# Child's chant or rhyme used to creepy effect **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533 "2009-04-09T17:35:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/21 "2009-04-10T00:40:36Z")
_1984_ by George Orwell uses Winston’s vague memory of a nursery rhyme about the bells of London to great creepy effect. “Oranges and lemons”, say the bells of St. Clement’s" seemed innocent enough to me, but I am sure that it foreshadowed doom for those familiar with it. ---
**Author:** ![daygecko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/91b2a8/32.png) [@daygecko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daygecko)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/22 "2009-04-10T03:25:31Z")
It’s the way [M (1931)](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7434905497229204028&ei=mqveSdjwBZCarwKju6T_CQ&q=m+llang&hl=en&emb=1&dur=3) starts. The children aren’t as creepy as their casual incorporation (and re-enaction) of real world events in the rhyme. A perfectly typical thing for kids to do, and one which immediately places you in a world in which all is not right. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/23 "2009-04-10T04:19:44Z")
> [@lee](#): > > _1984_ by George Orwell uses Winston’s vague memory of a nursery rhyme about the bells of London to great creepy effect. “Oranges and lemons”, say the bells of St. Clement’s" seemed innocent enough to me, but I am sure that it foreshadowed doom for those familiar with it. To be fair, that rhyme does end with a stage-whispered: Here comes a chopper to chop off your head Here comes a candle to light you to bed With hands going over your head as you dash under them, then, with rising tone: The last man’s head is OFF! And you’re caught. It was never meant to not be creepy. Same goes for many nursery rhymes, I guess. Yay! Let’s hold hands and sing a merry song about the plague! Ring-a-ring-a-. Etc. It wasn’t the movies that made those rhymes creepy. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/24 "2009-04-10T05:07:48Z")
Actually, if you take any Golden Oldie, slow it down a bit, and put it in a scene that’s even slightly morbid, it works just the way that those nursery rhymes do. I will never hear ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ without thinking of the X-Files. Those tunes generally include minor chords. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/25 "2009-04-10T12:04:26Z")
The 1979 Amityville Horror used child-chants to good effect. Not sure about any sequels, though. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/26 "2009-04-10T12:39:09Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > [Donald, Where’s Your Trousers?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd_Zgla48g4) Can you explain what in God’s name is going on in that clip? I _want_ to be creeped out, but lack of context prevents it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/27 "2009-04-10T12:54:51Z")
“Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane” features Baa Baa Black Sheep. And an absolutely chilling performance by an adolescent Jodie Foster. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/28 "2009-04-10T13:17:44Z")
The song in[Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcNW2pTNY7A) is good, creepy fun. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/29 "2009-04-10T15:23:36Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Can you explain what in God’s name is going on in that clip? > > I _want_ to be creeped out, but lack of context prevents it. That’s the end of [last week’s Sarah Connor Chronicles](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1329932/). [spoiler]The guy singing is a rebuilt 800-series Terminator, the woman being arrested is Sarah Connor, and the girl singing had been taken by Sarah earlier in the episode to get her away from an opposing 800-series Terminator. The girl’s mother had been replaced by a 1000-series Terminator who used the woman’s company to rebuild the singing 800-series. The box being buried contains the remains of Derek Reese, brother of Kyle Reese from the first movie and John Connor’s uncle.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/30 "2009-04-10T15:52:46Z")
Okay, but, why’s he singing? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/31 "2009-04-10T17:00:23Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Okay, but, why’s he singing? She misses her daddy, who taught her the song, and she spent much of that episode teaching it to her friend. ---
**Author:** ![coffinjumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@coffinjumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffinjumper)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/32 "2009-04-10T17:05:57Z")
I’m not sure if it’s in the movie (never got around to watching it), but the play version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest uses the rhyme the title is based off of quite creepily ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/33 "2009-04-10T19:35:05Z")
“Huffity, puffity, Ringstone Round, If you lose your hat it will never be found…” from _Quatermass_. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/34 "2009-04-10T19:50:46Z")
In Shirley Jackson’s **We Have Always Lived in the Castle** , the narrator and her sister were taunted by other kids in town: \*Merricat, said Connie, would you like a cup of tea? Oh no, said Merricat, you’ll poison me. Merricat, said Connie, would you like to go to sleep? Down in the boneyard ten feet deep! \* ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/35 "2009-04-10T20:19:55Z")
Do you know the Muffin Man? ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533/36 "2009-04-10T20:42:00Z")
I think it was The Amazing Mr. Blunden, and I can’t remember the whole thing, but the line in the rhyme about “…all the little children, they are born to die…” has always stuck with me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/childs-chant-or-rhyme-used-to-creepy-effect/492533.md?page=1)