History Main / DaylightHorror

* When Kars of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'' [[spoiler:becomes the Ultimate Creation]], he also becomes the first antagonist in the series to be immune to the sun's rays; his climactic battle showing his new powers takes place in bread daylight.

* Extremely noticeable in ''Disney/{{Tarzan}}'', especially the scenes involving [[CatsAreMean Sabor the leopard.]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

-->-- TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering, [[https://scryfall.com/card/v14/1/armageddon Armageddon]]

** In ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', the Ring Wraiths chase Arwen and Frodo across an open field on a very clear and sunny day. The climactic [[HalfHumanHybrid Uruk-hai]] attack also takes place in daylight.
** In ''The Two Towers'', there's the scene where Frodo falls into the Dead Marshes. True, the water itself was fairly dark, but the whole scene took place during the day.
** In ''Return of the King'', the soldiers' decapitated heads are catapulted over the walls of Minas Tirith in broad daylight...

EvilIsNotWellLit. We all know this. It's human nature to believe that DarknessEqualsDeath. Therefore, it's been a commonly held trope for centuries that scary things have to happen in the dark, preferably [[ItWasADarkAndStormyNight A Dark And Stormy Night]]. This is why there are so many horror movies where TheLostWoods never see daylight, or why whoever owns the HauntedHouse never pays the electricity bill. Conversely, well lit, sunny areas with 100% visibility must be safe. We know that no monsters will harm us once [[CueTheSun the sun comes up.]] Hey, the [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight Things That Go Bump]] only do it [[ThingsthatGoBumpInTheNight In The Night]], after all. If spooky things always lurk in the darkness, then LightIsGood.

[[TemptingFate Right?]]

Wrong.

* In Medievial Europe the hour of Noon was seen as just as dangerous as Midnight. Noon bore the danger of heatstroke, and there were several evil spirits and demons that specifically appeared under the midday sun. One of these was the Corn Mother, a evil spirit that ran through wheat fields, abducted children and killed them by nursing them with her breasts, which either lactated poison...or made out of hot iron and smothered her victims.

* In Medievial Europe the hour of Noon was seen as just as dangerous as Midnight. Noon bore the danger of heatstroke and there were several evil spirits and demons that specifically appeared under the midday sun. One of these was the Corn Mother, a evil spirit that ran through wheat fields, abducted children and killed them by nursing them with her breasts, which were either lactated poison...or made out of hot iron and smothered her victims.

* When Kars of ''Franchise/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'' [[spoiler:becomes the Ultimate Creation]], he also becomes the first antagonist in the series to be immune to the sun's rays; his climactic battle showing his new powers takes place in bread daylight.

* When Kars of ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' [[spoiler:becomes the Ultimate Creation]], he also becomes the first antagonist in the series to be immune to the sun's rays; his climactic battle showing his new powers takes place in bread daylight.

** In the sequel, some of the most gruesome stuff happens in broad daylight and in especially well-lit areas. Crimes against sanity include: crucifying your enemies and brain-jacking them to become living turrets while butt-naked and in constant pain from taking orders from an insane fashionista, fighting your way past an army of LARP fanatics to kill their king only to realize he's just a baby robot and then watch him get skewered by a rogue agent, robot shakespeare, robot cannibalism, robot zombification, mass robot suicide, etc.

* The sunlight is used to diffuse the horror in a non-horror story, especially stories aimed at children, often failing for the above-listed reasons.

* ''VideoGame/DiabloII'' mostly takes place under the sunlight (when it's not BeneathTheEarth), including a desert territory brimming with undead buzzards and demonic locusts. ''{{VideoGame/Diablo}}'' is always night (and the action is entirely BeneathTheEarth). Much of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'''s demonslaying action takes place during the daylight hours, including much of Act II, the siege of Bastion's Keep in Act III, and [[spoiler:the battle in the High Heavens]] in Act IV. Kormac the Templar, one of your followers who has a serious case of BlackAndWhiteMorality, is definitely troubled by this.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E8SilenceInTheLibrary "Silence in the Library"]] takes place during the day. Not so much the second part, where the sun's starting to set.

----

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E1WarriorsOfTheDeep "Warriors of the Deep"]] is roundly criticised for this. The sets were designed for MoodLighting, but instead lit so fiercely you can practically see the actor's bones through their hands. This was a fumble caused by its [[TroubledProduction rushed trainwreck production schedule]].

* In ''Literature/{{Antlers Colorado}}'', main character Austin [[spoiler:fights a huge skinwalker at dawn during the climax of Chapter One, armed with nothing but a switchblade]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TwelveForever'', Endless Island [[EndlessDaytime has no night time]]. This alone means anything creepy or bad that happens there happens well lit under a very bright light, but also that [[spoilers:its impossible to measure time since there is no night, which smmoths the mind into insanity]].

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In the second half of ''Film/{{Anaconda}}'', the Anaconda repeatedly attacks in broad daylight and [[SwallowedWhole devours still-living people whole.]]
* The whole of ''Film/AndSoonTheDarkness'' takes place in a sunny afternoon.
* Most of ''Film/Annihilation2018'' takes place not only in blindingly bright sunlight but in [[SceneryPorn incredibly colorful and gorgeous]] arboreal scenery. The [[spoiler: bear attacks]] do happen at nighttime, however.
* The school shooting in ''Film/AprilShowers'' naturally takes place during the daytime.
* ''Film/ArlingtonRoad'' - Most of the movie is filled with lots of daylight paranoia and moments of bloated anticipation and creepiness as terrorists operate in broad daylight, undercover as you and me, but especially the tense interaction between Cheryl and Brooke at the payphone.
* A great deal of ''Film/TheBay'' takes place on a bright and sunny Fourth of July.
* Creator/NicholasRay's {{Melodrama}} ''Film/BiggerThanLife'' is a drama about a poor schoolteacher Ed Avery (Creator/JamesMason) abusing his prescription medication and progressively going insane in his work and life. [[spoiler:The finale where he decides to become PaterFamilicide and kill his wife and son happens in broad daylight.]]
* Most of the bird-attacks in ''Film/TheBirds'' occur during one bright day.
* The majority of ''The Breed'' takes place during the daytime. Super-aggressive killer dogs probably don't care much whether it's night or day.
* The first ''Film/{{Candyman}}'' movie had many scenes set during the day. This includes when Candy Man himself first appears in a brightly-lit garage and many of the kills/gory scenes.

* The frightening and unexpected closing scenes of ''Film/{{Carrie 1976}}'' occur during the daytime.
* While most of ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' takes place during the night, the last ten minutes or so take place in the early morning on May 23rd. Somehow this doesn't make encountering the giant monstrosity that's none the worse for wear after an entire night being attacked by the U.S. military any less unsettling. [[spoiler:Especially when it leans down to look at one of the protagonists, then bites them in half.]]
* This gets mentioned in ''Film/CourageUnderFire'', when a soldier recalls being TrappedBehindEnemyLines in UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar, and waiting all through the night, knowing that the Iraqis were going to overwhelm them come dawn. As he puts it to another soldier interviewing him years afterward, "I don't know why people think only good things happen in the daytime".
* The beginning of ''Film/TheCrazies2010'' - People gather at the local baseball field to watch the game, and everything is sunny and normal. Then a guy with a shotgun walks into the middle of the game...
* The final scene of ''Film/{{Creep|2014}}'', where [[spoiler:the viewpoint character is axed in the head]], takes place in the middle of the day in a beautiful public park.
* The ''Series/CrocodileHunter'' movie mentions on DVD commentary that they had a scene of Steve handling a deadly snake at night but didn't put in the movie because a similar scene during the day looked more dangerous.

* As this ''Godmonster of Indian Flats'' trailer demonstrates, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLTUV1RitPM this trope doesn't always work.]] WARNING: Serious {{Narm}}.

* ''Homebodies,'' from 1974, an agoraphobic, elderly woman is chased outside, where she is greeted by the dazzling sun, which momentarily blinds her, allowing her pursuer to get closer.

* The infamous "nuke the fridge" scene from ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' actually starts off very creepy before becoming ridiculous. Franchise/IndianaJones stumbles upon a seemingly average suburban town in the middle of a sunlit desert, populated by many UncannyValley mannequins posed to act as if they're engaged in various mundane activities as saccharine music plays. It turns out to be a Nevada Test Site, and a count down starts before a nuclear bomb gets dropped to see what happens to a normal, American town.
* Most of the attacks in ''Film/{{Indigenous}}'' occur during daylight hours, although the chupacabra are clearly active at night as well.
* ''Film/{{Insidious}}'' had the scene [[spoiler: where the demon pops up in plain sight behind the woman's shoulder at the coffee table in the middle of the day]] which gave audiences a good startle just because it was so unexpected. Combining this trope with SoundtrackDissonance, the entire "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sequence comes out of nowhere on a well-lit afternoon.

* Creator/DavidLynch is a master of this...
** ''Film/BlueVelvet'' - The severed ear catalyst.
** ''Film/InlandEmpire'' - The first rehearsal with Laura Dern and Justin Theroux, with Justin chasing an unseen spy. Later, the scene with Laura yelling at Justin through the window.
*** Any of the crazy visitors, such as Grace Zabriskie or Mary Steenburgen, or the circus people.
** ''Film/LostHighway'' - Many scenes in the first half maintain an incredibly menacing feel in broad daylight, especially when a couple receives several videotapes from a stalker.
** ''Film/MulhollandDrive'' - The infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzWDzGxqqa0 "Man behind Winkies"]] scene.
** ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'' - Any daytime scene featuring Laura's [[spoiler:father]].
** ''Film/WildAtHeart'' - Lula lets Bobby Peru use her toilet.
*** Any of the TroubledBackstoryFlashback.

* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', every scene before the protagonists reach Miranda is brighter than the last, and Miranda itself is almost painfully brilliant (including broad panels of
spotless concrete and glass), but it's still absolutely littered with corpses and where our BigDamnHeroes discover [[spoiler: how the Pax caused everyone on the planet to either calmly allow themselves to die or become Reavers]]. And it's ''terrifying''.

-->"Sarah Connah?"
-->"Yes?"

* ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' as well as ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater'' have the infected attack during the day. The opening of ''28 Weeks Later'' was in broad daylight, over some nice green fields, with a horde of zombies. It seems as if the light was modified to be pale and whiter than normal. It adds to the horror; even the sunlight seems lifeless.

* Most of the scenes in ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'' take place in broad daylight, including the terrifying climax. This lets the audience take in the [[SceneryPorn beautiful Celtic landscape,]] but also helps sink in the deranged surreality of Summer Isle. The things the villagers do in full view of one another wouldn't be nearly as off-putting if it happened at night.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by the episode title "The Harsh Light of Day."

* ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' had a horror element, but most of the killings occurred in the daylight.

** During the Classic series, the showrunners often had to contend with lighting engineer guidelines intended for light entertainment shows which bordered it in the schedules. Invariably the engineers wanted to light everything to levels that shoot beautifully on chat shows, and the producers would want more atmospheric levels appropriate for GothicHorror. You can generally tell how tight a leash the producer had on the team at the time by how dark or bright a horror episode is; Philip Hinchcliffe's completely controlled Season 14 contained the very dark "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" and even gave the Doctor a low-lit churchike TARDIS instead of the blindingly-lit previous model, but much of the mid-to-late 80s are illuminated to levels that could have given the actors sunburn. It's worth pointing out that SpecialEffectsEvolution was also a factor - as video camera technology improved over the years, more atmospheric lighting effects became possible.
** "Fury from the Deep" takes place in the daytime, enhancing its slight StepfordSuburbia feel.
** The overwhelming majority of the Pertwee era UNIT alien invasions take place in daylight, likely for production reasons as stated above. "Spearhead from Space", "The Sea Devils" and "The Green Death" are a handful of particularly daytime episodes.
** "The Ark in Space" is, save for some short scenes at the beginning and the end, searingly bright, because the director wanted to give the impression of sterility. Some people find it creepy and appropriate... others complain the Wirrn [[SpecialEffectFailure couldn't afford that level of attention]].
** "Warriors of the Deep" is roundly criticised for this. The sets were designed for MoodLighting but instead lit so fiercely you can practically see the actor's bones through their hands. This was a fumble caused by its [[TroubledProduction rushed trainwreck production schedule]].
** "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy" takes place in the daytime - you wouldn't go to a circus at night, would you?
** Almost all of the action in "Blink" takes place in the daytime, much of it even in broad daylight. That doesn't make it any less terrifying, as most people who have watched it will tell you.
** "The Eleventh Hour" starts off at night, but the climax and most of the episode's scary moments take place during the day.
** Part of "Amy's Choice" is set in a sleepy village during the day.
** All of "Father's Day" occurs on the day of a wedding.
** "Silence In the Library" takes place during the day. Not so much the second part, where the sun's starting to set.

* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Bizarro's face distorts whenever he is in direct sunlight.
* In ''Series/{{Helix}},'' Major Balleseros' discovery of a missing group of SyntheticPlague-infected lab monkeys frozen alive, outside of [[ResearchInc Arctic Biosystems]], and his sharing the discovery with CDC veterinary pathologist Doreen, take place in snowy arctic daylight, the better to notice that many died in terror.
* The Science Channel series, ''Strip the Cosmos'', has episodes about solar flares, black holes, and the sun itself. Or, as the commercial for "Inside the Sun" puts it, "All life... all '''death'''... comes from one place. Is the sun our greatest threat? Or is it protecting us from something worse? The only way to know is to ''strip it to the core!"''
* ''Series/NakedAndAfraid'' - The sun will try to bake the couple, sometimes to the point that they need a medical evacuation.
** There's also the instance where the sun helps illuminate the painful bump on a man's skin where a fly had laid its squirming larva.
*** Plus, there's the more subtle horror of the NakedFirstImpression where every bodily flaw is highlighted by the bright sun -- no romantic lighting here -- in front of your new partner and a film crew... a very bad NotWearingPantsDream for many.

* The first episode of ''Series/TheSinner'' has a young woman murdering a man in broad daylight at the beach.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax'' episode "Fly by Night" has a vampire who is [[OurVampiresAreDifferent completely immune to the traditional vampire weaknesses,]] which she demonstrates by basking in the sun's rays completely unharmed.

--> [[TearJerker "I no longer love blue skies. In fact, I now prefer grey skies. The drones do not fly when the skies are grey."]]

Not to be confused with LightIsNotGood (although it can invoke this), or the horror VideoGame ''VideoGame/{{Daylight}}''. See also WeakenedByTheLight and SceneryDissonance.

* Creator/NicholasRay's {{Melodrama}} ''Film/BiggerThanLife'' is a drama about a poor schoolteacher Ed Avery (Creator/JamesMason) abusing his prescription medication and progressively going insane in his work and life. [[spoiler:The finale where he decides to become PaterFamilicide and kill his wife and son happens in broad daylight]].
* ''Film/TheRing'': Many of the scarier scenes in the original films happen during the daytime. In the American remake, only a few scenes were set at night (though the daylight scenes were still extremely cloudy).
* ''Film/TheMist'', though it's so foggy it's hard to tell, a thick, soupy fog that also hides various monsters.
* Creator/DavidLynch is a master of this...
** ''Film/BlueVelvet'' - The severed ear catalyst.
** ''Film/InlandEmpire'' - The first rehearsal with Laura Dern and Justin Theroux, with Justin chasing an unseen spy. Later, the scene with Laura yelling at Justin through the window.
*** Any of the crazy visitors, such as Grace Zabriskie or Mary Steenburgen, or the circus people.
** ''Film/LostHighway'' - Many scenes in the first half maintain an incredibly menacing feel in broad daylight, especially when a couple receives several videotapes from a stalker.
** ''Film/MulhollandDrive'' - The infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzWDzGxqqa0 "Man behind Winkies"]] scene.
** ''Film/TwinPeaksFireWalkWithMe'' - Any daytime scene featuring Laura's [[spoiler:father]].
** ''Film/WildAtHeart'' - Lula lets Bobby Peru use her toilet.
*** Any of the TroubledBackstoryFlashback.
* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'':
** In ''The Fellowship of the Ring'', the Ring Wraiths chase Arwen and Frodo across an open field on a very clear and sunny day. The climactic [[HalfHumanHybrid Uruk-hai]] attack also takes place in daylight.
** In ''The Two Towers'', there's the scene where Frodo falls into the Dead Marshes. True, the water itself was fairly dark, but the whole scene took place during the day.
** In ''Return of the King'', the soldiers' decapitated heads are catapulted over the walls of Minas Tirith in broad daylight...

** One of Carpenter's most effective uses of the trope, and one of the most famous, are the scenes in his film ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' when "the shape" is stalking Laurie Strode and her friends through the quiet streets of Haddonfield during the middle of the day. The idyllic, sunny small town environment is rendered uncanny and frightening by the mixture of creepy music and the fact that the audience is aware of a malevolent presence that the onscreen characters cannot seem to sense.
* Obvious examples include ''Film/DayOfTheDead1985'' and [[Film/DayOfTheDead2008 its remake]]. The same goes for ''Film/DawnOfTheDead1978''. Despite its name, the very first zombie attack in ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' also occurs in daylight.
* ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' as well as ''Film/TwentyEightWeeksLater'' have the infected attack during the day. The opening of ''28 Weeks Later'' was in broad daylight, over some nice green fields, with a horde of zombies. It seems as if the light was modified to be pale and whiter than normal. It adds to the horror; even the sunlight seems lifeless.
* Though all of the scary events in ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' take place at night, the four scariest scenes in the film - the shower scene, Arbogast's death, the reveal of Norman Bates as the killer, and the final scene where Norman has an extremely creepy interior monologue - all occur not just in well-lit rooms, but rooms with lights that are actually intense and glaring in the case of the shower and reveal scenes.
* Near the end of ''Film/ParanormalActivity'', the demon begins acting in broad daylight, whereas it has only ever been active in the dead of night prior to that point. It's used to help drive home just how bad the situation has become.

* Just to show that when this trope is used, as this Godmonster of Indian Flats trailer demonstrates, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLTUV1RitPM it doesn't always work.]] WARNING: Serious {{Narm}}.
* The whole of ''Film/AndSoonTheDarkness'' takes place in a sunny afternoon.
* Many of the scary scenes in ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' happen during the day, including the climax.
* ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'':
** The final sequence in ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'' movie invoked this trope, going so far as to give the audience a false sense of security [[HopeSpot before pulling the rug]].
** In ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet4TheDreamMaster'', Freddy attacks Kristen in one of her dreams on a sunny beach. She actually tries to dream about a nice and bright place in the hopes that Freddy won't appear, but alas.
* The Creator/KenRussell film ''Film/TheLairOfTheWhiteWorm'' was, at the time, a rare movie for showing vampires stalking victims during the daytime. The movie was based on a novel by Creator/BramStoker. See also: Literature.
* ''Film/{{Predator}}'' was mostly set during the course of a single day, yet the monster was still hidden due to invisibility, making those scenes more intense.
* The opening scene of ''Sinister'' involves a family murdered in broad daylight.
* Creator/StanleyKubrick's version of ''Film/TheShining'' rarely shows darkness. It has many scenes in the day, the hotel always has all of its lights on, and there is a white blanket of snow on the ground outside that makes everything... well, [[{{Pun}} shiny]].
* Most of the bird-attacks in ''Film/TheBirds'' occur during one bright day.
* A number of scenes in ''Film/TheExorcist'' have been remarked upon for taking place in daylight, notably TheOneWith Reagan's spinning head.

* The cropduster attack in the cornfield from ''Film/NorthByNorthwest''.

* ''Film/{{Juon}}'' and ''Film/TheGrudge'' (and numerous sequels): It doesn't matter if you're in your apartment with the lights on, in a bus, at school, in America thousands of miles away from Japan, or driving a taxi down the road in a Santa outfit delivering a cake to a certain cursed household, the grudge will get you no matter where you are...
* While more of ''Film/JuRei'' takes place at night than in the day, some of its later "chapters" are set entirely in daylight.
* The ''Series/CrocodileHunter'' movie mentions on DVD commentary that they had a scene of Steve handling a deadly snake at night but didn't put in the movie because a similar scene during the day looked more dangerous.

* In ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', every scene before the protagonists reach Miranda is brighter than the last, and Miranda itself is almost painfully brilliant (including broad panels of spotless concrete and glass), but it's still absolutely littered with corpses and where our BigDamnHeroes discover [[spoiler: how the Pax caused everyone on the planet to either calmly allow themselves to die or become Reavers]]. And it's ''terrifying''.
* Many of the scenes of horror in ''Film/TheDevilsRejects'' take place during the day. One victim even dies the next morning, outside in broad daylight, after the killers have vacated the premises.
* The first ''Film/{{Candyman}}'' movie had many scenes set during the day. This includes when Candy Man himself first appears in a brightly-lit garage and many of the kills/gory scenes.
* The "birthday party video" scene from ''Film/{{Signs}}''. It's arguably scarier than any of the scenes that take place at night.
* Obviously this doesn't work in the absurdly bad ''The House That Screamed'', since [[http://www.somethingawful.com/d/movie-reviews/house-that-screamed.php the reviewer]] at Website/SomethingAwful repeatedly keeps pointing out that "'''nothing is fucking scary in broad daylight'''".
* ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' takes place almost entirely during the day. A few scenes did have one of the creatures trap the protagonist trio overnight on top a cluster of boulders (which also protects them as they can't tunnel through rock). The point is that like moles, the eponymous worms, do not need light to navigate their surroundings and will attack regardless if it's day or night. There's a single nighttime death scene, but it's really less terrifying than the daytime graboid scenes because, at night, it's pretty conventional horror movie stuff.
* The 80's slasher flick ''Film/{{Pieces}}'' starts off with a flashback of the killer chopping his mother up with an axe. The movie skips ahead forty years later and the first kill is a college student getting chopped up by a chainsaw in the middle of the quad on a day that's so sunny, the glare from the sun hides the killer's face.
* ''Film/DeathProof'' constantly skirts the line between being an incredibly violent car chase movie and being an inordinately action-heavy ''slasher movie.'' Either way, the bulk of the movie is set in the scorching desert, in broad daylight.

* Most of the scenes in ''Film/TheWickerMan1973'' take place in broad daylight, including the terrifying climax. This lets the audience take in the [[SceneryPorn beautiful Celtic landscape,]] but also helps sink in the deranged surreality of Summer Isle. The things the villagers do in full view of one another wouldn't be nearly as off-putting if it happened at night.
* One of the murder scenes in ''Film/{{Zodiac}}'' takes place on a bright and sunny day.
* This gets mentioned in ''Film/CourageUnderFire'', when a soldier recalls being TrappedBehindEnemyLines in UsefulNotes/TheGulfWar, and waiting all through the night, knowing that the Iraqis were going to overwhelm them come dawn. As he puts it to another soldier interviewing him years afterward, "I don't know why people think only good things happen in the daytime".
* The frightening and unexpected closing scenes of ''Film/{{Carrie 1976}}'' occur during the daytime.
* ''Film/{{Insidious}}'' had the scene [[spoiler: where the demon pops up in plain sight behind the woman's shoulder at the coffee table in the middle of the day]] which gave audiences a good startle just because it was so unexpected. Combining this trope with SoundtrackDissonance, the entire "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" sequence comes out of nowhere on a well-lit afternoon.
* ''Film/ResidentEvilExtinction'' is set almost entirely during the day.
* ''Film/FridayThe13th2009'' had the typical "people take off their clothes and go out to the lake, only to be killed by Jason" scene. This time, however, it happened during the day. The final scares of both [[Film/FridayThe13th1980 the original installment]] and [[Film/FridayThe13thPartIII the third movie]] both take place during the daytime as well.
* The final scenes of ''Film/{{Session 9}}'' are not only bathed in sunlight, but birdsong too.
* While there are clues that the events start prior to that point, ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' shows the proper zombie apocalypse kicking off in the morning as Shaun wakes up with a hangover. In his half-asleep daze, he fails to notice the corpses everywhere and the zombies hunting the living as he goes to the store and returns to his apartment. Most of the action following this happens in broad daylight.
* The majority of ''The Breed'' takes place during the daytime. Super-aggressive killer dogs probably don't care much whether it's night or day.
* In ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'', [[spoiler: Julie finds Max's corpse in the trunk of her car in the middle of the day while parked in a sunny suburb. The final scene, in which the killer attacks Julie in the shower just as the movie ends, also seems to take place during the day]].
* ''Film/{{Cujo}}'' - A mother and son are trapped in a broken-down car. They can't leave the car because of a rabid dog that stalks the car for days. One of the main elements being that the car is blistering hot because of the brilliant summer sun. The night time is when the mother and son can get some relief from the sweltering heat.
* Most of ''Film/Annihilation2018'' takes place not only in blindingly bright sunlight but in [[SceneryPorn incredibly colorful and gorgeous]] arboreal scenery. The [[spoiler: bear attacks]] do happen at nighttime, however.
* ''Film/ArlingtonRoad'' - Most of the movie is filled with lots of daylight paranoia and moments of bloated anticipation and creepiness as terrorists operate in broad daylight, undercover as you and me, but especially the tense interaction between Cheryl and Brooke at the payphone.
* ''Film/UTurn'' [[spoiler: - Bobby barely escapes from the town, only to fry in the desert heat]].
* A good portion of ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974'' takes place during the daylight hours, probably due to budget reasons, but also helps employ the use of surprise (including Leatherface's first appearance which shocked a lot of people back in 1974), as well as the gruesome detail of some of the macabre set pieces (like when Pam stumbles into the room full of body parts). Later, the camera lovingly lingers on Leatherface's mask as he looks out the window into the sunlight. After a lengthy night portion, the movie has the FinalGirl burst through the painted glass of the window to find that it's actually daylight outside, and that the killers are going to continue mutilating her as she runs into a public area where others gawk in horror at the mayhem.
* ''{{Film/Poltergeist}}'' - The sequel's introduction to [[SinisterMinister Reverend Kane]]. Even in the first movie, although the very worst stuff happens at night, eventually the ghosts start playing havoc during the day -- moving furniture around, causing the contents of a child's bedroom to float through the air to form a vortex.
* ''Film/StandByMe'' - This Creator/StephenKing story features many scary moments in the daylight: The train chase, Chopper, the violent gang, "[[AdultFear It should have been you]]," the leeches, and ultimately... the body.
* ''Film/ISpitOnYourGrave'' is a movie from the "rape / revenge" genre, where most or all of the rape and revenge take place during the day, depending on which version you watch.

* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'':
** All of the nuclear holocaust sequences are during the daytime. Particularly, ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' shows burning children. The [[Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles TV show]] has two brothers watching the nukes fly overhead as they play baseball in their front yard. The ending of ''[[spoiler: Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines]]'' shows [[spoiler: beautiful landscapes illuminated by sunlight... obliterated by many nukes]].
** Many of the assassination sequences, as well, for instance the smiling deliveryman in ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'' who shoots a RedShirt, but also ends up [[spoiler:taking out [[AnyoneCanDie Derek.]]]] Also, for instance, the assassination of one of the Sarah Connors in [[Film/TheTerminator the original movie]].
-->"Sarah Connah?"
-->"Yes?"

* ''Franchise/FinalDestination'': To drive home the point that death waits for nobody and could strike at any moment, a lot of the deaths occur during the middle of the day, when the characters are doing mundane activities. The disaster that open each movie even alternates between night and day, with those of 2, 4 and 5 ([[spoiler:a prequel to 1, meaning it still fits the pattern]]) taking place during the day.
* A great deal of ''Film/TheBay'' takes place on a bright and sunny Fourth of July.

* The beginning of ''Film/TheCrazies2010'' - People gather at the local baseball field to watch the game, and everything is sunny and normal. Then a guy with a shotgun walks into the middle of the game...
* The Canadian slasher movie ''Curtains'' has a scene where a figure skater is attacked [[spoiler:and ultimately decapitated]] by a masked killer in broad daylight.

* In the second half of ''Film/{{Anaconda}}'', the Anaconda repeatedly attacks in broad daylight and [[SwallowedWhole devours still-living people whole.]]
* ''Film/AFieldInEngland'' entirely takes place in a wide open field during a day with decent weather and even many moments of sunshine. The uneasiness never comes from the presence of monsters or anticipation of a JumpScare. Instead, the villainous alchemist O'Neill describes it as a land that is close to other places, while the more simple minded ones believe it's the Devil itself. Or possibly a punishment from God. Or maybe they are all [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane just tripping on mushrooms]].
* ''Homebodies,'' from 1974, an agoraphobic, elderly woman is chased outside, where she is greeted by the dazzling sun, which momentarily blinds her, allowing her pursuer to get closer.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/{{Overboard}}'' when the RichBitch-turned-ServileSnarker wakes up from her dream of upper class society and faces a day of menial work. She tells her reflection in the mirror, "You're living in a nightmare that starts at the crack of dawn."
* ''Film/FullCircle'' begins with a woman's young daughter choking to death on a bright, sunny morning.
* As a [[ContrastingSequelAntagonist contrast]] with the undead pirates of the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first]] ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie, who were reasonably frightening in daylight but appeared as half-decayed skeletons by moonlight, Davy Jones and his crew of FishPeople from ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest Dead Man's Chest]]'' and ''[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd At World's End]]'' are scary-looking all the time. We see one of them for the first time in a dimly lit ship's hold and the rest are introduced during a night scene, but in most of their scenes after that they're in broad daylight.
* The final scene of ''[[Film/{{Creep2014}} Creep]]'', where [[spoiler:the viewpoint character is axed in the head]], takes place in the middle of the day in a beautiful public park.
* While most of ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' takes place during the night, the last ten minutes or so take place in the early morning on May 23rd. Somehow this doesn't make encountering the giant monstrosity that's none the worse for wear after an entire night being attacked by the U.S. military any less unsettling. [[spoiler:Especially when it leans down to look at one of the protagonists, then bites them in half.]]
* The infamous "nuke the fridge" scene from ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' actually starts off very creepy before becoming ridiculous. Franchise/IndianaJones stumbles upon a seemingly average suburban town in the middle of a sunlit desert, populated by many UncannyValley mannequins posed to act as if they're engaged in various mundane activities as saccharine music plays. It turns out to be a Nevada Test Site, and a count down starts before a nuclear bomb gets dropped to see what happens to a normal, American town.
* ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''. When the villain discovers that his assistant has been helping Bond, he sets his dogs on her, who proceed to chase her through a beautiful, sunlit forest.
* ''Film/{{Duel}}'' takes place in light of day which makes the terror worse because the protagonist can see the semi that's stalking him but he nor the audience ever really see the driver and which adds to the horror because instead of being pursued by a madman, which is bad but comprehensible, he's being pursued by a ''thing''.
* Most of the attacks in ''Film/{{Indigenous}}'' occur during daylight hours, although the chupacabra are clearly active at night as well.
* The ground battles in ''Franchise/StarWars'' almost all take place during the day, making it all the easier to see the legions of enemy troopers or Imperial walkers destroying everything in their path. ''Film/RogueOne'' takes this UpToEleven when the bright blue sky over Scarif is suddenly filled with [[spoiler:the Death Star]].
* The school shooting in ''Film/AprilShowers'' naturally takes place during the daytime.
* While several key scenes in ''Film/ItFollows'' do take place in the dark, a big part of the movie's horror stems from the fact that the monster keeps pursuing its victims no matter the time of day, and can only be seen by those who have already contracted the curse. Some of the most terrifying shots in the film show the monster in one of its various human shapes making its way towards a victim in broad daylight, while everyone else looks on as if nothing is happening.
* While it has its fair share of awful things happening in the dark, the undisputably most horrific image in ''Film/{{Hereditary}}'' comes in blindingly bright sunlight, when we get to see the mind-shredding sight of [[spoiler:a child's rotting severed head covered in ants]] in broad daylight.
* Part of what makes the Argentinian movie ''Olympic Garage'' - ''Garage Olimpo'' in the original, set in the dictatorship that took place in the country in the 70s-80s - so disturbing despite not being overly graphic is the use of this trope (along with TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse). Kidnappings, executions, [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled death to avoid torture]], ColdBloodedTorture, [[spoiler:a girl being allowed to walk semi-free from a torture chamber for a few hours and then forced to go back]] and [[spoiler:dozens of people being thrown to the sea]] all happen in broad daylight, filmed with wide-shots on well-lit (sometimes even beautiful) environments, even in interiors. One scene has the torturers in the titular garage turning on the radio while doing their work; the scene cuts to the street while the torture goes on, where only the pleasant boleros from the radio can be heard.

* Creator/StephenKing

* This description of ''Series/{{Spooksville}}'' appears in the first book. "Springville was the proper name of the small oceanside town. It was only the local kids who called it by the scarier, but more accurate, title. It was only kids who knew how weird the place could get after dark. Or even during the day. That was the thing about Spooksville. Not all its monsters waited until the sun went down to appear." Daytime horrors include [[PuppeteerParasite the No-Ones]] and {{Giant Enemy Crab}}s.

* ''Series/DoctorWho''

* Series/NakedAndAfraid - The sun will try to bake the couple, sometimes to the point that they need a medical evacuation.

* Syfy Channel's TV show called ''What on Earth?'' features disturbing sights found on satellite imagery that could only be seen during the day, each treated like a horror movie sequence or apocalyptic conspiracy. Examples include cryptids, giant masses below the surfaces of the water, crop-circle-type patterns, giant structures and land masses that vanish without a trace, weird clouds, mysterious smokescreens, possible chemical weapons, bizarre weather patterns, American stealth technology deep inside China, and what appears to be a murderer disposing of a body.

* [[http://hellforge.gameriot.com/blogs/Boys-Club/L4D2-Lightens-Up-Daylight-Levels-in-Horror-Games-1 This article]] discusses the concept of daylight levels in horror games.

** The second exception, [[DemonicSpider The Creeper]], is an ActionBomb which combines several annoying traits. Its body is mottled green, so it blends in rather well with trees. It's completely silent except for a hissing sound it makes right next to you moments before detonating. Its [[ArtificialBrilliance AI is advanced enough]] that it can ambush the player, hiding in alcoves or around corners waiting to catch you by surprise. And most importantly for this trope, sunlight neither harms nor pacifies creepers, so when you leave your shelter in the morning, they'll be waiting for you.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': The episode "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE5HouseAndGarden House & Garden]]" shows one of the few times where Batman's in action in broad daylight. The reality behind Poison Ivy's new domestic life is no picture-perfect fairy tale, either... dear God, the "cabbage plant kids"...[[note]]That said, the most horrific parts of the episode do take place in Ivy's [[DarkIsEvil poorly-lit]] [[CreepyBasement basement/lab]].[[/note]]

--->"The sun nourishes all things...even EVIL!"

** Getting [[CrossingTheDesert lost and stranded in a desert]] on a hot, sunny day is DaylightHorror in its purest form. Wandering around in miles of seemingly endless sand dunes or rocky plains, having little or no food and water in sight, and the heat sapping whatever energy you have left, until possibly dying of heatstroke and/or dehydration.

*** The ''For the Past, For the Future'' DLC episode shows that the [[spoiler:nuclear strike that leveled Tokyo]] and [[spoiler:[[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan the fight to get Masakado to his senses and raise the Firmament]]]], which is the game's ultimate BonusBoss fight, take place during the daytime.

*** The ''For the Past, For the Future'' DLC episode shows that the [[spoiler:nuclear strike that leveled Tokyo and [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan the fight to get Masakado to his senses and raise the Firmament]], which is the game's ultimate BonusBoss fight, take place during the daytime]].

*** The ''For the Past, For the Future'' DLC episode shows that the [[spoiler:nuclear strike that leveled Tokyo takes place and [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan the fight to get Masakado to his senses and raise the Firmament]], which is the game's ultimate BonusBoss fight, take place during the daytime]].

* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', most of the game is perfectly lit - all the better to see the [[DeathWorld devastated]], [[BleakLevel ruined]] [[NightmareFuel wreck]] that once was Tokyo.
** Also, the "sun" is actually [[spoiler: a giant cybernetic demon acting as representative of YHWH and ready to murder everything on earth simultaneously, because the entire world is literally built around it like a dyson sphere with weekly murder-fests from frenzied demons due to the sun's harmful mana-radioactive pulses]]. You may scream now.
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'' has [[spoiler:Blasted Tokyo, which is an AlternateTimeline version of Tokyo in which the forces of Law seize the metropolis.]] There is a desert [[spoiler:where Tokyo once stood]], there are massive craters [[spoiler:that mark where major Tokyo districts used to be]], the poisonous atmosphere infects and eventually kills humans exposed to it, and demons roam the land killing off humans who dare to wander outside the sole human shelter. Yes, the sun shines [[spoiler:on this Tokyo thanks to the lack of a Firmament]], but that's the reason [[spoiler:the nuclear missiles were able to blow Tokyo to pieces]], leaving only a massive DeathWorld.

* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''

** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica has one half of the game set in the Antarctic, where Capcom remembered that since it's December, and therefore Summer in the southern hemisphere, it's constantly day out. Not that you'll notice since Chris and Claire are indoors almost the entire time.