Ring, Ring
Ring, Ring
A recent trend in the online horror community is the ‘Two Sentence Horror Story’. It is a challenge that many have undertaken to maximize fear with minimal content. The creative challenge in microfiction has led to many memorable scenarios and even spawned a three-season television series. But long before the advent of social media and online communities, a line was uttered that proved that true terror actually needs only one sentence:
“The call is coming from inside the house.”
For most this line will elicit an involuntary fear response. A shudder. A flush of the cheeks. An glance behind them to remind themselves they are safe. This quote is a piece of modern mythology and as with most myths its origins are murky. Some will cite the infamous anthology collection which traumatized (in the best possible way!) a generation, by Alvin Schwartz, ‘Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’ (1981). Others may think back to one of Carol Kane’s earlier film roles in ‘When a Stranger Calls’ (1979) directed by Fred Walton. Or Bob Clark’s ‘Black Christmas’ (1974) which was the first feature film to include the trope.
True scholars of film history might point out that Terence Winkless’ short film ‘Foster’s Release’ (1971) was actually the first instance of this sentence being used in a piece of media. But the trope predates that, first coming to life through verbal storytelling as a long-standing urban myth which tells the story of the babysitter and the mysterious “man upstairs”. Examples of this tale can be found dating back to the early 1960s where its true origins fully fade into the unknown.
While the precise story of the babysitter and the man upstairs has become cliche and fallen out of popular use, the use of the telephone as a conduit for horror remains a powerful storytelling device. Most popularly utilized in the modern classic ‘Scream’ (1996) and its franchise, created by Wes Craven, the telephone has long been a tool of murder as ubiquitous as the knife, machete or chainsaw.
The history of the telephone is long and complex as is that of most modern inventions. First patented in the U.S. by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, it could well be considered one of the most influential inventions in the modern history of human kind. The telephone was a tool of connection. It contributed to our community’s ability to build and maintain relationships with people over long distances. Connection and relations are highly associated with emotional and psychological safety. The telephone also served as a literal tool of safety. Today, the idea of calling 9-1-1 in an emergency is instinctive. But at the time of its invention the influence on our society of the ability to reach out for help from afar cannot be understated.
Considered through this lens as a tool of connection and safety, it was only a matter of time before the horror genre began to explore how the telephone’s role could be subverted. Some of the earlier examples cited demonstrate how effectively the telephone can be used to gain access to someone and control them without ever laying a finger on their person or even making eye contact. When used in good faith the telephone is a means of sharing authentic and meaningful information. But in the wrong hands they can be used to deceive and confuse. The human condition is generally to trust and believe in the kindness of others. Particularly in the days before caller ID, we believed the person on the other end of the receiver was who they said they were. We answered our phones without hesitation because to believe the caller meant us harm would mean acknowledging that the world was inherently dangerous and may not have our best interest in mind. The use of the telephone in the horror genre in many ways predicted our present-day societies' newly discovered distrust for others.
Ask someone today whether they would answer an unknown phone call and they will likely scoff. Many will not even answer a call from a friend or a family member if the communication is spontaneous and was not previously planned. We view even our loved ones through a lens of suspicion and anxiety to say nothing of the ungenerous assumptions we make about salespeople or political pundits who have gained access to our phone numbers. To be fair, these calls are often frustrating and disruptive, but the visceral response of anxiety, anger and even fear that many have could be considered disproportionate to the risk of harm that such a call may cause. The literal death that phone calls pose in the horror genre have truly come to reflect a generalized fear of such communications in the real world.
To understand the power of phones in horror is to see them as a symbolic and literal entrance into our lives. Humans design their homes with safety in mind. We lock our doors. We install security systems to keep the uninvited outside.. We enlist Ring doorbells to surveil those who deign to drop packages on our porches or let their dogs relieve themselves on our curb strip. We secure our homes from intruders both human and environmental be it the rain from above or the ants and pests from below. Secure in our apparent safety, our homes become a place where we let our guards down. We speak freely, we undress, we fight and laugh and have sex, assuming that we are alone or only in the company of those we have invited in. Horror films remind us that no matter the precautions we take, the telephone can allow the unwanted and unwelcome to enter our lives when we least expect it. One of horror’s most graphic and literal depictions of this fear can be found in Wes Craven’s ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984). Not realizing that she is asleep and inside Freddy Krueger’s dream realm, Nancy answers a telephone call from the safety of her childhood home. The receiver gruesomely transforms and Krueger’s tongue violently probes and licks her face in a cruel and quite literal invasion of her home and body.
The moment between answering a call and hearing the caller’s voice represents a powerful liminal space that is rife for leveraging existential and societal anxieties. It is a brief moment when anything is possible. A joyful call from a close friend. Report of an unexpected tragedy that has befallen a family member. The uncertainty of a lost or staticky connection. The labored breathing of a mysterious man, the graphic threat of violence or the now infamous question “What’s your favorite scary movie?” all represent variations on a core fear that our lives may be disrupted in fearful or dangerous ways at a moment’s notice. The movie villain who disguises their voice or pretends to be someone else only to reveal their murderous intentions reflects our fear that even the familiar cannot always be trusted to have our best interests at heart.
As our society has evolved, the phone has been relegated more and more to the backdrop of the modern home. Landlines are seen as a relic of the past. While most individuals carry a phone (a computer really) in their pockets at all times, there are many who would be hard pressed to remember how to turn on their ringers even should they want to. That being said, the modern portable telephone has served to broaden the reach of danger even more. We are never disconnected and unreachable which can be a prospect as frightening as it is meant to be comforting. Conversely, more and more often, it is now the loss of connection (via lack of signal or the breaking of a device) rather than intrusion by phone call that is used in film to signal that a film’s protagonist is in danger. But the phone still serves as a powerful symbol of safety in film however it might be used.
The horror genre has seen a noticeable shift toward using the internet as a new symbol of connection both for good and evil. Later entries in the Scream franchise are as likely to use a FaceTime call or webcam to allow the slasher to intrude upon the lives of their victims. And other entries to the genre such as ‘Unfriended’ (2014), ‘Cam’ (2018) or the upcoming ‘Drop’ (2025) have used the internet to serve a nearly identical purpose to the telephone of allowing dangerous and unwanted access to our lives by supernatural or technological means. But until some unknown time in our culture’s future when phones are truly extinguished, they will always have a role to play in horror. Reminding us that no matter our perceived safety, danger is always just a ring, text or buzz away.
Media & Notes:
Print:
Schwartz, Alvin. (1981). Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
Film:
Walton, Fred. (1979). When a Stranger Calls.
Clark, Bob. (1974). Black Christmas.
Winkless, Terence. (1971). Foster’s Release.
Craven, Wes. (1996). Scream.
Craven, Wes. (1984). Nightmare on Elm Street.
Gabriadze, Levan. (2014). Unfriended.
Goldhaber, Daniel. (2018). Cam.
Landon, Christopher. (2025). Drop.