10 Big Horror Movie Reveals You Can Spot Early (If You Really Look)

9. Ghost Stories - The Repeated Numbers 

Urban Legend
Lionsgate

In 2017's Ghost Stories - a silver screen adaptation of the play of the same name - Andy Nyman plays Phillip Goodman, a professor and TV presenter who specialises in debunking supposed paranormal activity.

Goodman is encouraged by his childhood hero, 1970s spooky investigator Charles Cameron to delve deep into three particular cases. Upon doing so, the nuanced narrative of Ghost Stories ends with the reveal that none of these three cases are real and that Nyman's character is actually in a comatose state of locked-in syndrome.

The twist of the tale is that Phillip was part of a bunch of kids who played a prank on a disabled boy that led to his death. Luring the youngster to an underground tunnel, Goodman and his pals set a task for their target to find a set of numbers in this dark locale - only the final number of the pattern isn't there, which was meant to cause chuckles for those watching their victim struggle.

In reality, the victim panicked, had an asthma attack and died.

This was all teased without us even knowing, as the numerical pattern from this torment is featured at several points throughout the movie. Similarly, 3:45 is seen a multitude of times - with it later revealed that this was the time that Goodman ended up in what the medics are labelling a vegetative state.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.