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Nightmare Fuel cleanup and maintenance

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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.

    Nightmare Fuel rules 
  • 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.
  • 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

WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1876: Nov 23rd 2019 at 2:51:40 PM

[up] I never said they were scary, just that they might count as genuine Nightmare Fuel for this show. I barely remember the scenes in question, I'm just trying to go off of the show's standard. It's very much not scary, so these few moments might count as the scariest the show has to offer, but I really don't remember enough to say one way or another. Basing it solely on the quality of the other examples, tbh.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
SebastianGray (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#1877: Nov 24th 2019 at 1:31:51 AM

I recently moved a Warhammer 40,000 Nightmare Fuel example because it was on the wrong page, but I am now unsure whether it even counts, considering the setting, so would like the opinion of this thread:

  • The Burning of Prospero. During the Council of Nikea, Magnus received a vision that his brother Horus would rebel and start a galactic civil war. After trying and failing to save Horus from falling to chaos, he decided to ignore the Council's decision to outlaw the use of psychic powers by Astartes and attempted to warn the Emperor. In process, he accidentally destroyed part his father's Webway conduit and allowed warp forces to flood into the Imperial Palace. Mangus fled back to his homeworld of Prospero in shame and out of fear of his father's response. The Emperor sent Leman Russ and the Space Wolves to bring him back to Terra, but Horus intercepted his orders and convinced Russ that bringing Magnus back would be "a waste of time and effort" and it would be better to annihilate him and his legion right then. What followed was the total obliteration of the planet, as the space fleet bombarded Prospero with laser batteries, melta torpedos, and mass-drivers. Cities burned, seas boiled, mountain ranges crumbled, superheated winds scoured the planet, and the surface was rendered molten down to the bedrock. This initial bombardment was so fast and powerful that only one city, Tizca, survived thanks to a telekinetic shield formed by the Thousand Sons legions stationed there. All because Magnus tried to save his brother.

Edited by SebastianGray on Nov 24th 2019 at 9:32:55 AM

Kirby0189 Kirby is shaped like a friend from America Since: Apr, 2019 Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
Kirby is shaped like a friend
#1878: Nov 24th 2019 at 6:58:55 AM

Hey guys. I've been working on a page for one fanseries and I've been trying to do all of the work myself because of impatience waiting for wiki magic to settle in. Anyway, I left a placeholder barebones Nightmare Fuel entry on the YMMV page and have decided that it's time for me to replace it with legit examples because it seems like no one else is going to just yet. What do you guys think of these proposed examples? (I'm going to add them after the critiques, assuming I don't just create a Nightmare Fuel page depending on how many entries get approved)

EDIT: Some slight tweaks.

Edited by Kirby0189 on Nov 24th 2019 at 10:42:46 AM

<(0_0<) <(0_0)> (>0_0)> KIRBY DANCE
Brainulator9 Short-Term Projects herald from US Since: Aug, 2018 Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
Short-Term Projects herald
#1879: Nov 24th 2019 at 10:34:42 AM

Since Audience Reactions cannot be Played With, should we delete PlayingWith.Nightmare Fuel?

Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!
Grotadmorv Got a taste for scotch and abusive guys from Felix Hagan City, Family Avenue (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Wanna dance with somebody
Got a taste for scotch and abusive guys
#1880: Nov 24th 2019 at 11:22:43 AM

[up] Well, it's a "self-demonstrating article." Even though the first example is more Paranoia Fuel or Fridge Horror than legit Nightmare Fuel. I'd say to cut it, I'm not exactly sure why it's there.

Make it so we never die, and take the pain away
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1881: Nov 24th 2019 at 11:25:31 AM

I say cut it, it really serves no use. It's just misleading.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Kirby0189 Kirby is shaped like a friend from America Since: Apr, 2019 Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
Kirby is shaped like a friend
#1882: Nov 24th 2019 at 11:57:12 AM

[up][up][up] I've seen Playing With pages for YMMV tropes get cut before for fueling the misconception that YMMV can be played with, so we should cut this one too.

<(0_0<) <(0_0)> (>0_0)> KIRBY DANCE
TalesofUnder Not Sherlock Holmes from 1900s England Since: May, 2017 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Not Sherlock Holmes
#1883: Nov 24th 2019 at 12:52:44 PM

[up][up][up][up][up] Most of those examples are fine except for the “finding humor in scenes of horror and death”. I’d say that’s more Black Comedy.

“Now! Let us engage in the art of deduction!”
Kirby0189 Kirby is shaped like a friend from America Since: Apr, 2019 Relationship Status: I like big bots and I can not lie
Kirby is shaped like a friend
#1884: Nov 24th 2019 at 1:41:56 PM

[up] Thank you for the critique. Although the "finding humor in scenes of horror and death" bit isn't Black Comedy because the scenes aren't Played for Laughs; It's Seiga following Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor by considering stuff that's scary (people dying in a brutal warzone) or sad (Yoshika being poisoned) to the audience to be funny to show how screwed-up she is. Seiga isn't making jokes or funny one-liners about the horror and death, she's just being amused by causing or witnessing terrible things that are treated as bad. I'll still find a way to reword it for the entry on the final page. Maybe something like "taking pleasure in scenes of horror and death" could work?

<(0_0<) <(0_0)> (>0_0)> KIRBY DANCE
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1885: Nov 24th 2019 at 1:43:08 PM

Keep in mind that Black Comedy can still be Nightmare Fuel if the comedy isn't enough to nullify the horror. The moment just needs to be genuinely scary in addition to being funny.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Piterpicher Veteran Editor IV from Poland, for real (Series 2) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Veteran Editor IV
#1887: Nov 25th 2019 at 1:15:15 AM

I found PlayingWith.Nightmare Fuel pretty interesting. Maybe keep it with a warning that this is purely hypothetical and Just for Fun and YMMV stuff can't be played with?

Edited by Piterpicher on Nov 25th 2019 at 10:18:19 AM

Currently mostly inactive. An incremental game I tested: https://galaxy.click/play/176 (Gods of Incremental)
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1888: Nov 25th 2019 at 1:17:08 AM

[up] If we make it purely Just for Fun and mark it as such, I guess that wouldn't be the end of the world?

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
C'est la vie. (he/him)
#1889: Nov 25th 2019 at 1:42:56 AM

[up]Is that done with any other YMMV item? Usually, if a Playing With subpage for a YMMV page gets declared invalid (since YMMV can't be played with), it gets cut completely.

Edit: I cutlisted it. Obviously, it's up to the mods whether it actually gets cut.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Nov 25th 2019 at 3:48:19 AM

I got a rock for Halloween.
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1890: Nov 25th 2019 at 1:45:03 AM

[up] Yeah, I know. I'm still fine with cutting, but if it's somehow deemed to have value as a JFF page, then I won't really fight it, since I guess it's at least funny.

I don't know. Cut seems the best option, but I'm not entirely opposed to leaving it if it's what people want. And obviously, most people want to cut it.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Piterpicher Veteran Editor IV from Poland, for real (Series 2) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Veteran Editor IV
#1891: Nov 25th 2019 at 2:08:21 AM

I've seen quite a few invalid PlayingWith/ pages before this one, but none of them were really something unique/amusing that I would keep as JFF, unlike this. If it gets cut, I guess I'll accept it, though I think this cutlisting was done a little too quickly.

Edited by Piterpicher on Nov 25th 2019 at 11:10:56 AM

Currently mostly inactive. An incremental game I tested: https://galaxy.click/play/176 (Gods of Incremental)
GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
C'est la vie. (he/him)
#1892: Nov 25th 2019 at 2:18:44 AM

It would be one thing to have it in a namespace used for Just for Fun pages (such as JustForFun/, Sugar Wiki/, or Darth Wiki/), but I feel that having the Playing With tab there would give the impression that Nightmare Fuel has a serious Playing With subpage, since not everyone is going to actually click on the tab to see that it's a joke page.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Nov 25th 2019 at 4:19:40 AM

I got a rock for Halloween.
Piterpicher Veteran Editor IV from Poland, for real (Series 2) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
Veteran Editor IV
#1893: Nov 25th 2019 at 6:40:55 AM

Darn, the cut has been processed. I guess that's just how it is. I think JustForFun.Nightmare Fuel Playing With would probably be the best place to put the page.

Edited by Piterpicher on Nov 25th 2019 at 3:41:33 PM

Currently mostly inactive. An incremental game I tested: https://galaxy.click/play/176 (Gods of Incremental)
Wyldchyld (Old as dirt)
#1894: Nov 25th 2019 at 5:59:32 PM

When Forest is dropped off in Mantle by the Atlesian Military, he quickly spots a heavily shadowed Tyrian lurking near his house, and all he can do is back up into a dumpster in shock as Tyrian proceeds to murder him with his stinger.

Well, the scene was actually played out for suspense and created a Jump Scare moment. Suspense and Jump Scare doesn't automatically equate to Nightmare Fuel, but I could see someone somewhere having a reaction and I'm not opposed to an entry for the scene being on the page if someone who did have a Nightmare Fuel reaction wants to write it up.

However, as written, your entry is just a vanilla scene summary and that isn't what Nightmare Fuel is. It needs rewriting to explain what the audience impact was.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Nov 25th 2019 at 2:02:29 PM

If my post doesn't mention a giant flying sperm whale with oversized teeth and lionfish fins for flippers, it just isn't worth reading.
SebastianGray (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#1895: Nov 26th 2019 at 8:17:48 AM

I just had a look as the Warhammer 40,000 Nightmare Fuel page and, it's not great. As well as a lot of apparent indentation and natter issues there is also the following example at the very top that I think somes up the problem quite well:

  • In brief, the whole game. On this page, we have named every fighting force, every faction, some of the most significant aspects of the setting, the resident death worlds, and even a food production plant. It's a brutal, horrific place, with more atrocities in a year than we see in a millennium, but remember that in Warhammer 40000, almost all of the evil on the part of heroic characters and factions is necessary given the world they live in. Or at least, there have been enough instances where The Extremist Was Right that the "ask questions" part of "shoot first and ask questions later" was forgotten. That should tell you something about what you're about to find.

I have no idea what to do about the page.

Grotadmorv Got a taste for scotch and abusive guys from Felix Hagan City, Family Avenue (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Wanna dance with somebody
Got a taste for scotch and abusive guys
#1896: Nov 26th 2019 at 6:25:36 PM

NightmareFuel.Pokemon Sword And Shield is a thing, oh boy. Anyone up for continuing our Pokemon cleanup? I haven't played the game myself.

Make it so we never die, and take the pain away
WarJay77 It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000) from My Writing Cave (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Armed with the Power of Love
It's NaNo, Bay-beeee! (8,356/50,000)
#1897: Nov 26th 2019 at 6:26:31 PM

I feel we should wait a little for the dust to settle, first, before we inadvertently cause an edit war.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
GastonRabbit C'est la vie. (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
C'est la vie. (he/him)
#1898: Nov 26th 2019 at 7:10:45 PM

[up]That sounds like a good idea. I think it's worth mentioning here that the main YMMV page was still locked the last time I checked.

Edit: I checked just now and it is indeed still locked.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Nov 26th 2019 at 9:11:14 AM

I got a rock for Halloween.
ReindeerGirl Since: Nov, 2019 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#1899: Nov 27th 2019 at 2:33:34 AM

Correct me if I'm wrong or approaching things wrong, but I feel like most of the NightmareFuel.The Office US needs to go. Most of the entries are either very mildly unsettling, just a bit of tension, very specific phobias, or just entirely innocuous.

  • Roy going berserk (in a not even remotely comedic way) in "Cocktails" and "The Negotiation".
    "I'm going to kill Jim Halpert."
    • The next episode opens with him pacing outside the office in a disturbing fashion, before finally deciding to enter the building, shout "HALPERT!" in a vengeful tone, and make at go to assault Jim right there in the office, before Dwight subdues him.

  • "You don't even know my real name. I'm the ''(bleep)''ing Lizard King!" If you didn't think Robert California was sinister before, this line would definitely do the trick.

  • Really more Squick, but Dwight saying Schrute Farms' biggest attraction is their 200 year old mattresses.

KingofNightmares Since: Aug, 2016 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#1900: Nov 27th 2019 at 3:39:15 AM

[up] Yeah, that page doesn't look very good. I cut the example that admitted it was more squick than NF though

"It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times?"

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