History NightmareFuel / TwelveYearsASlave

* In a meta sense, that despite some inaccuracies, this happened to someone. And despite being biographical, the film is sometimes listed as a horror/drama.

* The Epps. One's a bible-thumping rapist, the other is a psychotic {{Yandere}}. Both constantly seem thirty seconds away from killing one of their slaves.

* Jonathan warns Solomon during the boat ride: "If you want to survive, do and say as little as possible. Tell no one who you really are and tell no one you can read and write. Unless you want to be a dead n***".
* When one slave tries to stop one of the enslavers from attempting (implied) rape on Eliza, the enslaver stabs the poor slave to death. And the woman's screams are enough to awaken Solomon and the other slave to what has happened. SmashCut to the slave's dead body being tossed overboard.

* When one slave tries to stop one of the enslavers from attempting (implied) rape on another female slave, the enslaver stabs the poor slave to death. And the woman's screams are enough to awaken Solomon and the other slave to what has happened. SmashCut to the slave's dead body being tossed overboard.

* When one slave tries to stop one of the enslavers from attempting (implied) rape on another female slave, the enslaver stabs the poor slave to death. And the woman's screams are enough to awaken Solomon and the other slave to what gas happened. SmashCut to the slave's dead body being tossed overboard.

* Jonathan warns Solomon during the boat ride: "If you want to survive, do and say as little as possible. Tell no one who you really are and tell no one you can read and write. Unless you want to be a dead n***".

* The utterly horrific near-lynching scene will haunt you long after the movie is done.

*** Worse, he whips her that hard and for so long, that when he's finally finished, poor Patsey's back is practically ''riddled'' with over way over two dozen large, open gashes that are completely raw and bloody. It almost looks like some savage animal has pinned her down and clawed her back.

*** Worse, he whips her that hard and for so long, that when he's finally finished, poor Patsey's back is practically ''riddled'' with over a dozen large, open gashes that are completely raw and bloody. It almost looks like some savage animal has pinned her down and clawed her back.

*** Worse, he whips her that hard and for so long, when he's finally finished poor Patsey's back is practically ''riddled'' with large, open gashes that are completely raw and bloody. It almost looks like some savage animal has mauled her back.

*** Worse, he whips her that hard and for so long, when he's finished her back is practically ''riddled'' with large, open gashes that are raw and bloody. It almost looks like some savage animal has mauled her back.

* While on an errand for Ms. Epps, Solomon attempts to run away, [[OhCrap only to come across a group of bounty hunters about to lynch two other runaway slaves]]. The bounty hunters leave him with a warning and let him pass through (and at the bare minimum, he got pushed), and [[ThisIsGoingToSuck he exchanges glances with the runaways]] before he hears them getting choked as he walks away. The message is clear: that could have been ''him''.

* The utterly horrific lynching scene, shown above, will haunt you long after the movie is done.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/12_years_a_slave_lynching_scene_04.jpg]]

** Here's something even scarier: the ''real'' Edwin Epps was even worse! He even admitted it: Epps purchased a copy of Northup's memoir and, after reading it, told a curious journalist that all the scary stories about him were completely true, even declaring that he was impressed by how detailed Northup's description of his behavior was.

* The Epps. One's a bible-thumping rapist, the other is a psychotic Yandere. Both constantly seem thirty seconds away from killing one of their slaves.

** Here's something even scarier: the ''real'' Edwin Epps was even worse! How do we know? Because he said so himself--Epps purchased a copy of Northup's memoir and, after reading it, told a curious journalist that all the scary stories about him were completely true, even declaring that he was impressed by how detailed Northup's description of his behavior was.

* Whippings. If you didn't think A Taste of the Lash was that scary, you will.

** Read the Complete Monster entry above. Now, let it sink in that this man was an actual human being who was even more horrible in Real Life.