History Main / ScarilySpecificStory

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Graveyard Shift," Squidward makes up a ghost story to scare [=SpongeBob=] after they're stuck working the night shift at the Krusty Krab. The subject of his story, the "Hash-Slinging Slasher," used to be a fry cook at the Krusty Krab just like [=SpongeBob=] (only clumsier), and he returns every Tuesday night, which is the night they're working. Later in the episode, everything Squidward said starts happening, from the lights flickering to a shadowy figure believed to be the Hash-Slinging Slasher showing up by bus.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax''. The Once-ler is mad at Ted Wiggins for interrupting his story of the past, so he tries to intimidate him by claiming that the story will soon feature a musical number about "the kid who kept interrupting the story and [[ImpliedDeathThreat was never heard from again]]".

* The ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "The Vacation" starts with the Watterson family on a road trip telling horror stories. After her children remarked her inability to be scary due to her age, Nicole tells a spooky story of a family driving through the desert in a car, emphasizing each detail to mirror their own road trip, even the family involved. Almost everything she narrated turned out to be coming true, from the car breaking down to meeting a strange old man who accurately matched her description.

The most common approach is to make the character(s) in the story seem similar to the listener(s). Specifics such as hair colour, interests, number of people, job, etc will be the same as the listeners'. For added freakiness points, the storyteller might pretend to mull it over, then look directly at the listener (e.g. "There was a woman who had... I dunno... ''long, dark hair'' *looks directly at [[BrainyBrunette Alice]]*"). Making the monster a PickyPeopleEater who eats people that match the description of the listeners is also common.

* In ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/59153/everfree-and-the-poisoned-flower Everfree and the Poisoned Flower]],'' to scare the Cutie Mark Crusaders out of going into the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy tells them a scary story about a little filly named Oleander who--just like the Crusaders--wanted more than anything to get her cutie mark. One day, when Oleander was playing with her little sister Everfree, a trickster named Coyote gave her a map that he said would lead her to her cutie mark, but said she had to leave Everfree with him. Oleander followed the map and discovered her namesake flower, but when she got back home, she still hadn't gotten her cutie mark. And while she was gone, Everfree had disappeared. Their mother refused to let Oleander come home until she found her sister. Now she roams the Forest eternally, searching and calling for Everfree.

* In ''[[Film/TheAddamsFamily Addams Family Values]]'', when the girls are telling a ghost story to one another in their bunks, they ask Wednesday to finish it. Wednesday does so by having the ghost return to the haunted cabin in order to prove his power to the campers he's haunting, and when the campers wake up, they find that all of their old noses had grown back. The rich, preppy girls around her start screaming their heads off.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' where Fry starts his campfire horror story with "Once not long ago, four people set off on a trail ride", mirroring the four of them there, to which Bender interjects, "Robot gets bored and kills Fry with a hammer!"

* PlayedForDrama in ''WesternAnimation/{{Paranorman}}''. Norman was originally tasked with reading a generic bedtime story that had been used to keep the witch [[RipVanWinkle asleep for years]], though it quickly ends up destroyed. When Norman finally confronts the witch, he decides to tell her a story about a little girl who [[ISeeDeadPeople could see ghosts]] but was [[DeathOfAChild killed]] because everyone was afraid of her, mirroring the witch's own tragic past. Ultimately, he succeeds in finally calming her down and allowing her to see she's NotSoDifferent to the townspeople who tormented her.

* In ''[[Film/TheAddamsFamily Addams Family Values]]'', when the girls are telling a ghost story to one another in their bunks, they ask Wednesday to finish it. Wednesday does so by having the ghost return to the haunted cabin in order to prove his power to the campers he's haunting, and when the campers wake up, they find that all of their old noses had grown back. The rich, preppy girls around her start screaming their heads off.

* During a Halloween special of ''Series/TheOffice'', Robert California goes around to everyone and [[WhatDoTheyFearEpisode asks what their worst fears are]]. At the end of the episode, he tells a ghost story that quickly [[DeconstructedTrope grows extremely absurd]] as he randomly adds in details to scare his employees.

->''But a long time ago, two kids, who were... I don't know... maybe in'' '''''middle school''''' (looks straight at his middle-school aged brother and the brother's best friend) ''trick-or-treated at that house on Halloween Night. But the house was full of devil worshippers who stuffed the kids in giant ovens and cooked them... and ate them!''

Another common way is to make the weather or the place seem creepily similar to the current situation -- for instance, starting the story on ItWasADarkAndStormyNight when the night ''is'' currently dark and stormy. However, when adding examples like this, please make sure that they have detail beyond "it happened right here" or "on a night like this", since that would include nearly every ghost story.

* In ''Film/AddamsFamilyValues'', when the girls are telling a ghost story to one another in their bunks, they ask Wednesday to finish it. Wednesday does so by having the ghost return to the haunted cabin in order to prove his power to the campers he's haunting, and when the campers wake up, they find that all of their old noses had grown back. The rich, preppy girls around her start screaming their heads off.

* Played with in ''Ringu'' and the American remake of ''Literature/TheRing''. It begins with a girl telling a scary story about a cursed videotape that kills you seven days after watching. She's only trying to creep out her friend...then her friend reveals that ''she'' watched the tape. [[OhCrap Seven days ago.]]

[[folder:Films- Animation]]

[[folder:Films- Live-Action]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Graveyard Shift," Squidward makes up a ghost story to scare [=SpongeBob=] after they're stuck working the night shift at the Krusty Krab. The subject of his story, the "Hash-Slinging Slasher," used to be a fry cook at the Krusty Krab just like [=SpongeBob=] (only clumsier), and he returns every Tuesday night, which is the night they're working.