Tropescilloscope: Scare Chord

A single musical note (or more if needed), coming out of nowhere in order to enhance the creepiness of a sudden scene. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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