Prompt Library

The Viral Gemini Ghostface Prompt (and 21 Variations)

22 copy-paste prompts

Upload a selfie, paste a prompt, and Gemini drops you into a 90s slasher-movie scene — film grain, landline phone, and a masked figure lurking behind you. These 22 prompts cover the classic shot, phone-call scenes, group versions, and fixes for when the edit goes wrong.

In short: This page contains 22 copy-paste ready prompts, organized into 5 categories with a description and pro tip for each. The first 15 prompts are free instantly — no signup needed. Hand-curated and tested by the AI Academy team.

By Louis Corneloup · Founder, Techpresso
Last updated ·Hand-curated & tested by the AI Academy team

The Classic 90s Horror Selfie

5 prompts

The Original Viral Shot

1/22

Using my uploaded selfie, keep my exact facial features, skin tone, and hairstyle, and place me in a dimly lit 1990s suburban living room at night. I look slightly startled, glancing over my shoulder. In the blurred background behind me, a masked horror-movie figure in a black hooded robe with a white ghost-like mask stands silently in the dark hallway. Shot on 35mm film with heavy grain, slight motion blur, warm tungsten lamp light, 90s horror movie still aesthetic, 4:5 portrait.

The shot the whole trend is built on: you in the foreground, the masked figure barely visible behind you, everything soaked in 90s film grain.

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Pro tip: If your face changes, lead the prompt with "keep my exact facial features" — Gemini weights instructions at the start of the prompt more heavily.

VHS Tape Freeze-Frame

2/22

Edit my uploaded photo into a paused VHS tape freeze-frame from a 1996 horror movie. Keep my face exactly as uploaded. I stand in a wood-paneled hallway looking toward the camera, while a tall figure in a black hooded robe and pale ghost mask is half-visible at the end of the hall. Add VHS artifacts: scan lines, chromatic aberration, tracking distortion at the bottom, a white PLAY symbol and timestamp 10:13 PM in the corner, washed-out colors, 4:3 aspect ratio.

The most authentically retro variation — the PLAY overlay and tracking glitches make it read like a real tape someone paused at the wrong moment.

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Pro tip: Ask for the tracking distortion "at the bottom of the frame only" or Gemini may smear glitch effects across your face.

Movie Poster Treatment

3/22

Turn my uploaded selfie into a 1990s slasher movie poster. Keep my exact face as the main character, lit dramatically from below, looking worried. Behind and above me, looming large and semi-transparent, the silhouette of a masked figure in a black hooded robe with a white elongated ghost mask. Grainy film texture, deep shadows, a fictional title in a 90s horror typeface at the top reading "DON'T ANSWER", and a tagline at the bottom. Muted teal and black palette, theatrical one-sheet layout, 2:3 poster ratio.

Casts you as the lead on a vintage one-sheet, with the masked figure looming the way villains always did on 90s posters.

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Pro tip: Swap in your own title and tagline — Gemini renders short all-caps text far more reliably than full sentences.

Babysitter Alone at Night

4/22

Place the person from my uploaded photo, with identical facial features, in a cozy 1990s kitchen at night, making popcorn in soft yellow light, completely unaware. Through the dark window behind them, the faint reflection of a white ghost mask and black hood watches from outside. Shot like a film still: 35mm grain, shallow depth of field focused on me, the masked figure soft and barely noticeable in the window. Spooky but playful, no gore, 4:5.

The "they don't know yet" composition — the figure hides in the window reflection, which makes people zoom in on your photo. Great engagement bait.

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Pro tip: Say "faint reflection" and "barely noticeable" — the scarier versions of this shot are the subtle ones, and subtlety also avoids refusals.

Polaroid Found on the Lawn

5/22

Create a vintage Polaroid instant photo of the person from my uploaded selfie, keeping my exact face, smiling at a 90s house party with red plastic cups and string lights. In the far background by the staircase, a guest in a black hooded robe and white ghost mask stands perfectly still, facing the camera. Thick white Polaroid border with handwritten marker text "Oct '97", harsh flash, faded warm colors, slight blur, 1:1 square.

A party snapshot where nobody noticed the uninvited guest until the film developed. The handwritten date sells the found-photo story.

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Pro tip: If the masked figure ends up too prominent, add "small in the frame, far from the camera" — the dread comes from distance.

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Phone-Call Scene Variations

5 prompts

The Landline Call

6/22

Using my uploaded selfie with my exact facial features preserved, show me in a 1990s living room answering a corded landline phone, eyes wide, mid-conversation. Warm lamp light, popcorn bowl on the couch, a chunky CRT television glowing in the background. Behind me, through the dark doorway, the pale ghost mask of a hooded figure is just visible. Heavy 35mm film grain, cinematic horror-movie framing, 4:5 portrait.

The iconic opening-scene setup: the phone call, the popcorn, the figure in the doorway. Instantly recognizable to anyone who watched 90s horror.

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Pro tip: Mention the "corded landline phone" explicitly or Gemini will sneak a smartphone into your 1996 living room.

Wrong Number, Wrong Night

7/22

Keep my face from the uploaded photo exactly the same and place me in a dim 90s hallway, holding a cordless phone to my ear with a confused half-smile, as if the caller said something strange. At the very edge of the frame, partially cut off, a black-robed figure in a white ghost mask stands motionless. Film still aesthetic: 35mm grain, slightly tilted Dutch angle, sickly green-white fluorescent light from the kitchen, 4:5.

The half-smile plus the figure cropped at the frame edge gives this one a "screenshot from the movie" energy that does numbers on TikTok.

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Pro tip: The Dutch angle is what makes it cinematic — if Gemini ignores it, follow up with "tilt the camera 10 degrees".

Phone Booth in the Rain

8/22

Place the person from my uploaded photo, facial features unchanged, inside a glowing glass phone booth on a rainy 90s suburban street at night, holding the receiver and looking out nervously. Across the street under a flickering streetlight, a tall figure in a black hooded robe and white ghost mask stands holding an old mobile phone. Rain streaks on the glass, wet asphalt reflections, heavy film grain, blue-night color palette, cinematic wide shot, 4:5.

Moves the call outdoors for a moodier, more cinematic frame — the two phones facing each other across the street tell the whole story.

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Pro tip: Ask for "a wide shot with me small in the booth" if you want maximum atmosphere; close-ups keep your likeness better but lose the street.

Caller ID: UNKNOWN

9/22

Edit my uploaded selfie so I am lying on a 90s teenage bedroom floor doing homework, twirling the cord of a transparent landline phone, keeping my exact face and hair. The room has band posters, a lava lamp, and a boxy TV playing static. Reflected in the dark window above the desk: a white ghost mask and black hood. Add a subtle VHS timestamp reading 11:58 PM. Grainy, warm, nostalgic but eerie, 4:5 portrait.

Pure 90s set dressing — the transparent phone, the lava lamp, the static TV — with the scare tucked into the window reflection again.

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Pro tip: List the props you want by name; Gemini fills generic "90s bedroom" requests with modern furniture more often than you would think.

The Call Is Coming From Inside the House

10/22

Using my uploaded photo with identical facial features, create a two-level shot of a 90s suburban house at night seen from the front yard: I stand at the upstairs window holding a phone, looking alarmed, while on the ground floor behind the living-room curtains the silhouette of a hooded figure with a pale mask holds another phone. Warm light upstairs, cold blue light downstairs, 35mm grain, cinematic establishing-shot framing, spooky not gory, 2:3 vertical.

A two-story split composition that retells the oldest phone-scare twist in a single frame. The most ambitious shot in this set.

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Pro tip: Complex two-subject shots drift the most — if your face slips, ask Gemini to "redo only the upstairs figure to match my uploaded face".

Group & Couple Versions

4 prompts

Couple Movie Night Ambush

11/22

Here are two photos: the first is me, the second is my partner. Keep both faces exactly as uploaded. Place us together on a plaid 90s couch under a blanket watching a horror movie, lit only by the TV glow, both mid-jump-scare reaction. Directly behind the couch, a figure in a black hooded robe and white ghost mask leans into frame between our heads. Heavy film grain, warm-on-cold lighting, playful horror tone, 4:5.

The couple version that took over feeds: two genuine jump-scare faces with the masked figure photobombing between them.

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Pro tip: Upload both photos in one message and label them "first photo" and "second photo" so Gemini maps the right face to the right person.

Friend Group Slumber Party

12/22

Using the uploaded group photo, keep every person's exact facial features and place us at a 1990s slumber party — sleeping bags, snacks, a board game, one friend mid-laugh. We are all unaware. In the dark hallway behind us, a masked figure in a black hooded robe with a white ghost mask peeks around the doorframe. Disposable-camera flash aesthetic: harsh light, red-eye glow, date stamp "10 31 '98" in orange in the corner, 4:3.

Works with 3-6 friends and the disposable-camera flash hides small face inconsistencies better than clean studio looks.

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Pro tip: Group shots drift the most faces — fix one person at a time with "keep everyone the same, only correct the second person from the left".

Yearbook Class Photo Intruder

13/22

Turn my uploaded photo into a 1990s high school yearbook class photo: rows of students against a mottled blue studio backdrop, me in the middle row with my exact face, everyone in 90s outfits with film-grain color. In the back row, standing politely among the students, a figure in a black hooded robe and white ghost mask, hands folded. Add a caption strip at the bottom reading "Class of 1997". Flat school-portrait lighting, 4:5.

The deadpan version — the figure posing politely for picture day is funnier than any jump scare, and screenshots beautifully.

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Pro tip: Keep the figure "standing politely, hands folded" — comedy framing also slides past content filters that pure menace can trip.

Group Selfie Photobomb

14/22

Edit my uploaded group selfie, preserving every face exactly. We are taking a flash selfie at night in a parking lot after a movie, 90s outfits, one friend holding a giant soda cup. Behind us, far back near a flickering lamppost, the masked figure in a black hooded robe and white ghost mask raises one hand in a casual wave. Disposable camera flash, motion blur on the edges, heavy grain, candid energy, 1:1.

The wave is the punchline — a friendly photobomb from the least friendly-looking guest. The most shareable of the group variations.

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Pro tip: The phrase "raises one hand in a casual wave" matters; without a specified pose the figure defaults to looming, which is a different vibe.

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Other Retro Horror Aesthetics

4 prompts

80s Camp Counselor Poster

15/22

Using my uploaded selfie with my exact facial features, place me as a camp counselor in a sun-faded 1980s summer camp photo: lake, canoes, friendship bracelets, slightly overexposed Kodak film colors. Deep in the treeline across the lake, a barely visible tall figure in dark workwear and a blank white mask stands among the pines. Warm nostalgic grain, washed-out blues and greens, vintage 35mm look, 4:5.

Trades the suburban slasher for summer-camp dread — bright, sunny, and wrong in the corner of the frame.

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Pro tip: Keep the figure "barely visible among the trees" — daylight horror works through wrongness, not darkness.

Found-Footage Night Vision

16/22

Convert my uploaded photo into a found-footage night-vision frame: green-tinted monochrome, glowing eyes, REC indicator and battery icon in the corners, timestamp 03:12 AM. Keep my exact facial features. I hold the camera selfie-style in a dark hallway, looking back at the lens, while far behind me a hooded figure with a pale mask stands at the end of the corridor. Heavy digital noise, slight fisheye distortion, 9:16 vertical.

The 2000s found-footage look — green night vision and a REC overlay — applied to the same lurking-figure formula. Built for Stories and Reels.

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Pro tip: Night vision recolors everything, which can mute your likeness — add "keep my facial structure clearly recognizable" to compensate.

Drive-In Movie Screen

17/22

Place the person from my uploaded photo, face unchanged, in a 1990s drive-in theater at dusk, leaning against a vintage car with a popcorn box. On the giant screen behind me plays a black-and-white horror film showing a huge close-up of a white ghost mask in a dark hood. Rows of cars, string of lights, purple-orange sunset sky, film grain, cinematic depth, the screen glowing over everything, 4:5.

Puts the masked figure safely up on the movie screen — a meta version with golden-hour colors that flatters your photo more than the night scenes.

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Pro tip: This variation almost never triggers refusals since the figure is explicitly a movie on a screen — use it if other prompts get blocked.

Blockbuster Night

18/22

Using my uploaded selfie with identical facial features, show me browsing the horror aisle of a 1990s video rental store at night, holding two VHS tapes and grinning at the camera. Shelves of chunky VHS boxes, blue-and-yellow store lighting, a CRT TV on the counter playing static. One aisle over, partially hidden by the shelf, a figure in a black hooded robe and white ghost mask pretends to read the back of a VHS box. Film grain, nostalgic 90s color palette, 4:5.

Maximum nostalgia per pixel — the video-store setting is half the appeal, and the figure casually reading a VHS box keeps the tone fun.

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Pro tip: Gemini loves inventing readable fake VHS titles; ask for "generic unreadable VHS covers" if the gibberish text bothers you.

Fix-It Prompts

4 prompts

Fix Face Drift

19/22

The last image changed my face. Redo it using my uploaded photo as the strict reference: keep my exact bone structure, eye shape, nose, lips, skin tone, and hairstyle with zero beautification, slimming, or age change. Keep the entire scene, lighting, and masked figure exactly as they are — modify nothing except restoring my face to match the reference photo.

The most common failure is your face morphing into a generic actor. This locks the scene and re-anchors only the face.

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Pro tip: Always edit in the same conversation instead of starting over — Gemini keeps the scene and only fixes what you scope.

Fix Mask Weirdness

20/22

Keep everything in the last image the same, but fix the masked figure: the mask should be a smooth matte white ghost-like face mask with simple hollow dark eye openings and an elongated open mouth, worn under a plain black fabric hood. Remove any extra eyes, teeth, distorted features, or melting shapes. The figure stands still in a neutral pose. Everything else in the image stays untouched.

Gemini sometimes renders the mask as a melted nightmare with too many eyes. This resets it to the clean, simple shape the trend uses.

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Pro tip: Describing what the mask is ("smooth matte white, hollow eyes") works better than only saying what it isn't.

Push the Figure Into the Background

21/22

Keep the last image exactly the same, but move the masked figure further away from the camera: smaller in the frame, standing in the darkest part of the background, slightly out of focus, partially hidden by the doorway. I should remain the sharp, well-lit subject in the foreground. Do not change my face, pose, or the room.

When the figure renders huge and front-and-center, the photo stops being a selfie and starts being a poster. This restores the lurking composition.

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Pro tip: "Slightly out of focus and partially hidden" is the magic pairing — distance alone still leaves the figure looking pasted in.

Make It Spooky, Not Scary (Refusal Workaround)

22/22

Recreate my last request as a playful Halloween-themed photo, not a violent one: same 90s film grain and lighting, my exact face from the uploaded photo, and a person in a black hooded robe and white ghost mask standing calmly in the background like a Halloween party guest. No weapons, no blood, no threatening pose — just a fun, eerie costume photo with vintage horror-movie styling.

If Gemini declines a prompt for sounding menacing, this reframes the identical shot as a costume photo, which nearly always goes through.

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Pro tip: Words like "stalking", "attacking", or any weapon are the usual refusal triggers — "standing calmly" gets the same image without the block.

Frequently Asked Questions

It is a viral photo trend where you upload a selfie to Google Gemini (its image model is nicknamed Nano Banana) and prompt it to place you in a 1990s horror-movie scene — grainy film look, retro living room, landline phone — with a masked figure in a black hooded robe and white ghost mask lurking somewhere behind you. The results look like stills from a slasher film you starred in, and they spread fast on TikTok and Instagram around Halloween 2025 before settling in as a year-round format.
Ghostface is a trademarked character (the mask design and name are owned by Fun World and the film rights tied to the Scream franchise), and image models are increasingly cautious about generating protected characters by name. Describing the look generically — a black hooded robe with a white ghost-like mask — gets you the same instantly recognizable vibe while avoiding both refusals and trademark issues, especially if you plan to post the images publicly.
Gemini blocks prompts that read as violent or threatening: weapons, blood, words like "stalking" or "attacking", or anything implying real harm. The trend does not need any of that — the scary part is just a costumed figure standing in the background. Keep the framing spooky-fun (a "Halloween party guest", "standing calmly", "no gore"), and if a prompt still gets declined, use the refusal-workaround prompt in the Fix-It section, which reframes the same shot as a costume photo.
Three habits fix most face drift. First, put "keep my exact facial features, skin tone, and hairstyle" at the start of the prompt, not the end. Second, use a clear, well-lit, front-facing selfie as the upload — low-light or angled photos give the model room to improvise. Third, when the face still slips, do not regenerate from scratch: stay in the same conversation and use the Fix Face Drift prompt, which re-anchors your face while keeping the scene.
Yes — the Gemini app on iOS, Android, and the web includes image generation and photo editing on the free tier, which is all this trend needs. Free usage has daily limits that vary by region and demand, and a Google AI subscription raises those limits and can route you to the newer image models, but every prompt on this page works on a free account.

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