcome to Day 4 of Weirdmageddon, folks!
509* [[http://i.imgur.com/KlSGjbi.jpg The creature with 88 different faces.]] Talk about BodyHorror.
510* Bill's "throne..." Which is made of frozen humans. It's left ambiguous as to whether they're conscious. Even Bill doesn't know.
511** [[AndIMustScream They are.]]
512* What is Phase 2 of Bill's master plan? Weirdmageddon goes global with his friends helping to spread chaos in his conquest.
513* Bill's joy and {{pride}}, when he hears Dipper, Soos, and Wendy, are in Mabel's bubble. He is confident they will never leave what he describes as his most diabolical trap ever, claiming "You'd need a willpower of TITANIUM to resist its temptations!"
514* After Bill finds out that Gideon let the Pines escape into the bubble, he simply tells Keyhole to fetch Gideon for him. [[NothingIsScarier We never see what happens to Gideon, but knowing Bill, Gideon can be in for a world of pain, despite Bill gleefully celebrating Dipper and co. being trapped in what Bill considers to be the perfect inescapable prison.]]
515** Actually, if you look closely when the throne is shown in more detail, you can see Gideon and Ghost-Eyes stuck in it. Still pretty terrifying, though.
516*** [[FauxHorrific He makes Gideon dance and act cute for all eternity.]]
517* Dipper, Soos, and Wendy enter the huge bubble that Mabel is trapped in. At one point, Wendy talks to Dipper... She tempts him to stay in the bubble so he can be [[OvernightAgeUp aged up]] and date her. Dipper realizes this is a trick, and [[https://i.imgur.com/gz4KLE4.jpg then Wendy]] [[TheWormThatWalks disintegrates into a bunch of cockroaches]]. The environment turns dark, just as it was outside the bubble, and the stuffed animal tree and all of the stuffed animals horrifyingly become dark as well, all with one eye just like Bill, saying that Dipper's being watched and that he should stop trying to get everyone to escape the bubble. And then it all just snaps back to normal like nothing even happened!
518-->'''Stuffed Animal Tree:''' You shouldn't have done that, DIPPERRRRRRRRRR! ''We're watching you...''
519-->'''Stuffed Animals:''' [[http://i.imgur.com/KVXv2Oe.jpg THERE ARE EYES EVERYWHERE...]]
520* Bill's bubble is 50% GildedCage, 50% LotusEaterMachine. It gives those within whatever they want, from allowing Wendy to trash the school with her friends to giving Soos his DisappearedDad and offering Dipper a chance to be with Wendy. (See above) And it almost ''works.'' ''Two'' characters are ensnared almost immediately by "Mabeland", and if Dipper hadn't realized his irresistible offer wasn't real, they would have all just sat around in the bubble with Mabel while Bill ''conquered the world.''
521* How willing Mabel was to stay in the bubble. She herself admits that she didn't actually make Mabeland or the rules but just "woke up there". While she was hanging out in her glittery false paradise with Xyler and Craz, her entire family ''and'' her friends could have died and she'd never know.
522* The backward message at the end of the theme song has changed into "I'M WATCHING YOU!" in a more threatening tone than Bill's initial "I'm watching you, nerds!"
523* "Don't worry; they're not conscious anymore. Probably."
524* Dippy Fresh, funny and stupid on the outside, horrifying when you think about it: Mabel was perfectly content with throwing her brother away and replacing him with someone... better. The fact that SHE made him makes it all the more creepy, and she wasn't even hypnotized, she just went crazy with power. Mabel can be a creepy little girl.
525** She was [[MoreThanMindControl somewhat hypnotized]], as once the illusion begins to break she complains about the brightness and how the same song plays, which is pretty scary on its own. Delves more into TearJerker territory upon realizing that the creation of Dippy Fresh was more likely a way for Mabel to cope with Dipper's rejection of her.
526* Bill's lovely little temper tantrum when he realizes he can't leave Gravity Falls due to a mysterious ForceField. And the fact that he almost certainly isn't going to nicely ask Ford to help him get out and wreak havoc on the rest of the world. Though considering Bill already turned him [[AndIMustScream into a ]]''backscratcher'' just because whatever Bill does is probably going to be incredibly unpleasant ''at best'' and at [[NothingIsScarier worst...]] do we really even ''know?''
527** Turns out that Bill actually [[HilariousInHindsight did just nicely ask Ford to help him get out]]. When that failed he switched to ElectricTorture.
528* The fact that Dippy Fresh, rather than being disintegrated in the bubble, like everything else, [[https://twitter.com/_AlexHirsch/status/870797783292194817 was originally]] going to be directly ''[[KilledOffForReal murdered]]. On-screen. Via NeckSnap''... by '' Dipper''. Not to mention the line that's said by said character—''doesn't it sound much more like something that'' '''''Bill''''' ''would say?''
529-->'''Dippy Fresh:''' Your hat is on backwards. ''(twists Dipper's cap around)''
530-->'''Dipper:''' YOUR HEAD IS ON BACKWARDS! ''(snaps Dippy Fresh's neck backwards, killing him)''
531
532[[AC: Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls]]
533* Near the start of the episode, there are some quick shots of the characters sheltering in the Mystery Shack. Three of them - the woodpecker's husband, a unicorn, and a gnome - are partially turned to stone. The woodpecker's husband just has a stone woodpecker and a patch on his shoulder, he's clearly still able to move, part of the unicorn's neck and most of its face is a stone so maybe it can't ''eat'', and the gnome is all stone but for a waving arm. Assuming stone people aren't aware that's rather worse than being changed completely. If it was the eye bats hitting at a wrong angle they must have been rescued before the job could be finished. Or are they turning back to flesh like Lazy Susan, but more slowly?
534* A minor example, but Ford tries taking a seat in the penthouse that Bill trapped him in, only for Bill to reveal that the couch was made of human skin. Then it becomes alive, with eyes and a mouth, and you can even hear a faint heartbeat.
535* Bill needs to learn how to escape Gravity Falls to the rest of the world, and since he destroyed the journals, his only immediate source is Ford. Of course, Ford has the metal plate in his head, so the knowledge can't be gained unless Ford offers it willingly. Except that, we've seen that Bill is capable of transmuting materials at will. Had he kept his rage in check and thought on it a moment, what would have stopped Bill from snapping his fingers and transmuting the plate itself into living tissue and negating its protection? Bill was one epiphany away from complete conquest.
536* Bill tortures Ford [[ElectricTorture with blue lightning]]. On-screen. With Ford gaining numerous burn marks. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids On a Disney show.]]
537--> '''Bill''': What do you think, pals, another 500 volts?
538* Bill has an ImagineSpot of him growing to planetary size and playing with the Earth as if it were his own plaything. He draws a smiley face on North America with his finger and we get to ''see'' the giant finger run through the cities, destroying them, and then he takes a bite out of the planet. His Henchmaniacs playing around with the other solar system planets isn't a pleasant thought either.
539** How about said ImagineSpot showing Ford laughing like a maniac while standing in the middle of a galaxy swirl? Bill offered Ford a WeCanRuleTogether scenario and would have made Ford an OmnicidalManiac just like himself and his henchmen if he had accepted.
540* After Ford refuses to give Bill the information he wants under torture and Bill realizes Ford genuinely cares for the twins, Bill threatens to torture them for the information instead... That's right, had the crew not been able to fight him off as well as they had, Bill would have willingly tortured two twelve-year-old CHILDREN in front of their great uncle.
541* Bill's eye gets ripped out of the socket!
542* Bill turns into a multi-tiered, multi-armed, pyramid-spider ''thing'' that calls back to a lot of wall-climbing horror film tropes and has MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily. He uses this form to chase down the younger Pines Twins with the full intent of ''[[WouldHurtAChild killing]]'' them to ''punish Ford for not giving him what he wants''.
543** This VillainousBreakdown Bill has in this episode is far different than in "Dreamscaperers" or "Sock Opera". Bill does not have the VoiceOfTheLegion anger that we are used to. This here folks is ''[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness 100% genuine anger]]''.
544** ''Gravity Falls'' has never been one to [[NeverSayDie beat around the bush with saying 'die' or any form of the word]] but in this episode, Bill has cemented himself as [[UnderStatement a pretty bad dude]] with these jaw-droppers of lines: "I'VE GOT SOME ''CHILDREN'' I NEED TO MAKE INTO CORPSES! " and "When I get my hands on you kids, I'M GONNA DISASSEMBLE YOUR MOLECULES!"
545** Also, the reaction from Ford and Stan when this happens, combined with Tearjerker.
546** The scene shows the rest of the town's residents being held captive by Bill's minions. When Grenda tells the monsters that they will never take them alive, Teeth responds by eating Shmebulock as the rest of the monsters laugh.
547** After capturing the twins when they gave him the runaround in his pyramid, he storms back into the room as a giant, clutching the kids, and says, "Alright, Ford, time's up! I've got the kids! [[WouldHurtAChild I THINK I'M GONNA]] ''[[WouldHurtAChild KILL]]'' [[WouldHurtAChild ONE OF THEM NOW, JUST FOR THE HECK OF IT!]]" and begins to slow roulette between Dipper and Mabel's symbols with his eye, while booming [[IronicEcho "Eeny... meeny...]] miney...", only cut short before the "you" by Stan (dressed as Ford) agreeing to let Bill into his mind.
548*** Bill was already saying "YOU", and had pinched his fingers together to make good on it; they were ''fractions of a second'' from tragedy.
549*** Bill's eye [[KillTheCutie landed on a shooting star]] when he went to snap his fingers.
550* Bill slowly devolving into {{Angrish}} and SuddenlyShouting. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness It's unnerving to see a normally composed villain start screaming and ranting once their plan goes to hell]], especially once said villain targets their wrath on two children.
551* When Bill takes both Ford and Stan hostage, Soos, Wendy, [=McGucket=], Pacifica, Robbie, and even Gideon furiously attempt to gang up against Bill, admitting that they're not scared of him. Unfortunately, Bill is unperturbed by their bravery and responds by turning them [[AndIMustScream into a series of tapestries with faces of frozen horror,]] hoping that it'll serve as a reminder against those who dare to bravely stand against him.
552** Also, HOW he goes about doing so: by possessing everyone except the Pines. And there’s the fact that they have those same Bill pupils, just... ugh!
553* The way Bill greedily thrusts himself into Stan's mind, and Stan's reaction to it. It's the only time his composed persona as Ford breaks, and he steps back and cries out in unadulterated fear. Seeing this psychopathic monster lunge at him combined with the fact that he knows exactly what will happen to him, just ''imagine'' the terror and dread Stan must be feeling.
554* Bill's defeat. His last moments are of him frantically breaking down as Stanley's mind is erased - with him still inside - and offering Stan whatever he wants before his body starts to violently [[ShapeshifterSwanSong distort, glitch, and collapse on itself]]. Bill proceeds to turn black and lunge at Stan with a final cry of "'''''STANLEY!'''''" before Stan finally finishes him off. It's compounded by his petrified physical form appearing as a tombstone outside the Mystery Shack, assuring once and for all that Bill is dead.
555** Keep in mind, the Bill that was destroyed was Bill's dream form, aka his REAL SELF. That's right, this is Bill being DeaderThanDead. The physical form he had in our world is just a construct inhabited by his metaphysical self.
556** During this sequence, before turning into the black and red version of himself, Bill seems to rattle off what, [[https://youtu.be/Rp6CCdtfHwg when played backward,]] seems to be invoking a spell to regenerate himself. [[CameBackWrong The context makes it sound like he was just barely able to pull himself back together before Stanley put him down for good.]]
557---> '''Bill:''' A-X-O-L-O-T-L MY TIME HAS COME TO BURN, I INVOKE THE ANCIENT POWER THAT I MAY RETURN!
558A different form, in a different time.
559* It's hard to miss, but during the scene where Weirdmageddon ends and all of Bill's Henchmaniacs and fellow demons are sucked by the rift and they're followed by the Fearamid... during a brief scene, you can see the rift reflected on [[ReflectiveEyes Stan's glasses]] like if he had the eyes crossed. Similar to Gideon's portrait of him in "Dreamscaperers", where Stan's eyes were crossed, [[RuleOfSymbolism it really makes it look like]] if [[DeathOfPersonality Stan were dead]].
560
561
562[[/folder]]
563----
564 ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou I'M WATCHING YOU NERDS!]]''

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