Now with a sandbox!
It appears that many Nightmare Fuel pages have problems, including:
1. Listing non-scary things that made the viewer feel slightly uncomfortable at worst.
2. Having spoiler tags on them (which is against the page's guidelines).
3. Listing Fridge Horror and fan theories.
And much more!
On a few occasions, people from outside the site's community have pointed out our overly lax usage of Nightmare Fuel to make fun of us, meaning that it can legitimately harm our reputation to let this go unchecked.
The TRS thread
meant for redefining Nightmare Fuel started to become a place for cleaning up Nightmare Fuel pages in general, so we may as well move these discussions to Long Term Projects where they belong.
Here are the guidelines to determine whether something is Nightmare Fuel or not.
- This is a page whose name is intended to be taken more literally than most. It's not enough for material to be scary; to truly qualify, it has to be frightening enough to legitimately unnerve/disturb the viewer, with actually being nightmare-inducing as the ultimate endpoint.
- Good signs that something IS Nightmare Fuel include if:
- It left you feeling shaken even after the credits had rolled, you turned the last page, or are otherwise done with the work.
- You have a hard time falling asleep if you think about it at night, or have a literal nightmare about it.
- You dread that episode, scene, level, chapter, or song during re-watches, and consider skipping it.
- With that said, don't add something just because it happens to be your personal phobia. For example, spiders can be scary and many people have arachnophobia, but just because a spider happens to be in the work, it does not make a Nightmare Fuel entry. It needs to reasonably be scary to someone without the phobia.
- Don't confuse tension with fear. If the hero is in trouble, but you know he'll make it out okay at the end, it's probably not Nightmare Fuel unless the threat is especially disturbing.
- Good signs that something IS Nightmare Fuel include if:
- Explain WHY the entry scared you. Try to convey your sense of fear to your readers. Avoid putting up Zero-Context Examples.
- Remember that Weblinks Are Not Examples, and neither are quotes on their own. You should explain the horror in your own words, rather than rely on others to do so.
- Don't add things that might have scared someone. If it didn't scare you, and you don't personally know anyone else who was scared, you shouldn't be adding it to Nightmare Fuel.
- Nightmare Fuel should stick to you even after you're done with the work.
- If something is initially presented as scary but turns out to be harmless, it's most likely not Nightmare Fuel since The Reveal makes the scariness vanish.
- Jump Scares are a good source of Nightmare Fuel, but not all of them automatically qualify: being startled is not the same as being scared.
- Hypotheticals are not Nightmare Fuel:
- Remember that Trailers Always Lie: a scene that is presented as scary in the trailer could very well turn out to be inoffensive in the finished work. Only add examples from unreleased works if they were especially terrifying in the previews.
- Fan theories do not belong on the Nightmare Fuel page under any circumstance. No matter how much evidence they have to support them, don't add them until they've been officially confirmed. In the meanwhile, take them to Wild Mass Guessing.
- Fridge Horror goes on the Fridge page, not Nightmare Fuel. Don't add it unless it's Ascended Fridge Horror.
- Keep in mind the work's intended audience when considering whether or not something is Nightmare Fuel.
- If something is normal or expected in the genre, it does not automatically qualify. Violence in a Fighting Series or gore in a horror movie must be especially disturbing or gruesome by the work's standards to be Nightmare Fuel.
- Remember that Kids Shouldn't Watch Horror Films. If a work is rated PG-13 or higher but would only be scary to young children, it's not Nightmare Fuel.
- The standards on what qualifies as Nightmare Fuel are especially stringent on works aimed at children and pre-teens: kids have hyperactive imaginations, so even something benign can give them nightmares.
- Spoiler tags do not belong on Nightmare Fuel pages. Much of what scares us comes from inherently spoilery stuff such as death and the unknown, so finding spoilers on these pages should be expected.
- Nightmare Fuel is an Audience Reaction, so it needs to be scary for the audience. Describing how the characters react to something scary isn't needed. Just because something scares them, that doesn't mean it scares us as well.
- Nightmare Fuel is a No Real Life Examples, Please! page. Meta-examples involving the actors, production, or behind-the-scenes incidents are not allowed.
Guidelines when proposing cleanup of a page:
- Some rules are pretty objective. If you see a Zero-Context Example, Fridge Horror, Real Life example, speculation, In-Universe reaction that isn't scary to the viewers, examples that explicitly describe themselves as not being very scary (including "mildly creepy", "somewhat unnerving", and other synonymous phrases), or examples that are just scene summaries without going into detail about why it's so scary, you can (and should) remove them immediately without coming here to ask.
- You should also strip all spoiler tags from the page. Itty Bitty Wiki Tools has a tool for that, but it can cause problems, so if you use it be sure to preview the page and thoroughly look it over.
- Once you've fixed the objective issues with the page, bring it here so we can look at the more subjective problems, such as examples that may not be scary enough to qualify. If a consensus is reached that a certain entry does not qualify, it can be removed.
Edited by Zuxtron on Aug 1st 2020 at 9:40:30 AM
Willbyr was saying the page image doesn't look frightening.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallI have heard people saying that the page image did scare them when they were younger (keep in mind MLP is a kids' show), so I'm in favor of keeping it.
But, this is an issue for Image Pickin'.
Also, I posted this before but nobody noticed so I'll repost it: NightmareFuel.The Owl House might need some cleaning.
Join the Object Show Cleanup Thread! (they/them)Usually we need you to go through and analyze the page.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Ok I already check some example and I think some are misused.
I was mostly talking to Cheesy there, sorry; but yeah, this thread needs analyses.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
There's a "title sequence" folder? Really?
Edited by Spidey on Jan 18th 2022 at 7:19:34 AM
"Unite GUN/BAZOOKA/LAUNCHER/TANK!"The Owl House reminds me of Gravity Falls and not just because of the King is Bill Cipher meme either. Both are great Horror Comedy with enough actual scary content but their Nightmare Fuel pages are cluttered messes. Lots of ZCE and exaggerations along with dated speculation and Fridge Horror.
The first title sequence isn't scary and the second one's example is just dramatic.
Edited by Idisagree on Jan 18th 2022 at 9:34:05 AM
The thing is I'm not good with analyzing things (I can pick out obvious Fridge Horror and ZCEs, but that's really it). I prefer calling attention to pages so more skilled people can look through them, instead.
Join the Object Show Cleanup Thread! (they/them)NightmareFuel.Glee could use a look over. A lot of it seems very Fridge Horror.
Glee has a Nightmare Fuel page now? C'mon, I thought this site was better than that....
It's been there since 2013. We've had it forever apparently.
Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper WallFor an example from that page
The episode "Furt", where we already know that Karofsky is gay and has feelings for Kurt, but the way he stands really close and does a glary/smile thing, along with winking. It looks a little perverse and Kurt is left feeling a little violated.
Huh?
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."Well, that's got some Unfortunate Implications...
I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.Theirs also these one which is a joke.
"Feud": It's supposed to be played for laughs, and is never mentioned again, but Sue putting 30 credit cards and a house loan in Blaine's name, singlehandedly ruining his parents' credit, simply because he wouldn't join the Cheerios is quite disturbing.
Really?
The whole page needs a scrub.
Edited by miraculous on Jan 20th 2022 at 12:36:18 PM
"That's right mortal. By channeling my divine rage into power, I have forged a new instrument in which to destroy you."I don't really want to defend the example ![]()
![]()
![]()
, but it does mention that Kurt felt violated, so there might be something there. But I've also never watched more than one episode of Glee, so I have no strong feelings about keeping anything here.
I'm keeping Lesson Zero because while it is arguably played for laughs as even Pinkie calls her out on it, Twilight's breakdown makes that face when surprising the Cutie Mark Crusaders who are about 8 in this Season. I think we're thinking of the periphery demographic, and if we did I can't think of anything from Season 2 that's scary enough. Not even Chrysalis transforming.
Honestly I'd be for stripping the MLP pages of images as nothing scared me in the show. Not even Tirek. The psycho Pie was unsettling but it's silly if you think about it.
But again this is from a periphery demographic standpoint. If we talk about what could be scary to KIDS that's a different story.
If we do change the image I recommend the tunnel of eyes from Hurricane Fluttershy.
Edited by Klavice on Jan 22nd 2022 at 2:11:13 AM
There are definitely things that can be scary to kids on the show, the eye tunnel being one of them. The Changeling design is also unsettling.
The Lesson Zero example is more creepy than scary, mostly to adults to boot. That joke was pushing it a little for the show, and they've firmly backed away from such humor in later seasons.
Hope shines brightest in the darkest timesI'm thinking the crazed Twilight isn't scary out of context, but IN context is pretty freaky for kids, given that Twilight is a grown mare while the Cutie Mark Crusaders are Adorably Precocious Child incarnate.
Love or hate Shark Tale it’s page needs help. Now granted I haven’t seen this film since I was little, so let me know if I make a mistake.
- When Sykes orders Oscar to bring back his 5000 clams to the race track the next day "or else." "Or Else what?", Oscar asks to which Sykes responds "the boys'll explain." As Sykes leaves his office, Ernie & Bernie suddenly smirk menacingly at Oscar, laughing maliciously, and we fade to black as they zap him. I don’t remember this being scary, I don’t think it’s even supposed to be NF
Oscar: Unpleasant...
- That demonically angry glare Lola gives to Oscar when he confirms he's dumping her for Angie. It just gives you chills for being so sudden. She then growls "Let me explain something to you." before she mercilessly slams Oscar against the windows! Who could've seen that coming? A thread already decided that her face doesn’t qualify as a Nightmare Face and the villain being mean isn’t necessarily NF, even if it is sudden
- Lola then proves to be even more of a psychopath by being perfectly willing to arrange Don Lino and the Mobsharks to kidnap Angie in demand of Oscar's obedience, even gleefully threatening Angie's life in order to do so. Probably the only moment that could be kept, but it would have to be in YMMV since a page shouldn’t have just one example
Lola: You know, Sharkslayer. There's only one thing I like better than money: Revenge. - When Oscar goes to find Angie to return his affections to her, he receives a call from one of Lino's goons, telling him that they've kidnapped her: Sounds scary in theory, but the several examples of comedy in the quotes below completely removes any genuine terror
Luca: Is this the Sharkslayer?
Oscar: Yeah. Who's this?
Luca: It's Luca the Octop... I mean... forget about it! Now you follow these instructions to the letter like, okay? File cabinet, top drawer. There's a package. Get it. (Oscar finds a paper bag in the drawer and finds Angie's necklace in it) That's right, tough guy; we got your girl. There's gonna be a sit-down in one hour.
Lenny: Who is it?
Oscar: Shh.
Luca: Be there, if you don't wanna see her sleepin' with the fishes. (Oscar makes a puzzled face) The dead ones. (Oscar's makes a shocked expression) Now, nod your head if you understand. (Oscar nods) Now, tell me if you nodded your head.
Oscar: I nodded. - The moment in the climax where Oscar discovers Lenny stuck in the clamps and asks where Lino is. Lino rises up behind him and Oscar gets an appropriate Oh, Crap! look once he realizes Lino's right behind him. Moment is Played for Laughs
Edited by Fivey on Jan 25th 2022 at 1:24:20 PM
This account is now inactive because the actual Fivey (my sheep who I loved dearly) passed away and it feels wrong to use her name anymore.Also, most of NightmareFuel.Classic Disney Shorts is pretty good but one example, (the Wolf from Peter and the Wolf) is actually from a segment of Make Mine Music, not a true short. If Make Mine Music ever gets it’s own page it should be moved there.
Edited by Fivey on Jan 25th 2022 at 1:45:10 PM
This account is now inactive because the actual Fivey (my sheep who I loved dearly) passed away and it feels wrong to use her name anymore.

I'm not sure if the page image is creepy enough...
"Unite GUN/BAZOOKA/LAUNCHER/TANK!"