The game uses all three versions of this trope, all to the scariest possible effect:
It uses the "Wait for it" version, in that using the cameras littered around the facility, you can always tell where the enemies are, either through simple deduction or being able to see them. There are blind spots around your room, and since you can usually tell when an enemy is there... then you press the light, you're treated to an Uncanny Valley, still picture of the animatronic abomination, and then you slam that "shut door" button like there's no tomorrow. Then there's Foxy, who rushes◊ down your position, but it can be hard to tell when.
It uses the "Nothing at all" version, in which you are peacefully sitting in your room, flicking through all the cameras, and you see all the animatronics are scattered around, and nowhere near you. You put the monitor away, and... nothing but the fan. No sound, no monstrosities to defend yourself against. Nothing.
The aforementioned version is also used with Foxy. It is (rarely) possible for him to get you on the first night, but he most likely won't and you won't be told about him until the second night. So by the time that rolls around and he's specifically pointed out to you, you realize there was a fourth potentially deadly animatronic the whole time and you had no idea.
There will be many moments where the robots are nowhere near your room and there's merely dead silence.
The kitchen. All you get is an audio-only feed, with no way of determining what's going on in there. There's supposedly not even actual assets for what it looks like. But Chica and Freddy like to visit it as a blind spot to your cameras, and sometimes you can hear Chica knocking over pots and pans.
No information is given about Golden Freddy at all in game. The only things we know are that he's an empty costume, he can teleport, he appears when you set 1-9-8-7 on the custom night, and makes his presence known by appearing on a certain poster.
After Freddy finishes his song after you run out of power, everything goes pitch black and dead silent for a painstakingly long time before Freddy kills you. However, if you're incredibly close to 6 AM, you have to sit there and wait for Freddy to decide your fate.
The game's final teaser image is completely black to the naked eye, except the red exclamation mark by the camera — but brighten up the image, and you get a creepy image of the Puppet.
The Phone Dude is not lying when he says that Night 1 is there for you to settle in and get used to the new system. There are no computer errors, and Springtrap is brought in on Night 2, which is where the game begins proper.
In the previous two games, the Game Over screen showed what happened to the protagonist after the animatronics catch them. What does this game show? Nothing.
When Phantom Puppet shows up, he merely fills the screen with his face. If you try to move, he moves with you. That's all he does.
Phantom Mangle will just lurk behind the Office window, and make static noises. Then it drops out of sight and the hallucination ends. Sometimes, he will just stare at you without making noise before dropping out of sight. If the monitors are down when this happens, Mike will pant in fear.
In the trailer, a light is repeatedly flashed, showing an empty and desolate hallway. After several flashes, there is prolonged darkness and the music cuts out. When the light is flashed again, something is at the end of the hall.
In the game itself, there are virtually no sounds whatsoever, and what sounds are there are very quiet. The only mentionable sound is the terrifying jumpscare scream.
That moment of sheer tension when you open a door and stick your head out into the darkness, deciding whether or not you want to see what's down that hallway.
While several of the locations are extremely dark, several nights require the player to make their way across a room that is pitch-black. In Night 2, all the player has is a flashlight, and Night 3 has a flashing bulb. Night 5 has nothing at all, requiring the player to listen carefully, since they can't see.
The first "sound test" won't actually hurt you, but you wouldn't know that from being suddenly across a small table from a dangerous-looking animatronic in a dimly-lit room with a cassette tape not telling you everything you need to know.
Begin audio prompt in three, two, one. [bizarre sound effect] Document results. [unreasonably small pause] Begin audio prompt in three, two, one...
◊ down your position, but it can be hard to tell when.
