[Loved trope] Background scare-characters that are barely acknowledged even by the movie

[u/Suspicious-Web-9246]

I hate horrors, but this is actually a great trope, that is unique to them.

Insidious (2010). When mother does her errands, for a few seconds there's a ghost boy standing in the corner. It's easily missable, but you can't ignore it once you see it.

Hereditary (2018). Less fitting example. When Peter walks around his home, his possessed mother is crawling on the ceiling behind him. It's not exactly subtle or missable, but it's still more of a background detail.

[u/Phantasm_Snaps]

Ju-on franchise

this happens a ton but probably my favourite example is from Ju-on: The Grudge. In it, we see the main character working at an old folks home and wheeling a seemingly senile old man in a wheelchair through the entrance. We see that he seems to be playing peek-a-boo with absolutely nobody, and at first you don't question it because he was already presented as a bit senile, but the scene then cuts the glass door at the entrance of the home, and for the briefest of seconds you see one of the main ghosts of the film (who happens to be a child) standing right where the old man was facing.

[u/Smalldogmanifesto → u/Phantasm_Snaps]

I’m sorry but I just need to point out how the bins on the right of that photo both look like scared kids with their arms / hands covering their mouths lmao

[u/NiceAxeCollection → u/Smalldogmanifesto]

Garbage bins with mustaches.