How to Recognize an Internet "Screamer" Video

Last Updated: December 1, 2022 References Approved

Have you ever watched a seemingly innocent video, only to have a very scary face flash onto the screen with a loud scream? You've watched an internet "screamer", and they may trigger an embarrassing moment, possibly involving some damp pants or a few shakes. Here are some ways to help recognize them BEFORE you almost have a heart attack!

Steps

1
Look at the website itself. Check which section of a website you're in. If you're in the "prank" section, close the window immediately (unless, of course, you're intending to watch a video about pranks). If there are comments under the video, look at those. If comments are disabled (and the video isn't either for kids or about a hot-button topic such as conspiracy theories), close the window! If you see a comment similar to "Whoa, that made me jump", close the window! Also if it's impossible to disable comments, you should look for plenty of comments that are deleted by the creator.
2
Examine the video itself. If it has very low music (this makes the audience want to turn the volume up, so the scream is louder and scarier), or if it has very small text (which makes you want to go into full screen), that's a good indication that it's a screamer. Exit out!

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3
Look at the content of the video. If it deals with scary things, like ghosts or supernatural things, this may be a screamer, but you cannot be certain. Be careful!
4
If it shows a room or picture, and invites you to "Find what's wrong in the picture", or "Find Waldo", close the window immediately!
5
They have a new trend going on where videos describing people reacting to screamers are actually screamers themselves. If you suspect this, scroll down and see the comments, as listed above. If the maker of the video disabled comments, this is a clue because they may have done it to purposely lead viewers to believe the video is genuine. To check if that's why they've disabled the comments, scroll down just enough to see the video time, so you don't see the video itself. Turn the volume down, just in case it is a screamer, and if the video time runs out and there's no scream, it's safe to watch.
6
Check the time on the video. If it's suspiciously short cut the video. The key word here is "suspiciously". If there's a good reason for it to be short (for instance, it's showing a character saying a quote and that's all), then it's probably safe, but if it's short when you'd expect a longer video, it's probably a screamer.
7
Pause the video and forward all the way to the end. If everything is good feel free to watch.

Warnings

If a video says "Look closely!", the scary face is imminent. Get away from the computer, plug your ears and close your eyes, or do not obey it and close the window.

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If you stumble after you see the screamer pop-up, there is a 65% chance of that it will appear all over if you stumble upon a looping screamer. Try to be careful with screamers that loop a lot.

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If you're on YouTube, and you find a random comment with a link to something like scaryandfun.com don't click the link, it's just going to show you another screamer.

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If the face pops up, immediately turn your face away from the screen, and get away from the computer. You'll probably do this by instinct anyway.

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Do not show screamers to people who are older than 65 or younger than 10. Elderly people could suffer heart attacks, while younger children could be traumatized by the scary image.

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Another thing to do is to Google the video. Most of the time, when you search it, it will say it is a screamer video

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If you're sitting at a desk or table, push your chair out from under the table so that if the scary face pops up, you can get away fast.

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