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Daylight Horror: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:Evil has been born.png|link=Samurai Jack|450px|thumbnail|<div style="text-align: center;">Evil has been born</div>]]
'''Tigger:''' Say! It's the middle of broad daylight! Even a not-so-scary-scary story has to happen at night, ya know.
▲{{quote|'''Piglet:''' Once upon a time...<br />
▲'''Tigger:''' Say! It's the middle of broad daylight! Even a not-so-scary-scary story has to happen at night, ya know.<br />
'''Piglet:''' Oh, but this one happens in the daytime.|''[[The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]]'', "The Monster Frankenpooh"}}
[[Evil Is Not Well Lit]]. We all know this. It's human nature to believe that [[Darkness Equals Death]]. Therefore, it's been a commonly held trope for centuries that scary things have to happen in the dark. This is why there are so many horror movies where it's [[Always Night]], or why [[The Lost Woods]] never see daylight, or why whoever owns the [[Haunted House]] never pays the electricity bill. Conversely, well lit, sunny areas with 100% visibility must be safe. We know that no monsters will harm us once [[Cue the Sun|the sun comes up.]] Hey, the [[Things That Go Bump in
[[Tempting Fate|Right?]]
Sometimes, the writers want to play on the false sense of security we feel about light and turn it on its head. Sometimes, the budget does not allow for any night shots and the filmmakers don't want to use [[Hollywood Darkness]]. Whatever the case may be, we get scenes of frightening imagery in broad daylight or well-lit rooms. The [[Ax Crazy]] serial killer suddenly shows up at your home when all of the lights are on. The [[Eldritch Abomination]] decides to rise on a sunny day. The [[Zombie Apocalypse]] around the corner doesn't care if it's nice out and you've decided to go sunbathing. The point is: you're screwed and you have nowhere to hide.
Not to be confused with [[Light Is Not Good]], although it can invoke this. See also [[Mood Dissonance]].
{{examples
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'' both the demon attack in the
* ''[[Serial Experiments Lain]]'' is known for the highly contrasting light and shadows in its animation style, creating eerily bright days. There are a number of [[Mind Screw]] scenes that happen in these settings. They can be found [[Serial Experiments Lain
* In ''[[Highschool of the Dead]]'' one of "[[Not Using the Z Word|them]]" attacks the school in the morning.
** In fact, quite a bit of the series takes place during the day. Like other zombie shows, its the sheer amount of the creatures that makes them scary, since you may be able to fight some of them off, but you can't hold them off forever, as the characters find out repeatedly and constantly have to retreat to new areas.
* ''[[Uzumaki]]'' almost entirely takes place during the day. There are only a very few scenes that take place at night. Daylight doesn't help the protagonists anyway, since there are no ways out of the valley.
* Titans in ''[[Attack on Titan]]'' are typically substantially more active during the day.
== [[Comics]] ==
* In [[Neil Gaiman]]'s fantasy/horror series ''[[Sandman]]'', many scenes take place in Hell. These scenes show horrific demons torturing souls in violent ways. The scenes are colored to look like it is perpetually dusk.
* Lampshaded in an issue of ''[[The Walking Dead (
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[The Ring]]'', and HOW.
* ''[[The Mist]]'', though it's so, uh, foggy you really couldn't tell.
* Many scenes in the first half of ''[[Lost Highway]]'' maintain an incredibly menacing feel in broad daylight.
* The ''[[The Lord of the Rings (
** Then there was that damn [[Half Human Hybrids|Uruk-hai]] attack.
** The scene where Frodo falls into the Dead Marshes from ''The Two Towers''. True, the water itself was fairly dark, but the whole scene took place during the day. Not to mention the soldiers' decapitated heads catapulted over the walls of Minas Tirith in broad daylight in ''Return of the King''...
* [[John Carpenter]]'s ''[[
** Another from [[John Carpenter]]'s films, ''[[The Thing (
** One of Carpenter's most effective uses of the trope, and one of the most famous, are the scenes in his film ''[[Halloween (
* Obvious examples include both ''[[
** The same goes for ''[[Dawn of the Dead (
* ''[[
** The opening of 28 Weeks Later was in broad daylight, over some nice green fields, with a horde of zombies. Nightmares ensue.
* [[David Cronenberg]] did this quite a bit in his early days with movies such as ''Shivers'' and ''Rabid'' which depicted horrific scenes in well-lit buildings or even daytime. For instance, the subway is pretty bright [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Yu_7Q-KBk&feature=related in this scene].
* The ''[[Cube]]'' is very bright in some chambers.
** In the sequel EVERY chamber is practically a [[White Void Room]].
* Just to show that when this trope is used, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLTUV1RitPM it doesn't always work]. WARNING: Serious [[Narm]].
* The whole of ''[[And Soon the Darkness]]'' takes place in a sunny afternoon.
* Many of the scary scenes in ''[[Jaws (
* The final sequence in ''[[A Nightmare
* The [[Ken Russell]] film ''[[Lair of the White Worm]]'' was, at the time, a rare movie for showing vampires stalking victims during the daytime. The movie was based on a novel by [[
* The first ''[[
* The "Man behind Winkies" scene in ''[[Mulholland Drive]]''.
* [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s version of ''[[The Shining]]'' rarely shows darkness. It has many scenes in the day, the hotel always has all of its lights on, and there is a white blanket of snow on the ground outside that makes everything... well, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|shiny]].
* Most of the bird-attacks in ''[[The Birds]]'' occur during one bright day.
* A number of scenes in ''[[
* The final scene of ''[[The Evil Dead]]'' (and subsequently, one of the first scenes of the second movie) shows that the awful night has finally ended: {{spoiler|Ash is alive, the deadites are gone, and all is well... then we're hit with [[Shaky POV Cam]].}}
* The cropduster attack in the cornfield from ''[[North
* ''[[
* ''[[Ju
* The ''[[Crocodile Hunter]]'' movie mentions on DVD commentary that they had a scene of Steve handling a deadly snake at night but didn't put in the movie because a similar scene during the day looked more dangerous.
* ''[[The Host (
* In ''[[
* Many of the scenes of horror in ''[[The
* The first ''[[
* The "birthday party video" scene from ''[[Signs]]''. It's arguably scarier than any of the scenes that take place at night.
* Obviously this doesn't work in the absurdly bad ''The House That Screamed'', since [http://www.somethingawful.com/d/movie-reviews/house-that-screamed.php the reviewer] at [[Something Awful]] repeatedly keeps pointing out that "'''nothing is fucking scary in broad daylight'''".
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* One of the murder scenes in ''[[Zodiac]]'' takes place on a bright and sunny day.
* This gets mentioned in ''[[Courage Under Fire]]'', when a soldier recalls being [[Trapped Behind Enemy Lines]] in the first [[Gulf War]], and waiting all through the night, knowing that the Iraqis were going to overwhelm them come dawn. As he puts it to another soldier interviewing him years afterward "I don't know why people think only good things happen in the daytime".
* The frightening and unexpected closing scenes of ''[[Carrie]]'' occur during the day.
* ''[[Insidious]]'' had the scene {{spoiler|where the demon pops up in plain sight behind the woman's shoulder at the coffee table in the middle of the day}} which gave audiences a good startle just because it was so unexpected.
* ''[[Resident Evil: Extinction
* The remake of ''[[Friday the
* The final scenes of ''[[Session 9]]'' are not only bathed in sunlight, but birdsong too.
* While there are clues that the events start prior to that point, [[Shaun of the Dead]] shows the proper zombie apocalypse kicking off in the morning as Shaun wakes up with a hangover. In his half-asleep daze, he fails to notice the corpses everywhere and the zombies hunting the living as he goes to the store and returns to his apartment. Most of the action following this happens in broad daylight.
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Many of the Smoke Monster scenes from ''[[Lost]]'' happened in broad daylight.
* ''[[Dexter]]'' is a show that loves to have gruesome serial killer murder scenes juxtaposed against the beautiful Miami backdrop.
* The ''[[
** Almost all of the action in "Blink" takes place in the daytime, much of it even in broad daylight. That doesn't make it any less terrifying, as most people who have watched it will tell you.
** Part of "Amy's Choice" is set in a sleepy village during the day.
** All of "Father's Day" occurs on the day of a wedding.
* In the ''[[
* ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' has lots of really creepy scenes that take place in broad daylight. Starting right with the very first scene.
* The sixth season of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' subverted the show's usual "Night-time horror" by having most of the scary stuff happen during daytime, culminating in the death of {{spoiler|Tara}}, and {{spoiler|Willow's}} attempt to destroy the world.
** Lampshaded in the very first episode where Willow is conducting a magic ceremony in a beautiful sunlit forest glade. A fawn comes up to lick her hand and Willow [[Blood Magic|promptly slits its throat]].
* Used frequently and effectively in ''[[The Walking Dead (TV series)|The Walking Dead]]'', as the zombies are active in the daytime.
** The main character, Rick Grimes, first emerges from his coma to find himself in the middle of a [[Zombie Apocalypse]] during the daytime.
** Later, Rick barely survives an encounter with a horde of zombies on the streets of Atlanta.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* Famously, [[
** This is a staple of the Victorian vampire fiction. The idea of vampires dying in sunlight only became prevalent in the early 20th century thanks to the silent film ''[[
* In [[Dean Koontz]]'s novel ''Cold Fire'', Jim and Holly are awakened on a sunny morning by a monstrous presence trying to force its way through the bedroom ceiling. "When something from Beyond found you in the dead hours of the night, you half expected it. But sunshine was supposed to banish all monsters."
* Invoked in-universe for ''[[The Zombie Survival Guide]]''. Which recommends finding safe places to sleep during the night, and only 'get moving" when there's Daylight. Implicitly putting you on even terms with the undead, who don't need to see you to find and eat you.
* Consciously invoked by [[
{{quote|
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== [[Myth]], Folklore, and [[Fairy Tales]] ==
* ''East O' the Sun and West O' the Moon'' is about a girl whose father marries her off to a Bear. She is unhappy but resigned to the prospect. However, the Bear is kind to her, and it turns out that he's only enchanted to be a bear during the
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In [[Magic:
== [[Video Games]] ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110427130126/http://hellforge.gameriot.com/blogs/Boys-Club/L4D2-Lightens-Up-Daylight-Levels-in-Horror-Games-1 This article] discusses the concept of daylight levels in horror games.
* ''[[Dead Island]]''. Full stop.
* Many levels in ''[[Resident Evil]] 4'' and ''5'' take place during the day.
** ''4'' is still pretty gray and gloomy, even during the day, but a slim majority of 5 occurs out in the blinding sun.
*** Amplified by the superior lightning effects in ''5'', an enemy with their back to the sun is a major annoyance.
** ''[[Resident Evil 3: Nemesis]]'' as well. Well, until you get out of the police station that is.
*** Not that it makes a difference - the classic Resident Evil's were never dark to begin with, unless we're talking about a room with a light switch or an area where you have to turn the power on.
* ''[[Left 4 Dead]] 2'''s daytime segments don't just change the lighting, but the behavior of one of the Special Infected. Witches normally sit in one place at night, but during the day they wander around.
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** A specific example is Horizon, a colony in the process of being abducted by the Collectors. It's a beautiful, summery day and the colony looks like any prefabricated community, a place where people live, farm, work and sleep. And then you come across humans frozen in place in the process of fleeing, falling, screaming, hiding, trying to help each other...and then you ''stop'' coming across them, and it's like they were never there at all.
** Taken several notches up in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' with ''Sanctuary''. It's a refugee camp on Horizon that takes in human refugees from planets destroyed by the Reapers and the reception area looks a lot like an [[Crystal Spires and Togas|elegant and clean airport with huge skylights and indoor parks]], except for some very recent damage from firefights and crashed shuttles. As you arrive the last enemy troops are on full retreat and [[Nothing Is Scarier|there is nobody else there]], while the PA keeps blaring out instructions to new arrivals, which sound increasingly like cult propaganda. From terminals you learn that new arrivals are confined to the reception area and have to leave behind all their possessions. If you volunteer as a receptionist, you are promised better accomodations once you are permited inside the main compound. From which nobody has ever returned. {{spoiler|It's actually a kind of concentration camp where refugees are turned into brainwashed cyborg soldiers and everyone who is not suitable is turned into test subjects for anti-zombie weapons.}}
* ''[[
* ''[[Pathologic]]'' is this trope. Though even the noon of the sunniest day in the game has a withered, autumn atmosphere and can look mildly gloomy.
* Lake Yantar in ''[[STALKER]]'' is somehow more creepy during the day than during night. During the highly overcast day you can often see zombiefied Stalkers shuffling in the distance or Snorks crawling through the bushes while at night it's just a usual dark wilderness level.
* The upcoming ''[[X-COM (Video Game)|X-COM]]'' FPS will be set mostly during daytime. Earlier games in the series also had missions that would take place in daylight, depending on when your soldiers arrived at a terror site.
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* ''[[Diablo 2]]'' mostly takes place under the sunlight (when it's not [[Beneath the Earth]]), including a desert territory brimming with undead buzzards and demonic locusts. [[Diablo]] I is always night (and the action is entirely [[Beneath the Earth]]).
* A large chunk of ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' takes place during daylight.
* At least half of the missions in ''[[
== [[Web Original]] ==
* [[The Slender Man Mythos|The Slender Man]] is generally associated with fog and dark places, but there's nothing really stopping him appearing in broad daylight if he so desires, as seen in most of [[Marble Hornets|the]] [[Everyman HYBRID|web]] [[Tribe Twelve|videos]] based on his mythos.
* Much of ''[[Nyx Crossing]]'' takes place during the daytime. Doesn't stop it from being eerie though.
* The second chapter of ''[[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Fiver's vision in ''[[Watership Down]]'' shows blood creeping across a meadow with a bright sun overhead.
* ''[[Final Fantasy:
* ''[[Batman:
* Extremely noticable in the animated Disney film ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]'', especially the scenes involving [[Cats Are Mean|Sabor the leopard.]]
* In ''[[Samurai Jack]]'', the [[Eldritch Abomination]] Aku is born on a sunny day.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Arguably, being in certain countries in Africa where anarchy is common, oppression is nothing new, and vigilante justice is everyone's cup of tea, a targeted man walking during the night would be much safer than being seen in broad daylight.
* Night is when you are safe at home with others around you. Have you ever been all alone on a quiet day and suddenly get the feeling that you are being watched?
* Giant hogweed (species ''H. mantegazzianum'' and ''H. sosnowskii''). A tall poisonous plant that spreads like kudzu and causes dangerous blisters and burns that can enter [[Body Horror]] territory if you are not careful. Its poison only works under sunlight, it's safe by night.
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[[Category:Weather and Environment]]
[[Category:Drama Tropes]]
[[Category:Horror Tropes]]
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