GIF
From Screamer Wiki
GIFs, which is short for Graphics Interchange Format, is a widely popular image format in the digital age because of their ability to display short animations or loops. However, some creators use deceptive techniques to surprise viewers with a sudden screamer by designing GIFs to appear as still images. These GIFs exploit the viewer's expectation that a GIF will loop indefinitely. They are crafted to seem like a harmless, static image that can be viewed for an extended period of time. After a few moments, the image suddenly transforms into a shocking or frightening scene with an accompanying loud and jarring sound. The technique used to create these deceptive GIFs involves creating an animation sequence consisting of still frames with subtle variations. The final frame of the sequence is a screamer image that is displayed briefly before the GIF loops back to the beginning, starting the cycle anew. These GIFs are a less common but effective type of screamer.
Examples of GIF screamers include Blue.gif, hosted on TeKZoned, where the player is asked to find an error in a cluttered room image before a Kuntilanak unexpectedly appears. Another example is happy-halloween.gif, created by Kris Wilson of the webcomic Cyanide & Happiness, in which a realistic face with flashing lights appears after two characters discuss a serial killer who is "impossible to photograph." Useful Reminder uses this technique to act as an "image" of a note warning viewers about unknown media before suddenly revealing a frightening woman after six seconds.
The rapper Childish Gambino paid tribute to internet screamers with the cover of his album Because the Internet. The album cover initially displays a portrait image, which then distorts after a few seconds—a nod to the "unpredicatable" nature of the internet. Interestingly, users have reported that this effect also occurs on the vinyl cover of the album.[1]
These GIF screamers often use innocent or unexpected visuals to mislead viewers, surprising them with jump scares, loud noises, or flashing lights at critical moments. Another related example is Magic Eye, sometimes referred to as a "shock GIF," which includes the notorious Goatse image.