History Main / RuleOfScary

[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]

* The third season of ''Series/{{Whitechapel}}'' runs on this trope. '''Everything''' is scary. Case in point: one of the witnesses to a crime (who only has about three seconds of screen-time) is a creepy old voodoo lady. She could have just as easily been portrayed as a normal housewife with curlers in her hair - but no, she's a creepy old voodoo lady. Even places like confectionery stores and the police station are ominous, shadowy places. As a result, even when the show is not being overtly scary, it's still consistently unsettling.

* ''VideoGame/Condemned2Bloodshot''. Why did those mannequins move to block the door behind you? Almost everything else in the game had some form of explanation, except [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPP5Ja7YNas that bit]]! SanitySlippage machines that are literally everywhere. It's just a hallucination. Now, why are SanitySlippage machines literally everywhere? AncientConspiracy. Why would an AncientConspiracy want SanitySlippage machines literally everywhere? This trope. That's why.
* While most, if not all, of the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent necromorphs]] in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' are pure ArtisticLicenseBiology, special mention has to go to the Hunter; that tenacious horror that stalks Isaac throughout certain portions of the game and is nigh unkillable due to its ability to grow back its limbs when they get chopped off. [[ShapeshifterBaggage Where does it get the extra mass to grow those limbs back?]] No one cares because it's terrifying.

* Playing a mortal in ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' (as distinct from an actual [[TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil hunter]]) will typically mean that encounters with the supernatural will be left unexplained and seemingly nonsensical. Supernatural characters generally have a better chance of figuring out what's going on (although there's always an exception...).

* ''Film/{{Eraserhead}}'' is completely [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible incomprehensible, like all True Art]], and profoundly disturbing.
** Almost anything by Creator/DavidLynch, really. His short film ''Rabbits'', for example. His creative process is that he will come up with a visual idea or a scene that interests him (not always scary, but often) and then make a film around it, without trying to justify or explain some of the weirder elements. In some cases (such as the Man Behind Winkies scene in ''Film/MulhollandDrive'') it will barely even be worked into the main narrative.

** It doesn't stop there: why in blazes would a door lock ever be tied to an electrical grid in such a way that it cannot be manually operated? There's no sane reason for that whatsoever apart from this trope.[[note]]But it ''does'' reflect but one of the [[NoOSHACompliance numerous oversights Hammond and the park designers made]], probably for reasons of some silly technological gimmickry[[/note]] It also explains why Tim and Lex keep a tight grasp on the IdiotBall several times: if they didn't do incredibly stupid things, the dinosaurs wouldn't be able to menace them constantly and create tension.

* [[DaylightHorror Just making something mindblowingly scary and showing it in all its well-lit horrific glory]] -- the hardest to pull off, as it [[TemptingFate risks]] highlighting even minor {{Special Effects Failure}}s unless done superbly, and often has to overcome the lack of menacing atmosphere. On the rare occasions it is done well, however, it can be absolute NightmareFuel, all the more jarring because both [[GenreSavvy viewers and characters]] tend to associate well lit areas with safety -- [[WrongGenreSavvy which is not always the case.]] Numerous particularly well-done instances of this form can be seen in Series/TheWalkingDead, with walkers as likely to attack in open fields in broad daylight as in dark basements, making for prime ParanoiaFuel.

->''"That was necessary. The melting thing was...necessary."''

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': The series' main premise and gameplay mechanics run on this. Why would animatronics at a children's pizza parlor be able to move around [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids when all they're supposed to do is perform on stage]]? So they can get close enough to kill you. Why does it use power to keep the doors ''closed''? So you can never be truly safe.

[[caption-width-right:328:[[Series/PimpMyRide Yo dawg, I heard you like mouths.]] [[MemeticMutation So I put a mouth in your mouth, so you can scream while you scream]].]]

* Many of the dinosaurs in ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' were deliberately stylized to be more menacing. The velociraptors are a particularly evident example.

* In the 1972 movie ''Film/TalesFromTheCrypt'', when the TwistEnding begs the question of how [[spoiler:a man who is supposed to "live forever" has died and been sent to Hell. There is a possible answer but they don't even hint to it...]]

* The xenomorph's life cycle from'' Franchise/{{Alien}}'', based on the way a spider wasp lays its eggs, as facehuggers implant embryos into their victim's chest. The xenomorphs have LEGOGenetics, as illustrated in ''Film/{{Alien 3}}''. So the embryo's host also provides the fertilization.
** Similarly, the Xenomorph's quick growth to adulthood, despite lacking any apparent source of food, or the laws of physics. The only important point is that the tiny creature they were hunting for has suddenly gotten much bigger, more dangerous, and is now hunting them.
* A great many films that [[FollowTheLeader ape]] ''Film/TheRing'' are like this - precisely why or how a ghost got into your video cassette/mobile phone/microwave oven, or why this should cause demented ghost like creatures to stalk you until you die is never explained and, when you think about it, is probably a pretty daft idea, but nevertheless, the films can still be exceedingly creepy.
** [[{{Film/Ringu}} The Japanese version]] does eventually explain how everything actually works, including the tape, but the actual explanation is actually strange enough to make it [[NightmareRetardant less scary]] in hindsight.
** If you read [[Literature/TheRing the novel]], it explains most things scientifically. Made it more a science fiction than a ghost story though.[[spoiler: In the novel, Sadako is not a ghost.]]

* The films of Creator/DarioArgento like ''Film/{{Suspiria|1977}}'', ''Film/{{Tenebre}}'' and ''Film/{{Phenomena}}'' (the second here has no supernatural elements and the third one much less than the first one), in particular, operate on a sort of bizarre dream logic. Things that make next to no sense are often seen to occur, but since the entire point of such events is to make the audience extremely nervous, the lapse in rationality is forgivable.

* Any objections people had to the reinterpretation of Dr. Jonathan Crane in ''Film/BatmanBegins'' from a university professor to an asylum manager were forgotten the moment we saw his [[MaskPower mask]] and his use of a chemical that can literally be called "NightmareFuel".
** The very fact that ComicBook/TheJoker has any capacity to do anything like what he does let alone to the extent that he does, ''ever'', breaks most common sense, but damn isn't he funny and scary for doing it. The song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbgLapRAloQ&feature=fvw The Dark Knight Is Confused]] sums them up perfectly: The Joker's goons are schizos who are nevertheless dependable and self-sacrificing and for a guy who doesn't look like he had a plan, he musta organized these attacks on an evil day planner.

* The ending of the "Amelia" segment of horror AnthologyFilm ''Trilogy Of Terror'': [[spoiler: There's no explanation as to why being possessed by a spirit formerly contained in a Zuni fetish doll would mean you'd also inherit the doll's razor sharp teeth... but the final shot of the movie, Amelia slowly giving a SlasherSmile to the camera, is definitely scarier for it]]

* The supernatural elements on ''Series/TwinPeaks'' all operated on a kind of nightmarish dream logic. There's no explanation for why The Black Lodge looks like a waiting room, or for why all the spirits seem to feed on a kind of demonic creamed corn, or for why one of the main villains is a demon named BOB who looks like an extra in a bar scene and can turn into an owl or something. Additionally, the camerawork and sound design often make seemingly-normal objects - the ceiling fan over the Palmer family's staircase, or the traffic light outside the Double R Diner - seem like the embodiment of pure evil, for no clear reason. (Although ''Film/FireWalkWithMe'' [[BackstoryHorror reveals]] that there's a good reason the fan is imbued with evil: [[spoiler:BOB always switches it on before entering Laura's room to rape her]].) Of course, this is what happens when Creator/DavidLynch is your showrunner.

* About the only consistent detail regarding the [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]] is that he is [[UncannyValley freakishly tall, impossibly skinny]], [[TheBlank faceless]], and has arms that are in some way related to [[WhenTreesAttack tree branches]] and/or [[CombatTentacles tentacles]]. Oh, and he's [[NightmareFuel scary]]. Aside from that, nobody has quite the same interpretation of him, which just adds to his EldritchAbomination mystique.

* The third season of ''Series/{{Whitechapel}}'' runs on this trope. '''Everything''' is scary. Case in point: one of the witnesses to a crime (who only has about three seconds of screen-time) is a creepy old voodoo lady. She could have just as easily been portrayed as a normal housewife with curlers in her hair - but no, she's a creepy old voodoo lady. Even places like confectionary stores and the police station are ominous, shadowy places. As a result, even when the show is not being overtly scary, it's still consistently unsettling.

** For that matter, the motives behind the actions of the Umbrella Corporation hardly ever make sense. It's as if their strategic planning sessions consist of people saying "Hey, I wonder what would happen if we injected zombie juice into one of ''these''!" Then again, this ''is'' a company where [[SolveTheSoupCans getting into the mens' room requires fetching the four parts to a family crest on the door, each of which is heavily guarded and hidden at a different corner of the map]].
** The pre-rendered backgrounds only allowed for fixed camera movement in the older games for the Playstation (and this was the case for many other [=PS1=] games at the time). Many argue that this techinical limitation actually added to the scary atmosphere compared to the later games, as the player usually cannot see what is attacking them from certain areas. This applies similarly to the ''VideoGame/DinoCrisis'' games.

** One theory in-game is that when too many atrocities are committed in one place, the monsters come. Thus, the possibillity the events of the game could happen anywhere. It's a small world after all...

* ''The Wiki/SCPFoundation'' basically defines this trope, often describing the effects of its various horrors in emotionless clinical detail, and just when you think it can't get any worse they [DATA EXPUNGED], forcing your mind to follow the list of [REDACTED] to the logical conclusion that █████████.

Contrast {{Narm}}, NightmareRetardant, RuleOfCute, which negate a work's potential for fear. Also contrast AdultFear and RealismInducedHorror, which seek to instill fear in audiences through plausibility.

* ''Franchise/SilentHill''. Specific examples include the mannequin in ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'' that screams and has its head break off, complete with blood, when you happen to be looking the other way? No real reason for it, but it's creepy.
** Stanley Coleman. Finding his little notes for Heather is completely optional, and has no real impact on the plot, except to provide serious ParanoiaFuel.
* Half of the non-zombie creatures in ''Franchise/ResidentEvil''. [[GiantSpider Giant zombie spiders]] are creepy, even though you might wonder why a tarantula would grow several hundred times its body mass, but not other zombies.
** Oddly enough, it seems that only mammals can become zombified; the T-virus seems to just make insects, reptiles, and plants get bigger and more aggressive. Birds seem to just become more aggressive without becoming larger or putrefied. There hasn't been any concrete explanation in canon, but the real reason is obvious: Giant insects and reptiles are more freaky than non-giant ones.
** For that matter, the motives behind the actions of the Umbrella Corporation hardly ever make sense. It's as if their strategic planning sessions consist of people saying "Hey, I wonder what would happen if we injected zombie juice into one of ''these''!" Then again, this ''is'' a company where [[SolveTheSoupCans getting into the mens' room requires fetching the four parts to a family crest on the door, each of which is heavily guarded and hidden at a different corner of the map]].
** The pre-rendered backgrounds only allowed for fixed camera movement in the older games for the Playstation (and this was the case for many other [=PS1=] games at the time). Many argue that this techinical limitation actually added to the scary atmosphere compared to the later games, as the player usually cannot see what is attacking them from certain areas. This applies similarly to the ''VideoGame/DinoCrisis'' games.
* Also, [=ReDead=] from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. Why these dried-up zombies wanted to dry-hump your face was never explained.
** Beneath the Well, and the Shadow Temple. Spontaneously sinking ghost ships, fake walls, floors, and platforms, [[InstantAIJustAddWater autonomous]] [[{{BFS}} giant guillotines]], an invisible boss that fights by beating on a giant bongo... the list goes on.
* ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' has a statue that turns its head to look at you, even when your sanity is at its highest. It serves no purpose, other than to creep you out.
* By and large, ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' is not a horror game. It's a narrative-driven game with fairly standard baddies, albeit much more thought-provoking than most. That did not stop the developers from randomly throwing in scripted events where enemies suddenly appear right behind you or things that shouldn't be alive suddenly become so. The general lack of this elsewhere in the game and total subversion of logic is exactly what makes it so effective.

* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]''. How is Alma able to [[spoiler: rape the player character and become pregnant when she's an undead psychic ghost?]] Who cares, because it's absolutely ''terrifying.''
** Using her power [[spoiler: to reanimate her dead body, which was released from it's confinement]] at the end of the first game.
* ''VideoGame/TheSuffering''. Why are those malefactors suddenly appearing and murdering everyone on the island and in the city?
** One theory in-game is that when too many atrocities are committed in one place, the monsters come. Thus, the possibillity the events of the game could happen anywhere. It's a small world after all...
* ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers''. How did those floating rocks in the future get up there in the first place?

* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' has quite a bit of this. Why do ghosts have to get close if you want to inflict maximum damage? Because it's scary.

* Or in ''VideoGame/Condemned2Bloodshot''. Why did those mannequins move to block the door behind you? Almost everything else in the game had some form of explanation, except [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPP5Ja7YNas that bit]]! SanitySlippage machines that are literally everywhere. It's just a hallucination. Now, why are SanitySlippage machines literally everywhere? AncientConspiracy. Why would an AncientConspiracy want SanitySlippage machines literally everywhere? This trope. That's why.
* Similar to the ''Condemned'' example above, what is up with the mannequins in ''VideoGame/NightmareHouse''? Or the shadows in the hallway? [[spoiler: Are the zombies even real in the first place?]]. Doesn't matter, it's still damn scary.
* ''VideoGame/{{GOHOME}}'' runs on this to the point of BlackComedy. Sometimes enemies will literally pop up from nowhere, and there are very few set rules to the world they inhabit. Why are you being chased by a ghost with a swollen head while EarRape orchestral music plays every time she chases you? No one knows. Is it creepy? Definitely.

* [[LastNoteNightmare Ending on a note]] [[BreadEggsMilkSquick or element]] no sane person would. You'll find [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans are psychopathic]]. What is funny, notched up, is scary (and still kinda funny.) Exempli gratia: [[Film/TheDarkKnight "How about a magic trick? I'm gonna make this pencil disappear..."]]

* In the 1972 movie ''Film/TalesFromTheCrypt'', when the TwistEnding begs the question of how [[spoiler:both a man who is supposed to "live forever" has died and been sent to Hell. There is a possible answer but they don't even hint to it...]]
* ''Film/TalesFromTheDarksideTheMovie'' could make one wonder how [[spoiler:an above average size domestic cat can able to fit [[OrificeInvasion a person's mouth, even before crawling all the way down the throat]]]].