10 Most Bizarre Horror Stereotypes

9. The Crazier They Seem, The More Likely They're Right

Night of the Demons
Paramount

One commonplace stereotype of horror has long been that crazy old townsperson who will babble on about haunted this, cursed that, and general impending doom for all parties who happen to have just rocked up in Generic Town A.

Of course, these characters will usually be totally ignored, lambasted or outright mocked for their words of warning.

The thing is, these "insane" guys and gals have been around the block, know what atrocities may have happened in their local area, and have absolutely nothing to gain from warning a bunch of disposable teens with "Yo, don't go to that place unless you want to end up dead".

It may be easy write these locals off as plain crazy, but there's a more likely chance that they're crazy like a fox rather than full-on certifiable.

One could maybe put these sort of movie moments down to the arrogance of youth; of boldly ignoring the sage words of an old timer because, well, you and your cocksure attitude obviously know better. Regardless, many a supposed loon has seen their words ring true - and many a death could've been prevented if characters would've just listened to the person who had the inside scoop.

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.