History Main / PlayedForHorror

** The {{Creepypasta}} “[[https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/drpsa3/my_neighbor_wont_stop_singing_christmas_carols/ My Neighbor won’t stop singing Christmas carols]]” does this to the “annoying ChristmasCarolers” trope. The titular neighbors- the wife and daughter specifically- sing carols for days on end, never stopping, and [[AndIMustScream will not respond to anything, even as they are peeing and crying]], making it clear that something is ''wrong''. [[spoiler:They are being forced to sing by a race of goblins resembling pine trees, and anyone caught in a specific radius from one is magically compelled to join in the caroling forever- eventually, nearly the entire town joins in, with hordes of people forced to sing against their will before being devoured by the pine goblins.]]
** TimeDissonance is played for horror in [[https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/cokl1l/if_youre_armed_and_at_the_glenmont_metro_please/ If you're armed and at the Glenmont Metro, please shoot me]]. The narrator participates in a clinical trial for a drug that accelerates his brain functions, causing him to perceive time more slowly. At first, the downsides are only annoying and boring, with minutes feeling like hours and his 30-minute ride home feeling like days. As time goes on and the effects of the drug keep intensifying, to the point that turning the pages of a book takes longer than reading it and he can see the individual frames on TV, boredom gets the better of him he eventually decides to take an Ambien to try and sleep the effects off. [[spoiler: The sleeping pill interacts with the drug and begins ''severely'' magnifying its effects, hitting him right as he was running down the stairs at the metro station, causing him to lose his footing from the sudden change and get locked into a fall down the steps that, from his perspective, takes days. The impact dislocates his shoulder and he discovers, while his senses are slowed down, the pain never subsides because his body is still working in real-time, and he decides it's too much and tries to throw himself onto the tracks. His perception of time eventually slows to the point that simply ''blinking'' plunges him into darkness for centuries. After enduring what feels like thousands of years of pain and boredom over the course of a few minutes, he posts online, begging for someone to put him out of his misery. A shot to the temple should only take a few decades.]]

** [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3520/ SCP-3520]] turns ChubbyChaser horrific, where an unknown force takes sado-masochistic glee in watching humanity become this as they destroy Earth’s environment to make way for industrial farms to make more snack food.

* ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'': AndThereWasMuchRejoicing is PlayedForDrama and Horror in the aftermath of [[spoiler:Tommy's death]], as the Eggpire throw a party in the victim's house - and after getting kicked out, rent a room in the victim's hotel to continue their revelries. Do bear in mind that the leader of the Eggpire, [=BadBoyHalo=], confirmed by WordOfGod that his character would be horrified and in mourning if he weren't BrainwashedAndCrazy.

* ''Film/OneBR'' uses a CloseKnitCommunity as a premise for a horror film. At first, the tenants of the apartment building [[TheProtagonist Sarah]] moves into are a very friendly and sociable bunch. That said, it's soon revealed that they value their community to the point of SeriousBusiness, practically brainwashing and psychologically torturing all new tenants into wanting to become permanent members of the community.

* ''Fanfic/FortuneLoverTGSBetaSaruRipTPlusEng0Point75SincereDotZip'' plays InSpiteOfANail for horror. The basic premise is the existence of a ''Fortune Lover'' hack (implied to have been created by A-chan), in which the Katarina Claes of ''Fortune Lover'' is replaced with the Katarina Claes of ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'', while everyone else's dialogs and event flags are left unaltered. The result is that all of Katarina's attempts to escape her doom are worthless: she is labeled a villainess despite doing nothing on-screen to deserve it, denounced for crimes that she never committed, and finally killed or exiled for no reason other than the immutable Plot.

* ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'': AndThereWasMuchRejoicing is PlayedForDrama and Horror in the aftermath of [[spoiler:Tommy's death]], as the Eggpire throw a party in the victim's house - and after getting kicked out, rent a room in the victim's hotel to continue their revelries. Do bear in mind that the leader of the Eggpire, [=BadBoyHalo=], confirmed by WordOfGod that his character would be horrified and in mourning if he weren't BrainwashedAndCrazy.

* ''Website/SCPFoundation''

* ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'' Season 1 plays SitcomArchNemesis and AnimalJingoism for Horror. Jimmy and fWhip initially appeared to be rivals/enemies to each other due to the two's conflicts of cod versus salmon, but this "species rivalry" later proves to be much more dangerous and sinister--when [[RivalsTeamUp the two teamed up]] to try to create a new Codfather head, a prophecy ends up rearing its ugly head. Specifically, the prophecy stated, "The resolution of a neverending feud brings [[spoiler:unimaginable chaos that will [[ApocalypseHow destroy the world]]]]", and it rings true: [[spoiler:the machine they used for their experiment overloads from combining cod and salmon, obliterating the Grimlands (fWhip's empire) in a huge explosion that almost killed fWhip, and the various natural disasters following or caused by the catastrophe leads to at least three of their fellow rulers and friends being ''KilledOffForReal''.]]

** ''Lacey's Diner' plays LethalChef and RevengeIsADishBestServed for horror in the bad ending. In her SanitySlippage and anger towards her customers, Lacey serves food made of ''cigarette butts, dead roaches, porn magazines, meth, used condoms, broken glass, and [[TheSecretOfLongPorkPies human flesh]]''. It's unclear if the customers survive this.

** EvilIsPetty is part of what makes [[Characters/DCAUJoker The Joker]] scary. His plots include [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE2ChristmasWithTheJoker ruining Christmas for Batman and Gotham]] by taking hostages, [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE9BeAClown ruining the mayor's son's birthday party]] by planning to blow it up, [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE22JokersFavor ruining a party in honor of Commissioner Gordon]] with the help of an average guy [[StalkerWithoutACrush he obsessively stalked and threatened]], all because the guy cussed at him while driving), and [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE34TheLaughingFish attempting to patent something that legally cannot be patented, and then gassing the guy at the patent office who told him so]].

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' makes use of TheDreadedPretendTeaParty trope in a disturbing way. In the episode "[[Recap/CriminalMindsS5E12TheUncannyValley The Uncanny Valley]]", a woman was sexually abused as a child by her father who bought her dolls as an apology. Decades later, he took her dolls and gave them to other girls whom he abused. His daughter, desperate to have her dolls back, abducted women who happened to look like her dolls, sedated and force-fed them, dressed them up, ''sewed a wig into a poor woman's scalp'' and forced them to attend a tea party. All while acting like a well-meaning little girl.

* The {{Creepypasta}} “[[https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/drpsa3/my_neighbor_wont_stop_singing_christmas_carols/ My Neighbor won’t stop singing Christmas carols]]” does this to the “annoying ChristmasCarolers” trope. The titular neighbors- the wife and daughter specifically- sing carols for days on end, never stopping, and [[AndIMustScream will not respond to anything, even as they are peeing and crying]], making it clear that something is ''wrong''. [[spoiler:They are being forced to sing by a race of goblins resembling pine trees, and anyone caught in a specific radius from one is magically compelled to join in the caroling forever- eventually, nearly the entire town joins in, with hordes of people forced to sing against their will before being devoured by the pine goblins.]]

* And speaking of Batman, ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumASeriousHouseOnSeriousEarth'' takes many of the [[RoguesGallery recurring villains]], strips them of any kind of silliness, and plays their most notorious traits for horror: For example, Dr. Destiny is no longer a creepy but somewhat cartoonish man in a cloak and a skull face, but [[spoiler:an emaciated, withered man trapped in a wheelchair. It's implied that he still posseses his terrifying dream powers as well]], the Mad Hatter is hinted at being a pedophile, etc.

* DeathIsCheap is horrifically [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'' when it's learned that the reason the Hulk and gamma mutates keep coming back is because death has a metaphorical revolving door for them to keep walking out of. Made worse is the fact that it's due to an EldritchAbomination that is TheAntiGod, which is only bringing them back so it has pawns it can use to enact its own plans. There's also the trauma of having to experience death in all of it's pain and terror only to come back repeatedly and realize it's going to keep happening again and again and that you may end up surviving thousands of years past the ends of your friends, loved ones and everything you ever held to be important.
* A really horrific example of UnreliableVoiceover is in the first issue of Vertigo's ''ComicBook/HouseOfMystery'' series. The narration is a rather uneventful story about a girl who moves back to her hometown after her parents died, becomes a wife and mother, but doesn't love her children. None of this is actually untrue, but the art fills in minor gaps like the fact that [[spoiler:the other residents of the city are all BigCreepyCrawlies, and her children were loads of maggots that left a huge hole in her back that she still has]].

* When ''Website/SFDebris'' reviewed the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Captain's Holiday", Chuck started it by mocking Picard's [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace Screw Gun Safety]] attitude with a kid finding the tossed phaser and accidentally shooting himself. The scene is also PlayedForLaughs, but still doesn't shy away from how dangerous such an action was.
* The {{Groin Attack}}s done to both genders in Episode 3, [[GirlsBehindBars "Women in Prison"]], of ''WebVideo/MissingReel'' are treated this way.

* WebVideo/GusJohnson uses KnuckleCracking for horror and [[BlackComedy morbid laughs]] in the sketch "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOdDGRyoN6w Crack]]". Two guys crack their knuckles and soon snap other body parts in increasingly painful and [[BodyHorror unpleasant looking ways]].
* ''WebVideo/SmileTapes'' has a devastating FantasticDrug called SMILE. It is made from an unknown fungus, is distributed through the black market and has utterly horrific effects on the human body.
* ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP'' Season 1 plays SitcomArchNemesis and AnimalJingoism for Horror. Jimmy and fWhip initially appeared to be rivals/enemies to each other due to the two's conflicts of cod versus salmon, but this "species rivalry" later proves to be much more dangerous and sinister--when [[RivalsTeamUp the two teamed up]] to try to create a new Codfather head, a prophecy ends up rearing its ugly head. Specifically, the prophecy stated, "The resolution of a neverending feud brings [[spoiler:unimaginable chaos that will [[ApocalypseHow destroy the world]]]]", and it rings true: [[spoiler:the machine they used for their experiment overloads from combining cod and salmon, obliterating the Grimlands (fWhip's empire) in a huge explosion that almost killed fWhip, and the various natural disasters following or caused by the catastrophe leads to at least three of their fellow rulers and friends being ''KilledOffForReal''.]]
* ''Website/CollegeHumor'' did this with their [[RealTrailerFakeMovie fake trailer]] for a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMXME2pm83c film adaptation]] of ''VideoGame/TheSims'', which does this with VideoGameCrueltyPotential by showing how horrifying it would be to live under the whims of a CruelPlayerCharacterGod.

* ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}}''

** ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation'' uses an UnreliableVoiceover to add to the frightening atmosphere. There are many beats where you ostensibly need to rely on on [[ComputerVoice the automated HandUnit guide]] to give you instructions on how to deal with [[HostileAnimatronics the animatronics]], but you'll quickly realize that it's not good at its job or keeping track of the things that are ''supposed'' to be in its system. One example is where it'll ask you to shine a light on Circus Baby's stage, but it will "helpfully" announce that she's still there [[NothingIsScarier even though she very clearly isn't anymore]].

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys''

** The [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys1 first game]] uses a NoodleIncident to disturb the player. Phone Guy mentions the animatronics used to roam during the day, but that ended after the Bite of ‘87. He remarks “It’s amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, y’know?”
** ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation'' uses an UnreliableVoiceover to add to the frightening atmosphere. There are many beats where you ostensibly need to rely on on [[ComputerVoice the automated HandUnit guide]] to give you instructions on how to deal with [[HostileAnimatronics the animatronics]], but you'll quickly realize that it's not good at its job or keeping track of the things that are ''supposed'' to be in its system. One example is where it'll ask you to shine a light on Circus Baby's stage, but it will "helpfully" announce that she's still there [[NothingIsScarier even though she very clearly isn't anymore.]]

* ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'' takes the SuperPoweredEvilSide trope to [[BodyHorror utterly horrifying]] and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt tragic extremes]]. In many ways, it feels like it would happen in a teenage superhero story (like ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' ) if absolutely everything went horribly wrong.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** SymbolicWings are made frightening in "Village of the Angels" when Claire Brown looks in the mirror and sees a vision of herself with stone angel wings growing from her back. It shows she's been possessed by a Weeping Angel, an EldritchAbomination that takes the form of an angel statue.

* "The Screwfly Solution", an episode of ''Series/MastersOfHorror'', uses GirlsVsBoysPlot to terrifying effect. One day, men all over the world find themselves slowly succumbing to a HatePlague that causes them to become violent and murderous toward every woman they find--up to and including their own wives, mothers, and ''small children.'' After the initial purges, the episode plays out like a dark version of this type of plot: the few women who avoid the first wave of attacks band together and do their best to survive, only to be slowly hunted down by the still-homicidal men, who do gruesome things like mutilate their victims' bodies and turn them into trophies (at one point, a man proudly walks around carrying a bag made from a woman's breast). The episode ends with [[spoiler: one of the last women on Earth discovering that the plague was caused by aliens, who arranged a {{Gendercide}} to make the planet easier to conquer]].

* TheCatCameBack is part of a horror plot in the ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' episode "Loved to Death". In the episode, the main character gives a love potion to a beautiful woman who won't give him the time of day. It works far too well. Eventually [[spoiler:he kills himself to escape (albeit accidentally while trying to kill her), and on the escalator to Heaven, finds her right behind him, now hideously mangled because she killed herself by jumping out of a window]].
* ''Series/TalesFromTheDarkSide'':
** "Love Hungry" plays AnthropomorphicFood for horror. A "revolutionary weight loss system" consists of a hearing aid and glasses that cause the woman who wears them to perceive (ordinary, inanimate) food as alive and desperate not to be eaten. And they don't come off...

* The ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Adventures_of_Tom_Thumb The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb]]'' turns the classic ''Literature/TomThumb'' fairytale into a SurrealHorror UrbanFantasy film with harsh, squalid environments; giant bugs and creatures crawling everywhere; violence, death and experimentation as major plot points and a dark MindScrew ending involving a nuclear reactor exploding and killing everyone. Also, Tom Thumb himself looks like a fetus.

* The mini-adaptation of ''Literature/TheMysteriousStranger'' included in ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfMarkTwain'' does this for the source material: While the dark elements were also present in the book, there was also a major MoodDissonance in the way in which the story was told, making it closer to a whimsical fairy tale than a CosmicHorrorStory. Satan himself was often described as attractive and charming, but in the animated film he is given a creepy, sinister appearance, and the adapted passage (Which is actually one of the most ''light-hearted moments'' from the original book) is given an eerie, nightmarish atmosphere which sharply contrasts with the the rest of the movie.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' has the PrincessClassic played for horror. Rebellious princesses are sent to the [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses]], where students are psychologically broken down and stripped of their identities, slowly being brainwashed into becoming perfect princesses.

* ''Film/Leprechaun3'' uses GagLips, GagBoobs[=/=]BreastExpansion, and [[InflatingBodyGag butt inflation]] for both horror and [[BlackComedy dark humor]]. A slender, aging casino worker wishes for a more voluptuous body. The Leprechaun kills her by making her lips, boobs, and butt rapidly expand until [[PopGoesTheHuman she blows up]].

* "Snow, Glass and Apples" by Creator/NeilGaiman is a [[{{Grimmification}} very, very dark retelling]] of ''Literature/SnowWhite'' (The original fairy tale, not the Disney film), turning the titular character into a CreepyChild (which is eventually revealed to be a vampire) and adding the same amount of violence and disturbing sexual content that one would expect from stuff like ''Series/GameOfThrones''.

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is basically the MagicalGirlWarrior genre played for horror, showing how a lot of the innocently fun elements of typical Magical Girl stories could easily have a much darker purpose, and that if so, they would be ''very'' good for manipulating young middle school girls.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': The episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E150StopoverInAQuietTown Stopover in a Quiet Town]]" features one of the most disturbing uses of TheDreadedPretendTeaParty trope. A couple who were [[DrunkDriver drunk driving]] wake up to discover themselves alone in a town they can't seem to escape from. The PlotTwist is that they're in an alien child's dollhouse and surrounding toy town, and the child is just playing. After they ran off the road, the child's parents took them home to the child as playthings. Whether the child and parents are giant or there was a ShrinkRay involved is never explored. But the fear of the couple is genuine in this case given the owner of the dollhouse is at least 6 times their size.

A SisterTrope to PlayedForDrama. Compare FridgeHorror, contrast PlayedForLaughs (though [[HorrorComedy the two sometimes overlap]]).

** There is an entire ''sub-genre'' of these stories, detailed in MagicalGirlGenreDeconstruction. Other examples include ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'' and ''Manga/MagicalGirlSite'', where the whole thing is presented as a DeadlyGame, as well as ''Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero'', where the ChildSoldier aspect is brought up as the girls fight what seems like a HopelessWar against an evil god.

* ''Film/TheBananaSplits'' adapts the original ''Series/TheBananaSplits'' series, turning a comedy show for kids into a R-rated horror movie.

* While in theory ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' tends to subvert the AmusingInjuries trope for BlackComedy, the incredibly gruesome deaths of the [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter cute and cuddly cast]] in some episodes ends being more disturbing rather than comical in plenty of occasions, often indulging in BodyHorror and {{Gorn}}.

* [[https://youtu.be/RR2dlAnP0-I This]] episode of WebAnimation/SomethingAbout is a legitimately tense short with an engineer being pursued by horrifying, [[VideoGame/DeadSpace Necromorph-like]] ghosts...then you get a glimpse of the engineer and realise it's a sci-fi horror take on VideoGame/PacMan. It even has a human version of Ms. Pac-Man, who happens to be a [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Ripley-esque]] ActionGirl.

* The WebVideo/Local58 episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BD-ba-aXQo "Skywatching"]] uses GiganticMoon for this. The extremely large moon brainwashes the camera man into worshiping it.

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'' makes use of TheDreadedPretendTeaParty trope in a disturbing way. In the episode "The Uncanny Valley," a woman was sexually abused as a child by her father who bought her dolls as an apology. Decades later, he took her dolls and gave them to other girls whom he abused. His daughter, desperate to have her dolls back, abducted women who happened to look like her dolls, sedated and force-fed them, dressed them up, ''sewed a wig into a poor woman's scalp'' and forced them to attend a tea party. All while acting like a well-meaning little girl.

* Guns are commonplace weapons and a familiar sight in virtually any action setting, but Season 3 of ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'' is credited with making firearms scary in the person of Bullseye, who dispenses instant death to unsuspecting victims.

* ''Series/TheXFiles'' did this to the typically-comedic RubberMan trope, with the ''terrifying'' liver-eating mutant Eugene Victor Tooms. He liked to sneak through vents to reach victims in [[LockedRoomMystery otherwise locked rooms]].

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''