This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Nothing Is Happening And It Is Really Scary: From YKTTW
"(Of course, maybe it would have been more effective to leave this page empty. Oh well.)"
^I lol'd
mysticpenguin:Would this trope do with a Troper Tales page? There aren't a lot of This Really Happened in Real Life OMG examples—and a couple of the ones there are actually pretty fucking creepy—but I was under the impression that this trope was specifically about media that tries to frighten the viewer by having nothing happen.
Noaqiyeum: I couldn't figure out how to spoilerize the picture. (Sorry.) Preserved:
Ivan: It's funny how easily you can subvert this trope in real life, since you know nothing is liable to jump out... Talking to yourself, being observant and cautious and, most of all, keeping control of your mind. More than a few times my minds gotten ahead of me when I was all alone despite there actually being nothing to fear. Of course, if there were, you can be sure all that mental preparation probably wouldn't help much...
Caswin: Can someone cite the thing about Stephen King and cockroaches? It sounds like a misquote from Danse Macabre, where he makes a significantly different point.
Caswin: Cutting it. What he said was that people might be scared by monster being revealed as ten-foot-tall-bug, but at the same time, have imagined it to be "a hundred feet tall" — i.e. as huge and terrifying as they have it built up in their mind. If it was a hundred feet tall, with all the fixin's, they probably wouldn't be disappointed.
Mutant Rancor: I just thought of something that could be halfway between the two types. I can't recall if I've ever seen this, but just the though of it makes me nervous:
- The victim is creeping down the dark hallway holding a flashlight, with the camera just behind him and creepy music playing. Suddenly the music stops. The victim stops and twitches nervously, then starts moving again. The camera pulls back to reveal the killer, following just behind him. Silently. With a large knife. Cut. Optional view of the outside of the building and a horrifying scream.
- If you've seen this anywhere, should it get its own type on the main page?
- If not, you're all welcome to use it in your own fiction, as I'm definitely not the horror type.
mill1223: I know a shorter horror story, where can I post it?
Camacan: Ah darn it — someone added a proper laconic version. It was a Crowning Moment Of Awesome to go to the old one which simply said:
Hotels: Perhaps it would be relevant and clever to make the image, or something else on the page, link to an unanimated .gif that looks ominous. I often stuble across one, and I watch it expecting a screamer. It seems like an appropriate way to teach the concept.
