YouTube ads are already a killer (who wants to be interrupted by the realities of car insurance just before watching the "God Is A Woman" music video?) but this new advertising strategy may actually make you cry. According to a tweet that is currently going viral, the latest horror flick in the Conjuring universe, The Nun, is adding jump-scares to your YouTube experience.
It. Is not. Okay.
"WARNING! If you see an ad on youtube with the volume sign being turned down and nothing else, ITS A JUMPSCARE for the new NUN movie coming out. i advise you look away and/or turn down the volume if you have anxiety or just straight up hate jumpscares, pls rt to save a life," tweeted user @bbydvas.
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WARNING! If you see an ad on youtube with the volume sign ??? being turned down and nothing else, ITS A JUMPSCARE for the new NUN movie coming out. i advise you look away and/or turn down the volume if you have anxiety or just straight up hate jumpscares, pls rt to save a life
— apple ? (@bbydvas) August 12, 2018
For the uninitiated, a "jump-scare" is when something uses loud noises in combination with scary imagery to illicit a fearful reaction — often, someone jumping out of their seat.
I'm a horror fan — the scarier the movie, the more likely I'll line up to see it opening weekend — but if there is one thing I am not cool with, it's jump-scares on YouTube videos. I was a child of the early aughts, and I have been burned one too many times by friends who wanted to show me a "really cool new video they found." It took me a good decade to stop scanning through videos, hoping to catch the monster that would pop out before I actually agreed to click play.Representation for Warner Brothers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
It's one thing to go into a horror movie, prepared to be scared, and another to want to watch a Carpool Karaoke clip only to end up scaring your dog after screaming a little too loudly.
While jump-scares are not my favorite thing, I am pretty stoked for The Nun in general — if only for its amazing origin story. "The Nun" first showed up in Annabelle: Creation, itself a spin-off of The Conjuring. However, while the doll at the center of Annabelle is based on real-life lore, the titular character in The Nun was actually created last minute: According to The Hollywood Reporter, the black-and-white nun (portrayed by Bonnie Aarons) was not incorporated into the film until three months prior to Annabelle: Creation's release, during reshoots. Shortly after Creation's release, The Nun (also known as the demon Valak) proved scary enough to warrant her own spin-off.
The Nun could already be one of the most chilling characters depicted in modern horror, so do we really need a bunch of jump-scares to prove her presence is effective? I'll be watching YouTube videos with the volume way, way down until The Nun's marketing campaign subsides.
The Nun hits theaters on September 7, 2018.