Horror to humour
The affective transformation of the moment of death in Little Nightmares
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7151040 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Xin Pan (0000-0003-0130-9301, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 51-67 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Convergence The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1354-8565 • E-ISSN: 1748-7382 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/13548565251374171 |
| OpenAlex | W4413752823 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
This article explores the affective shift from horror to humour in Little Nightmares when transitioning from gameplay to stream viewing. Employing microethology, a methodology suitable for analysing shorter gaming experiences, this study scrutinises avatar death scenes as moments of affective transformation. It introduces the concept of ‘empathetic horror’, defined as the fear, distress, and nervousness that arises from players’ deep empathetic bond with their avatar through embodied and affective involvement in a game. Conceptualising the moment of death as an assemblage, this study examines how watching Danmaku game streams on Bilibili reframes this fear-inducing moment as humorous. It identifies three factors responsible for this transformation: a change in ludic engagement and the player’s perspective, altered meanings of critical actors within the assemblage (including monsters and death), and the introduction of new participants (such as Danmaku game streams) into the networked assemblage. This analysis underscores the role of Danmaku streams in creating a humorous environment, strengthening entertaining effects, and foregrounding the performative dimensions of play, providing insights into the evolving affective responses across gaming and streaming contexts
Art · Classical mechanics · Physics · Psychoanalysis · Chemistry · Cinema and Media Studies · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · Psychology · Shakespeare, Adaptation, and Literary Criticism
Watch Me Play
Ethnography and Virtual Worlds
Taking Humour Seriously
Comic Relief
Feeling, Emotion, Affect
Streaming on twitch
The Collected Dialogues of Plato
Understanding Memetic Media and Collective Identity Through Streamer Persona on Twitch.tv
Motivations for game stream spectatorship
Gaming Horror’s Horror
Player vs. Monster
Coming of Age in Second Life
Gameworlds
Why do people watch others play video games? An empirical study on the motivations of Twitch users
Play Between Worlds
In-Game
Developing an Empathy Spectrum for Games
Reassembling the Social
Behind the Streams
The Interface Affect of a Contact Zone
The Affective Labor and Performance of Live Streaming on Twitch.tv
Heavy Hero or Digital Dummy? Multimodal Player–Avatar Relations in Final Fantasy 7
Humour and Comedy in Digital Game Live Streaming
Just watching”
Seeing isn’t doing’
Navigating ambiguous negativity
Desires at Play
Player Character Engagement in Computer Games
The Assemblage of Play
Events and Collusions
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |