jump scare

• jump-scare
• jumpscare

jump scare (plural jump scares)

1. (narratology) The technique, typically used in horror films and video games, of having something occur suddenly and without warning to frighten the audience.
   • 2011, Mira Grant, Deadline‎, Orbit, published 2011, →ISBN:

     They'd do something horrible, maybe kill off a few protagonists, and then make people sit around waiting for the next terrible thing to come along. They called it “setting up a jump scare.”

   • 2011, John Rosenberg, The Healthy Edit: Creative Techniques for Perfecting Your Movie, Focal Press, →ISBN, pages 80-81:

     Drag Me to Hell capitalizes on the jump scare, scattering it liberally throughout the film to the point where it becomes almost numbing.

   • 2013, Jeffrey Bullins, “Hearing the Game: Sound Design”, in James Aston, editor, To See the Saw Movies: Essays on Torture Porn and Post-9/11 Horror, McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 188:

     This quiet is broken suddenly with an initial jump scare of the puppet's iconic laughter.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:jump scare.

A English jump scare.

• IPA^(key): /ʒœ̃ skaʁ/

jump scare m (plural jump scares)

1. (film) jump scare