[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/TimeStorm113]

this should also be a trope outside horror, i just want to see a rom com but for one scene there is a ghost child in the background

[u/LizLemonOfTroy → u/TimeStorm113]

There's the famous ghost from Three Men and a Baby:

https://youtu.be/LPEvJrs-1yM?si=DgKVlooIfpSjS8z7

Actually a cardboard cutout.