Paranoia Fuel/Other Media

Hey, guys. If you read the stuff below, you might end up a little insane and reach for the nearest source of Brain Bleach (or the gun). However, try to remember that none of the things in this list are anywhere near as likely as they seem. Still, it can leave you scarred. You Have Been Warned.


 * Screamers; any page on the internet could be specially programed to flash a frightening image, play a booming sound, or auto-link to another site at any moment.
 * Hackers, spyware, keyloggers, stuff like that in general. All it could take is one hole in your security...one visit to a unscrupulous website to bring your account, bank, or anything else of value crashing down...
 * Especially prevalent since recent workarounds that add extra security (like the Blizzard Authenticator) have been worked around. NOTHING IS SAFE ANYMORE!
 * It's pretty easy to avoid keyloggers and spyware: do your banking/online shopping from a non-Windows system. A Linux live-CD will do. Not completely safe, but a lot better.
 * Anonymous tricked hundreds of pedophiles, covering their tracks using the anonymous internet browser Tor, into downloading a fake addon for the browser that recorded all their browsing activity. Imagine if this fake addon was used for evil.
 * The War of the Worlds, the 1938 radio version by Orson Welles. Many people actually thought the U.S. was being invaded by aliens. Several similar programs have had the same effect, albeit on a much smaller scale. The consequences have been both more and less fortunate. In an Irish example, a documentary-style drama called Fallout constructed a what-if story of a nuclear disaster at Sellafield, told through fake news clips. The following morning the radio shows were inundated with calls asking for more information, from people who had thought it was real. Didn't reach a wide enough audience to do any real damage though. Which is a pity, as it was a damn good show.
 * The Mortasheen Heartlicker, a feline vampire which forces itself into you to get into your stomach or intestines. Before this, you see it as an ordinary white cat. You have no memory of the attack. And while draining your blood, it will slowly take control of you so it can use your body to find another victim. Seen a white cat lately?
 * The Dinosaurs Attack! cards. Any mundane scenario that you're in - going to bed, riding the subway, being in class - is just ripe for interruption by horrific dinosaur attack. The fact that it makes no sense at all - trilobites eating people's eyes?! - is little comfort.
 * Talking about radio, number stations: Radio stations that only broadcast artificially generated voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters, etc. Some of them are very creepy. No government has ever acknowledged transmitting the numbers. In any case they are most likely broadcasting messages to spies.
 * PIFTS.exe, anyone? Norton Antivirus is watching you. And logging your keystrokes. And sending them everywhere.
 * Computer spyware and viruses. Especially keyloggers. Someone, somewhere, can see every keystroke you make. Every password, every IM, every email, every search for porn, every single thing you type.
 * Hannibal Means. As The Soup pointed out, he comes off as a serial killer.
 * A certain page *cough* can double as their intended purpose and this.
 * And whose bright idea was it to make Trigger Phrase a Self-Demonstrating Article? * shudder* 
 * "If you've just tuned in..."
 * The Slender Man. The more you know about him, the more likely he'll stalk you. The more he stalks you, more you'll want to know about him. The more you know about him, the more he stalks you. So when you're being stalked, you're being forced to want to be stalked.
 * The entire Real Life article here talks about reality like it's fiction in a Mind Screwy way.