It's been a while since I last did a tropes list and I felt with horror now being taken more seriously, it would be a good time to talk about the tropes in horror and Halloween that definitely need to die. From random jump scares to stereotypical ways of killing of characters and more, these are just 25 of the tropes that I personally feel should die. So let's not waste too much time and get to it with the weapons, claws, pins, knifes and machetes at the ready:
25 - Modding your Horror Games
OK, I will admit that yes I mod my games too. Sometimes it's really fun and actually makes an otherwise dull game, much more entertaining. I myself have pretty much exhausted the NSFW mods (and as I'm turned on both ways, there is a lot there), but the reason why it's on the list is because some horror games are much better being played without mods. There are a few that are so good that modding them would destroy the experience completely. But on the other hand, some mods can actually make the game interesting. Such as if you choose to use a nude mod for example, it makes many of the characters more vulnerable to all the horror that is in the game, and it especially makes a kidnapping feel like the character you are saving was used in a sexual way and wasn't given back their gear. So for this one, it's not one that I would say has to die. But it is one that should when it comes to horror games that really don't need them or do, but must be the right ones.
24 - Other Holidays just got Scary
The problem I have here is that when you already have a holiday to do with all things scary and in the genre of horror, it just doesn't feel right when other holidays try to be scary. Some of the best ones, I will admit, are those tied to Christmas, but many of them just don't feel right when it's a different holiday to Halloween. I'm yet to see a horror that's set at Easter, but there have been a few Thanksgiving ones (which our equivalent of, is Bonfire Night in a way) and several Christmas ones. I will admit some of my all-time favourite horrors or scary films are to do with other holidays, but when it's a holiday that has nothing to do with horror or scary things, it just doesn't feel right for me.
23 - Stupidly Entering a place that's been Abandoned
Nearly every YouTuber, who does this for a living, has done this. Most have paid the price for it, while many others have got away. But this really has to stop because doing this is not exactly a risk-free thing. Far from it in fact because often you'll find that buildings are abandoned for a reason. Like they have health and safety risks, something happened that caused it to be condemned and all that jazz. So if you really must film yourselves going into an abandoned building, do so knowing that there are risks involved. Or just don't do it at all.
22 - The Monster isn't real, it's just a guy in a Mask
Ahh yes, the tired Scooby-Doo thing where at the end of nearly every mystery, the culprit is always a guy in a mask. But as later shows and films have proven, that's not always the case (though the fanbase is torn over some of the things the characters have tried to debunk in more recent years). It's a great way to scare people, but when its like the same thing over and over again, the formula becomes all too familiar, like with the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the moment. Nothing bad with doing the same thing, but after so many shows and films, I would expect things to at least change, but in a good way. But Scooby-Doo isn't the only culprit of having people dressed up only to be caught in their crimes, as the formula has carried over into other films and TV shows with horror or scary stuff in mind.
21 - The Sex Appeal of Vampires
I think ever since the Twilight Saga was a thing, vampires have taken on a whole new thing. Gone are the days when people just liked the mystery, the violence and blood sucking nature of them, and here comes the sex appeal. Hot good-looking vampires who either don't wear much or nothing at all and for a lot of us, that can come across as a bit dull. Many of us love monsters and all that, but when you make them sexy, it can ruin what made them good in the first place. Vampires are a prime suspect here, and I guess werewolves too where nearly every scene, their human forms had to get naked just to turn into one. It's fine to have attractive people play these roles, but too much sex appeal can be too much.
20 - Darkness is Bad (also Flashlights can be the worst at times)
Many of us hate the dark, but what's worse is when you have pretty poor lighting in the dark. This has been a thing in horror games for a while. A dark place with a flashlight that constantly needs batteries to keep going. With creatures around every corner, this trope is just one that really pushes our sanity to the limit. Even sometimes to the point of making us outright stop playing completely or not even consider buying said game. This one really needs to end or at the very
19 - "I Don't Believe You and you Must go get Help"
We've all seen or heard this one. When something scary happens and the characters want people to believe them, but they don't and tell them they need psychological help. From killer dolls to ghostly presences, people just want other people to believe them. But just feels like a waste of time most of the time. In the end, all is well. But yeah this trope is just too annoying and predictable.
18 - Found Footage Just Doesn't work any more
Found footage does work well... at least when the trope first started. Now nearly everybody wants a crack at it to the point where its just not as good as it once was. I mean since the third film, every Paranormal Activity film has progressively got worse just by how predictable and less scary its becoming. Plus the last Blair Witch film just felt like a rinse and repeat of the first film. It did also get so bad that even non-horror or scary things like
The Simpsons and
Doctor Who were doing it. Just abandon this way of filmmaking and try something else I'd say.
17 - When a Phone (the Most Obvious Way to Call for Help) is Out of Service
Yes the one thing that may actually get you out of a potentially dangerous situation and then it says no signal. It's like the filmmakers are purposefully wanting the run time to be longer just because a phone of all things has no signal. It's just so stupid and predictable that it just kind of makes me wonder why bother bringing a phone in the first place if you know there is no signal on it.
16 - Having the Hated Character as the Killer
Now to be fair, there have been a few times when the least hated character or a background character Ends up being the true bad guy. But when you get things where it always points to the most hated person as the culprit, you just want him/her/they to pay the price. Gets a bit predictable especially in things where the hated guy that's also the bad guy, wins and gets away with it. Still though, there are much hated people in real life too that are bad people so yeah.
15 - Little Girls that are Spooky
Certainly in a lot of these things, one trope you are most likely to see is children. Usually sweet and innocent, but in the film, TV show or video game you see them in, they come across as quite creepy. Whether it's talking as if they are possessed or just being creepy in general, you know s**t is about to go down when they are around. As a trope, it's not annoying as such. But it is one used way too much. Often in some of the best horror things out there. But still, needs to go.
14 - Running Up the Stairs
Now as any CinemaSins fan would know, it's never a good sign when someone decides to go to the Prometheus school of running away from things. Those of you not in the know, this is when a character runs in the direction that a thing behind them is rolling towards. Not always the best move, but when it comes to horror, they have a version of that. This is known as running up the stairs which any horror fan will know is a bad move. Especially if the killer is waiting upstairs ready to strike. Another one to go me thinks as its often usually the way an order of kills begins.
13 - The Main Villain keeps coming Back
When you have a hugely successful horror franchise, the problem Hollywood and game developers have is their need to make countless further entries in said franchise. Sequels, prequels, remakes and even different timeliness which ultimately leads to the main villain always coming back in some way. Even when you have a title like
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare or
Halloween Ends, they always find a way to keep going and certainly for the former, we had three more films and appearances in video games such as
Mortal Kombat (2011) and
Dead by Daylight. So if you really are ending it all, stick to that plan instead of keep bringing them back and destroy the franchise in the process.
12 - The Worst Crime of All: Killing a Child or Children
While it's in the very nature of horrors that characters must be killed off, its worse when it's a child that gets killed. Always very unsettling especially as they are meant to be our legacy and future. So disturbing when that happens, but it does motivate the heroes to defeat their enemies. But still, its one that must go because no one likes to see a child being murdered.
11 - The Doll is Evil!
Some of the best horrors out there are those with inanimate objects such as a doll that become evil and demonic. But after a while, this trope became too old and tired with the only franchises having some success in this area being the Annabelle and Chucky films. The latter especially, started to become more funnier than scarier over time whereas the latter still remains pretty scary. It's done way too much so time to move on.
10 - Unnecessary Nudity and Sex Scenes
So for this one, I had to choose the image really carefully because this blog is strictly SFW with some adult humor and so forth. But yeah this is something that had become all too common in horror things for years and it's usually always the characters that get killed off that do it. Strip naked and either have sex or do something silly like skinny dipping or drinking way too much alcohol. Of course we all do silly things like this, but when a killer is on the loose and no one suspects him/her/they/it, I honestly think making out and see how far you go is the last thing I would do. Gets even weirder when it's a video game like
Until Dawn or
The Last of Us Part II which require controls to get it on. Speaking of Last of Us...
9 - Crafting Things like it's gone out of Fashion
One of the great things about video games these days is being able to craft things. Whether it's weapons, decorations or just something to help you get by, crafting is the way to go. That is until it gets a bit too repetitive and sure enough, you get to a bit that needs a certain thing which requires certain crafting items to progress further and you may just have to back track quite a fair bit. Not a trope that should die, but definitely one that needs to be less repetitive and tedious for sure.
8 - Zombies, oh the Zombies!
Yeah zombies now are just being seen everywhere and it's at a point where its getting a tad ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I love
Shaun of the Dead and
The Walking Dead which are both great in their own ways. I also love how franchises explore the idea of its characters facing zombies or zombified versions of themselves if done right. But it's getting way out of hand and should really stop.
7 - Dead Animals
Like with children, I also find it difficult to see dead animals or animals that are being put down. It's quite unsettling and in horrors, animals can be portrayed in a bad light. Especially if they end up being the main villains. No thanks to that I'd say as someone who is into dogs.
6 - Playing with Ouija Boards
Whether it's for fun or to genuinely talk to the dead, many people will tell you not to mess with Ouija boards. It always ends badly with some demon from hell arriving or just the characters getting killed and all that. Really don't know why it's still a thing, but it really should bugger off because no good will come of it.
5 - Too many Further Entries That Reveal Too Much About the Main Character
A big problem with so many franchises that originally began in mystery is the later entries. The later entries that reveal way too much about the main character and eventually, it's just not as mysterious or in this instance, scary anymore. But that unfortunately is the price one pays for a successful franchise. But it doesn't have to go that direction at all. Yet feels like a lot of the time it does and not always in the best way.
4 - Jumpscares that are just Too Predictable
While far from the biggest problems for me, jumpscares can get very predictable in all horror things. Like for many things, it's something we are expecting and that can be bad. I mean most times, it's not necessary and they are just there for the heck of it. Whereas some may be more creative in their delivery, but not all. Not one that should die, but definitely needs to be less predictable.
3 - Giving in to what Fans Want
As fans, we all want things to go the way we want them to go. A lot of the time, filmmakers, showrunners and game developers give in to the fans and ultimately give us something that pleases us, but as a result they forget everybody else. Like its all well and good to have crossovers and things that will please fans, but its a hard enough task to please the fans. We do our very best sure, but our best isn't always enough. Just do the best you can and if its something fans don't want, at least you tried. Just don't give in too much and make these things your own.
2 - Not Making Sure the Bad Guy is Well and Trully Dead
Perhaps one of the more annoying tropes is not checking if the killer is well and trully dead. I know its a common thing to do that helps the franchise get more entries. But many of us would want to make sure the bad guy is dead because not checking is a clear indication that another film make be in the works. A bit predictable if you ask me to do things like that.
No honourable mentions this time as I feel these of all the tropes are the ones I want to mention the most. So onto number 1 which is...
1 - The Racist and Stereotypical Order of Characters That are Killed
In most horrors, there is always a certain order that characters get killed off if its one of those one by one deals. Usually the characters that do get killed off are the black guy, the LGBTQ+ person, the a**hole, the obese guy and on the odd occasion, the actual likeable character. But not always in that order and it annoys me when films decide to have characters be killed in a certain order. Especially if that order comes across as racist, sexist, ageist and more. This being the main reason why this is number one.
So happy Halloween, stay safe out there and feel free to comment below if you agree or disagree or just want to do your own list.
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