User:Likeicare/Sandbox
>general overview of "screamers"
A screamer, also known as a jumpscare or scary pop-up, is a type of game, video, website, or program that aims to scare and startle viewers by tricking them into focusing on the screen before revealing a sudden and often frightening change. Most screamers use a combination of creepy or unsettling images and loud, sudden noises to create a sense of shock and fear in the viewer. For example, a screamer might appear to be a harmless video or game, but then suddenly flash a disturbing image of a face or creature accompanied by a loud scream to achieve their intended effect. Unlike horror films and professional horror games, screamers are designed to surprise the viewer, and may even include graphic and disturbing images that shock and traumatize the viewer, making them a type of shock site.
Screamers often rely on deception to work. They may use clever editing, false promises, or other tricks to convince viewers that they are watching something harmless or mundane. The most famous example of this is What's Wrong With This Picture?, The Maze by Jeremy Winterrowd and more. This is often done to make the eventual jump scare more effective, as the viewer is caught off guard and taken by surprise. Despite their popularity and notoriety, screamers remain a controversial and divisive form of internet content.
Origins
The first screamer to be aired on television in the 20th century was an anti-heroin campaign titled Monkey on Their Backs, which features a wind-up monkey toy playing its cymbals while a young girl's voice discusses addiction to heroin. Suddenly, the monkey stops playing and the camera zooms in on its face, which abruptly changes to a still image of a real-life monkey screaming at the viewer, accompanied by a loud primate scream. The text "Why do you think they call it DOPE?" appears on screen. One of the earliest screamers in the 19th century was a program created by Patrick Evans, titled "Nightmare" that, when executed, features a digital image of a skull facing right with its jaws open, covered in blood, and bearing a bullet wound.
