History Film / DontBeAfraidOfTheDark

* BilingualBonus: The Viking runes above the fireplace spells out "BE AFRAID".

* CaptainErsatz: Emerson Blackwood has many similarities to Creator/ArthurMachen's character William Gregg, featured in Machen's story "The Novel of the Black Seal." Both were renowned scientists who became obsessed with TheFairFolk, both ended up being laughed out of the scientific community, [[spoiler: and both ended up vanishing under mysterious circumstances.]]

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Kim's camera. Sally uses it's bright flash to hurt/scare off the homunculi.]]

* DecompositeCharacter: Sally was split into two characters, with the name going to Alex's daughter, with his wife being another character named Kim, who takes a majority of the original Sally's role. [[spoiler:Kim also ultimately shares 1973 Sally's fate.]]

* ExactWords: The homunculi are required to "take a human life" any time they emerge. [[spoiler: In the end, it turns out that this doesn't mean they need to kill a human - they literally take a human life and turn it into one of them, and thus it is no longer a ''human'' life.]]

** Another comes when Sally approaches the teddy bear Kim got for her and reaches out. The teddy bear(which has one of the homunculi behind it)SNAPS at Sally's fingers, making her jump back onto the bed.

* MissingMom: From Sally's perspective, her mother pretty much dumped her on her father. The saddest part? She's ''right''. Even worse was that Sally thought she was just visiting. Then she asks her father how long she's going to be staying, and it turns out she's there for keeps. Her mother just didn't tell her, although one could make a case that this was because she thought Sally wouldn't go of she knew what was up. (Given the fact Sally has tried to run away before, she may well have been correct.)

** To clarify, one the creatures crawling out of the dark, with only their face's and hands visible. [[spoiler: The similarities between Sally's picture and Blackwood's artwork of the homunculi eventually gets Kim's attention, with her deciding to get Sally out of the house at that point.]]

** Exactly how far down does that chasm in the basement go? Blackwood himself never figured it out, but his theories--- ranging from the chasm connecting to other tunnels and holes throughout the world, to reaching into [[EldritchLocation some other realm]], do nothing to ease the ominous nature of it all. Even Del Toro himself has commented that this, and not the homunculi themselves, is the true source of terror in the movie.

* OtherworldlyVisitsYoungestFirst: Eight year old Sally is the first to be made aware of the existence of the "tooth fairies" living in the Blackwood house. But before long, her father Alex and his girlfriend Kim learn the reality of their existence. These Tooth Fairies, though, are not benevolent creatures, and try to abduct Sally. Kim saves her, but at the cost of her own humanity, as the tooth fairies seize her and transform her into one of their own.

* WickedStepmother: Averted with Kim. She actually tells Alex that she feels like one due to Sally's initial coldness towards her, but she's not even close to actually ''being'' wicked.

* BodyHorror: [[spoiler: Dear God, the sight and sound of Kim's legs breaking as the homunculi pull her into the fireplace will haunt you ''forever.'']]

%%ZCE: Emits what, exactly? * OminousMusicboxTune: Sally's nightlight emits one whenever it is on. It's what reawakens the homunculi.

* RealityEnsues: Blackwood's backstory: So, you've come to the realization that TheFairFolk exist, and want to prove it to your colleagues so that the world can be prepared in case they run into beings long believed to be nothing but legends? Then prepare to be ostracized by the scientific community, who are now pondering how such a person of your intelligence and prestige could have gone so far off the deep end.

* AdultsAreUseless: Alex, unlike Kim who actually helps Sally.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: It's implied that Sally was something of an outcast among other children.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The homunculi.

* BigBad: The homunculi appear to be this at first but it is actually none other than [[spoiler: Blackwood himself, who was turned into a homunculus.]]

* BrainyBrunette: Kim.
* BreakTheCutie: Poor, poor Sally.

* CreepyDoll:
** Sally's teddy bear.
** Her original doll ''becomes'' this trope after the homunculi get ahold of it and [[spoiler: break off its smile, apparently in an attempt to ''eat its teeth''.]]
* CrustyCaretaker: Mr. Harris.

* DefrostingIceQueen: Sally.
* DespairEventHorizon: By the time of the film's prologue, Blackwood has clearly crossed it. The novel goes into more detail.

* FoldSpindleMutilation: [[spoiler:What happens to Kim at the end.]]

* HauntedHouseHistorian

* HotLibrarian: Male example; the unnamed young librarian who gives Kim information about the homunculi.
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:Hey, Kim's still hanging on! Oh wait, there she goes...]]

* MissingMom: From Sally's perspective, her mother pretty much dumped her on her father. The saddest part? She's ''right''.
** Even worse was that Sally thought she was just visiting. Then she asks her father how long she's going to be staying, and it turns out she's there for keeps. Her mother just didn't tell her, although one could make a case that this was because she thought Sally wouldn't go of she knew what was up. (Given the fact Sally has tried to run away before, she may well have been correct.)
* NightmareFuelColoringBook: Sally's drawings of the homunculi... dear God.
* NothingIsScarier: [[spoiler: We never see Homunculus!Kim; only her voice is heard at the end.]]

* OminousMusicboxTune: Sally's nightlight emits one whenever it is on. It's what reawakens the homunculi.

* ParentalAbandonment: Sally by her birth mother. See "Missing Mom".
* ParentalSubstitute: Kim to Sally.
* ParentWithNewParamour: Sally's father Alex.

* SacrificialLamb: Miss Winter, the maid at the beginning.
* SealedEvilInACan: The homunculi in the house.

* SkepticNoLonger: Alex, after [[spoiler: Sally shows him a Polaroid picture of the homunculi.]]
* SupernaturalProofFather: Alex. It gets irritating after a while.

* WouldHurtAChild: The homunculi.
* YouFool: The homunculi to [[spoiler: Mr. Harris]], when the latter manages to get Sally to leave the basement. This results in him being hospitalized for the remainder of the film.

* {{Homage}}: Blackwood's story is one to the works of Arthur Machen.

* TheWildHunt: Discussed in Blackwood's guide.
* {{Youkai}}: Featured in Blackwood's guide under the section "Fairies of China and Japan."

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Sally, who ended up being pulled into the fireplace in the ''original'' version. Of course, Sally was also an adult in the original, so Kim may be a case of CompositeCharacter here (especially since her name comes from the original Sally's actress, Kim Darby.)]]

* AdultFear: Having your child taken away from you? Horrifying. Having your child taken away by monsters who want to drag her down to their Underworld and rip all her teeth out? Even worse.

* InfantImmortality: Averted.

** Related to the above apoiler is the fact that we never learn ''how'' the Homunculi [[spoiler: assimilate humans into their ranks... and that just makes it ''creepier.'']]

* ParentsArePeople: Sally's father Alex is so focused on renovating the mansion that he disregards Sally's claims about the homunculi and even blames her for their troubles.

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Sally, who ended up being pulled into the fireplace in the ''original'' version. Of course, Sally was also an adult in the original, so Kim may be a case of CompositeCharacter here.]]

* SecretKeeper: [[spoiler: The groundskeeper]] knew about the homunculi's existance the whole time. He ultimately pays the price when he discreetly tries to warn Sally and her family about them.

* MissingMom: From Sally's perspective, her mother pretty much dumped her on her father. The saddest part? [[TearJerker She's right.]]

** Exactly how far down does that chasm in the basement go? Blackwood himself never figured it out, but his theories--- ranging from the chasm connecting to other tunnels and holes throughout the world, to reaching into [[EldritchLocation some other realm]], do nothing to ease the ominous nature of it all.

** Don't try to warn anyone about their existance either. [[spoiler: The poor groundskeeper.]]

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Sally, who ended up being pulled into the fireplace in the ''original'' version]].