Basic Trope: Moths are a bad omen.
- Straight: Moths start appearing whenever the ghost of Georgina is nearby.
- Exaggerated: There are so many moths it casts a literal shadow over the Haunted House where Georgina's ghost resides.
- Downplayed: There's one or two moths seen, mostly in the background.
- Justified: The Haunted House is old, and moths are a normal thing to find in old, poorly kept houses.
- Inverted: Georgina the ghost has an anti-life aura of cold, dead moths means she's near, live moths mean she's far away.
- Subverted: Whenever a moth appears it's to seek out a light source, which when followed leads the characters to safety.
- Double Subverted: ... and Georgina the Ghost can create Supernatural Light.
- Parodied: Instead of Cat Scares, there's moth-scares as cat-sized moths fly as if spring loaded out of cupboards and closets. Alice the ghost hunter even keeps one as a pet, and it acts very catlike towards her.
- Zig-Zagged: Moths are ominous signs of the supernatural, except they are part of the natural world and a sign of life, only they're more attuned to the Dark Side.
- Averted: Moths are never seen at the same time as anything scary or supernatural.
- Enforced: Georgina had a moth-collection when alive, and her obsession in death means her Haunted House is full of them.
- Lampshaded: "Oh, great, ominously fluttering moths circling the sole and soon-to-burn out light bulb. I'm sure nothing scary is going to happen.
- Invoked: Georgina's still living brother Geoff actually brought moth eggs and several crates of old clothes from goodwill to convince Alice the ghost hunter that the house is haunted.
- Exploited: Geoff purposefully fills non-haunted places with moths to lure Alice the ghost hunter into a trap.
- Defied: Georgina the Ghost is a benevolent spirit; looking to shepherd travelers lost in the darkness to light and safety she uses moths as guides.
- Discussed: "Why does everyone think moths are scary? They're naturally attracted to light, if anything we should feel sorry for confusing them with so much light pollution."
- Conversed: "Oh yeah, we go from meadows of butterflies to claustrophobic haunted houses with moths. Nothing bad could possibly happen here."
- Implied: No one ever reacts to the moths, but they're always in the background and in higher numbers before creepy stuff happens.
- Deconstructed: Entire libraries are filled with the connection between moths and ghosts, spirits, serial killers, and stranger fare. It escalates to the point people live in fear of a common animal, and "light traps" become commonplace in homes.
- Reconstructed: Harming moths on such a scale makes them go from just a superficial sign to an actual threat, as the Anthropomorphic Personification of moths, The Mothman, creates a Moth Menace to seek vengeance against the people who have hunted them. The ensuing surge in moth-killed human ghosts creates even more moth based spooks.
- Played for Laughs: Madame Mystica goes up to a moth, asking it to commune with the spirits of the house. It flaps its wings and she sneezes, apparently she's more allergic than psychic.
- Played for Drama: Much like a moth, every ghost eternally seeks the light of life, only to get burned if it ever gets too close. Moths aren't so much macabre as mournful.
- Played for Horror: The moths are the ones who killed Georgina the Ghost, they are a new, poisonous breed that suffocated her. Georgina has been trying to warn Alice to leave before enough gather to poison her to death.
Go back to Macabre Moth Motif... if you dare!
