History Main / ChainLetter

* On ''Website/{{Bogleech}}''[='=]s [[http://www.bogleech.com/ghastlymacaroni.html GHASTLY MACARONI!!!]] anthology, the stories "THE KILLER SPIKES" and "2 BEARS FOREVER" amount to this.

* On Website/DeviantArt, the most common chain letter hoax involves a "hacker warning", warning of a (non-existent) hacker who goes around hacking people's accounts by replacing their deviations with either [[TheInternetIsForPorn porn]] or racist material, and telling people that they can avoid the hacker by copy-and-pasting the journal to your own journal and encouraging others to do so. The chain letters seem to run on users' gullibility, and even [=DeviantArt=] staff have stated "Pasting a chain-letter style journal onto your profile page is absolutely no "protection" against unauthorized access to your account." Though this does occasionally cause some enterprising individuals to create accounts with similar names to that of the (fictional) hackers, posting messages on their profile pages saying "IF YOU GET FAVED YOU'RE GONNA GET HACKED!"

* Free-to-play games like ''VideoGame/{{Roblox}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Transformice}}'' often have (or used to have) messages being spammed all over the place claiming that copying the message enough times would grant premium currency or [[{{Freemium}} premium membership]] for free. It's obvious this is false (why would a business that depends on selling currency and membership to keep itself afloat give users an easy way to get these things without spending a dime?), but younger players may fall for it.

* ''WebOriginal/SmileDog'': The original email that Smile.jpg is spread through is described as one of these, with the subject line 'SMILE! GOD LOVES YOU!' Smile's method of haunting can be seen as a supernatural version of one of these, since he stops tormenting his victims once they've passed on his photograph.

* Reddit has a "crosspost" button that makes spreading chain letters extremely easy. On top of the classic "repost or this scary monster will come to kill you", a common variant is "every time this image is reposted, a [insert AcceptableTarget here] is killed painfully", and asking to repost an image to as many communities as possible solely for the sake of reposting and getting to be part of a big, site-wide thing.

If the horror movie with the same name is what you're looking for, [[Film/ChainLetter2010 see here]]. If you're looking for the horror books, [[Literature/ChainLetter see here]].

Often utilized for a specific type of SuperstitionEpisode. See also, {{Glurge}}.

* Being unaccustomed to the internet, the vampires from ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' believe the first chain e-mail they got to be an actual curse. And, since they know actual curses to be real, they were terrified.

** In [[http://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1967/05/16 this comic]], he gets one that tells him to copy it six times, and tries to do this with a pen. However, there's a reason he calls his [[PenPals pen pal]] a "pencil pal"...

* On Website/DeviantArt, the most common chain letter hoax involves a "hacker warning", warning of a (non-existent) hacker who goes around hacking people's accounts by replacing their deviations with either [[TheInternetIsForPorn porn]] or racist material, and telling people that they can avoid the hacker by copy-and-pasting the journal to your own journal and encouraging others to do so. The chain letters seem to run on users' gullibility, and even [=DeviantArt=] staff have stated "Pasting a chain-letter style journal onto your profile page is absolutely no "protection" against unauthorized access to your account." Though this does occasionally cause some enterprising individuals to create accounts with similar names to that of the (fictional) hackers, posting messages on their profile pages saying "IF YOU GET FAVED YOU'RE GONNA GET HACKED!".

* Egbert Aethelbald, being ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'''s go-to person for the RantInducingSlight, leaves a chain letter in the HQ's suggestion box.

* In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', Episode 12's VillainOfTheWeek is a [[{{mons}} Weedmon]] [[TheSwarm swarm]] that start attaching themselves to chain emails and attacking people who refuse to forward them, before hacking their accounts and sending them on their own. Within days, the problem escalates to them launching a full-scale invasion of Japan through people's smartphones & computers.

* In ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame'', Episode 12's VillainOfTheWeek is a [[{{mons}} Weedmon]] that starts attaching itself to chain emails and attacking people who refuse to forward them, before hacking their accounts and sending them on its own.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' story "Chain of Fools" (DC issue #30), Bubbles gets a chain letter, which the Professor dismisses as bunk. Bubbles doesn't respond to it, but after she is suddenly zapped of her power, she immediately sends a chain letter...to Mojo Jojo.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' comic book story "Chain of Fools" (issue #30) starts with Bubbles getting a chain letter. When she doesn't respond to it, her powers are zapped while the girls are fighting a monster. She immediately flies home and sends out chain letters--to her sisters and Mojo Jojo, and when ''they'' don't respond, the same thing happens to them.