One of the things I hate is (usually amateur stuff on YouTube) in which the person is getting overly scared even when it makes no sense.
Like they'll over act and start hyperventilating at a leaf and saying shit like "Oh my god what is that?!?!?! WHAT IS THAT?!?!" at like...a thud in the distance.
YouTube and Ghost Hunting shows seem to be the worst offender.
Another trope I hate is a horror game one but it's somewhat related; I hate it when the game tells you when to be scared by having a "sanity" effect or by the player character gasp or scream or whatever. Worst is if they have some kind of heartbeat sound effect that plays when you're supposed to be spooked.
But yeah, if a character starts saying shit like "WhAt ThE FuCk WaS ThAt?!" then I just get more annoyed than scared.
Extreme skepticism/refusal to believe what's happening.
I'm an absolutely annoying skeptic, never seen anything i would consider paranormal in the slightest.
People in horror movies will see something completely fucking bonkers and still be 20 movie minutes from believing the one character who says there's a problem. I can't think of any examples right now but especially when a child continually describes horrible things happening and the parents say "is just a series of bad dreams that are escalating and oddly coherent" like buddy at least spend a few nights in their bed to see what's going on
As a Marxist I subscribe to a materialist worldview and therefore have no belief in ghosts whatsoever, but if my furniture started floating I would run screaming from the house
Exactly. Guess what the couch materially flipped over 4 times and all the pots and pans materially flew out of the cupboard so I'm materially getting the fuck out
But like after you calm down, you probably start thinking of ways to make furniture float (or your daughter's head spinning in circles while she vomits everywhere). There should be some explanation for what's happening, even if it's a supernatural one.
This trope is silly because no one thinks to experiment or investigate. Okay, so my child is possessed. Clearly some things we thought about the world are wrong. But you'd think people would be ask questions like "How does possession occur? Are there ways to prevent it? Where do the demons come from and how does culture change our interactions with them?"
For real! My fundamental understanding of the world has been broken, time to learn. "Ok so if it can manipulate objects, is it just avoiding touching me when it's not causing Havok?" You know, next time the couch lifts up have a jar of flour and throw it around to see if it's just an invisible guy being a dick.
There's a comedy script somewhere in here about a ghost realizing far too late that the young professional that just moved into the house its haunting is a lab assistant hungry for grant money whose response to seeing her furniture float is to start fantasizing about the Nobel prize she's about to win.
The moment she realizes the spirit is trapped in the house she immediately starts setting up an exact perimeter of ghost territory and setting it up like a containment area
I have so much hatred for "The front room" and they were egregious in this troupe .
Guy: by the way my grandma is pretty racist
Black wife: I don't believe you(?? Literally what black person says this)
racist things happen
Black wife: you're right she is racist
Guy: no she isn't, it's all in your head
Oh yeah the character who starts skeptical becomes a believer based on evidence and is derided for it.
Yeah I hate this one. It's probably my least favorite, too. You'd think with the SCP Foundation being over a decade old at this point, writers would realize you can do some creepy shit with the scientific method, skepticism, and experiments.
For example, let's say a house is haunted. Some science nerds go to the house to start investigating how the house became haunted and they conduct a study the same way you'd study animals in the wild. Lions are still really fucking scary when they rip your colleague's head off when something supposed to protect them didn't work.
It's also one of the ways that unintentionally makes characters unlikable. We, the audience, know the protagonist is experiencing something real. Then having some asshole brush them off (especially a man being skeptical of his wife) just makes us frustrated with the film as a film and not with the plot. It Follows was great because even though only one person could see the monster at a time, everyone who cared about the protagonist believed her that she was experiencing something irregular.
It follows is a good example of characters having their decision making affected by the stress of the situation but also acting rationally and seemingly caring about their friends and family