Like it or not, practical jokes have been a long-standing part of the US Halloween tradition. While you cannot TP a website, other gags have gained traction as a way to “pull one over” on online visitors.

Screamers

A screamer is a variation on the classic “cat scare” from film and television. At first glance a screamer will appear to be a normal video or picture accompanied by some text prompting you to pay close attention, or possibly turn up your sound. Then, without warning, the screen will switch to a monstrosity or a face contorted in terror as your speakers “scream” at you in horror. For one of the classic examples, look here.

Rickrolls

A rickroll is a form of bait-and-switch that relies on the opacity of hyperlinks. It generally begins with a link that looks like it heads to a legitimate reference, but anyone following the link will instead find themselves redirected to a music video of Rick Astley singing “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

At one point Rick Astley got in the act himself. The singer secreting himself within the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float for the TV show Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. Part way through an unrelated song, the music changed and Rick Astley lip-synched along to his own old number.

Fakelore

While there is a great deal of valuable information on the internet, it remains a bastion for unsubstantiated claims posing as fact, especially when these claims deal with obscure folk beliefs that would be difficult to verify without a concerted and intentional effort. No one has done a better job of driving this point home than the producers of the Blair Witch Project, who managed to use Wikipedia, chatboards, and other sites with user generated content to spread around the idea that the film was the final record of a real occurrence. Watching the film revealed discontinuities that would undermine the claim, but by that point the viewers were part of the phenomenon (and in on the gag).

A Final Word

As you can see, online gags rely on chicanery, and misdirection. Using either a technical or social setup, you are led to believe that one thing is happening, when really it is another. We’ve complied some additional examples in this animated slide show.