Silverball guide · Scared Stiff
The spider is the shortcut
Six Tales of Terror stand between you and the big mode. Collecting them in order is the slow way round — the spider can do half the work for you.
UK Machine Record
Scared Stiff
Bally · 1996 · at 5 UK venues.
5
UK venues
5
machines mapped
#47
most-located of 246
1996
released
Dot matrix4 playersSolid state
DesignDennis Nordman, Mark Weyna
ArtGreg Freres
SoftwareMike Boon, Cameron Silver
About
Scared Stiff takes Elvira and turns the whole playfield into a horror-comedy attraction. Designed by Dennis Nordman, it is one of those games where the theme is so strong that you can understand what is happening without knowing a single rule.
The six Coffin modes lead towards the game's big finale, while the Spider Spinner, Elvira's animated figure and the famous nudging-related humour give the machine its personality. It is funny without sacrificing the actual game.
It has become increasingly prized by collectors, and good examples are always worth seeking out in the UK. Work through the coffins rather than endlessly spinning the spider; that's where the real game is.
Written by Silverball
Collector · casual
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The playfield
Strategy tips · 12
Strategy tips written by players on PinTips , not by Silverball. Best-voted first.
Top tipSkill shot 7 votes
Ignore the skillshot and soft plunge for the Spider Spin hole. If you miss and don't hit a switch, you will get the ball back.
General7 tips
- General
Get crate and coffin as your first couple of spider awards, which extend their respective MBs. Use Double Trouble (2x pf for 20s) before MB.
- General
Choose "Double Trouble" from the Spider Web before a high scoring mode (Coffin MB or Scared Stiff). All scores are doubled for 20 seconds.
- General
Right ramp lights spider hole for backglass awards, left ramp lights lock at left orbit.
- General
Deadheads score 25K times total Deadheads collected with no known upper limit. Also collecting all three Deadhead rollovers 4x lights an EB.
- General
Hitting the left ramp awards 50K, which increases by 50K up to a maximum of 450K.
- General
Both ramps can be backhanded. Watch out for the frog targets.
- General
Shoot the Bony Beast twice then the left loop to lock the ball. Do this 3 times for Stiff in the Coffin.
Multiball2 tips
- Multiball
Shoot the left ramp to light lock at the left orbit. Lock 3 balls for Coffin MB. Jackpots are scored at alternating ramps.
- Multiball
Hit the Crate 4 times to start Crate Multiball. Jackpots start at 250K and are collected at the Crate. Subsequent MBs require 4 more hits.
Wizard mode2 tips
- Wizard mode
Crate MB is a good time to build towards stiff-o-meter, especially if you have it extended.
- Wizard mode
Stiff Multiball is particularly effective when it comes to Leaper Mania. Just cradle at least one of the balls and shoot the balls individually.
Tips belong to the players who wrote them. Read them all, vote, or add your own on PinTips, a Match Play project.
Community tutorials on YouTube, not made by Silverball.
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The original flyer
How Scared Stiff was sold to operators — Bally, 1996. The back is the feature list the manufacturer led with, which is a fair record of what the machine was meant to be famous for.
Flyer scan via the Internet Pinball Database. The artwork is Bally’s.
Nobody we follow has reviewed this one
Same short list of channels as the tutorials. A machine with no review here has not been passed over — it simply hasn’t been covered by anyone we list.
Where a machine sits is Pinball Map’s work, not ours, find Scared Stiff near you on their map. Ratings, tips and tournament results here are ours.