History NightmareFuel / AdultSwim

* Infomercials

[[folder:Infomercials]]
* Several of the Adult Swim infomercials are dark or upsetting in some way. For example, "Fartcopter" is about a sinister CreepyChild who becomes obsessed with a toy called "Fartcopter", which is pretty much ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, leading his family to stage an intervention. The kid appears to reform his ways, [[spoiler:but he then proceeds to murder his entire family with a fart noise so intense it causes their internal organs to explode.]] Sweet dreams!
* In October 2014 they aired [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrGrOK8oZG8 this]] with no prior advertising. ''Film/TooManyCooks'' starts out as a parody of sitcom intros featuring large families a la ''Series/FullHouse'' with Adult Swim's typical absurdity, but turns into some of the most violent and nightmarish imagery ever seen on the network. The horror starts around the 4-minute mark.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gMjJNGg9Z8 Unedited Footage of a Bear.]] What starts off as being ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin [[spoiler:is interrupted by an ad for a decongestant that slowly goes off the rails and becomes the closest thing the channel has gone to genuine horror.]] The tie-in website, accessible by clicking "Skip Ad" in the linked video, is equally disturbing.
** And at one minute in, there's a MeaningfulBackgroundEvent - just keep your eyes down the hill.
** One FreezeFrameBonus in particular, with the OverlyLongGag of SideEffectsInclude fine print is this gem.
--->''Call your doctor immediately [[FaceStealer if you have someone's face all over you]], as this may become permanent.''
** There is some TruthInTelevision though, drug addiction can make someone do really insane or harmful things to others up to and including killing someone.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-pj8OtyO2I This House Has People in It]] is just the start of an entire ARG of unnerving events.
** What also helps is that the ARG eventually reveals that Unedited Footage of a Bear was not only made by the same guy (Alan Resnick) but according to the creators it might also take place in the same universe. Even they're not sure.
** The idea that either the house itself is an EldritchLocation or a [[ForScience experiment]] of some sort is equally creepy either way. [[spoiler: And what IS THAT PINK CREEPY PERSON DOING?!]]
* ''[[https://www.adultswim.com/videos/infomercials/flayaway Flayaway]]'' is an infomercial about a new beauty procedure for women that removes unwanted body hair and blemishes by ''cutting off all their skin''. What follows is 11 minutes of some of the grossest imagery Adult Swim has ever aired, including the hideous costume portraying someone who has just gone through the procedure (which, if you click on that link, is the image that appears as the video is loading).
[[/folder]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39FB2aXN85A The Dawn Is Your Enemy]], a former [as] sign-off bump that aired from 2005 to 2010, designed specifically to scare away children. It has gained infamy for it not being outwardly scary, but ''incredibly'' creepy. It contains a static composite image [[DeliberatelyMonochrome devoid of color]] that focuses on an uncomfortably large pair of fearful, nervous eyes and a glowering sun in the background. What makes the bump especially creepy is the [[NothingIsScarier quiet, ominous background noises]] they use -- resonating, rumbling, and scraping metal.

* And while we're on the topic of that, the 2020 sign-off, in question, features a giant swirling mess of colors morphing into various Adult Swim characters (and [[Creator/Toonami TOM 6]]) whilst a ''very'' distorted remix of the US national anthem plays in the background, ending with a GrossUpCloseUp shot of the Adult Swim logo, now neon pink with neon blue veins. Not only is the music absolutely freaky, but the bumper itself feels like a drug-induced, seizure-inducing fever dream taken to the extreme, while the faces are [[NightmareFace downright terrifying]]. This new bumper was so much worse, in fact, that over halfway into the year they replaced it with a still somewhat surreal, yet [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtplE7wsaV4 much less freaky one.]]

** From the 5th to 7th of September 2021, it returned as the sign-off bump in [[BlatantLies glorious]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMOoBu5tzKw HD.]]

*** This new bumper was so much worse, in fact, that over halfway into the year they replaced it with a still somewhat surreal, yet [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtplE7wsaV4 much less freaky one.]]

* Right before [[spoiler:Claire]]'s narcissist father's mirror swivels around to take on her appearance, there's a split second shot of the father's ''real'' face. Going frame-by-frame reveals [[https://imgur.com/a/h9SvzkG THIS]] is what he really looks like. [[FridgeHorror It makes you wonder]] [[NothingIsScarier what happened to him.]]

** As of 13th of May 2022, despite sounding like something straight from a NurseWithWound track, it turns out that the audio sample is taken from a hip-hop track titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg9vIwMTMhs Violence is a Menace]]" by Bola Adekimi. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic While the full rendition's quite good]], it still can invoke unease to listeners due to the ominous sample being present through the entire track.

** As of 13th of May 2022, it turns out that the audio sample is taken from a hip-hop track titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg9vIwMTMhs Violence is a Menace]]" by Bola Adekimi. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic While the full rendition's quite good]], it still can invoke unease to listeners due to the ominous sample being present through the entire track.

* NightmareFuel/TheVentureBrothers

* There's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEnhfMRLXnc this bumper]] centered around the NightmareFace of a creepy Japanese robot.

* So far, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSWCdywJv0E This obscure bumper]] has appeared very rarely aired on AS, and for]] [[JumpScare good reason]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39FB2aXN85A The Dawn Is Your Enemy]], a former [as] sign-off bump that aired from 2005 to 2010, designed specifically to scare away children. It has gained infamy for it not being outwardly scary, but ''incredibly'' creepy. It contains a static composite image [[DeliberatelyMonochrome devoid of color]] that focuses on an uncomfortably large pair of fearful, nervous eyes and a glowering sun in the background. What makes the bump especially creepy is the quiet, ominous background noises they use -- resonating, rumbling, and scraping metal -- which is practically NothingIsScarier in audio form.
** As if that wasn't scary enough, a {{creepypasta}} was eventually built around the bump (which was roughly [[{{Defictionalization}} remade]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Nzf1ovrmU here]]). In this story, the bump that we all know is actually an abridged version, and the full version contains what appears to be the audio of a '''mass murder''', including a deafening cacophony of screams, slicing flesh, grinding bones, and gushing blood, topped off by the sun in the background '''winking''' at the viewer. Nothing short of horrific.
** On May 2020, [as] unexpectedly brought the infamous bump back as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq8OXZke644 The Dawn Is Your Frenemy]]" by making it less creepy by adding piano music, a red balloon, and making the sun wink (just like the creepypasta mentioned above). It is ''still'' creepy though. The piano music combined with the original sound effects make the environment much scarier, the red balloon will remind those of ''Literature/{{It}}'' and the sun's wink could catch those by surprise. Hell, this version might be scarier than the original (though not as scary as the creepypasta), which is actually lampshaded at the very end.
-->[not sure it's working]

** As of 13th of May 2022, it turns out that the audio sample is taken from a hip-hop track titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg9vIwMTMhs Violence is a Menace]]" by Bola Adekimi. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic While full rendition's quite good]], it still can invoke unease to listeners due to the ominous sample being present through the entire track.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJsbGxd9Luc This sign-off bumper]] was created to prevent children who had been watching Cartoon Network from watching [adult swim]... [[HellIsThatNoise certainly]] ''[[HellIsThatNoise not]]'' [[HellIsThatNoise to help them sleep better at night]].]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJsbGxd9Luc This sign-off bumper]] was created to prevent children, the main audience of Cartoon Network from watching [adult swim]... [[HellIsThatNoise certainly]] ''[[HellIsThatNoise not]]'' [[HellIsThatNoise to help them sleep better at night]].]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39FB2aXN85A This sign-off bumper]] was created to prevent children, the main audience of Cartoon Network from watching [adult swim]... [[HellIsThatNoise certainly]] ''[[HellIsThatNoise not]]'' [[HellIsThatNoise to help them sleep better at night]].]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39FB2aXN85A This sign-off bumper]] was created to prevent children, the main audience of Cartoon Network from watching [adult swim]... [[HellIsThatNoise certainly ''not'' to help them sleep better at night]].]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39FB2aXN85A The Dawn Is Your Enemy]], a former [as] sign-off bump designed specifically to scare away children. It has gained infamy for it not being outwardly scary, but ''incredibly'' creepy. It contains a static composite image [[DeliberatelyMonochrome devoid of color]] that focuses on an uncomfortably large pair of fearful, nervous eyes and a glowering sun in the background. What makes the bump especially creepy is the quiet, ominous background noises they use -- resonating, rumbling, and scraping metal -- which is practically NothingIsScarier in audio form.

** On May 2020, [as] unexpectedly brought the infamous bump back as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq8OXZke644 The Dawn Is Your Frenemy]]" by making it less creepy by adding piano music, a red balloon, and making the sun wink (just like the creepypasta mentioned above). It is ''still'' creepy though. The piano music combined with the original sound effects make the environment much scarier, the red balloon will remind those of ''Literature/{{It}}'' and the sun's wink could catch those by surprise. Hell, this version might be scarier than the original (though not as scary as the creepypasta).

[[caption-width-right:350:[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39FB2aXN85A This sign-off bumper]] was created to prevent children, the main audience of Cartoon Network from watching [adult swim]... certainly ''not'' to help them sleep better at night.]]