History Main / NothingIsScarier

* In ''Manga/BrynhildrInTheDarkness'', there are three buttons every "magician" (read:test subject). This acts as a collar, so it is expected, but it is their functions that are extremely creepy. One button acts as a suppressant for the powers. Another kills them and does so in an [[{{Gorn}} extremely gory fashion]]. The ''third'' is unknown to everyone and is implied to be a FateWorseThanDeath, so no one even ''dares'' to find out what it does.

* The ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "No One Can Hear You". Most of the episode is Finn and Jake ''alone'' in the Candy Kingdom. It's particularly scary because ''Adventure Time'' is a LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters show, so not seeing anybody else for almost 10 minutes ''never happens''.

** The first story features a creature hidden inside a mound of broken branches, which seems to absorb the warmth, light and sound around it. In reality, it is far larger than said mound, with a mere ''shrug'' from it making the earth itself shake. It's never stated what exactly it looks like, or even just what it ''is''. Rule #10 does refer to it indirectly, but all it says about it is to neither leave the tent or even look outside until the sun is up.

%% leave image on right, please.

Compare and contrast AndIMustScream, CatScare, CreepyBasement, DaylightHorror, GoryDiscretionShot, JumpScare, MonsterDelay, UltimateEvil, and TheUnreveal. One of the counterarguments against leaving nothing to the imagination, and sometimes an argument against {{Gorn}} as well. DeadAir can be this for radio. TheSpook and the DiabolusExNihilo are often characterized by this trope.

Compare and contrast AndIMustScream, CatScare, CreepyBasement, DaylightHorror, GoryDiscretionShot, JumpScare, MonsterDelay, UltimateEvil, and TheUnreveal. One of the counterarguments against leaving nothing to the imagination, and sometimes an argument against {{Gorn}} as well. DeadAir can be this for radio.

* [[NothingIsScarier/LiveActionFilms Film — Live-Action]]

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* ''Website/TheOnion''

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* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' Treehouse of Horror. Lisa reads Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's ''Literature/TheRaven'', causing Bart to comment "You know what would be scarier than nothing? ANYTHING!" Lisa defends it by saying people must have just been easier to scare back then, even though finding nobody outside your room when ''something'' just knocked on the door would be pretty spooky. Homer, however, is terrified, because the entire poem runs on AdultFear.

[[folder:Jokes]]
* A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and asks to stay the night. The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes home. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks again accept him, feed him, and fix his car. He hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier and asks what it is, but the monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man then asks how he can become a monk. The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, grasshopper, you will become a true monk." The man sets about his task. Decades later, he returns and knocks on the monastery door. He informs them that there are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth. The monks reply, "Welcome. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound." The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is right behind that door." The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. The monks give him a key that's attached to a 10-key ring, and he opens the wooden door. Behind that door is another door made of stone. The monks show him which of the 9 other keys opens that door. The man opens the stone door, only to find a door made of ruby. Again, the monks show him which key to use. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. So it goes until the man has gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, amethyst, and gold. Finally, the monks say, "That key right there on your key ring unlocks the last door." The man is ready. He unlocks a jade door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound. ''But I can't tell you what it is, because you're not a monk.''
[[/folder]]

** There's one artifact that actually, ''in-universe,'' is basically this trope in a box. What's done to contain it is ''epic,'' more so than some artifacts known to be capable of ending the world. Then you find out what it is: it's a box that makes a ticking sound, like a clock. What is it counting down to? How much time is left? Being near it makes you ''incredibly'' paranoid about that, but that is ''all'' it does. [[TheEndOrIsIt Maybe.]] Perhaps the real danger is that the object's memetic paranoia [[FridgeBrilliance will cause widespread panic]] if too many people realize its existence.

** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1562 SCP-1562]] is a slide that, if you go down it on your stomach with your arms at your sides, it sends you a dark, cramped tunnel with just barely enough room to move forward or backward. Out of two D-Classes who were sent in, the first found a child's shoe and heard a young boy talking, but not talking to ''him'', before he was abruptly cut off. The second D-Class found the first, but he wasn't moving and began repeating the conversation he'd with the doctor on the radio word-for-word (implying the tunnel's location is a specific point in ''time'' as well as space). Once that was over, contact with the second D-Class was lost as well. Attempts at study or even recovering anyone sent to the tunnel are impossible, and there's no way of knowing if the people sent there ''[[AndIMustScream actually die]].''

** A lot of SCPs work on the principle of either redacting or nobody having any clue what some central element of the story is.

* A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and asks to stay the night. The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes home. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks again accept him, feed him, and fix his car. He hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier and asks what it is, but the monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man then asks how he can become a monk. The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, grasshopper, you will become a true monk." The man sets about his task. Decades later, he returns and knocks on the monastery door. He informs them that there are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth. The monks reply, "Welcome. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound." The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is right behind that door." The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. The monks give him a key that's attached to a 10-key ring, and he opens the wooden door. Behind that door is another door made of stone. The monks show him which of the 9 other keys opens that door. The man opens the stone door, only to find a door made of ruby. Again, the monks show him which key to use. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. So it goes until the man has gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, amethyst, and gold. Finally, the monks say, "That key right there on your key ring unlocks the last door." The man is ready. He unlocks a jade door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound. But I can't tell you what it is, because you're not a monk.[[/folder]]

* A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and asks to stay the night. The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes home. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks again accept him, feed him, and fix his car. He hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier and asks what it is, but the monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man then asks how he can become a monk. The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, grasshopper, you will become a true monk." The man sets about his task. Decades later, he returns and knocks on the monastery door. He informs them that there are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth. The monks reply, "Welcome. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound." The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is right behind that door." The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. The monks give him a key that's attached to a 10-key ring, and he opens the wooden door. Behind that door is another door made of stone. The monks show him which of the 9 other keys opens that door. The man opens the stone door, only to find a door made of ruby. Again, the monks show him which key to use. Behind that door is another door, this one made of
sapphire. So it goes until the man has gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, amethyst, and gold. Finally, the monks say, "That key right there on your key ring unlocks the last door." The man is ready. He unlocks a jade door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound. But I can't tell you what it is, because you're not a monk.[[/folder]]

* A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and asks to stay the night. The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, and even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a
strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes home. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks again accept him, feed him, and fix his car. He hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier and asks what it is, but the monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man then asks how he can become a monk. The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, grasshopper, you will become a true monk." The man sets about his task. Decades later, he returns and knocks on the monastery door. He informs them that there are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth. The monks reply, "Welcome. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound." The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is right behind that door." The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. The monks give him a key that's attached to a 10-key ring, and he opens the wooden door. Behind that door is another door made of stone. The monks show him which of the 9 other keys opens that door. The man opens the stone door, only to find a door made of ruby. Again, the monks show him which key to use. Behind that door is another door, this one made of

** This gets even worse when you see SCP-835's incredibly {{squick}}y uncensored articles and realize that ''there is a very good reason for that''.
** SCP-231. You never know what they're actually doing to the pregnant girl, though it's kinda obvious with how any Class-D personnel conducting Procedure 110-Montauk will be terminated if they even try to prolong it. (The author has claimed it's actually not the obvious answer, but refuses to elaborate on what it actually is, beyond "[[TakeOurWordForIt worse]]".) The worst part about it? She HAS to be [[AndIMustScream alive, awake, and aware]] for the procedure to work.
** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-579 SCP-579]] is described simply as [DATA EXPUNGED]. However, it's kept in an alternate universe created by another SCP. Procedure if that doesn't work? ''Destroy that alternate universe.'' Procedure if ''that'' doesn't work? "In the event of an unsuccessful Action 10-Israfil-B, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt no further action will be necessary]]." In fact, this trope is why the containment procedures always come before the description. Unless you cheat and skip ahead, you start out knowing ''nothing'' about the thing but the increasingly LongList of ''just'' what it takes to make sure the thing never sees the light of day, and if it's done right, you're scared ''before'' the section after that, which tells what it is, and the section after ''that,'' that tells what it did last time it was in the general population.

** SCP-823, while already being one of the most terrifying articles on the site, has containment procedures that are never actually explained. There are two "zones" surrounding the theme park, a yellow zone and a red zone. The yellow zone is bad enough but whatever is in the red zone is so heinous and dreadful that anyone who enters it is to be killed on sight. The only thing we know about it? Sometimes piping or music comes from the red zone and if that's the case, personnel need to get out of there immediately.
** SCP-1562 is a slide that, if you go down it on your stomach with your arms at your sides, it sends you a dark, cramped tunnel with just barely enough room to move forward or backward. Out of two D-Classes who were sent in, the first found a child's shoe and heard a young boy talking, but not talking to ''him'', before he was abruptly cut off. The second D-Class found the first, but he wasn't moving and began repeating the conversation he had with the doctor on the radio word-for-word. Once that was over, contact with the second D-Class was lost as well. Attempts at study or even recovering anyone sent to the tunnel are impossible, and there's no way of knowing if the people sent there ''[[AndIMustScream actually die]].''

** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2935 SCP-2935]] is a cave that leads into a universe exactly like ours, with one exception: Everything in it died at 3:13 on 2016 April 20. As the expedition sent into the dead universe trying to gain an understanding of what has happened, the possibilities ''decrease'' as they keep looking. Let us reiterate that: They start out with nothing, and then get ''fewer'' possibilities from that point onward. It's not a disease because ''everything'' in this universe died at the exact same moment, including molecular life, meaning the corpses do not even decompose. It's not some SCP that's gone on a rampage because all of the [=SCPs=] died, too. Organic [=SCPs=] have all died -- including 682, the completely unkillable omnicidal lizard. Inorganic [=SCPs=] have become inactive, with some of them even having started to corrode. And ''something'' happened to a certain ethereal Ghost Girl SCP which caused her to violently explode, painting the walls of her containment cell with ectoplasmic remains. (Speculated by the expedition to have been caused by her "dying twice".) Literally ''nothing'' that could be deemed in any at all way "alive" or "sentient" by any definition of the words was spared this event save for one thing: The dead universe's iteration of Agent Keller, one of the expedition members, who AteHisGun and is the only thing in this world that's actually decomposing... Finally the expedition send a drone over to our side with some material but they are all killed when a nuke at the site they're exploring goes off shortly thereafter... Then we learn, through the last recorded words of the dead universe's Agent Keller, the truth, which is no less terrifying and does nothing to dispell this trope: Alternate Keller of the dead universe was sent into his 'verse's iteration of SCP-2935, only to find a dead universe on the other side -- same as the main expedition -- and the very moment he returned to his own universe, everyone in his universe died as well.

** ''Website/TheOnion''

-->'''Representative Haller:''' Air Force units may also be directed to combat said CLASSIFIED due to their enormous size and otherworldly strengths. Should event occur in urban areas... Jesus. Uh, that's CLASSIFIED... far surpassing our darkest nightmares. Should casualties exceed CLASSIFIED body disposal actions shall be halted and associated resources shall be reallocated to CLASSIFIED underground CLASSIFIED protected birthing centers.

* Towards the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=NcR9af_akCw this]] video from ''Website/TheOnion''. The narrator says "Somehow the fear of spiders is even worse than the spiders themselves."

* ''Series/CaptainScarletAndTHeMysterons'': The Mysterons are never seen on-screen. They are represented visually by twin rings of green light that they cast onto the scenes of murder and destruction from which their facsimiles emerge.

* DC had a horror anthology title in the 80s called ''Wasteland.'' Due to one error or another, issue #5 was published with issue #6's cover. When [[http://www.comicvine.com/wasteland-method-actor-paper-hero-on-the-road-part-1/37-47657/ the real #6]] came out, it was numbered "the real number six", and the cover, apart from framing elements, was pure white. For a horror comic, it worked quite well.

* The main idea behind Max Gilardi's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpYloHajJNs The Northern Incident]]''. The video starts off with a fisherman and his dog staying in a shack up in the Yukon Territories for a few days, only for their truck to be stolen by an unseen stranger. As weeks go by, the fisherman gets cut off from the rest of the world, and whenever he hears knocking on the door, no one will be outside. It's a very unsettling video for [[spoiler: a TakeThat towards Furries]].

* In ''Fanfic/FromBeyondRWBY'', Blake gets increasingly worried as she heads towards where she saw Jaune land but hears nothing from him. When she gets there she finds that [[LFirstEpisodeSpoiler Jaune is dead with a grimm eating his body]].
-->''Blake'': Curse, moan, scream... rant about your landing. Anything.

* [[https://twitter.com/ASmallFiction/status/965483556376948736 This tweet]] by Blog/ASmallFiction is about a [[CanaryInACoalMine canary brought into a mine]] revealing the presence of ''something'' that speaks through it. The nature of it is left to the imagination -- the ones carrying the canary [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere don't stick around long enough to find out]].