Haunted Window

Inspiration

It was inspired by horror movies that show blinking lights before a jumpscare or scary scene.
I tried to recreate that tension using Python on digital screens.

What It Does

1. Initial Setup

   • Creates a fullscreen, transparent window that covers your entire screen
     
   • The window is click-through initially, meaning you can still use your computer normally
     
   • Loads background music and sound effects from a sounds folder
     
   • Starts playing background music that loops continuously
     

2. 3-Second Wait

   • The program waits 3 seconds after you run it (building suspense)
     

3. Black Screen Blinking (8 blinks)

   • Your screen suddenly turns black
     
   • It blinks 8 times (alternating between pure black and near-black #050505)
     
   • Each blink lasts 1 second
     
   • After blinking, the screen stays black for another 3 seconds
     

4. Haunted Notepad Sequence

   • Closes any open Notepad instances using taskkill
     
   • Opens a fresh Notepad window
     
   • Changes Notepad font size to 18pt through the Windows Registry
     
   • Reads text from random.txt
     
   • Types it character-by-character automatically with keyboard sounds:
     
     • First 10 characters: slow (0.3 seconds each) — dramatic effect
       
     • Remaining characters: fast (0.01 seconds each)
       
     • Each keystroke plays keyboard.mp3 sound
       
   • Pauses for 3 seconds
     
   • Goes to a new line and slowly types "DO NOT LOOK BACK" (0.3s per character)
     
   • Closes Notepad automatically
     
   • Shows black screen for 3 seconds
     

5. Jumpscare

   • Displays a jumpscare.jpg image fullscreen with a scary sound
     
   • If no image exists, shows a red screen with “BOO!!!” text
     
   • Waits for the jumpscare sound to finish playing before continuing
     

6. Thank You Message

   • Stops all music
     
   • Shows a message box: “Thank you for executing!”
     
   • Program exits
     

How We Built It

Built using Python and a combination of open-source libraries, sounds, and image files.

Challenges We Ran Into

Synchronizing the keyboard sound with the typing animation in Notepad was challenging.
Initially, the sound played after each keystroke, creating a delay.
The fix was to trigger the sound before pyautogui.write() instead of after.

Accomplishments We’re Proud Of

1. Seamless Multi-Library Integration
   Successfully integrated 4 different Python libraries that don’t normally work together:

   • tkinter (GUI)
   • pygame (sound + events)
   • PIL/Pillow (images)
   • pyautogui (automation)

2. Advanced Window Transparency Effects
   Created a sophisticated transparent overlay that:

   • Covers the entire screen
     
   • Remains click-through when needed
     
   • Can toggle visibility on demand
     
   • Stays on top of all windows
     

What We Learned

1. Multiple Event Systems Can Coexist

   • Lesson: tkinter’s event loop and pygame’s event polling can work together if managed carefully
     
   • Discovery: pygame.event.get() must be called regularly to drain the event queue, even inside tkinter apps
     
   • Solution: Regular polling with check_for_escape() keeps both systems responsive
     
   • Application: Understanding how to bridge event paradigms between libraries
     

2. Process Management Requires Aggressive Cleanup

   • Lesson: Applications like Notepad can have multiple instances or linger after use
     
   • Discovery: taskkill /F is sometimes necessary to ensure a clean state
     
   • Solution: Force-kill existing processes before starting new ones
     
   • Application: External process automation often requires aggressive management
     

3. Windows Registry Can Control Application Behavior

   • Lesson: System applications like Notepad store settings in the Windows Registry
     
   • Discovery: Registry values like
     HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Notepad\lfHeight
     control font size
     
   • Solution: Use reg add to modify application settings programmatically
     
   • Application: Registry manipulation enables deep system customization
     

What’s Next for Haunted Window

1. Configuration File
   
   • Enhancement: Add config.json for easy customization
     
   • Benefit: Users can adjust behavior without editing the source code
     

   {
     "blink_count": 8,
     "blink_speed": 1.0,
     "typing_speed_slow": 0.3,
     "typing_speed_fast": 0.01,
     "haunted_message": "DO NOT LOOK BACK",
     "wait_time": 3
   }

Built With

• os
• pil
• pygame
• python
• tkinter