10 Most Bizarre Horror Stereotypes

3. Runners Will Forever Fall Over

Night of the Demons
Bryanston Pictures

This thankfully does seem to be a stereotype that has become less frequented by horror pictures in recent years, but the whole "girl sees killer, girl runs away, girl falls over" trope is one of the most mocked parts of horror cinema.

Given how this facet of horror originated with the slasher subgenre that experienced a ginormous boom in the late 1970s and throughout the '80s, this was all part of the damsel in distress stereotype that became attached to near-enough 95% of all slasher protagonists. And of course, pretty much all of said protagonists were females shrieking in terror.

For whatever reason, it just became the standard, go-to norm that these ladies would often make illogical, boneheaded decisions that many a watching audience would shake their head at. Well, until Wes Craven's iconic Scream poked fun at such tropes, which made other horror filmmakers think twice about including such played out, formulaic tropes.

Granted, there are going to be those horror movie victims who stumble and fall when running away from some demented killer whose sole intention is to brutally murder them, but there are also a whole lot more people who would navigate a path to safety or avoid that one stray twig that could lead to their downfall.

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.