Fifty More Horror Clichés That Should Be Left to Spoil

#19: The Car Won't Freaking Start!

In seemingly every horror narrative out there inevitability car trouble will arise at the worst possible time. The car always seems to freaking act up the moment the slasher killer or any other kind of monster is close to slaughtering another vulnerable member of the cast. For some reason, the car mysteriously chooses the worst time to need an oil change or have its battery go completely dead. Thus, the vulnerable cast member will be unable to start the car and drive safely away from the scene. Instead, they become a new member of the killer's growing list of murders, all because the universe apparently had to choose that moment to hate them and seal their fate. This scenario is a cliché in the horror genre that has basically existed since the invention of cars, being a tool by uninspired writers to use if they cannot think of any clever way to kill off a cast member.

It makes no logical sense that the car would just suddenly decide to not work at the chosen climatic moment in question. Considering most of the protagonists in slasher type stories are teenagers who just got their driver's license, they are more likely to be right on top of any issues arising in the car they were gifted months prior to the plot. After all, in most cases, this car is the ultimate test of a teenager's responsibility. If they fail to maintain the car gifted to them by their parents, the car will be confiscated indefinitely until they prove themselves worthy of owning it once again. Considering a huge majority of teenagers will not want to rely on carpools for the rest of high school to get around, most people are going to listen to their parent's warning about confiscating the car and take it to every auto body shop in town for even the smallest of issues. To them, the car is their baby and they are not about to lose it.

While the argument could be made that the car could fail at the worst moment due to old age, again, the owner of the car is going to freaking make sure it doesn't stop working at the worst moment. If they believe the car is close to failing prior to the events of the slasher story, the teenager in question is probably going to make the hard choice of having to use their parent's car until they make enough money to either get the necessary repairs or buy a new car that will run just fine at all times. Even if they were in a situation where the car suddenly died, there is the option of using their friend's car in order to escape. In desperation to stay alive, taking someone else's car to escape would be a viable option that would be easily forgiven considering the circumstances. You would have to be the worst person in the world to not understand the circumstances if a potential slasher victim had to steal your car in order to escape with their life. All that fleeing friend is going to get by doing this at most is a slight slap on the wrist, but nothing on the grounds of having to pay a huge fine for stealing the car in question.

Even if the cast happens to be much older and not have to worry about getting their car taken away by angry parents, they are still going to do the responsible thing by having their car checked out periodically for any malfunctions. Again, no one wants to have to rely on a carpool to get around or worse rely on a taxi that costs a considerable amount of money to use. Not one of these older cast members are going to be harebrained enough to let the car fall into disrepair and have it fail to work right when their life is completely on the line. If there even was a chance the car would fail, they could easily go the route of the teenager and borrow someone else's car to escape with at worst a slap to the wrist. No one is dumb enough to just let the killer have their way and completely slaughter them over an unmoving car.

It is with all this supporting evidence that I deem car failure in horror fiction to be one of the dumbest clichés in the genre. The whole concept makes no sense for any member of the cast, young or old. The cast member in question probably is going to maintain a good condition on the car, there is always the option of stealing someone else's car to escape a killer, and no one is just going to wait in the broken down car in paralyzing fear long enough for the killer to slaughter them. Using the plot device of a failing car to kill off a cast member in the horror genre is just not realistic at all for the audience.

If you want to corner the character in question, there are more inventive ways to do so than simply having their car fail to work. Before you ask, no, putting the character in a dead end or having them trip is not a viable solution. Both ideas are extremely overused and have a lack of logic in themselves just as bad as the failing car cliché. You have to make the situation realistic, and one that the audience will buy.

Don't limit yourself to overused tropes such as this one when writing. Always try to be inventive when writing ways to off a main character in the plot.