Tropescilloscope: Nothing Is Scarier

Emptiness used to invoke fear by leaving it to the audience's imagination. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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More Tropes Book-Ends Scary Black Man Psycho for Hire What Happened to the Mouse? Adaptation Dye-Job The Brute Pre-Mortem One-Liner Scare Chord Make It Look Like an Accident Video Credits Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Red Right Hand Honor Before Reason Ungrateful Bastard Translation Convention Time Skip Bad Boss Artistic License – Gun Safety Nothing Is Scarier Dressing as the Enemy Breaking the Fourth Wall Cruel and Unusual Death Danny Peary Cult Movies List N-Word Privileges Bare Your Midriff The Lancer Love Triangle Spiteful Spit Setting Update 20 Minutes into the Future Would Hurt a Child Bond Villain Stupidity Stealth Hi/Bye Big Eater Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Beware the Nice Ones Leaning on the Fourth Wall Wicked Cultured The Reveal More Dakka Disproportionate Retribution Dutch Angle Homage Totally Radical Psychological Thriller Combat Pragmatist Tempting Fate Immune to Bullets Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Evil vs. Evil Light Is Not Good Vampire Fiction Mexican Standoff Wham Line The Musical Deliberately Monochrome Historical-Domain Character Creative Closing Credits Adaptational Heroism The Place Groin Attack Daylight Horror Hell Is That Noise Auto Erotica Hypocrite Overprotective Dad Gainax Ending Film Noir Reality Is Unrealistic Death by Irony Failed a Spot Check Dark and Troubled Past Chekhov's Skill Hong Kong Films Bottomless Magazines Heel Realization Despair Event Horizon Mr. Exposition Abusive Parents Casting Gag Greater-Scope Villain Creator Cameo Expy Ghost Fiction Contrived Coincidence Paper-Thin Disguise A God Am I Henpecked Husband Everyone Has Standards Not Using the "Z" Word Villainous Breakdown Neck Lift Extreme Doormat Suspiciously Similar Substitute Adaptational Attractiveness Evil Laugh Lighter and Softer Grey and Gray Morality Slashed Throat Evil Brit Big Fancy House Redemption Equals Death Training Montage Be Careful What You Wish For Hooker with a Heart of Gold Distracted by the Sexy Shirtless Scene Accidental Misnaming Cluster F-Bomb Race Against the Clock Villain Opening Scene Slasher Movie Music Stories A Date with Rosie Palms Butt-Monkey Race Lift Sole Survivor Deconstruction My Greatest Failure Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Punch-Clock Villain Sir Swears-a-Lot Biopic Rated M for Manly Obviously Evil All Girls Want Bad Boys The Alleged Car Funny Foreigner Enemy Mine The Ditz Berserk Button Red Herring Slasher Smile Running Gag Even Evil Has Standards Dogged Nice Guy Sexy Discretion Shot Driven to Suicide Gory Discretion Shot The Atoner Beard of Evil Unresolved Sexual Tension I Have Your Wife Eyepatch of Power Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Black Comedy Rape Vacation Films Vomit Indiscretion Shot Animal Title Index Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Your Head A-Splode Self-Deprecation Faking the Dead Shown Their Work Death Glare Mystery and Detective Films Kick the Son of a Bitch Throwing Your Sword Always Works The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite The Ace All Men Are Perverts Really Gets Around Dark Reprise Kids Are Cruel Action Genre Captain Obvious How We Got Here The Dog Bites Back Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Four-Temperament Ensemble The Sociopath Did Not Get the Girl Even Evil Has Loved Ones Does Not Like Shoes Facial Horror Sealed Evil in a Can Fat Bastard Kill It with Fire Fantastic Racism Wretched Hive Anti-Hero Continuity Nod Not What It Looks Like The Hero Suspiciously Specific Denial Cat Fight Famous Last Words Action Survivor She's Got Legs Red Eyes, Take Warning Artistic License – History Only One Name Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Eureka Moment Intergenerational Friendship Fire-Forged Friends Every Car Is a Pinto Hope Spot Stock Footage Action Girl Establishing Character Moment Fanservice Extra Obfuscating Stupidity Love at First Sight Fun with Acronyms The Voiceless The X of Y Author Appeal You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Ambiguous Disorder Monumental Damage Adorkable The '80s Visual Pun You Killed My Father Let's Get Dangerous! Dirty Cop Slap-Slap-Kiss Disney Villain Death Oh, Crap! Framing Device I Did What I Had to Do Authority Equals Asskicking Leitmotif Evil Sounds Deep Sassy Black Woman Non-Indicative Name Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Not Even Bothering with the Accent Match Cut B-Movie Word of God Bar Brawl Posthumous Character Deus ex Machina Abhorrent Admirer Reality Ensues Skewed Priorities Meet Cute Hollywood Law Arranged Marriage Soundtrack Dissonance Back from the Dead Trailers Always Spoil Tranquil Fury Mr. Fanservice Insult Backfire Dirty Coward Left the Background Music On Pragmatic Villainy Alpha Bitch Rich Bitch Karma Houdini Manipulative Bastard Chiaroscuro Five-Man Band Domestic Abuse Almost Kiss Cold-Blooded Torture The Quiet One A Father to His Men Adaptational Villainy Becoming the Mask It Will Never Catch On Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Dying Moment of Awesome Hypocritical Humor Retcon Off with His Head! Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Made of Explodium Camp Gay Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Never My Fault Never Trust a Trailer Martial Arts Movie Black and Gray Morality Blood from the Mouth Didn't Think This Through I'm a Humanitarian Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Superhero He Who Fights Monsters Small Name, Big Ego Crazy Jealous Guy Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds The Mafia Friend to All Children Flipping the Bird Femme Fatale Conspicuous CG Creepy Child Parental Abandonment Animated Credits Opening Only in It for the Money Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! No Name Given One Steve Limit The Mole Adaptational Badass Ambiguous Ending Worthy Opponent NO INDOOR VOICE Advertised Extra Alas, Poor Villain Improvised Weapon Woman in White Re-Cut Bunny-Ears Lawyer Bavarian Fire Drill Naked People Are Funny The Stinger Freudian Excuse Refuge in Audacity Catapult Nightmare Ripped from the Headlines Beauty Is Never Tarnished Yandere Camera Abuse Redshirt Army Jerkass Has a Point Cassandra Truth Cool Old Lady Karmic Death Final Girl Dissonant Serenity Disney Death Mind Screw My Beloved Smother Villain Ball Television Movie Index Agony of the Feet Hero Antagonist The Chessmaster No Antagonist Sinister Minister Imagine Spot Based on a True Story The Chick Wrong Genre Savvy Depraved Bisexual The Starscream All for Nothing Epic Movie Department of Redundancy Department Male Frontal Nudity Psychopathic Manchild Genre Throwback Arc Words No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Fiery Redhead Stylistic Suck Green-Eyed Monster From Nobody to Nightmare Gilligan Cut Kubrick Stare Heroic Sacrifice Black Best Friend Took a Level in Badass Bond One-Liner Darkest Hour Retired Badass Calling the Old Man Out Artistic License – Physics Air-Vent Passageway Heroes Want Redheads No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Say My Name It's All About Me Real Life Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Bland-Name Product Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Line-of-Sight Name Easily Forgiven British Films Downer Ending The Un-Reveal Hate Sink Anachronism Stew Call-Back What You Are in the Dark Big Bad Does This Remind You of Anything? Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Disguised in Drag timeperiod Woman Scorned This Is Gonna Suck Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Index of Film Westerns Amoral Attorney Product Placement World of Ham He Knows Too Much "Awesome McCool" Name Rule of Funny Chase Scene Dumb Blonde Expository Hairstyle Change Put on a Bus War Is Hell Deadpan Snarker Evil Is Hammy Blood Knight Villain Protagonist Bullying a Dragon The Film of the Book Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Bad "Bad Acting" Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Only a Flesh Wound Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Bloodier and Gorier Intrepid Reporter Historical In-Joke Fatal Family Photo You Have Failed Me Fingore Madness Mantra The Dreaded Hero of Another Story Credits Gag Pet the Dog Those Two Bad Guys Important Haircut Wham Shot Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Real Life Writes the Plot Market-Based Title Twist Ending The Lost Lenore Irony Romantic False Lead Dies Wide Open May–December Romance Sci-Fi Horror Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Maybe Ever After Dual Wielding Overly Long Gag The Faceless Face Death with Dignity Pretty Little Headshots Sanity Slippage No Celebrities Were Harmed Moment Killer The Stoic Eiffel Tower Effect The Stoner Central Theme All Just a Dream What the Hell, Hero? Double-Meaning Title Chekhov's Gun Anti-Villain Brutal Honesty Hidden Depths Adapted Out Epic Fail Wounded Gazelle Gambit And Starring '80s Hair Stuff Blowing Up Rewatch Bonus Lampshade Hanging Villain with Good Publicity Heterosexual Life-Partners Actor Allusion Happily Married Film Series Vitriolic Best Buds Last-Name Basis No Ending Genre Savvy Animal Motifs Sports Stories Vomit Discretion Shot Shell-Shocked Veteran Composite Character You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Artistic License – Biology As Himself Broken Aesop Funny Background Event Instant Death Bullet The Smurfette Principle A.I. Is a Crapshoot Horror Comedy Killed Mid-Sentence Toplessness from the Back Rule of Three The Remake Historical Villain Upgrade As You Know Aluminum Christmas Trees Deal with the Devil Same Language Dub As Long as It Sounds Foreign Anachronic Order Rasputinian Death Badass Bookworm Daddy's Girl Death by Sex Christmas Movies Index Grievous Bottley Harm The Vamp Curb-Stomp Battle Fake Shemp Crapsack World Genre Shift Costume Porn Insistent Terminology Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Dark Action Girl Asshole Victim BFG Kick the Dog Developing Doomed Characters Bloodless Carnage Thriller Bloody Hilarious Pimped-Out Dress Major Injury Underreaction Character Development Good Is Not Nice Big "NO!" Star-Crossed Lovers Kill 'em All The Load Gratuitous English Adults Are Useless Early-Bird Cameo "Well Done, Son!" Guy Determinator aka: The Determinator Would Hit a Girl Dropped a Bridge on Him The Ghost Guile Hero Black Dude Dies First In Medias Res Armor-Piercing Question Badass Grandpa Papa Wolf Cain and Abel Knight Templar Have a Gay Old Time She Cleans Up Nicely Mundane Made Awesome Celebrity Paradox Police Brutality Novelization Reckless Gun Usage Improbable Aiming Skills Boom, Headshot! The Power of Love Large Ham folderlabel Cool Car Eldritch Abomination Death of a Child Artistic License – Geography Sadistic Choice Manchild Annoying Younger Sibling Loophole Abuse Alliterative Name Artistic License – Military Coming-of-Age Story Earn Your Happy Ending Ass Shove Serial Killer Well-Intentioned Extremist Hair-Trigger Temper Adaptation Name Change Jump Scare The Bad Guy Wins Nice Guy Rule of Cool Our Zombies Are Different Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Science Fiction Films Manic Pixie Dream Girl The '50s Handicapped Badass Those Two Guys Double Entendre Damsel in Distress An Arm and a Leg Recycled IN SPACE! Awesome, but Impractical Only Known by Their Nickname Took a Level in Jerkass Pay Evil unto Evil Those Wacky Nazis The Big Guy Neck Snap Stealth Pun Cat Scare Ax-Crazy Serious Business Older Than They Look Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Stalker with a Crush And the Adventure Continues Cloudcuckoolander From Bad to Worse Anguished Declaration of Love Adult Fear Chuck Cunningham Syndrome The End... Or Is It? Diabolus ex Machina The Bully Call-Forward Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Too Dumb to Live Evil Is Petty Shut Up, Hannibal! In the Back Cool Old Guy Broken Pedestal Very Loosely Based on a True Story Loads and Loads of Characters It Can Think Super Strength Fanservice Unwitting Instigator of Doom Obstructive Bureaucrat The '90s Badass Boast Bi the Way Lock and Load Montage Interrupted Suicide Only Sane Man Australian Movies Get Out! Scenery Gorn Our Vampires Are Different One-Word Title Historical Hero Upgrade Ascended Extra Men Are the Expendable Gender Eagleland Red Oni, Blue Oni Bittersweet Ending Break the Cutie Sequel Hook Tap on the Head Exact Words Faux Affably Evil No-Sell Room Full of Crazy "Shaggy Dog" Story Token Minority Knife Nut Documentary Offscreen Moment of Awesome Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Poor Communication Kills Laser-Guided Karma Together in Death Card-Carrying Villain Dramatic Gun Cock Accidental Murder Meaningful Echo Antagonist Title Narrator Not So Above It All Corrupt Corporate Executive Precision F-Strike Extremely Short Timespan Half the Man He Used to Be Comically Missing the Point O.O.C. Is Serious Business Silent Movie Ominous Latin Chanting Smug Snake Bald of Evil Big-Bad Ensemble Show Within a Show Drugs Are Bad Names to Run Away from Really Fast Badass Longcoat Heroic BSoD Sacrificial Lion Blackmail Due to the Dead Babies Ever After Horror Films Dark Is Not Evil Cool Shades Undying Loyalty Plucky Comic Relief Fate Worse than Death Artistic License – Law Dirty Old Man Crucified Hero Shot Rule of Symbolism Big Brother Instinct Dwindling Party Take a Third Option Death by Adaptation Evil Plan Here We Go Again! Empathic Environment Retirony Protagonist Title Made of Iron Fainting Informed Ability Mercy Kill Missing Mom Jerkass Reality Has No Subtitles Needs Wiki Magic Love Gorn Evil-Detecting Dog Never Found the Body Catch-Phrase Whole Plot Reference Pretty in Mink "The Reason You Suck" Speech Defiant to the End As the Good Book Says... Badass in a Nice Suit Film Noir Index Jitter Cam An Axe to Grind No OSHA Compliance Romantic Comedy Title Drop Drowning My Sorrows Idiot Ball Motor Mouth One-Man Army Pragmatic Adaptation Flashback Frame-Up Mad Scientist Humiliation Conga Gold Digger Fan Disservice Bowdlerise All There in the Manual Affectionate Parody Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Peek-a-Boo Corpse Mythology Gag Gender Flip Foreshadowing The '60s Taking You with Me Body Horror Morality Pet Punny Name Hollywood Darkness I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Outrun the Fireball True Companions Spared by the Adaptation Laughing Mad Batman Gambit Insane Troll Logic The Cavalry Rousing Speech The Hero Dies After the End Brainless Beauty Victoria's Secret Compartment Your Cheating Heart Unusually Uninteresting Sight Corpsing Hoist by His Own Petard Broken Bird Evil Counterpart Cool Guns For the Evulz Defrosting Ice Queen Humans Are Bastards Freeze-Frame Bonus "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Brick Joke Spell My Name with an "S" Police are Useless Adaptation Distillation Spiritual Successor Brother–Sister Incest Tagline Manly Tears Unreliable Narrator Covers Always Lie Storming the Castle Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Demoted to Extra Canadian Movies French Films La Résistance Badass Normal Beta Couple Leave the Camera Running Man on Fire Gone Horribly Right Plot Hole Russian Films Early Installment Weirdness Mama Bear Male Gaze Big Damn Heroes Unusual Euphemism Mighty Whitey Shipper on Deck Chekhov's Gunman Determinator And I Must Scream Red Shirt It's Personal The Alcoholic Jerk with a Heart of Gold Canon Foreigner Fourth Date Marriage Mugging the Monster Heel–Face Turn Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Belligerent Sexual Tension An Aesop Stepford Smiler Better to Die than Be Killed Bring My Brown Pants Public Domain Feature Films Ambiguously Gay Malevolent Masked Men Adaptation Expansion MacGuffin The Cameo Politically Incorrect Villain Dull Surprise Car Fu German Films Shoot the Shaggy Dog Not So Stoic Parental Neglect Truth in Television Properly Paranoid Not So Different The Smart Guy Shower Scene A Minor Kidroduction The Dragon Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Japanese Films The Oner Aside Glance Villain Song Revenge Curse Cut Short There Is No Kill Like Overkill Sequel Escalation Jerk Jock Getting Crap Past the Radar Decoy Protagonist Children Are Innocent Random Events Plot Meaningful Background Event For Want of a Nail Military and Warfare Films Off-into-the-Distance Ending Straight Gay Riddle for the Ages Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Eye Scream Bait-and-Switch Foregone Conclusion Reasonable Authority Figure Country Matters Ship Tease Italian Films Bolivian Army Ending Author Avatar Rape as Drama Closed Circle Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Blatant Lies Arch-Enemy All There in the Script Action Prologue Married to the Job Dramatic Irony Award-Bait Song Not Quite Dead Actually Pretty Funny Death Seeker Suddenly SHOUTING! Scenery Porn Noodle Incident Fish out of Water Nice Hat Age Lift Fatal Flaw Meaningful Name Zombie Stories In Name Only Spanner in the Works Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Fantasy Films Darker and Edgier My God, What Have I Done? Attempted Rape Pyrrhic Victory Amusing Injuries I Just Shot Marvin in the Face The Casanova Ironic Echo Drives Like Crazy Silence Is Golden Bilingual Bonus Roaring Rampage of Revenge Foil Improbable Weapon User Disappeared Dad Parental Substitute Bound and Gagged Break the Haughty Black Comedy The '70s Demonic Possession Smoking Is Cool The Great Depression Logo Joke Taking the Bullet Playing Gertrude Mood Whiplash Crazy-Prepared Affably Evil I Need a Freaking Drink Bury Your Gays Betty and Veronica Deliberate Values Dissonance Destination Defenestration Once More, with Clarity! Parental Incest Unspoken Plan Guarantee Mistaken for Gay Take That! Drill Sergeant Nasty Cowboy Cop Up to Eleven Guns Akimbo Face–Heel Turn Apocalypse How Captain Ersatz Implacable Man Chewing the Scenery Anyone Can Die Dramedy Shout-Out Mooks Naïve Newcomer Big Applesauce Exactly What It Says on the Tin Works Set in World War II Soft Glass Offscreen Teleportation Ms. Fanservice Big Bad Duumvirate