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Hello everybody, I hope all are doing not bad.


Be it written stories, films or games, horror themed media is of great interest to me. However some elements that appear in such media make me annoyed rather than scared.


I would like to share three of my most disliked horror tropes and clichés to start with and hear what are yours.


These can be from any media. Please add explanations for why you dislike the things you mention.


I will start:


Things smiling at you: Mostly found in RM horror games and creepypasta. This is an extremely common cliché used in an attempt to make a monster scary. I always found this tactic to fail at its aim completely, as a recognizable, relatable emotion in the monster sooner evokes hatred than any other feeling.


Serial killers: Usually used as the main horror hook in lots of different media. The campy way they are used and the sheer silliness of them is not only missing the true terror in psychopathy, but also confuses the very discussion of horror, with tales of terror. I am not saying serial killers are not scary, but I am saying that they are almost always a terrible pick for horror.


Younger people as protagonists: Be they killed in the end of the story or not, the large trend of setting certain horror scenarios with children, teens or young adult characters as main characters is a dreadful idea. At worst, it inadvertently renders horror as a thing of youth, something that young people have to deal with or grow out of and not a universal, needless to say this defeats the very notion of horror.