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.
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