Jump scare

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A jump scare (also written as jump-scare or jumpscare) is a scaring technique used in media, particularly in horror fiction such as horror films and horror games, intended to scare the viewer by surprising them with a creepy face or object, usually accompanied by a loud sound. The jump scare has been described as "one of the most basic building blocks of horror movies". Jump scares can startle the viewer by appearing at a point in the film where the soundtrack is quiet and the viewer is not expecting anything alarming to happen, or can be the sudden payoff to a long period of suspense. Some critics have described jump scares as a lazy way to frighten viewers, and believe that the horror genre has undergone a decline in recent years following an over-reliance on the jump scare trope, establishing it as a cliché of modern horror films.

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