It is not a joke, it's part of the game's story, and the game doesn's rely on jumpscares at all so I don't see the problem.
my apologies! people like me tend to take these things kind of literally, hence it being an unpleasant surprise for me when i wasn't expecting any loud noise or sudden movements (the part where the body's hanging on a street lamp comes to mind). and whether that's part of the story or not, it put me off a lot and i never got to find out why that's there. i will try again, perhaps!