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Pop Culture

Jimmy Fallon asked people to ruin a horror movie by adding a single word to its title

'A Nightmare on Elmo Street'

Jimmy Fallon Hashtags

Not so scary anymore.

Whether you’re a horror aficionado or your scary threshold is at a level 2, you’re bound to be familiar with at least a couple of iconic horror movies. The horror genre is a huge part of our culture, allowing us to explore the darkest depths of the human psyche within the safety and comfort of home—or a theater, if you dare.

As counterintuitive as it might sound, watching horror movies can be more than stimulating entertainment for some people. It can act as a form of exposure therapy, helping reduce anxiety levels. Of course, this is not the case for everyone, but it certainly helps explain why the genre is so well loved and continues gaining popularity. Even in 2020—arguably an anxiety-inducing year for everyone—horror movies were the only ones to actually see a surge in ticket sales. Sometimes it’s just more cathartic to see an actual monster wreaking havoc in a fictional world than it is to think about all real-world worries that haunt our imaginations.

Still, not everyone can shake off that scary feeling that a horror movie elicits, and therefore might not partake in watching. Nonetheless, they might enjoy seeing the edge taken off with a bit of lighthearted humor. After all, it’s often recommended to watch a little comedy after a horror flick to clean out the heebie jeebies.


Jimmy Fallon asked folks to “take a horror movie and add one word to change the plot and tag it with #AddAWordRuinAHorrorMovie for his ever-popular Hashtags segment on “The Tonight Show.” Granted, some people took liberties with the rules—occasionally replacing a word in the title, for example—but nonetheless, grammatical fun was had. And well-known horror movie plots did undergo hilariously drastic changes.

Below are 23 of the best ones. Enjoy, because even those who can’t handle anything too scary deserve a little spooky entertainment.

1. “The Blair Witch Project Manager” – @ ite_mumma

2. “House of Brazilian Wax” – @omg_is_oscar

3. "Awkward Smile" – @jimmyfallon

4. “Zoom Interview With A Vampire” – @Sohnzie

5. "The Snore Ring (you’ll never sleep again)" – @Janasvox

6. “The Hills Have Googly Eyes” – @DunLahfAtMae

7. “Freddy vs Jason Bateman” – @richg6

8. “The Craft Room” – @EvelynRobinson

9. “See SAW” – @BruceCountyGal

10. “Silence of the Lamb Chops” – @EfrainRSosa

11. "Children of the Candy Corn" – @DjDubay

12. “Man-childs Play” – @DantheDad87

13. “The Amityville Hoarder” – @PamelaMelnick

14. “Carrie Groceries” – @mitchbytes

15. “Hellraiser Burn” – @blumspew

16. “Invasion of the Body Shapers” – @LaughOutLander

17. “Final Destination Wedding” – @EmWilsonMartin

18. “The Invisible Man Bun” – @ryanBartholomee

19. “The Babadook Ellington” – @taradublinrocks

20. “Beetlejuice Cleanse” – @Sohnzie

21. “Rosemary’s Baby Shark…doo,doo,doo, doo, doo, doo, doo." – @seamirac

22. “Nightmare on Elmo Street.” – @elise_milsssss

via GIPHY

@Cantabrana_ added:

“Somehow, this is much scarier.

23. “The Shoe Shining” – @LauraLizVids


This article originally appeared on 10.25.22

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Swedish people who move to the United States often complain of being introduced as Swiss. The New York Stock Exchange has fallen victim to the confusion, and a French hockey team once greeted their Swiss opponents, SC Bern, by playing the Swedish National Anthem and raising the Swedish flag.

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"Then I'm gonna give you up…then I'm gonna let you down.."

Rick Astley fans, rejoice. The singer has just released a new recording of his biggest hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” on Oct 24.

Only this version might be…a little different than what you’re used to hearing. Unless of course you’ve been hearing it wrong this entire time.

That’s because this version incorporates all the commonly misheard lyrics associated with the 80s bop. Cause why not?



In the new version of the track, you might notice “we’re no strangers to love” being replaced by “we’re no strangers to lunch,” as well as Astley, for some reason, singing “your aunt’s naked” and belting about running around with dessert spoons.

Listen:

That’s right, “don’t tell me not to plant a seed,” indeed! Free gardening for all!

Of course, this is more than just a fun cover. Astley partnered up with Specsavers to raise awareness of hearing loss—something the 80s icon struggles with himself and currently wears hearing aids to help with the condition.

In an interview with Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary on “This Morning,” Astley shared that he first started noticing issues while performing live shows again.

“I went to have my ears checked. I have noticed over the last few years, and we have in-ears when we play live and I’ve been turning them down over the past few years because I’ve noticed that it’s been too loud when I come off stage. I can hear it ringing,” he said.

Specsavers conducted a survey on 2,000 adults, and found that a little over 16% blamed their hearing for getting lyrics wrong. Meanwhile 28% admitted having difficulty hearing the TV or radio properly. And a whooping 51% find conversations with background noise difficult. (Daily Mail)

And yet, over half of the participants had never had their hearing tested. The reasoning for this could be twofold.

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And two, some people might not want to admit that they are having hearing loss, embarrassed at the notion of having to wear hearing aids and being perceived as old or disabled.

And that’s why Specsavers sought the help of a pop icon in their campaign—to break any stigma surrounding hearing aids and inspire others to get their hearing tested.

“I’d encourage anyone to get their hearing tested if they notice any changes,” says Astley, “so they don’t lose the sounds or music they love.”