Basic Trope: Mutant life forms grow on spoiled food in the refrigerator.
- Straight: Bob leaves some leftover lasagna in the fridge and forgets about it for a month. It turns into an Eldritch Abomination that attacks Bob.
- Exaggerated:
- The lasagna grows an entire civilization.
- Experts wearing HAZMAT suits are required to clean Bob's refrigerator. They use flamethrowers.
- The Festering Fungus growing in the crisper drawer spreads out and overtakes the apartment.
- The nasty refrigerator is the least of Bob's worries — his entire apartment is a mess.
- The moldy lasagna is literally the only thing in Bob's fridge.
- Downplayed: Although a lot of the food in Bob's foul bachelor fridge is moldy, there are no lifeforms above the usual fungus and mold found on many an old food item.
- Justified:
- Bob is a slob and the trope is used to exaggerate how much of a slob he is.
- Bob is a Lethal Chef whose culinary "masterpieces" are like something out of a bad 1950s monster movie.
- Bob's refrigerator has the power to turn leftovers into mutants thanks to a design flaw or Bob trying to fix the refrigerator.
- Inverted: Eldritch Abominations are placed into the fridge and turn into acceptable food.
- Subverted:
- After he sees a sign of this starting to happen, Bob makes an effort to clean up the food before it spoils.
- The creature from the fridge is friendly and benign.
- Double Subverted:
- But he forgets to change the baking soda, and a Monster of the Week emerges.
- ... and it came out to help Bob fight the other creature from the fridge, an evil Eldritch Abomination.
- Parodied:
- The Eldritch Abomination becomes Bob's new pet — right after it eats his dog (or cat).
- The lasagna people worship Bob, sculpting an idol of him out of solidified mashed potatoes.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Nothing unusual happens in the fridge.
- Enforced: Guys are Slobs, Monster of the Week, Gross-Out Show
- Lampshaded: "Hey, Bob, do you mind if I get rid of this, or are you doing a science project on the regenerative properties of three-month-old tuna casserole?"
- Invoked: Bob is very forgetful, and puts a Tupperware container in the fridge.
- Exploited: Bob is a Brilliant, but Lazy Mad Scientist and after discovering his fridge's Eldritch Abomination growing properties re-purposes it as Mook Maker.
- Defied: Bob reminds himself to clean the fridge at least every couple of months and not allow food to stay in the fridge more than a week or two. He also keeps the fridge and freezer at a low enough temperature to keep micro-beasties at bay.
- Discussed: "It's a wonder Bob hasn't died of food poisoning!"
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: Bob opens the refrigerator and runs screaming from the kitchen.
- Deconstructed: Obviously, it presents a real health hazard.
- Reconstructed: Bob, thanks to living in close proximity to it for an extended period of time, is immune to its health hazards and keeps it as a pet. It scares the hell out of visitors, however.
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