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A '''jump scare''' (often shortened to '''jumpscare''') is a technique often used in horror films, haunted attractions, video games, and Internet screamers, intended to [[Philosophy:Fear|scare]] the audience by surprising them with an abrupt change in image or event, usually co-occurring with a frightening sound, mostly loud screaming.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=feXpAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PT7&ots=3iS5AKU3dw&dq=%22jump%20scare%22&lr&pg=PT14#v=onepage&q&f=false |title= Horror Films FAQ |year= 2013 |author= John Muir |publisher= Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn= 1-4803-6681-1 |accessdate= January 1, 2015}}</ref><ref name="verge" /> Common in film since the 1980s, the jump scare has been described as "one of the most basic building blocks of horror movies".<ref name="verge">{{cite web |url= https://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3574592/art-of-the-jump-scare-horror-movies |title= 'Why won't you die?!' The art of the jump scare |date= October 31, 2012 |accessdate= December 24, 2014 |work= The Verge |author= Bryan Bishop}}</ref> Jump scares can surprise the viewer by appearing at a point in the film where the soundtrack is quiet and the viewer is not expecting anything alarming to happen,<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=y_CmTysJi6AC&lpg=PA251&dq=jump%20scare&pg=PA52#v=onepage&q&f=false |title= Genre Filmmaking: A Visual Guide to Shots and Style for Genre Films |page= 52 |year= 2013 |author= Danny Draven |publisher= Taylor & Francis |isbn= 1-136-07078-8}}</ref> or can be the sudden payoff to a long period of suspense.<ref name=healthy>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=oliyEnpQibUC&lpg=PT166&dq=jump%20scare&pg=PT166#v=onepage&q=jump%20scare&f=false |title= The Healthy Edit: Creative Techniques for Perfecting Your Movie |year= 2013 |author= John Rosenberg |publisher= Taylor & Francis |isbn= 1-136-04073-0 |accessdate= December 24, 2014}}</ref>

Some critics have described jump scares as a [[Philosophy:Laziness|lazy]] way to frighten viewers,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.gamesradar.com/horror-games-dont-rely-jump-scares/ |title= 10 horror games that don't rely on jump scares |author= Lucas Sullivan |work= GamesRadar |accessdate= December 24, 2014}}</ref> and believe that the horror genre has undergone a decline in recent years following an over-reliance on the trope, establishing it as a cliché of modern horror films.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/02/08/why-modern-horror-movies-don-t-get-it-right-more-often-2672187?lt_source=external,manual |title= Why Modern Horror Movies Don't Get it Right More Often |date= February 8, 2015 |first= Pedro |last= Diaz |work= Movie Pilot |accessdate= February 24, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150224165703/http://moviepilot.com/posts/2015/02/08/why-modern-horror-movies-don-t-get-it-right-more-often-2672187?lt_source=external,manual |archive-date= February 24, 2015 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

== In film ==
Prior to the 1980s, jump scares were a relatively rare occurrence in horror movies. However, they became increasingly common in the early 80s as the ''slasher'' subgenre increased in popularity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wheresthejump.com/do-modern-horror-movies-contain-more-jump-scares-than-older-movies/|title=Do Modern Horror Movies Contain More Jump Scares Than Older Movies? – Where's The Jump?}}</ref> One of the earliest jump scares was used in ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (1925), when Christine removes The Phantom's mask. However, silent films did not really lend themselves to the technique. The first significant jump scare from the sound era is from ''Cat People'' (1942), as Alice is being chased down an alley and a bus suddenly appears at the end of the alley, accompanied by a loud hiss and screech; this technique of a jump scare from an object that’s actually non-threatening became known as “the Lewton Bus,” after the film’s legendary producer Val Lewton<ref>https://www.slashfilm.com/a-brief-history-of-the-horror-movie-jump-scare/</ref>. One of the most significant and impressive jump scares of the black and white era was from Howard Hawks' ''The Thing from Another World'' (1951), when the creature attacks immediately upon the characters opening a closed door.

1976's ''Carrie'' has one of the first modern jump scares.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3197530/10-great-jump-scares-in-horror/2/|title=10 Great Jump Scares in Horror! – Bloody Disgusting!|date=October 18, 2012|work=bloody-disgusting.com}}</ref> The scene, which occurs at the end of the film, is credited as the inspiration for the use of a final jump scare in the 1980 movie ''Friday the 13th'', to show that an apparently dead villain had survived.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Qlo6l0VGJNAC&pg=PA354 |title= Reel Terror: The Scary, Bloody, Gory, Hundred-Year History of Classic Horror |page= 354 |year= 2012 |publisher= Macmillan |author= David Konow |isbn= 1-250-01359-3 |accessdate= March 10, 2016}}</ref>

The 1979 film ''When a Stranger Calls'' uses a form of jump scare to suddenly reveal the location of the antagonist to both the protagonist and the audience. Film writer William Cheng describes this as causing a "sudden vanishing of the protective walls surrounding the film's protagonist", in turn giving the viewer at home a sense that the intruder is also somehow closer to them.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6KnFAgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA100&dq=%22jump%20scare%22&pg=PA100#v=onepage&q&f=false |title= Sound Play: Video Games and the Musical Imagination |page= 100 |year= 2014 |publisher= Oxford University Press |author= William Cheng |isbn= 0-19-996997-3 |accessdate= January 1, 2015}}</ref>

The jump scare from the 1990 film ''The Exorcist III'' is considered by horror fans (in a 2017 article on a Reddit thread) to be the most famous and scariest jump scare in movie history. In the scene, a nurse enters a room in a hall, while a guard walks by in the background. As soon as she exits the room, locks it and begins to leave, the camera quickly zooms in, and a figure clad in white and wielding large scissors suddenly walks out of the room and kills her offscreen, along with loud chord music.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dailystar.co.uk/movies/588265/scariest-horror-films-ever-best-horror-jump-The-Exorcist-3 |title=Feeling brave? Viewers have declared this scene from The Exorcist 3 as ‘best scare ever'|date=15 February 2017|publisher=The Daily Star}}</ref>

The 2009 film ''Drag Me to Hell'' contains jump scares throughout.<ref name=healthy /> Director Sam Raimi said he wanted to create a horror film with "big shocks that’ll hopefully make audiences jump."<ref>{{cite web| last = Blair| first = Iain| title = Director's Chair: Sam Raimi Drag me to Hell| url = http://www.postmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?tier=4&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&sid=&nm=&id=9A2AE6F97AE946859A3C884BDE603E22&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle| archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802031958/http://www.postmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=9A2AE6F97AE946859A3C884BDE603E22| archivedate=August 2, 2009| work = Post Magazine| date = July 1, 2009 | accessdate = July 9, 2013}}</ref>

== In video games ==
''[[Software:Rescue on Fractalus!|Rescue on Fractalus!]]'' may be the first video game to use a jump scare. In this first-person fly-through game, the navigator attempts to find and land to pickup other downed pilots. Some of the pilots are [[Astronomy:Extraterrestrial life|alien]]s in disguise, who would suddenly jump into view, roaring and trying to smash into the cockpit.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dadgum.com/halcyon/BOOK/FOX.HTM|title=David Fox interview |work=Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers |access-date=August 27, 2018}}</ref>

''[[Software:Resident Evil (1996 video game)|Resident Evil]]'' is cited as the first modern video game to use jump scares. The player, during the course of the game, walks through a hallway where the music begins to lower. About halfway through the hall, [[Social:Zombie|zombie]] dogs will suddenly leap through the windows and the music will peak in volume and intensity.{{cn|date=January 2018}}

The video game ''[[Software:Daylight (video game)|Daylight]]'' was described as being a "vehicle for jump scares", and though reviewers praised its successful use of jump scares, they commented that as the game wore on jump scares alone weren't a sufficient tool for scaring players.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/29/5662172/daylight-review |title= Daylight review: jump scare tactics |date= April 29, 2014 |accessdate= December 24, 2014 |first= Griffin |last= McElroy |work= Polygon}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.edge-online.com/reviews/daylight-review/ |title= Daylight review |date= May 1, 2014 |accessdate= January 1, 2015 |work= EDGE}}</ref>

The video game series ''[[Software:Five Nights at Freddy's|Five Nights at Freddy's]]'' was described as "perfect for live [[Engineering:Streaming media|streaming]]" in part due to its use of jump scares throughout the games.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.polygon.com/2014/11/13/7217503/five-nights-at-freddys-2-horror-streaming-indie |title= Why Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is a viral success |date= November 13, 2014 |accessdate= January 22, 2015 |first= Danielle |last= Riendeau |work= Polygon}}</ref>

The exercise video game ''Wii Fit Plus'' contains a game called ''Lotus Focus'' (''[[Unsolved:Zazen|Zazen]]'' on European releases), in which the player must sit still with their back straight and focus on a candle until it burns all the way down (which takes no more than 180 seconds). The player will occasionally hear strange sounds that will try to distract them. The score is how long the player can keep the candle lit. If the player moves too much (almost even in the slightest), a large, white [[Social:Kanji|Zainab]] will abruptly flash on the screen, accompanied by a loud voice shouting "'''''[[Philosophy:Katsu (Zen)|KATSU!!]]'''''", which will end the game.

== Internet screamers ==

An '''Internet screamer''', or simply '''screamer''',<ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924041030/http://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/what-you-dont-want-to-happen-when-you-computer-prank-someone-1295100/ | title=What you don't want to happen when you computer prank someone | publisher=geek.com | date=November 17, 2010 | accessdate=July 8, 2015 | author=Osborne, Doug}}</ref> is a video or game on the Internet that has a sudden change designed to jumpscare the user.<ref name="menning">{{cite web | url=http://www.urlesque.com/2010/10/13/screamers-the-history-of-the-scary-maze-prank/ | title=Screamers – The History of the Scary Maze Prank and its Cousins | author=Menning, Chris | publisher=urlesque.com | date=October 13, 2010 | accessdate=December 16, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150116083142/http://www.urlesque.com/2010/10/13/screamers-the-history-of-the-scary-maze-prank/ | archive-date=January 16, 2015}}</ref> Screamers have been popular since at least 1996 with some of the best known appearing at that time.

One of the most famous examples of an Internet screamer is ''The Scary Maze Game'' created in 2004 made by game developer Jeremy Winterrowd.<ref name="menning" /> Disguised as a computer game, the player is supposed to use the mouse to move into a red square along a given path without touching the walls. As the player progresses, the walls get closer together, making it more difficult for the player to avoid touching the walls. At first, if the player accidentally touches the wall it will lead back to the start menu and the player has to start over, but once the player reaches level 3, the walls become so close together that it becomes very difficult to avoid touching them. When the player reaches a certain point near the end of the maze, regardless of whether the wall is touched or not, a picture of Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) from ''The Exorcist'' appears with two extremely loud screams.

YouTube prohibits screamers in [[Video advertising|video advertising]]. In August 2018, a video marketing ''The Nun'' depicted the iOS device volume icon muting, and the titular character appears with an incredibly loud scream. The ad was shortly afterward removed for violating the site's "shocking content policy".<ref name="deadline20180814">{{Cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/the-nun-youtube-ad-removed-1202445509/ |title=The Latest Ad For ‘The Nun’ Is So Scary, YouTube Removed It |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=August 14, 2018 |publisher=Deadline Hollywood |access-date=August 15, 2018 }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Biology:Startle response|Startle response]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Internet memes]]

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