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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)
#2051: Dec 30th 2019 at 5:31:32 PM

[up] All but one of those is a ZCE... so yeah, cut worthy, even if the one decent example has to be moved to YMMV.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Brainulator9 Short-Term Projects herald from US Since: Aug, 2018 Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
Short-Term Projects herald
#2052: Dec 30th 2019 at 5:33:54 PM

Agreed. Move the one good example to NightmareFuel.Western Animation and YMMV.Harvey Beaks and cut the page.

Is NightmareFuel.Mary Poppins Returns cut-worthy, too? There are two examples and an image that does not faze me, though I imagine younger children may beg to differ.

Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!
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)
#2053: Dec 30th 2019 at 5:34:49 PM

[up] For what the work is? I think it's decent.

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
Crossover-Enthusiast from an abaondoned mall (Lucky 7) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#2054: Dec 30th 2019 at 7:21:30 PM

May I present NightmareFuel.Music Videos? Just a small skim of the page shows ZCEs galore and the RWBY problem of explaining the scene but not actually explaining why it's scary. There's also misindented examples.

Jawbreakers on sale for 99¢
unexplainedEnemy from hell pit Since: Apr, 2016 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#2055: Dec 31st 2019 at 2:50:55 PM

Would like to draw attention to NightmareFuel.Barry. The second half of the page seems fine, but nearly everything listed under the first season is a ZCE.

they're gonna find intelligent life up there on the moon/and the canterbury tales will shoot up to the top of the best-seller list
rjd1922 Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular, from the United States Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: Love is for the living, Sal
Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular,
#2056: Dec 31st 2019 at 3:51:25 PM

Make sure you cite this thread when removing examples from Nightmare Fuel pages. Someone complained on Ask the Tropers about ~Grotadmorv removing NF examples without an edit reason.

Keet cleanup
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)
#2057: Jan 1st 2020 at 6:05:33 PM

[up]To add on to this, edit reasons are required for all removals, not just YMMV removals. Edit Reasons and Why You Should Use Them is relevant policy page here.

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)
#2058: Jan 3rd 2020 at 11:50:28 AM

Can I get some opinions on my To Boldly Flee analysis?

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
rjd1922 Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular, from the United States Since: May, 2013 Relationship Status: Love is for the living, Sal
Best robot boy | he/him | Image Pickin' regular,
#2059: Jan 3rd 2020 at 4:47:09 PM

[up]I haven't seen To Boldly Flee, but your analysis looks good.

Edited by rjd1922 on Jan 3rd 2020 at 6:47:26 AM

Keet cleanup
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
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)
#2061: Jan 4th 2020 at 6:06:59 PM

Alright, gonna clean that up after a quick analysis of NightmareFuel.Finding Dory... and a suggestion. Someone here asked if Fridge Horror examples were being moved to their proper page rather than outright cut. I know I've been cutting them- so in the future, I'll try and move them to the Fridge/ page if possible, and I think we should adopt it as a general practice for now on.

Anyway:

    Finding Dory 
  • The first trailer ends on the lovely image of Hank almost chopping himself up in a garbage disposal. Have fun explaining that one, parents!note 
Sure. I didn't find this scene all that scary more than I was just worried for Dory, but for younger kids...
  • The trio is once again be attacked by a giant, bio-luminescent creature hiding out in almost pitch black water (in this case, a large Humbolt's Squid...nasty, smart, and very, very predatory).
Keep
Feels like Fridge...
  • The film finally shows us what life is like for Dory, and it's appropriately horrifying. She definitely has problems with perceptions of time and space, so she'll wander off somewhere and not know how long it's been or how far away she went. She panics when she has to navigate places by herself. And let's not forget the opening montage of her transitioning through the years from "I'm looking for my family but I don't know where they are!" to completely forgetting who or what she was looking for in the first place.
This is pretty dark, but this actually feels more like Tear Jerker to me than Nightmare Fuel.
  • Dory's predicament alone is a parent's worst nightmare. You have a child who has memory problems and in constant need of supervision. One day, you lose your child and you can't find them. There's a chance that they could get killed, and they don't have anyone to protect them.
Adult Fear, but maybe keepable?
  • A healthy dose of Adult Fear can be found in that Charlie and Jenny didn't find out Dory has vanished after she's gone, like in kidnapping cases or accidental deaths. She was whisked away right in front of them.
See above
  • The touch pool scene, a staple of most zoos and aquariums featuring a shallow area where little kids can see how various sea creatures feel is played as a horrific nightmare, as the brats poke and prod and grab with all the ferocity of giants. Every single creature in the thing is in a constant state of panic, and when Dory and Hank end up in it, the latter just shuts down completely due to his hatred of being touched.
Keep
  • The kelp forest. Sure, nothing bad happens in it when Dory, Nemo and Marlin travel in there, but the whole place still gives an eerie feeling, especially during the scene when Dory has a Heroic BSoD later in the movie, with tall kelp growing up everywhere, making it hard to navigate or see what's hiding in them. The fish couple at the beginning were very worried when they found young Dory getting lost alone in there, and with good reasons. Even more so, as we later learned, the forest itself is located next to an underwater dump site, which is a home of a huge, highly aggressive squid that everything else in the area dreaded, and Dory also once ventured in there as a child! It's Adult Fear mixes with Nothing Is Scarier on the highest order.
This is an exaggeration; while the kelp forest is lonely and eerie, it's certainly not scary... at least, I didn't think so...anyone else?
  • The pipes in the Marine Life Institute. Dark, eerie, claustrophobic and labyrinthine, it's not hard to see why Dory's apprehensive about going in - without Bailey and Destiny to help her navigate, she would have been hopelessly lost down there. The worst part is when Bailey's echolocation detects a bigger fish down there with Dory, followed by a couple of minutes of sheer consternation as he and Destiny try to get her away from there... Fortunately, the "bigger fish" turns out to just be Marlin and Nemo.
Sure, keep, but cut the Mood Whiplash part.
  • Dory falling down the drain, away from Hank, Marlin, and Nemo, under the impression she's lost her parents (and adopted family) forever, gasping for air. Especially if you interpret it as a visual representation of an anxiety attack, which can come with an inability to temporarily remember things, disorientation, and the feeling that you suddenly cannot breathe.
Keep
  • Perhaps it's for the best that whatever caused Hank to lose his tentacle remains a Noodle Incident: as noted in the Fridge Horror section, it had to have been pretty awful for him to be unable to regenerate it. And given his hatred of being touched and his overall behavior resembling that of somebody with PTSD, clearly it's Nightmare Fuel for him as well.
Admitted Fridge Horror
  • Although it ends up being Played for Laughs, Gil and the rest of the fish from the Dentist Office spent the year still stuck in their bags.
Fridge
  • Dory's predicament from the moment she was separated from her parents to when she found a place in Marlin's family. Baby Dory was the equivalent of a roughly 5-year-old human when she got lost. Since then, everyone she's encountered has either rebuffed her, gotten separated from her, or abandoned her; in Finding Nemo, she tells Marlin that no one's ever stuck with her as long as he has, and they were only partners for a few days. Imagine being separated from your parents at five years old, and spending the rest of your childhood in limbo, without anyone to raise you, any place to call home, any lasting friend, or anything else to anchor you. And how much longer might her life have stayed like that if she'd never met Marlin?
Fridge

Working on: Author Appeal | Sandbox | Troper Wall
KingofNightmares Since: Aug, 2016 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#2062: Jan 5th 2020 at 10:44:52 AM

[up] Looks good

I mentioned this before, but no one responded. Someone re-added all the cut examples from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with an edit reason that amounted to "it's not Fridge Horror"

"It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times?"
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
#2063: Jan 6th 2020 at 3:15:38 PM

[up] I think you should try explaining what Fridge Horror is and explain why it's not allowed on the pages. Finding Dory analysis looks good, clean away.

Anything salvageable on NightmareFuel.Good Luck Charlie? I think there might be one or two examples worth moving to YMMV, then cut.

Make it so we never die, and take the pain away
KingofNightmares Since: Aug, 2016 Relationship Status: Above such petty unnecessities
#2064: Jan 7th 2020 at 3:34:21 AM

[up] We didn't cut the examples for being Fridge Horror, we cut them for not being scary enough

That Good Luck C Harlie pages looks so bad (as someone who never watched the show)

"It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times?"
Dghcrh You can't escape this monster from Small country that looks like a fish Since: Dec, 2016 Relationship Status: Shipping fictional characters
You can't escape this monster
#2065: Jan 7th 2020 at 5:53:38 AM

I don't think there's anything scary In Good Luck Charlie. Maybe Black Comedy, but not Nightmare Fuel. I agree with cutting the page.

Edited by Dghcrh on Jan 7th 2020 at 3:56:05 PM

I'm mainly a fan of underrated media.
Zuxtron Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel from Node 03 (On A Trope Odyssey)
#2066: Jan 7th 2020 at 7:04:28 AM

[tup] To cutting Good Luck Charlie. I see a lot of Zero-Context Examples, and one Real Life example.

Brainulator9 Short-Term Projects herald from US Since: Aug, 2018 Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
Short-Term Projects herald
#2067: Jan 7th 2020 at 11:53:44 AM

    Nightmare Fuel — Good Luck Charlie as it exists now 
  • Charlie's 'Happy-Happy Horse'. Gabe's got a bad feeling about the horse, and when it says "Watch your back, kid..."
  • A meta example comes in the reaction to the penultimate episode where Charlie's playmate Has Two Mommies. As you would expect homophobic Moral Guardians were not happy, how did some respond? Why sending death threats to the cast and crew, up to and including Charlie! All in the name of family values, of course!
  • Ivy’s costume prank after saying that Teddy had gone crazy.
  • While it is comedic, one ending scene of Gabe and his friend as SKELETONS is a bit chilling.
  • In one episode, some of the things Emmett says to Teddy are a bit rapey.
  • The theme park worker turning out to be a criminal.
  • Teddy imagining Charlie turning into a delinquent was quite distressing.
  • Bob and Amy potentially forgetting Charlie’s birthday after Toby is born.
  • How violent Jo can be. While she only minorly injured Gabe, she managed to put Teddy, who is about twice her size, in a BRACE.
  • PJ’s fantasy about one of his customers falling in love with him. In one part, he is shown as an old man with his “wife”. Immediately afterwards, she is sadly holding his hat, meaning he had died.
  • Gabe being afraid of zombies during a sleepover.
  • Karl scaring Charlie. Since Charlie was only two years old at the time, that must have been distressing for her. Karl ruining Teddy’s costume afterwards only made things worse.
  • Amy’s teeth being knocked out.
  • Charlie being arrested for “shoplifting”.
  • Charlie kicking Jo, who is much taller than her.
  • Charlie could be downright hateful towards Toby in some episodes. The fact that a toddler could be such a sociopath is quite unnerving.

In order:

  • One of the less horrible examples, but needs expansion if it counts.
  • Meta; not allowed.
  • No reference to the costume. I haven't seen the show.
  • "A bit chilling" ain't givin' us nightmares.
  • Like what? I suspect looking too much into things just to complain, much like how discussion on NightmareFuel.Breadwinners went.
  • Don't know the context; might be OK if explained, but it could just not be that scary. Perhaps this may be a Shocking Moment?
  • Expansion needed. What does Charlie do as a delinquent?
  • Doesn't sound scary to me. Maybe in context, it is? I'm being generous.
  • Looks OK-ish, I guess.
  • Sounds more like a funny/sad thing to me than scary.
  • Not described as scary out-of-universe.
  • Looks reliant on Fridge Horror for the first bit; the second may be scary in context, but not here.
  • Maybe in context?
  • Just a scene description without anything scary described.
  • Non-scary scene description.
  • How is Charlie hateful?

Oh, and none of the episodes are cited. Cut.

Edited by Brainulator9 on Jan 7th 2020 at 3:04:25 PM

Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!
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)
#2068: Jan 7th 2020 at 11:54:49 AM

Cut it.

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
IukaSylvie from Kyoto, Japan Since: Oct, 2017 Relationship Status: Complex: I'm real, they are imaginary
Brainulator9 Short-Term Projects herald from US Since: Aug, 2018 Relationship Status: I get a feeling so complicated...
Short-Term Projects herald
#2071: Jan 12th 2020 at 6:33:03 PM

[up] It's OK.

What will need pruning for neutrality and Fridge Horror is The Turner Diaries.

Edited by Brainulator9 on Jan 12th 2020 at 9:33:15 AM

Contains 20% less fat than the leading value brand!
Zuxtron Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel from Node 03 (On A Trope Odyssey)
legorunnerkid The Lego Maharajah from In Short Round's Car. Since: Apr, 2017
The Lego Maharajah
#2073: Jan 13th 2020 at 2:27:36 PM

Look I mean no offense to the people who worked on the Good Luck Charlie NF Page, but of all shows, this needed one? The only thing I remember disturbing is that one episode where there was an alien vortex in the door (which I can't remember the name of it). I remember the father being sucked up by said vortex and kids not giving a crap. Also, I don't remember the names. :P

Edited by legorunnerkid on Jan 13th 2020 at 2:30:14 AM

Yes, I am using a modded version of Lego Indy 1 for my avatar.
Silverblade2 Since: Jan, 2013
#2074: Jan 14th 2020 at 12:34:41 AM

Oddity is just terrible and full of speculations.

TrocyteV Chronic lore addict (Petty Master) Relationship Status: Yes, I'm alone, but I'm alone and free
Chronic lore addict
#2075: Jan 15th 2020 at 9:03:44 AM

Kamen Rider Zi-O could use a look. A quick glance at the page shows several instances of episodic troping and scene summaries.

"If you spent as much time fightin' as ye did hidin', maybe this wouldn't have happened!"

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