Nightmare Fuel / Inanimate Insanity

Betrayal is inevitable. The clock is ticking. Tick, tock, tick, tock...

Inanimate Insanity seems like a lighthearted comedy on the surface, but as Cerebus Syndrome sets in, it begins to show the negative effects of competing on an Immoral Reality Show, and more often than not, the results are far from pretty...

(Warning: As per Nightmare Fuel policy, all spoilers will be unmarked.)

Season 1

• Idiotic Island, a deserted island with nothing but a cage where the contestants are sent upon elimination. With little to no way for the contestants to keep themselves occupied aside from chatting or some of them bringing items with them (such as Knife's Dora doll), the isolation proves too much to bear for Paper, who undergoes a Sanity Slippage that culminates in the development of an evil Split Personality, and he makes good on an early promise to kill someone once he leaves the island, remorselessly popping Balloon as soon as he rejoins the game.
• Paper's Split Personality is generally played for laughs, but it’s pretty terrifying from Paper’s perspective since he’s not in control of his screw-ups or the atrocities he commits.
• In “The Great Escape,” as the eliminated contestants travel back to the island, Lightbulb says she got a splinter. We’re then treated to a lovely closeup of her making a Nightmare Face with a large splinter in her arm, complete with pus. Eww.
• In “The Tile Divide”, MePhone4S's death trap is played for laughs, but some may find Taco's tongue ripping in two pieces (with a paper tearing sound to boot!) quite disturbing.
• In “Journey Through Memory Lane (Part 2)”, as Taco is about to cross the finish line, Bow suddenly attacks her out of nowhere. She is revealed to have gone insane after being isolated in a box, along with her appearance changing drastically and her voice becoming hellishly distorted.
  • The fact that Bow was locked in a box against her will just to prevent her from coming back to the show. Inhuman doesn't even begin to describe that. No one seems to care that she is locked in there nor does anyone bother to let her out, with Lightbulb even scolding Bow when she tries to escape.

Season 2

• In "Breaking the Ice", as OJ questions what happened to his hotel, Salt assures OJ that it's going to be OK, as they now have time to spend cleaning the hotel together, and in a demonic voice, Salt finishes the sentence with "FOREVER". Salt then drags OJ to the hotel off screen with OJ screaming. It's played for comedy, but just what on earth did Salt really use this opportunity for?
• Trophy telling Tissues to die when Tissues tries to form an alliance with him. It's not given too much attention in the actual show, but quite a lot of fans see this as very callous. It doesn't help that the official website would later give the strong implications that Tissues is chronically ill.
• A cut scene in "Tri Your Best" has Yang ripping Apple in half for not knowing what the word "joke" means.
• Let Er R.I.P.: With the episode taking place in a haunted mansion and Marshmallow using Bow to scare off the contestants, there's bound to be more than a few scary moments:
  • Bow (as a ghost) jumpscaring Marshmallow from a music box when she enters a room in the mansion. The box itself plays an Ominous Music Box Tune before Bow jumps out.
  • A lot of Bow's ways of scaring the contestants are pretty terrifying:
    • Bow possesses a Dora doll Knife tries talking to and rips it apart, complete with a Voice of the Legion:
      ADIOS.
    • Bow yells at Microphone to blow her out of the mansion, and to make matters worse, it's incredibly loud, which may cause some to jump upon watching the episode.
  • Test Tube shatters after she mentally breaks due to Bow's existence contradicting with her scientific views.
  • And finally, Bow possessing Baseball and running Nickel out of the mansion while screaming at him. Even Nickel finds this impressive.
• "Everything's A-OJ" reveals that MePhone sent the eliminated contestants to a cramped closet in Hotel OJ, and they were locked in there for months. For added fun, Tissues was constantly sneezing on them, and once they're finally let out they're all covered in snot. It makes being sent to Idiotic Island seem tame in comparison, and it really shows what a sociopath MePhone is at worst. In-Universe, his inmates in jail see this as more than a little inhumane.
• Suitcase's hallucinations in later episodes, especially when you consider just how close they are to real-world panic attacks.
  • Her hallucination in "Mazed and Confused" is the maze walls closing in on her while multiple voices speak to her, with it only being broken once Balloon tries to talk to her.
  • The one in Kick the Bucket is even worse, with an arm grabbing her as multiple tentacles with skeletal arm-shaped light shining on them look like they're about to attack her as the same voices play, before a final shot lasting only a split second of a shadow on a white background flashing, of a round character with no arms, presumably Nickel. After this, Suitcase seems entirely defeated, and when Balloon concernedly asks if they're okay, they say in an uncharacteristically deadpan, monotone voice, "never better." It gets even worse when you consider Balloon says that Suitcase was down there for quite awhile...
• "Alternate Reality Show":
  • Something about Baseball's Death Glare directed towards Suitcase after she wins immunity by default is more than a little terrifying, especially since it starkly contrasts with his usual Nice Guy attitude and status as an older brother figure to her. Take a look for yourself.
  • Lightbulb's knocking of Salt and Pepper creating the "Inanimate Insanity Infinity" reality is enough, but it's implied that the contestants other than Lightbulb and Apple have been thrown into Black Hole for elimination. Not to mention that Black Hole mentions millions have fell into him.
  • Watching Pepper beat the snot out of Salt in Episode 12 is pretty disturbing - she hits her hard enough for her to crack and fall into Black Hole. The worst part? The alternate dimension contestants find it absolutely hilarious. Jesus Christ.
• "Mine Your Own Business" reveals that Steve Cobs abused MePhone4 and pressured him to be perfect, and if his creations aren't the way he wants them to be, Cobs either destroys them or leaves them to rot in a closet. MePhone4 discovers his predecessor, MePhone3GS, begging for his life before running out of battery, and it prompts him to run away with MePad.
  • To make matters worse, most of MePhone's descendants were sent to kill him, meaning that Cobs believes he's outdated and imperfect and he wants him dead as soon as possible.
• Hatching The Plan:
  • Fan's nightmare at the beginning of the episode.
  • The Shimmers' backstory involving their planet being colonized by Cobs, including having their children stolen. Fans have likened this to colonization in real life, a very relevant topic in the present day.
  • Taco killing Test Tube and shooting Fan, because she comes right out of nowhere after the two share a heartwarming moment together.
  • How about the introduction of MePhoneX at the stinger? He makes horrifying alarm noises, and doesn't speak while marching towards Toilet, and the flashing red X (which is his face) getting redder. What makes this even better? It's unknown if he killed Toilet or not. After the Adamationz logo it precedes, unnerving piano music plays.
  • Even worse, if that thing just so happens to find MePhone (which is probably why they exist) and the contestants, who knows what might happen...

Season 3

• In general:
  • The very concept of Indefinite Island. Once a contestant is flung to the island by the Fist Thingy, they are greeted by a walkie-talkie strapped to a palm tree and an unknown voice talks to them welcoming them to the island and telling them that if they want a second chance, then they must stay on the island. Is it any wonder why Fan left to return to Hotel OJ?
• "Spring On The Breakfast"
  • The episode introduces Springy, who initially appears to be a silly harmless cereal mascot that MePhone is collaborating with for the challenge. But as the episode progresses, he slowly reveals himself to be a manipulative person that wants to exploit the contestants (especially Bot's) image for his cereal, and make them part of "his collection".
  • Springy’s fate in this episode to begin with, as he falls into and gets eaten by the floor.
• "Jury For Your Fears"
  • In this episode, Springy Makes a return, looking extremely mangled after being eaten by the floor in the first place, on top of a Sanity Slippage as a result of his first defeat.