Things That Annoy You

[Sleepy]

I woke up this morning to a fucking beetle biting me. That was pleasant.

[PosthumanHeresy]

I woke up this morning to a fucking beetle biting me. That was pleasant.

Ewwww. I once woke up by rolling onto a palmetto bug (basically, a roach).

[wrightway]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knohDiCp9fg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knohDiCp9fg</a>

I'm calling fake on that one. The guy screams like a stuck pig just from turning around and seeing the guy with the camera walk through the doorway. He didn't even get particularly close or yell "boo". Even the most timid people in the world aren't that jumpy.

My gram is that timid. She's gotten chest pain just from finding someone has walked up behind her without her knowledge.

[SpaceProg]

Most of my scares, fears, and creep-outs come from video games like the Silent Hill series or games like Fatal Frame.  In Silent Hill, the earlier ones anyway, there was always this tension that rose and fell and sometimes you dreaded doing something as simple as open a door or pull a switch.  Can hear things in the dark or fog, but can't see them.

[Shane for Wax]

My t key broke. I have to copy+paste a t to type this.

Blahhh.

[chitoryu12]

Most of my scares, fears, and creep-outs come from video games like the Silent Hill series or games like Fatal Frame.  In Silent Hill, the earlier ones anyway, there was always this tension that rose and fell and sometimes you dreaded doing something as simple as open a door or pull a switch.  Can hear things in the dark or fog, but can't see them.

This is generally how good horror works. One of the reasons I like Amnesia as a horror game so much is that it doesn't just fling jump scares and monster closets at you like Cry of Fear. It keeps you on edge by implying "This is the corner where something is going to happen!" and then either nothing happens or it was something relatively benign. If I remember correctly, it not only takes quite a while to see a monster, but the first one you see is damn far away. But it still ends up freaking you out because he's just there when he wasn't before.

Proper horror makes you scared of your own imagination more than what's on the screen. Nothing will ever terrify anyone as much as what their mind invents as possibilities. This is why you stick to ambiguity, Nothing Is Scarier, and unseen sounds or glimpses of things and people in the background.

[Witchyjoshy]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knohDiCp9fg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knohDiCp9fg</a>

I'm calling fake on that one. The guy screams like a stuck pig just from turning around and seeing the guy with the camera walk through the doorway. He didn't even get particularly close or yell "boo". Even the most timid people in the world aren't that jumpy.

Nope, I'm that jumpy.

When someone is right next to you AND YOU DIDN'T EXPECT THEM TO BE RIGHT NEXT TO YOU, it's just as startling as a sudden noise.

[Shane for Wax]

Most of my scares, fears, and creep-outs come from video games like the Silent Hill series or games like Fatal Frame.  In Silent Hill, the earlier ones anyway, there was always this tension that rose and fell and sometimes you dreaded doing something as simple as open a door or pull a switch.  Can hear things in the dark or fog, but can't see them.

This is generally how good horror works. One of the reasons I like Amnesia as a horror game so much is that it doesn't just fling jump scares and monster closets at you like Cry of Fear. It keeps you on edge by implying "This is the corner where something is going to happen!" and then either nothing happens or it was something relatively benign. If I remember correctly, it not only takes quite a while to see a monster, but the first one you see is damn far away. But it still ends up freaking you out because he's just there when he wasn't before.

Proper horror makes you scared of your own imagination more than what's on the screen. Nothing will ever terrify anyone as much as what their mind invents as possibilities. This is why you stick to ambiguity, Nothing Is Scarier, and unseen sounds or glimpses of things and people in the background.

Hence why the Doctor Who episode Midnight works so well for horror.

[chitoryu12]

I will say that from my experience at Halloween Horror Nights, people can be terrified of the tiniest thing. As a scareactor, I seriously don't need to do much more than start walking at some people to get them to go "NOPE" and run for the hills. I've literally caused people to sprint, trip, and faceplant simply by standing in their path when they turned around, or following them down the street while still staying about 20 yards behind them the whole time.

[Her3tiK]

I will say that from my experience at Halloween Horror Nights, people can be terrified of the tiniest thing. As a scareactor, I seriously don't need to do much more than start walking at some people to get them to go "NOPE" and run for the hills. I've literally caused people to sprint, trip, and faceplant simply by standing in their path when they turned around, or following them down the street while still staying about 20 yards behind them the whole time.

That sounds like an awesome job.

[PosthumanHeresy]

I will say that from my experience at Halloween Horror Nights, people can be terrified of the tiniest thing. As a scareactor, I seriously don't need to do much more than start walking at some people to get them to go "NOPE" and run for the hills. I've literally caused people to sprint, trip, and faceplant simply by standing in their path when they turned around, or following them down the street while still staying about 20 yards behind them the whole time.

Wow, really? I've been to Halloween Horror Nights a few times when I was a preteen or in my early teens. Nothing legitimately was scary to me, jump scares worked as usual, though. Perhaps it was because at that point I was desensitised to violence and gore, or because my general reaction to horror movies is to root for the villain. Still, my favorite part was that they don't close the Mummy rollercoaster. I've always been a huge fan of it, but the line is evil. Utterly, sadistically, evil.

[chitoryu12]

I will say that from my experience at Halloween Horror Nights, people can be terrified of the tiniest thing. As a scareactor, I seriously don't need to do much more than start walking at some people to get them to go "NOPE" and run for the hills. I've literally caused people to sprint, trip, and faceplant simply by standing in their path when they turned around, or following them down the street while still staying about 20 yards behind them the whole time.

That sounds like an awesome job.

It's fun, but very difficult. Obviously it's quite physically demanding (you work 45 minute shifts, and actors working on the street need to be in character 100% of the time and scaring as many people as they see), but Universal sells a TON of alcohol. There's a lot of drunks that harass or attack the employees, then have to get literally chased down by police and security that are notorious for not paying nearly enough attention to the guests. Universal also tends to bend over backwards to avoid lawsuits, so non-drunks who act like assholes can threaten lawsuits and HR will panic, give them free stuff or refunds, and punish the actors.

Oh, and you only make minimum wage over the course of 4 or 5 of those 45 minute sets. Meanwhile, the face characters who work the park in the daytime make over twice as much as you and only need to work 10 or 20 minute sets. The irony is that many of those actors continue to complain about it being "too hot to work" or whining about it being too hard. Never mind that we're making less than half of your paycheck on longer shifts and don't even get full employee benefits because we're seasonal!

[nickiknack]

Halloween "Haunted Houses" and whatnot have no effect on me mainly because the strobe lights blind me, and the person with the mask on who's supposed to jump out and scare you always end up helping me out the dead end corners, that I seem to get stuck in.

[PosthumanHeresy]

I will say that from my experience at Halloween Horror Nights, people can be terrified of the tiniest thing. As a scareactor, I seriously don't need to do much more than start walking at some people to get them to go "NOPE" and run for the hills. I've literally caused people to sprint, trip, and faceplant simply by standing in their path when they turned around, or following them down the street while still staying about 20 yards behind them the whole time.

That sounds like an awesome job.

It's fun, but very difficult. Obviously it's quite physically demanding (you work 45 minute shifts, and actors working on the street need to be in character 100% of the time and scaring as many people as they see), but Universal sells a TON of alcohol. There's a lot of drunks that harass or attack the employees, then have to get literally chased down by police and security that are notorious for not paying nearly enough attention to the guests. Universal also tends to bend over backwards to avoid lawsuits, so non-drunks who act like assholes can threaten lawsuits and HR will panic, give them free stuff or refunds, and punish the actors.

Oh, and you only make minimum wage over the course of 4 or 5 of those 45 minute sets. Meanwhile, the face characters who work the park in the daytime make over twice as much as you and only need to work 10 or 20 minute sets. The irony is that many of those actors continue to complain about it being "too hot to work" or whining about it being too hard. Never mind that we're making less than half of your paycheck on longer shifts and don't even get full employee benefits because we're seasonal!

I feel bad for you, but I do admit, I have pity for anyone that has to wear a hot costume in a Florida summer. Wearing shorts alone was too hot. Hell, it could be too hot while swimming with nothing on in our pool. I can only imagine the smell in those costumes.

[RavynousHunter]

Most of my scares, fears, and creep-outs come from video games like the Silent Hill series or games like Fatal Frame.  In Silent Hill, the earlier ones anyway, there was always this tension that rose and fell and sometimes you dreaded doing something as simple as open a door or pull a switch.  Can hear things in the dark or fog, but can't see them.

This is generally how good horror works. One of the reasons I like Amnesia as a horror game so much is that it doesn't just fling jump scares and monster closets at you like Cry of Fear. It keeps you on edge by implying "This is the corner where something is going to happen!" and then either nothing happens or it was something relatively benign. If I remember correctly, it not only takes quite a while to see a monster, but the first one you see is damn far away. But it still ends up freaking you out because he's just there when he wasn't before.

Proper horror makes you scared of your own imagination more than what's on the screen. Nothing will ever terrify anyone as much as what their mind invents as possibilities. This is why you stick to ambiguity, Nothing Is Scarier, and unseen sounds or glimpses of things and people in the background.

Hence why the Doctor Who episode Midnight works so well for horror.

Not to mention Paranormal Activity, the first one...and, to a slightly lesser degree, the second one.  It was a slow, almost painful, buildup from random, odd things happening to doors slamming and the latter bits, which I shan't spoil for any who've not seen it.