Mascot horror

Theme featuring the use of in-universe mascot characters which have their child-friendly aesthetics subverted for the sake of horror. The mascot characters can be from a wide variety of media within the fiction of their universe, including children's shows, educational games, toy lines, and entertainment venues. Mascot horror gained traction following the popularity of Five Nights at Freddy's (2014) and its animatronic cast of characters, which were successful in large part due to coverage from producers of Let's Plays on YouTube. The demographic makeup of these Let's Players' viewers combined with the theme's use of bright and cartoon-like characters has led to its popularity with younger audiences.