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Circa early 2002, interactive flash videos known as “scare pranks” or “scary mazes” began to emerge across the Interweb and e-mail chains. Click here to check out the original maze game and other variations. Upon clicking the link (disguised as an IQ test or puzzle game), the viewer is initially presented with a puzzle game that requires high concentration level, only to be disrupted later by an ear-piercing scream and ghastly photos (typically screenshots of horror films).

Google Trends result for "scary maze game":

One well-known Chinese flash works in the same way.

Scare Prank Reaction Videos

While the flash videos quickly gained momentum on their own, “scare pranks” really hit it home with YouTube response videos, when people began uploading footage of their beloved ones (like younger siblings and grandmothers) nearly soiling themselves to the prank videos.

Similar to reaction videos that followed the better-known 2 Girls, 1 Cup, Scare Prank reactions are yet another classic example of Internet users gunning for the lulz at the expense of close relatives and friends.