1 | [[quoteright:322:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paranormal_vaporware.png]] |
2 | ->''"Hello, my name is Mattel Clark. I'm an artist, and I've come to believe that my house is haunted. Lately, things have been going bump in the night. A lot. So, I've set up cameras around my studio, and I've got one here, and I've started recording things to try and prove to people that I'm'' not ''going crazy."'' |
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5 | ''Paranormal'' is an indie-produced horror game for [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]]. It entered UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}'s Early Access in 2012, and [[{{Vaporware}} is still there as of 2019]]. |
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7 | The game's style is reminiscent of FoundFootageFilms, as the player directs a new homeowner's attempts to capture his (very) haunted house's ever-intensifying supernatural manifestations via InUniverseCamera. Every running of ''Paranormal'' is unique, as the spooky events and increasingly-dangerous apparitions are generated randomly each time, becoming more extreme as Mattel's investigation stretches out over several nights. Assuming he lasts that long... |
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10 | !!Tropes: |
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12 | * ApocalypticLog: Diary pages from the house's previous owner appear in random locations, providing clues to her tragic fate. Mattel's tapes become this if you die. |
13 | * BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: In the full ending, Mattel learns the truth about the haunting and uses the furnace in the basement to destroy the house and the being haunting it, but dies doing so.]] |
14 | * BloodBath: One haunting [[spoiler: that's actually important to the plot]] has Mattel get locked in the bathroom while the plumbing pours out blood. It fills the tub and sink as the toilet overflows with red. |
15 | * BloodyHandprint: Several, and bloody ''footprints'' too, not always on the floor. |
16 | * BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu: In the full ending, [[spoiler: Mattel destroys the house, killing the HumanoidAbomination haunting it, but also dying himself]]. |
17 | * CameraAbuse: It's raining in Mattel's backyard, and smears of distortion slip across the camera's image when he goes outside, representing raindrops on the lens. In one [=CCTV=] scare, a soda can is flung into the camera hard enough to crack the lens. |
18 | * CreepyChangingPainting: Several paintings and murals around the house change their appearance and/or swap places between one night and the next. |
19 | * CreepyDoll: The puppet-like mannequins Mattel uses to visualize space for his work are creepy enough ''before'' they start moving around the house. |
20 | * DeathOfAChild: |
21 | -->"[[spoiler: The baby is gone.]]" |
22 | * DramaticSlip: Mattel occasionally trips and falls, which can be alarming if he's sprinting back to bed before the camera's battery times out. |
23 | %%* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler: The ghost.]] |
24 | ** HumanoidAbomination: When it does appear it is by no means less frightening. |
25 | * ElectromagneticGhosts: The haunting messes with the car's lights and the radio, sometimes the television also. |
26 | * EvilDetectingDog: Mattel's dog Cory evidently had a run-in with the haunting before his master did, and subsequently sat staring at the foot of the steps, as if watching for its return. [[spoiler: By the time Mattel starts recording things and the game begins, the dog has wasted away and died.]] |
27 | * FacialHorror / {{Jawbreaker}}: A sex slave's body was found in the house many years ago with her jaw torn off. [[spoiler: Her ghost still shows this mutilation.]] |
28 | * FantasticallyIndifferent: Even when objects are floating in midair, the plumbing is bleeding, and mannequins are creeping around behind him, Mattel's reactions tend to be muted at best. |
29 | * FoundFootageFilms: Done in the style of such films. |
30 | %%* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: The best ending.]] |
31 | * GoryDiscretionShot: If Mattel dies, a mannequin appears before the InUniverseCamera in a corpse-like pose in lieu of an actual corpse. |
32 | * GuideDangIt: The full ending (which actually explains what's going on and [[spoiler: lets you stop it]]) is very difficult to get if you don't know what you're doing. |
33 | %%* HauntedHouse |
34 | * HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: The last night of Mattel's recording is the night of July 4th (Independence Day in the USA). |
35 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: How the body of one of the house's previous owners was found. [[spoiler: Also how the kitchen apparition appears, pinned to the wall by a large pipe.]] |
36 | * InUniverseCamera: Mattel carries a camera with him while exploring his house at night; by day, while he's sleeping, closed-circuit cameras monitor cut-scene hauntings elsewhere in the house. |
37 | * OffscreenTeleportation: Mannequins suddenly appear in places Mattel ''just'' turned away from, a second ago. |
38 | * OuijaBoard: There's one in the bedroom that spells out threats. |
39 | %%* {{Poltergeist}} |
40 | * RedHerring: The previous owner's notes show her becoming convinced that her late husband is the being haunting the place. [[spoiler: It's not. It's some kind of HumanoidAbomination summoned by a previous owner.]] |
41 | * RoomFullOfCrazy: Red writing appears on the walls and floor, sometimes when Mattel is sleeping and other times when he merely turns his back. |
42 | * StoryBreadcrumbs: The diary pages tell the previous owners' story, while cassettes and phone messages tell Mattel's. |
43 | %%* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: The ''best'' available ending for Mattel is this trope.]] |
44 | * TimedMission: You have to get Mattel back to his room and into bed when his camera's battery runs low, giving it a chance to recharge while he sleeps (and the game, time to prepare the next night's scares). |
45 | * YouAreAlreadyDead: When the battery reaches it's last bar, that's your signal to get to bed ASAP. Dawdle long enough for the red bar to start blinking, and you're doomed; the house will supernaturally-trap you in whatever room you're currently in, shortly before suffering a room-specific scripted death. [[spoiler: This also happens if you go to sleep on the final night instead of taking the necessary steps to get the best ending - you'll promptly be dragged out of bed and torn apart by the entity.]] |
46 | * YouHaveToBelieveMe: Mattel states at the beginning that he's making these tapes so others ''will'' have to believe him, rather than assume he's crazy and/or perpetuating an Internet hoax to get famous. |
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