10 Horror Victims That Did Everything Right But Died Anyway

Horror has never been lacking in dumb characters. No matter how dangerous things get, there tends to be a few who insist they should split up, ignore potential dangers, or investigate any strange noise.

To the surprise of nobody, dummies like these are among the first to be offed. Although it can be horrific to watch them perish, it reinforces a simple rule in the genre - You need to be smart to stay alive.

As such, the characters that live tend to be good at thinking on their feet. They don't necessarily have to be geniuses, but wield enough common sense to hide, run away from threats, and avoid antagonising an axe-wielding psychopath.

But there are times where intelligence isn't enough. Characters can have adaptability to spare and brains spilling out of their ears, and still suffer a terrible fate. It's extra frustrating when the victim in question follows the unreasonable instructions of the villain to stay alive... but end up dying anyway.

Though it's impossible to find fault in these victims' actions, none of them made it to the end credits.

In this creepy fantasy drama, teenage outcast, Clare Shannon, discovers a music box that grants seven wishes to the owner. In a typical monkey paw set-up, every wish backfires in glorious fashion. Not only that, each wish comes at a price, which happens to be the soul of somebody Clare deeply cares about. 

Although the most sensible action is to stop using the music box, Clare can't help herself. After her mother took her life, Clare is desperate to find happiness, and naively believes the box will fulfil that dream. 

But when she wishes her mother back to life, Clare's sisters are erased from existence. Even though Clare is finally reunited with her mum, she recognises the music box will bring nothing but pain.

For her last wish, Clare goes back in time to the point where she found the cursed artefact. She then asks her friend, Ryan, to bury it, stopping the cycle from ever occurring. Sadly, Clare has little time to celebrate, since she's struck dead by a car immediately after.

The fact Clare gave up her greatest wish shows immense personal growth, making her death more tragic. But looking at the bright side, at least her actions prevented all the deaths that would've occurred.

But that's not the case. In the mid-credits sequence, it's revealed Ryan didn't throw the box away upon learning it grants wishes. So, Clare didn't just die for nothing but it's heavily implied her actions will triggered another massacre.