What Makes A Good Jumpscare?

What Makes A Good Jumpscare?

So, I’m currently making a horror story based on ghosts and possessed stuff, and I wanted to make it more scary than it is now. I was thinking jumpscares, but I’ve never done a single jumpscare in my life.

Now, as you’ve read from the title, “What Makes A Good Jumpscare?”. For me, I was planning to do a random overlay of a ghost and flashing lights along with a scary sound. There isn’t that much horror sounds in Episode though.

Please tell me what makes a good jumpscare? Something that can really scare you? :blob_hearts:

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When you’re looking close at something and all of a sudden something jumps out of you unexpectedly - those are the jumpscares that get me :joy:

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Jumpscares really remind me of FNAF. :joy:

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Yes! Or knowing that it’s coming but you can’t do anything about it :joy:

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Honestly, Episode should add a creaking sound for when a character walks. It would make the scene scarier.

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We need so much more scary audio :upside_down_face:

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Support this!

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There are no good jumpscares. Fullstop.

Okay for real now, what makes a good one is the element of surprise. The reader should not be expecting it, the sound and the jumpscare itself should be sudden, and it needs to look scary, I guess.

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I definitely agree! Jumpscares are way better when you’re least expecting it.

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when your in a haunted house, walking deep in the dark, in first person mode, then out of o where u see this black eyed monster coming straight at u

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When you least expect it.
Little tip when a horror movies music stops it normally means something bad is about to happen

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I’m not really a horror buff or anything, but I know some people who are and they always talk about how cheap jumpscares are “bad horror”. It’s kind of a cheat to spook you but it doesn’t really rattle you to your core; it just takes advantage of your reflexes to make you jump.

But if you wanted to make a good jumpscare, for me the important thing would be a buildup, either in music, suspense, or intensity. If you can scare the reader with the thought of what’s coming, then you don’t even need the jumpscare in the end. And when it does comes, it will freak them out of their wits.

And I’m not trying to offend anyone who likes jumpscares! You do you!

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I get scared easily, so anything that is really creepy I’ll scream like a lil bitch

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bringing my film studies knowledge in this :relieved:

the main thing in horror movies that make them so scary is the soundtrack, that loud “BOOM” you heard just before the jumpscare or little scratches on the wall which then leads to the jumpscare. thats why when watching a horror movie and you don’t want to be as scared, you don’t close your eyes but rather close your ears because there’s not much of an effect.

of course try to add as much episode music as possible in a horror, but some people may have their sound down so make sure to warn them to turn it on.

make overlays that are extremely scary, overlays that’ll make you jump if you’re reading at night with the lights off. a really good example of good overlays that are scary are the overlays from “Shroud” by @quoite.chic (i think that’s how you spell her name lmao). add flashing lights by sure but make sure you don’t overdo it otherwise the reader will see it coming and brace themselves. try to make it as natural and normal as possible then BOOM give them the chills and the jumpscare.

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