5 Horror Cliches I Hate

I love Horror but hate some of the genre's most common cliches and tropes. Here are five that writers should kill off.

=======================================
CHECK OUT MY OTHER VIDEOS:

5 Fatal Mistakes that New Writers Make

5 Time-Saving Tips for Writers (And Readers!)

5 Scientific Inaccuracies in Movies, TV, & Books

Query Letter Survival Tips

The BEST Writing Exercise Out There

How to Write a Book Pitch

Writing Villains #1 - Start with Your Hero

Writing Villains #2 - Goals

Writing Villains #3 - Motivation

Writing Villains #4 - When to Introduce Your Villain

Writing Villains #5 - Plot Points for Villains

Writing Villains #6 - Impacting the Hero

The Anatomy of Story REVIEW:

Save the Cat Writes a Novel REVIEW:
=======================================

Brandon McNulty on Social Media:

DISCLAIMER: Some of my videos and/or descriptions contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows me to continue to make videos like this. This does not affect my review of products. All opinions are my own. Thank you for the support!

#WritingAdvice #WritingTips #Writing

Credit to SkyDilen for my video intro.

[Crunchy-red-leaf]

I think one horror trope I hate is when main characters are facing a serial killer or a zombie and they'll basically aim everywhere but the head and wonder why the zombie or killer won't die.

[DadCanInJapan]

I remember reading that somewhere in Africa, the witching hour is 3 o'clock in the afternoon. I always imagine a scene where the wind suddenly dies down, the sun becomes unbearably hot, the birds and animals are silent. Nothing moves and there is no sound.

[Wright]

Some excellent points, especially number 5. What I'd like to see more of is the parent/adult figure realising that if the kids/teens are genuinely terrified then they must have seen something genuinely terrifying. Especially if they're good, honest kids that aren't prone to making things up.

[crystalsnow]

While I agree #5 is definitely an overused cliché, I tend to believe it's more about isolating the victim, than it is about the demon "running away." If the parent - the one person a child trusts to believe and protect them above all else - doubts their word, the child withdraws emotionally, making it that much easier for the demon/entity to get in their head, break down their spirit, make the child believe *they* are the only one who cares about them, and eventually corrupt them.

[eggsorhens]

I agree with everything. Especially the daytime deal. I am from India and as a child, I used to watch a horror TV serial which was a favourite for everybody at the time. My earliest memory of terror was one particular episode where a bunch of friends get stuck in a large bungalow and start getting killed one by one. Eventually one of them makes it out, through the night, is found by a man who takes him to his place. This man's cottage is in the middle of nowhere and overlooks a corn field. Just when this guy thought he was safe and resting at this new place, sipping tea on the man's porch, the tractor starts running on its own in the field right in the middle of a dry, sunny afternoon and the scarecrow starts turning to face the guy. The evil had apparently followed him outside the house. That scene has stuck with me. It was the creepiest! I have since craved more stories with scenes during the daytime because the scope is endless. Some scenes in Insidious happen during the day. That was nice for a change.

[RivkahSong]

I definitely feel ya on the selectively dangerous killer. I hate when movies have the heroine running as fast as she can through alleys and buildings but every time she looks back the killer (Who just brutally and efficiently murdered all of her friends) is just sauntering menacingly after her like he's grandma going up stairs with a walker. And the heroine will inevitably run into a building, lock the door, and turn around to see he's apparently just teleported into the building ahead of her like he's Kurt Wagner. It's so lazy!

[kartoffelhonig]

I hate it when Something extremely traumatizing happens and the characters act Like its nothing. The Main character Sees His best friend being torn apart with a chainsaw. Their reaction: "Oh no. Anyway..."
Thats why I was impressed when I watched Jeepers Creepers. I Like that they took the time to actually show how traumatized the main character was after seeing all those corpses, instead of throwing the next action scene in our faces right away.

[hotdog]

Two more cliches:

1. Car won't start
2. No cellphone service

[PhantomMagician]

I hate the "unnecessary false jump scare" you find to often in horror movies today

[joshuashepard]

“Mommy, there’s a ghost in my room.”
“You said what?!”
“There’s a ghost in my room.”
“Oh HELL NO. Boys! Get your shit! We’re goin to grandma’s! I said pack those damn bags!!”

[danielmbg]

One recent cliche I absolute hate is when the heroes do everything right and win, but at the last scene is revealed that the villain won without any explanations. To me this sounds like lazy writing, sequel bating, and a bad attempt at shocking.

[TheBrosCB]

Hi there! I'm a horror writer and I have to say that I agree with mostly everything you said. I'm trying to put new twists on cliches that have been worn out. The book I'm writing now is about a group of friends who are lured to go to a haunted house where a woman died. They find out that the site is where a malevolent force lives and is a part of something a lot bigger than the haunted house itself. The characters are really smart and I feel like I've made them lovable enough that they can start being harmed by the malevolent force know as, The Hypnotist.

[mrfuzzyface]

#1 probably starts when a writer doesn’t think into the future of their important character and realizes they are about to be killed so has the antagonist hesitate or miss.

[englishatheart]

Actual vampires AREN'T limited to the night. Dracula was perfectly capable of walking in the sun. The whole sun crap is purely a movie invention. It didn't exist in any of the original stories. It was created solely as a way to differentiate Nosferatu from Dracula due to the makers of the former not having permission to make Dracula. Ever since then idiots think vampires are hurt/killed by the sun, including Dracula, and it makes me want to snack people.

[officialbudgetstudios]

I writing a script about a guy moving into a haunted house, but the monster is the main character’s past.

[writingmetal]

The worst part of the haunted house is the lame door shutting. Such a cheap trick, not scary at all, just stalling ...

[arunnair]

I hate the cliche of the moms who actually believe that there is something wrong in the house and that maybe the kid is right when he said that there was someone below their bed last night while the dad play the role of a cigar smoking, golf playing cycnic. Worst is when the dads ignore the protestations with the usual lines like "I think you are just stressed out with the moving. Why dont you take the kids with you to your mother's and rest for few days?"

[gbear]

I HATE the horror movie with the teenage child angry at their parents for something that happened in the past. The teenager is hostile, quiet, isolated with headphones, angry, answers with an attitude and it’s so annoying. But the writers give the angry kid a backstory so the audience can understand and relate. And at the end of the movie, the family beats the honor or evil and the angry kid becomes lovey, reuniting with the family. Redundant.

[VNightmoon]

Re: haunted houses.

I was ready to throw hands, but then it just boiled down to *one* type of haunted house story that I agree is overused.

Where are the stories about breaking into a haunted house just to explore it? The ones where a traveler lost in the woods needs to take shelter, and that creaky old cabin will do? Where are the stories where the house itself isn't the focal point? If you've seen the film version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, there *is* a haunted house, but it's not the main setting, nor is it used in the way these "family moves in, bad things happen, deal with the ghost" movies go. Where are the stories where it *seems* the house is haunted, but something else is actually up?

There's so much more you can do with it.

Haunted house horror is my comfort, but I agree that this pattern with them is overdone and needs to be retired.

[matthewholehouse]

#2 can be applied to action films as well, particularly ones involving military themes. Ususlly you see some unamed soldier get popped and its up to the guy who's been built up to be the hero or protagonist to save eveyone.
Like imagine a war film where characters are killed off at random points during combat scenes regardless of how much development they have had up until that point.