History Main / IntimacyViaHorror

* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' Noelle Holiday is a meek LovableCoward who ''loves'' horror movies. She admits she likes the thrill of being scared and the feeling of being comforted after it's over.

* ''VideoGame/Persona3'': In ''[[UpdatedRerelease Portable]]''[='s=] female protagonist route, the final rank of [[DefrostingIceQueen Mitsuru Kirijo]]'s [[RelationshipValues Social Link]] involves watching a horror movie in her room. Mitsuru asks [[LesYay if the female protagonist would mind holding her hand]]. The female protagonist herself seems quite eager to watch the movie.
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Makoto Niijima may normally be a tough, no-nonsense gal, but she's absolutely terrified of ghosts; when the team visits Futaba's house at night, Makoto asks to hold onto [[PlayerCharacter Joker]]'s arm after they hear screaming, and after Futaba accidentally frightens her, Makoto begins clinging on to Joker's leg while calling out for her sister to save her.

* ''Film/CabinFever'': One of the special features on the DVD is "Chick-Vision", which puts up the silhouettes of hands over the screen whenever a scary or gory scene is about to come up.
* ''Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool'': Peter and Gloria go out on a date to see the then-just-released ''Film/{{Alien}}''. Most of the audience is scared by it, including Peter, who's so terrified by the infamous chestburster scene that he practically jumps out of his seat and clings to Gloria in fear. Gloria, meanwhile, is thoroughly enjoying it and even laughs while watching a few scenes.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' has a variant in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E115TheNewExhibit The New Exhibit]]", where the young woman visiting Murderers' Row at a wax museum gets scared by the realistic figures, and her date reassures her.

[[quoteright:259:[[ComicBook/ArchieComics https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/betty_and_me_180.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:259:[[BlatantLies No idea whatsoever.]]]]

* ''Manga/HitomiChanIsShyWithStrangers'': Hitomi is rather reluctant to watch a horror movie about a StringyHairedGhostGirl at the suggestion of Kaoru (the latter of whom is an aversion). [[{{Troll}} This convinces Kaoru to pop the movie in anyway just to see how Hitomi will react]]. What makes this especially ironic is that [[FaceOfAThug Hitomi is a big, scary-looking girl]], while Kaoru is more conventionally cute-looking.

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16881169390.09685700 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

* ''Webcomic/NaruHinaChronicles'': Shino has a date with Hanajima at a movie theater. He suggests they go watch a horror movie. She's unsure about it given it seems pretty scary. When Shino tells her they could watch something else, Hanajima says she doesn't mind the horror movie and adds that she can hold onto him if she gets scared. They have a double date with Lee and Arekusu when they watch the horror movie. Of course, both girls end up holding onto the boys during a scary scene.

* While this trope [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/smurfberries pays off]] for [[UnluckyEverydude Gary]] in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', the next movie [[DepravedBisexual Zii]] and [[InnocentFanserviceGirl DiDi]] watch is notorious Spanish horror flick ''Film/{{REC}}''. That goes [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/safe-zone rather less well,]] or alternately, [[GirlOnGirlIsHot even better]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer and Marge tried it in a scary carnival ride.

While this trope is typically initiated by the person wanting to show off how calm, cool, and collected they are in the face of scares, it can also be initiated by the love interest, who may pretend to be a DamselInDistress or fake being scared for a chance for some skinship, suggestively rubbing themself all over their partner or jumping into their arms/lap. If this trope happens while the pair is watching a movie, a YawnAndReach or some HandsplayInTheater is to be expected. Regardless of the initiator, the goal is the same: exploit this moment of horror to try to flirt and score romantic points with the person you're interested in.

* In an episode of ''Anime/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' where the characters explore a supposedly haunted house, a female character who only appears in that episode pretends to be scared in order to hook up with main man Kaito. Of course, when real ghosts show up courtesy of a member of the QuirkyMinibossSquad, she freaks out for real.
* Ayase in ''Manga/MidoriDays'' fakes being scared of horror movies to have an excuse to grab Seiji. She even pre-watches the film to know when the best times to be "scared". Unfortunately for her, her four attempts at this were mistimed and she misses.
* Invoked by Matsuri in ''Manga/{{Sola}}'' where she drags Yorito into an empty movie theatre and states, that couples should always go to a horror movie.

** Another cover had Archie insisting that horror films don't scare him, and Betty asking why, then, he is biting ''her'' nails.
** Another comic has a variation when Veronica's fear of them leads to Archie trying to cure it. Since it was a rented movie, he rewinds to the scary parts so Veronica can see it's not as bad as she thought it was. His plan backfires, since she now wants to watch horror films in the cinema... which costs a lot more than renting.
** One of the early issues of ''Archie's Weird Mysteries'', has Betty sitting down to watch a scary movie on TV (that all of her friends are too scared to watch with her/don't like horror movies), when she screams out loud — when it turns out that it's been interrupted by a "Young Frankenstein" knockoff instead. Then the killer from ''Film/{{Scream}}'' takes over her TV.
** In yet another comic, Archie decides to help Betty get over her fear of horror movies by renting the most terrifying ones at the store. By the time they get through all of them, Betty is in love with horror movies, but Archie can no longer enjoy them...
** One comic has a boy renting a horror video to watch with Sabrina, for the reason in the trope's description. Turns out she thinks it's hilarious, and the events in her house freak the guy out, and he bails.
* ''ComicBook/PowerGirl'': Averted and played straight. Karen loves them, but Atlee can't handle even the PG-13 ones.
* During a nine-part serial that reveal her to the world, UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} fakes this to please her boyfriend.

* Jon hopes to comfort Liz in this manner in ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'', [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2000/07/06 but he ends up frightened instead.]]
* According to Roger in an early ''ComicStrip/FoxTrot'' strip, Andy invoked this trope on one of their first dates:

* ''Fanfic/KnightsOfTheOtherworld'': A side story has the Knights having a movie "[[JustForPun knight]]" with their dates, the movie in question being ''Film/{{Dracula|1931}}''. Though the movie is tame by today's standards, several of Dracula's actions were enough to terrify most of the [[Toys/EverAfterHigh EAH]] girls. Cupid doesn't seem very amused with the movie, given how she's friends with [[Toys/MonsterHigh Dracula's daughter]].

* Averted in ''Fanfic/MyImmortal''; [[ItMakesSenseInContext Satan]] and Ebony ''laugh'' at ''[[Film/TheExorcist The Exercise]]'' (although the author has obviously never seen it, as it is described like a slasher film).
* Somewhat inverted in ''FanFic/AFancifulDream'', Bella claims that her paranoia is due to a horror movie, when she's really just paranoid over [[spoiler:hearing a conversation in the hospital bathroom.]]
* [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/39082 This]] ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' fic has a two-girl version between [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Z and Syd]]. [[spoiler: Z feels pretty pleased with herself until something scares *her*; cue role reversal and Syd revealing she had the same idea in mind.]]
-->''It was the oldest trick in the book, tried and true: hot girl plus scary movie equaled lots of clinging in the dark.''

* ''Webcomic/NaruHinaChronicles'': Shino has a date with Hanajima at a movie theater. He suggests they go watch a horror movie. She's unsure about it given it seems pretty scary. When Shino tells her they could watch something else, Hanajima says she doesn't mind the horror movie and adds that she can hold onto him if she gets scared.
** They have a double date with Lee and Arekusu when they watch the horror movie. Of course, both girls end up holding onto the boys during a scary scene.

* ''Film/{{Scream}}'':
** Subverted with Casey and [[FinalGirl Sidney]] in the [[Film/Scream1996 first film]]. Casey is getting ready to watch one when Ghostface calls, and has seen enough of the ''[[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' films to say that only [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984 the first one]] was any good, and while Sidney doesn't like horror movies, that's mainly because she thinks they're [[ClicheStorm clichéd]] and [[UnfortunateImplications misogynistic]] rather than scary.
** Maureen in ''Film/Scream2'' dislikes horror because of its history of [[BlackDudeDiesFirst poor representation of nonwhite characters]]. Her boyfriend Phil, on the other hand, seems to recognize that she's genuinely scared watching ''[[ShowWithinAShow Stab]]'', and tells her that horror movies make for great foreplay.
** Thoroughly subverted in ''Film/Scream4'', where Kirby is a huge fan of horror movies.
* One of the special features on the DVD for ''Film/CabinFever'' is "Chick-Vision", which puts up the silhouettes of hands over the screen whenever a scary or gory scene is about to come up.
* Zigzagged in ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne''. We learn that [[spoiler:Aech is a black woman and really hates horror movies]], but [=Art3mis=] comports herself well when they have to find the next clue in the Overlook Hotel from ''Film/TheShining''. Justified in [[spoiler:Aech's perspective]] considering the hotel comes to life and tries to kill them.
* Parodied in the theater scene of ''Film/ScaryMovie''. While the movie Brenda Meeks is watching, ''Film/ShakespeareInLove'', isn't a horror movie, she acts like it is during the balcony scene, screaming along with the characters and loudly proclaiming how scared she is, much to the annoyance of the rest of the theater.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Inverted in ''I Even Funnier'' by Creator/JamesPatterson. Gilda takes Jamie, Joey, and Jimmy to watch a horror movie at a theater. She was the only one who wasn't scared.
* Inverted: ''Literature/NewMoon'' had Bella inviting one of the minor male characters to see a film, and it turned out to be a horror/action flick. She found it boring. The guy she was with was so terrified that he had to leave the cinema.
* Ovid recommends taking your girlfriend to the gladiator games in his book ''The Art of Love'' -- making this OlderThanFeudalism.

* Inverted with ''Series/MrBean'', who goes on a date to a scary movie and loses all of his composure and popcorn while the girl screams only once. Then again, he's TheDitz.
* Parodied in ''Series/That70sShow'' in one of the Halloween episodes. The gang goes to see ''Film/TheTexasChainSawMassacre1974'', but the only one scared is [[TheDitz Kelso]]. The rest of the gang are either [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] SexSignalsDeath, pointing out FridgeLogic or simply commenting on the skill of one of the actors (in a bored monotone).

* Averted in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}''; Phoebe's favorite movie is, in fact, a ridiculously named B-horror ShowWithinAShow.
* In an episode of ''Series/SavedByTheBell'', Zach takes multiple dates to the same horror movie to look for the one with the best scream & cuddle combo. The first girl is too busy talking away to notice the scary parts, the second is more [[BigEater concerned with running out of popcorn]], the third [[BrawnHilda keeps chanting "kill him!"]] and the fourth one gets it right. Kelly was shown having the same reaction to the movie earlier in the episode.
* In a variant in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E115TheNewExhibit The New Exhibit]]", the young woman visiting Murderers' Row at a wax museum gets scared by the realistic figures, and her date reassures her.
* ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'': Dona Clotilde once invited Don Ramon to watch a movie about earthquakes. She commented about how couples usually hug each other during scary parts and he quickly... invited a beautiful woman who had recently moved into the Vencidad.
* In ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'', Paige and her PetHomosexual Marco both would scream their heads off at horror movies.
* Played with in an episode of ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' when Tommy rents a scary movie to watch with his love interest Alissa, hoping to invoke this trope. However, Sally and Harry show up and [[ZanyScheme decide to help]] by making things even scarier in real life, dressing Harry up as an actual SerialKiller outside the window. Tommy proves to be a DirtyCoward and Alissa is unimpressed.
* Played with on ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' where Raj's girlfriend Emily likes horror movies ''because'' she likes to be comforted during them. Raj is initially nervous about a girlfriend who likes horror movies, until the why was explained.
* Invoked and PlayedWith on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' in "Haunted Elevator (Featuring David S. Pumpkins": both the woman and man are going on a haunted elevator ride because they ''want'' to be scared. While Beck Bennet reassures his date Kate [=McKinnon=] that he'll be screaming with her, they happily tease each other. It gets hilarious when they see David S. Pumpkins and don't understand how he's supposed to be scary. Not helping is that Kenan Thompson, playing their elevator operator, is smirking the whole time and on the verge of {{Corpsing}}.

* Inverted in ''Series/TheMakanaiCookingForTheMaikoHouse''. Momoko and her boyfriend Iwai watch a zombie film in the third episode. Iwai has to walk out a few minutes in because he's so unsettled by their ZombieGait, leading to Momoko imitating it to make fun of him.

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* This is the premise of the podcast ''Too Scary; Didn't Watch''. One of its three hosts, Sammy Smart, loves horror movies, but her co-hosts Emily Gonzalez and Henley Cox are too scared to watch them, and each episode revolves around Sammy recapping the horror movie she just watched for her friends.

[[folder:Radio]]
* An episode of ''Radio/AdventuresInOdyssey'' involves bringing a scary movie over for a sleepover. The girls started to get freaked, although they tried not to show it.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* Utterly averted by Lilith in ''Roleplay/ForTheSpiritOfCreation'': She was ConditionedToAcceptHorror as part of being raised by a [[EldritchAbomination Nihl]]-worshipping cult, and after her HeelFaceTurn, ''loves'' horror movies - in particular, she regards the ''[[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Nightmare on Elm Street]]'' series as light comedy compared to the things that are ''really'' in the Nightmare Realms.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' by Noelle Holiday. She's a LovableCoward who's meek and freaks out at seemingly-minor things, but she ''loves'' horror movies. She admits she likes the thrill of being scared, and the feeling of being comforted after it's over, and horror movies let her experience that in a way that is completely safe. After all, if a movie's ''too'' scary, she can always just turn it off.
* When is comes to ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'', the more masculine a female character acts, the more likely they end up being this trope. Comparatively, with some exceptions, the series' more traditionally feminine girls tend to end up being [[NightmareFetishist the opposite of this]].
** ''VideoGame/Persona3'':
*** Yukari Takeba has extreme phasmophobia and is not a fan of Junpei's rather silly "Believe or Not" ghost stories, and dispelling the rumors of a ghost girl is her main motivation for [[spoiler:trying to find Fuuka after she goes missing]].
*** In ''[[UpdatedRerelease Portable]]''[='s=] female protagonist route, the final rank of [[DefrostingIceQueen Mitsuru Kirijo]]'s [[RelationshipValues Social Link]] involves watching a horror movie in her room. Mitsuru asks [[LesYay if the female protagonist would mind holding her hand]]. The female protagonist herself seems quite eager to watch the movie.
*** During the girls' sports retreat in ''Portable'''s female protagonist route, Yuko Nishiwaki is the only girl to be scared of the group's ghost stories, and is terrified when the lights in the room suddenly go out.
*** In the female protagonist route of ''Portable'', Saori Hasegawa reveals this to be the case for her if the protagonist states horror movies are their favorite during one of the game's Sunday outings.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4'':
*** Tough tomboy Chie Sakonata tends to freak out when confronted with "spooky" stuff like ghost stories. In contrast, her [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl more traditionally feminine best friend]], the elegant YamatoNadeshiko Yukiko, is something of a NightmareFetishist.
*** Similarly, the normally serious {{bifauxnen}} [[spoiler:Naoto Shirogane]] is just as easily scared, with ''[[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]'''s [[Anime/Persona4TheGoldenAnimation anime adaptation]] featuring her going on a lengthy and panicky rant denying the existence of ghosts during the ski trip.
** Rei from ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'' is terrified of ghosts, and spends most of the Evil Spirit Club screaming in terror. [[spoiler:Ironic, considering [[DeadAllAlong she herself is a ghost]]]].
** Makoto Niijima from ''VideoGame/Persona5'' may normally be a tough, no-nonsense gal, but she's absolutely terrified of ghosts; when the team visits Futaba's house at night, Makoto asks to hold onto [[PlayerCharacter Joker]]'s arm after they hear screaming, and after Futaba accidentally frightens her, Makoto begins clinging on to Joker's leg while calling out for her sister to save her. In sharp contrast, elegant and refined Haru is a big fan of horror films.
* Inverted and mixed with KidsShouldntWatchHorrorFilms in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'': A tough-looking biker punk talks about how horror movies are overrated. A little girl standing a few feet from him, however, comments that he was freaking out and crying watching one while she appears totally unfazed.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Lampshaded in ''VisualNovel/DaCapo'' during Junichi's date with Mako. His reaction to her terror at having to see the movie is basically an incredulous, "Seriously? What are you, one of the main heroines of some dating sim?"
* Averted in ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework''. Amy enjoys seeing a Bloodhaus BMovie with the protagonist.
* ''VisualNovel/TheFruitOfGrisaia'': Yumiko is rather easily scared, that is why she stays away from her classmates' gathering of telling each other horror stories, and proved when said class decides to set up an elaborate scare prank on her. This is also why Yuuji takes her to the haunted house when they go to an amusement park on her route.
* Defied in ''VisualNovel/{{Demonbane}}'': a horror movie is one possible date activity the player can choose for Ruri's and Kurou's date. Ruri's butler Winfield thinks the standard cliche will play out, but Kurou and Ruri are ''utterly bored'' by the film, due to having fought against much worse things in real life.
* Averted in ''Literature/PocketMonstersTheAnimation'': Misty happens to be such a huge fan of the ''Horror Queen'' novels, she'll do anything to get her hands on them, even "borrow" them from her sisters.

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'':
** Most of the talent are varying degrees of terrible with horror media, with the exception of Tokino Sora (famous for what she calls "subpar reactions" to scares [[note]]Which isn't to say that she doesn't get scared, but it's rather rare and directed towards certain critters[[/note]] because she actually likes the genre), Shishiro Botan (who easily enjoys such games, more so if she's collabing with someone she can mess with), Melfissa Anya (who just casually no-sells the entire genre) and Nanashi Mumei (who gets amused rather than scared by horror and gets excited when she can bask in someone else's fear). Inugami Korone is something of a mixed bag in this as she absolutely loves horror movies, but can and will scream her head off when she plays horror games.
** Hakos Baelz is perhaps the straightest example of this trope, at least amongst the EN girls. It's so bad that even with emotional support from Calli and Fauna she had to abandon her playthrough of ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' only an hour in after suffering an emotional breakdown and stating she was losing the feeling in her left arm.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* While this trope [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/smurfberries pays off]] for [[UnluckyEverydude Gary]] in ''Webcomic/MenageA3'', the next movie [[DepravedBisexual Zii]] and [[InnocentFanserviceGirl DiDi]] watch is notorious Spanish horror flick ''Film/{{REC}}''. That goes [[https://pixietrixcomix.com/menage-a-3/safe-zone rather less well,]] or alternately, [[GirlOnGirlIsHot even better]].
%%* Inverted [[http://fanboys-online.com/index.php?comic=341 here]] in Webcomic/{{Fanboys}}.
* ''Webcomic/{{Nimona}}'': The eponymous character is really scared of zombie movies. Considering that she's a shapeshifter of massive power, this is rather hilarious.
* ''Webcomic/AgentsOfTheRealm'' plays with this trope in variety of ways:
** Mackenzie plays it straight, to benefit of Jordan.
** Kendall underplays it, admitting to not liking horrors very much.
** Jordan and Norah invert it, as they both love horror movies.
* GenderInverted in ''Webcomic/ToLoveYourEnemy''. In contrast to his aloof exterior, Yikyung doesn't have a good time when he and Yeonhee see a zombie movie. Between the two of them, she's the one who prefers thrillers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* Zig-zagged on ''WebVideo/GirlfriendReviews''. Shelby is completely unafraid of horror films, but ''terrified'' of horror video games. According to the woman herself, watching a horror film where [[DawsonCasting attractive teenagers in their late twenties]] do stupid things that get them horribly murdered fills her with the warm smugginess, but the warm smugginess evaporates quickly when ''she'' is the one doing stupid things and getting horribly murdered.
* Amusingly inverted by [[WebVideo/TheDomReviews Dominic Noble]] when he had to watch ''Film/{{The Thing|1982}}'' for a Lost in Adaptation episode; he was so terrified when he tried watching it by himself that he had to phone That Movie Chick to watch it with him, which she calmly and nonchalantly did as he cowered behind a pillow.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "Going Bats, Man", Wheeler and Linka are watching a scary movie, and Linka clutches Wheeler's ring arm so tightly that he protests. She insists it's his own fault for getting her into this in the first place.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** The episode "Colonel Homer" has one scene in which Bart and Lisa go to see ''Space Mutants VI''. Though factor in age and it stops falling into this trope.
--->'''Bart:''' If you don't watch the violence, you'll never get desensitized to it.\\
'''Lisa:''' (''covering her eyes'') Just tell me when the scary part's over.\\
'''Bart:''' It's over.\\
(''Lisa uncovers her eyes'')\\
(''the movie theater is bathed in red as we hear blood spurting'')\\
'''Lisa:''' Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!
** There was also one of the shorts on the ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'', where Bart and Lisa went to a horror movie. Bart pesters Lisa to not act "like a girl" during the scary parts. Naturally, Bart is the one who freaks out.
** Homer and Marge tried it in a scary carnival ride.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'', [[HopelessSuitor Irwin]] tries to woo Mandy during a scary campfire story. Mandy just punches him in the ribs.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'' had the guys make a bet against the girls that they [the girls] couldn't watch the latest gore movie without vomiting. As it turned out, [[spoiler:they were ''all'' freaked out, though the guys still won on a technicality—one of the girls threw up first]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleRascals'' second-season opener "Wash and Werewolf" begins at one of Greenpoint's movie theaters, where the boys took Darla to a 3D horror movie, despite her wanting to see a romantic film at a different theater. What scared Darla was not the film itself (she didn't stay to watch it), but Alfalfa's prank before the film began.
* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'', where the most scared character was GentleGiant DJ. Gwen and Izzy both liked the film (along with Duncan), while Heather and Leshawna didn't seem any more bothered than the remaining guys.
* Backfired when attempted in ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex''. Instead of one girl clinging to each of the boys, both latched onto Rex. Didn't work well when tried with a haunted house, either.
* Deliberately inverted in ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'', where [[ActionGirl Elise]] prefers horror movies and [[NonActionGuy Chris]] is absolutely terrified of them, preferring romantic comedies.
* This gem from the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Little Gift Shop of Horrors":
-->'''Stan:''' Movies are great! You watch the movie, you scare the girl, the girl snuggles up next to you, [[OneThingLedToAnother next thing you know you gotta raise a kid]], your life falls apart... Forget that last part!
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''; the boys try to scare Isabella with a haunted house to cure her hiccups. The thing is that she knew that Phineas and Ferb would never actually build anything dangerous, and Phineas was riding with her, so she felt safe. She only got scared when Phineas went sailing in the air due to Perry and Doof's fight leading to the house being lifted off the ground and was in real danger of getting hurt; that ended up doing the trick.
* ''WesternAnimation/TalesFromTheCryptkeeper'': Played with in "Fare Tonight" where the leads of the story, Camille and Mildred, are watching a vampire movie and seem to get frighten by a scary scene. A smarmy theater goer comments on this and suggest they go see a romance movie next door. They get even by putting fake vampire fangs in their mouths and scaring him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* JustifiedTrope in that if this didn't happen, (see the above mentioned studies) the Haunted Attraction industry would be out of business. These attractions give women an excuse to [[SecurityCling get close]] to their boyfriends by using them as a [[HumanShield meat shield]] against the various Serial Killer [[MonsterClown Clowns]], [[HockeyMaskAndChainsaw Masked Psychos]], [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies Brain-Eating Zombies]], and little girls with [[StringyHairedGhostGirl Hair in Front of Their Eyes]].
* Though this trope isn't TruthInTelevision most of the time, you are probably more likely to find a girl who'll admit that she's scared of horror movies than you would a guy.
* Subverted, in that a number of horror franchises are marketed towards girls. It's a TV series, of course, but almost every episode in seasons one to three of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' was structured like a horror movie (with a good number of scares), and this didn't stop it having a strong (and possibly rabid) female base. There might have been [[MrFanservice other reasons]] [[HoYay why this occurred]], but it wouldn't have happened at all if all girls were really scared of horror movies. In terms of actual horror movie franchises that have been successfully aimed at girls, you have the ''Film/GingerSnaps'' and ''Film/WhisperingCorridors'' movies, among others.
* UsefulNotes/SouthKorea and UsefulNotes/HongKong have pretty much made an industry out of horror movies aimed at girls and women, reflecting women's experiences and concerns with a massive dose of drama. Good (or at least decent) quality examples include ''Film/ATaleOfTwoSisters'', ''Cello'', The original ''Film/TheEye'' movies, ''Film/{{Koma}}'', the ''Whispering Corridors'' series, ''D-Day'' and ''Film/TheRedShoes2005''.
* Creator/VincentPrice joked that he was truly a romantic lead, as he caused couples to get closer to each other in the theater.
[[/folder]]

* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'': While she can easily handle the Clow Cards, Sakura is terrified of ghosts, in part due to Touya telling her stories about [[ISeeDeadPeople the various ghosts he saw]] when Sakura was young ([[JacobMarleyApparel some of which were missing limbs or stuff like that]]). Whenever [[NightmareFetishist Naoko]] tells ghost stories around her, she's usually on the verge of fainting from terror.
* Zigzagged in ''Manga/TheDemonGirlNextDoor''. Mikan drags Yuko out to a horror movie; she wants to practice subjecting herself to something scary as training to keep her feelings in check, and doesn't want to go by herself. Mikan is a nervous wreck for half the movie...and unconscious for the other half. Yuko enjoys the movie, [[RootingForTheEmpire roots for the zombies]], and cries at the end when the heroes win.
-->'''Mikan:''' Wait, why are you crying? What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself? I don't think it's possible for my curse to attack your stomach or anything!\\
'''Yuko:''' That's not it... I'm just so touched... All of the zombies and ghosts, even though their guts were hanging out, they really tried their hardest to overcome the ridiculous strength of the heroes...\\
'''Mikan:''' That was the side you were sympathizing with?!
* Inverted in ''Manga/DNAngel'' during the carnival date arc, where Wiz (disguised as Dark and Daisuke) is hauled to a horror movie and then a haunted house by Risa and Riku. The twins thoroughly enjoy themselves. Wiz... [[HilarityEnsues doesn't]].
* Subverted in ''Manga/FlunkPunkRumble'': Shinagawa takes a date to a zombie movie with this in mind. Not only is the girl unaffected by the movie, two male friends they run into at the theater spend the entire movie clinging to Shinagawa in terror.
* Gets extremely inverted in ''Manga/FrankenFran''. The title female character is utterly unfazed by the horror movie she's watching while everyone else runs away screaming and weeping tears of fright. The extreme inversion? The guys running away in fright were monsters themselves.
-->'''Fran:''' What's the matter, guys? It's just a movie. People are more scared of you than you are of them.
* Inverted with ''Manga/FutariEcchi'', where leading lady Yura is a real gore hound, while her husband is the one afraid of horror movies (and theme park attractions). This is her only really "unladylike" trait.

* Inverted in ''Manga/{{Horimiya}}''. Hori actually loves horror movies, while her father and Miyamura can't handle them at all. She does attempt to invoke this in chapter 37 at the suggestion of her friends in order to appear cuter to Miyamura, but everything she does just ends up scaring him instead. [[spoiler:This would end up leading to TheirFirstTime.]]
* ''Anime/TheIdolmaster'': Yukiho and Makoto get really scared of Iori's ghost stories.
** Despite her ElegantGothicLolita image, Ranko in ''Anime/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls'' hates horror in general (not helped by two of her dorm mates being horror fan Koume and personality-switcher Syoko). It takes [[CanNotSpitItOut some effort]] on her part to tell the Producer the difference before her first single is released.
* After Chiya's story in episode 3 of ''Manga/IsTheOrderARabbit'', Cocoa and Sharo are shown to be pretty traumatized, Rize is later shown to have been just as affected. Chiya on the other hand subverts the trope by not only loving scary stories, but reacts to them like some would a love story.
* Zigzagged in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar''. While there are plenty of girls terrified of the horror genre (Kaguya, Fujiwara, Maki, Erika), there are also several who either enjoy getting scared (Tsubame) or can happily watch a slasher film without batting an eye (Karen, Toyomi).
* Played straight in an episode of ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' with Ayu and Yuuichi, during which Ayu displays an immense variety in her trademark "Uguu~!" catchphrase.
* Two examples from ''Manga/TheKawaiComplexGuideToManorsAndHostelBehavior'', both with a straight example along with an aversion:
** Played straight with Ritsu, who isn't a big fan of them, and always tries to make up some kind of excuse to not watch them, such as claiming to be sleepy while burying her face inside a pillow to avoid watching it.
** Averted with Mayumi, who enjoys them quite a bit, largely because of the fact that the happy couples in them usually get killed off. She usually watches them to cheer her up after hearing a younger coworker announce they're getting married or are dating someone, while she has terrible luck with men.
* In ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke'' it's both averted and played straight with [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Chizuru and Ayane and Sawako]]. The former hates them and latter two like them.
* Kanu and Chouhi in ''Anime/KoihimeMusou'': Sure, they're brave warriors, but present them with something scary and they'll run with their tails or cling to Chouun. Which in turn gives Chouun an [[TheImmodestOrgasm Immodest Orgasm]].
* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Manga/KotouraSan''; Haruka during the first part of episode 6 when the ESP club is going through an abandoned hospital that her grandfather deliberately left them at. Interestingly, neither Yuriko nor Moritani, the other girls seem scared of it, despite Kotoura clinging onto them.
* Tsukasa of ''Manga/LuckyStar'' hates horror movies, but when her sister Kagami and friend Konata want to see one (''Film/SawIII'', if you're curious), she can't bring herself to decline to go watch it with them.
* Kozue does it to Godai in ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku'' as part of her cunning yet innocent plot to ensnare him.

* Ayase in ''Manga/MidoriDays'' fakes this to have an excuse to grab Seiji. She even pre-watches the film to know when the best times to be "scared". Unfortunately for her, her four attempts at this were mistimed and she misses.
* DoubleSubverted in ''Manga/MyDressUpDarling''. Kitagawa invites Gojo round to watch a horror movie with her, and while she seems excited at the prospect, Gojo is visibly nervous. Once they actually start watching, however, Gojo is completely unfazed while Kitagawa, as much as she tries to deny it, is visibly terrified. A few days later she watches the sequel by herself and gets so scared that she can't fall asleep, and has to call Gojo to calm herself down.
* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': Itsuki gets easily scared of anything that has to do with ghosts, even running off in fear during a {{Kimodameshi}}. She only makes exceptions for horror movies if her eldest sister Ichika appears in them.
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Akane gets scared stiff watching horror movies or other fake scary stuff -- but produce a real monster, and she switches to fearless ActionGirl mode. (Yes, Ranma usually winds up having to rescue her anyway, but it's his name in the title.)
* Inverted in ''Manga/ShesMyKnight''. Ichinose is terrified of the horror movie they see, but Mogami pretends to be scared and asks him to hold her hand so he can save face.

* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'': Asuna has repeatedly been shown to be terrified of ghosts:
** Kirito telling her a ghost story visibly unsettles her, and when she sees Yui, she mistakes the little girl for a ghost and starts freaking.
** In ''Hollow Realization'' during a sleepover event, she utterly freaks out as Lisbeth is telling a ghost story. [[spoiler:She practically has a heart attack when she thinks a real ghost (actually Leafa who logged back in after accidentally logging out from falling asleep) pops up in the room, and later refuses to let Kirito fall asleep until she does.]]
* Inverted in ''Manga/TokyoGhoul''. [[TheCutie Hinami]] loves to watch horror movies, but worries about them being scary and asks the others to watch them with her. But it's [[GentleGiant Banjou]] that ends up screaming and hiding under a blanket in terror. Made even ''more'' ironic by the fact all involved are [[OurGhoulsAreDifferent Ghouls]] being scared watching a Slasher film.
* Subverted in ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'': [[spoiler:Minori Kushieda]] pretends to be scared senseless by all things horror when, in fact, she [[NightmareFetishist loves horror movies]] and thus, encourages others to try scaring her.
* Inverted in ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' Chapter 36: when Ataru and Lum go for a ride on a "horror coaster," Lum actually frightens the "monsters" instead of being frightened by them. Whenever Ataru's paying attention, though, she pretends to be frightened, just to have a reason to cling to him.

* ''Manga/WastefulDaysOfHighSchoolGirls'': Zig-zagged. Majo, the anime equivalent of a PerkyGoth, is enraptured by gory horror films. Loli, on the other hand, is passed out next to her from sheer shock.
* In ''Manga/WotakoiLoveIsHardForOtaku'' have this during the amusement part date episode, this is played straight with Narumi and Hirotaka when they get on a haunted house ride (Narumi is easily terrified; Hirotaka is flippant), but gender-inverted with Tarou and Hanako (Hanako is impressively stoic; Tarou is jumpy and shouty all throughout). HilarityEnsues when Narumi accidentally drags Tarou instead of Hirotaka onto the ride with her, and the missed opportunity for romance on all sides is discussed.

There is some TruthInTelevision to this trope given that, according to a well-known psychological study, fear triggers romantic attraction (presumably when the fear is caused by something present in the environment and not the second person's actions, although some tropes might say otherwise). In fact, a [[http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sfischo/horrormoviesRev2.htm second study]] found that girls and women would often act more scared (either unconsciously or through deliberation) if they watched a movie with a date than they would act if they were watching the same movie alone. It also found that guys would act less scared when watching a movie with a girl than if they were watching it alone.

Sometimes this works as intended. But this scenario has many often comedic ways for it to go awry. The character could try to wrap their arms around their scared partner who is so freaked out, the sudden physical contact makes them jump and sends them fleeing. Or the love interest isn't scared at all and instead is wondering why our character is making a big deal out of nothing. Or worse: the character who tried to pull this off gets spooked themself and ends up missing their chance to make a move because they're too busy [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl screaming their heads off and crying for their mommy]].

While this trope is typically initiated by the person wanting to show off how calm, cool, and collected they are in the face of scares, it can also be initiated by the other person, who may pretend to be a DamselInDistress or fake being scared just to suggestively rub themself all over their partner or jump into their arms/lap. If this trope happens while the pair is watching a movie, a YawnAndReach or some HandsplayInTheater is to be expected. Regardless, the goal is the same: exploit this moment of horror to try to flirt and score romantic points with the person you're interested in.

While this trope is typically initiated by the person wanting to show off how calm, cool, and collected they are in the face of scares, it can also be initiated by the other person, who may pretend to be a DamselInDistress or fake being scared just to suggestively rub themself all over their partner or jump into their arms/lap. If this trope happens while the pair is watching a movie, a YawnAndReach or some HandsplayInTheater is to be expected.
Regardless, the goal is the same: exploit this moment of horror to try to score romantic points with the person you're interested in.

A (usually male) character will decide to do something scary with their love interest, like watching a horror film or show, going to a HauntedHouse, embarking on a [[{{kimodameshi}} test of courage]], doing a ScareDare, etc. When their love interest inevitably gets spooked and searches for comfort to calm them down, the character will use this opportunity to make a move on them, often by giving them a [[HoldingHands hand to hold]], a [[SecurityCling chest to turn into]], or someone to rely on to protect them from any harm that comes along with the spooks. Whether its from the physical contact or the gratitude from having a person to turn to, the love interest now sees the character in a much more favorable and much more romantic light. Cue the CrushBlush.

A (usually male) character will decide to do something scary with their love interest, like watching a horror film or show, going to a HauntedHouse, embarking on a [[{{kimodameshi}} test of courage]], doing a ScareDare, etc. When their love interest inevitably gets spooked and searches for comfort to calm them down, the character will use this opportunity to make a move on them, often by giving them a [[HoldingHands hand to hold]], [[SecurityClinga chest to turn into]], or someone to rely on to protect them from any harm that comes along with the spooks. Whether its from the physical contact or the gratitude from having a person to turn to, the love interest now sees the character in a much more favorable and much more romantic light. Cue the CrushBlush.

Characters trying to impress or protect a love interest as a way to get them to fall for them is nothing new, but this trope adds a horror twist. A (usually male) character and their love interest decide to do something scary, like watching a horror film or show, going to a HauntedHouse, embarking on a [[{{kimodameshi}} test of courage]], doing a ScareDare, etc. When their love interest inevitably gets spooked and searches for comfort, the character will use this opportunity to make a move on them, often by giving them [[SecurityCling a hand to hold, a chest to turn into]], or someone to lead the way.