What happened to the screamers?

Do you remember those videos, games and the like where the scene was calm at first, but then something really scared you?

Those of you who have used the Internet 15 or more years ago probably remember the game Scary Maze Game, in which you are supposed to guide a dot through a maze and when the thing requires the most concentration, a scary face from the movie Exorcist appears on the screen and you hear a scream. Or the Ghost Car videos where you watch a car drive down a cute country road for a while, and then all of a sudden a zombie jumps out in front of you, followed by the caption "Now... Go change your panties and get back to work..."

These types of videos and games were extremely popular shortly after the turn of the millennium and got their own name - Internet screamers or Internet jump scares (although the translation may not be the most appropriate, as it is supposed to be something more - scares by jumping). It is not known where exactly the idea for such "products" came from. One of the first was the Chinese video Kikia, which first circulated on the internet forums there, in which we first see a calm animation, and then suddenly a terrifying face from the game Fatal Frame II appears on the screen. The video later found its way onto YouTube, and many believe that this video is the "original sin" that gave the idea to successors. And there were quite a lot of them. There is even a website called Screamer Wiki that has over 1500 Screamers.

And what about these recordings now? Why did they sprout? We can only speculate about the reasons. Maybe because life is already so stressful that we really don't need the extra excitement? Because the internet itself has become a horrible hole? Or are the reasons more technical and no one does this kind of thing anymore because a large part of the internet traffic goes through mobile devices, and on these, because of the small screen and worse, everything does not have such an effect, but if it does, someone's phone can fall out of their hands, get damaged, and someone will go and sue the author?

Anyway, check out the three Scarecrows mentioned below. The first, Scary Labyrinth, is a snapshot of the effect, as it was a game written in Adobe's Flash, which is no longer supported, but the other two - Ghost Car and Kikia - are in the original. WARNING SCARY CONTENT!

Source: Screamer Wiki

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