For the use of fear in attempting to influence others, see Fear mongering
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Scare Tactics is an American comedy horrorhidden camera television show created by Scott Hallock and Kevin Healey and aired on Syfy from April 4, 2003, to October 28, 2013. The first season of the show was hosted by Shannen Doherty and then Stephen Baldwin took her place in the middle of the second season. At the beginning of the third season, the show was hosted by Tracy Morgan.
In July 2024, it was announced that USA Network would bring the show back with Jordan Peele as the show's executive producer. The show returned on October 4.[4]
Format
The show's title card from 2010 to 2013.
Scare Tactics is a hidden cameraprank show that puts victims into terrifying situations, usually involving movie-style special effects and makeup that recreates horror movie clichés. The victims, generally four per episode, are set up by friends/family in tandem with producers.
Unlike other hidden camera shows, Scare Tactics was shot and edited in a cinematic style intended to give each piece the look and feel of a horror movie.
There are some instances where the victims are lured into the pranks on the promise of being on a fake reality show called "Fear Antics" which plays off like a show similar to MTV's Jackass but end with dire consequences. In "Fear Antics", the victim is led to believe that they are the prankster, when in fact the joke is on them. Sometimes, the victim of "Fear Antics" will attempt keeping calm and rationally try keeping the situation from getting out of control (from their perspective).
The pranks end when the victim is completely terrified and an actor would ask them, "Are you scared?" to which they usually reply in the affirmative. They then get the reply, "You shouldn’t be! You're on Scare Tactics!" or "I'll have to/I'm gonna put you on Scare Tactics!". Alternately, at times when a victim almost ran for their lives, the actors would immediately announce the same thing. Rarely, a victim assaulted an actor playing an antagonist in a moment of courage; forcing the crew to end the charade. There were only two occasions where a victim realized they were on Scare Tactics.
In February 2003, two months before the show premiered, Kara Blanc (a victim on the show) sued Syfy, the producers of the show and two actors (Mathew Mertha and Travis Draft) for emotional damages and had to be hospitalized multiple times due to the incident.[8][9][10] In July 2003, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, adding in noneconomic and punitive damages.[11]
In the United States, the show aired reruns on GSN as part of the "Friday Night Frights" block in October 2016,[12] formerly on MTV2[citation needed] and streamed on Netflix from 2019 to 2022.[13] In Europe, the first season of the program aired on MTV Central from 2003 to 2004. The show was also broadcast in Australia on Fox8, in Canada on MTV, in India on AXN, in Russia on MTV Russia (only the first two seasons), in Turkey on Dream TV, in Poland on TV Puls, in Finland on Jim, in South Korea on Q TV, in Sweden initially on TV6, and then on TV11. The program was distributed internationally by Rive Gauche Television.
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