# Scenes that traumatized you as a child **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843 "2004-10-24T01:58:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/41 "2004-10-24T12:55:08Z")
I was about 8 or 9 years old when the Planet of the Apes movies were first aired on television (in short order, IIRC). I found the endings of the first three pretty traumatic: [ul] [li] I remember being very disturbed about the whole Statue of Liberty thing after watching the first movie, and had a dream about it flying through space and falling on me. [/li] [li] Second movie. Orson Welles intoning in that deep, sonorous voice, “The third planet… is now dead.” Yeah, just try and go to sleep after _that_.[/li] [li] Third movie. Charming chimps Cornelius and Zira, whom I’d gotten fond of over the last two movies, are now in the modern human world… Lots of fun! Until they get gunned down mercilessly. [/li][/ul] Also, and I’ve mentioned this one before, I had nightmares for years after I saw “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” that made-for-TV movie about the creepy little gnomy guys that drag Kim Darby into the chimney. ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/42 "2004-10-24T13:35:01Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Large Marge in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. > > Yes…PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE traumatised me. AAAAAHHHHH!!! I was terrified of Large Marge when I was a little kid. Don’t be ashamed, **Tengu** ; it’s a more common fear than you think, judging by this thread. I was also freaked out by **Maximum Overdrive**. I don’t even remember any specific scenes, just those big headlights bearing down on people. Freaky stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/43 "2004-10-24T14:16:29Z")
One word: [Sleestaks](http://www.geocities.com/tharyett/sleestak.html). Gotta hand it to Sid and Marty. Whatever drugs they were on, they sure know how to make the ridiculous terrifying. I mean, look at them: Glassy-bug-eyed hissing freaks in green tights who move about 0.07 mph at what is apparently the closest thing to a Sleestak sprint. An irritated clam ought to be only slightly less menacing. But these guys made me hide my head under a blanket. Man, if Holly rounded a corner and ran into a pack of Sleestaks, I just about wet myself. Sleestaks scared the living daylights out of me; and they gave me nightmares too, damn them. Hissssssssss. Aaaaaaah! ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/44 "2004-10-24T14:28:43Z")
Another vote for the Child-Catcher in **Chitty Chitty Bang Bang** , the source of all my childhood nightmares. When I watched this movie as an adult, I was amazed that the Child-Catcher was such a small part of the movie! ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/45 "2004-10-24T14:48:04Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > The first movie that freaked me out was “The Blob”…and since I wasn’t supposed to be watching scary movies at my friend’s house, I couldn’t admit what was scaring me when I couldn’t sleep at night. :eek: I was TERRIFIED of that movie. Granted, I was a 4 year old watching a horror movie in a dark, unfinished basement late at night, but it scared me so bad I had nightmares every night for months. _shudder_ Another movie I saw when I was younger was **It**. I only saw bits and pieces of it when my mom and brother were watching it, and the one part I really saw was when the blood balloon rose out of the sink and popped all over Beverly. I started crying and that scene scared me away from sinks for days. Just recently I read the book and that part didn’t seem as scary. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/46 "2004-10-24T15:55:39Z")
_ **Forbidden Planet** _ The “Monsters from the Id,” before we could see it. Mystrious footprints appear in the sand, the steps up to the space ship bend under the unseen unatural weight of whatever this invisible monster is, then we hear the death cries of some unlucky crewman. When we finally get to see the invisible beast, it isn’t half as scary as that one scene. I was pretty young, possibly in Kindergarten. Dad was a Sci-Fi nut and our local theatre ran reruns of classic movies periodically. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/47 "2004-10-24T16:08:16Z")
> [@Miss Mapp](#): > > I remember being very disturbed about the whole Statue of Liberty thing after watching the first movie, and had a dream about it flying through space and falling on me. Ever see the finale of _Spaceballs_? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/48 "2004-10-24T16:17:10Z")
> [@Eyebrows 0f Doom](#): > > Another scene was from this movie called **The Gate** , about these kids that unlock a portal to Hell or something, and all these little demons start running around. Hey! When I was about 10 and my little brother was 4, he crawled up into bed with me one night crying, and I asked him what was wrong. He said he saw a scary movie that day and he was afraid of “the little things that bite him.” I asked him what the movie was and he said _The Gate_ and described how, when the kids open the gate, a bunch of little things start biting “him,” one of the characters. For MONTHS after that, every night he would climb up into my bed after waking up in the night and being afraid of “the little things that bite him on The Gate.” I always wondered what he was talking about. Demons, eh? ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/49 "2004-10-24T16:18:27Z")
Watching Spencer Tracy transmogrify from Dr. Jeykell into Mr. Hyde kept me awake for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/50 "2004-10-24T16:18:37Z")
Oh, and permit me to say that Large Marge really freaked me out as well. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/51 "2004-10-24T17:29:10Z")
Holy crap, nobody’s said mine! I went through the whole thread expecting to see it, but no! When I was a kid, there was a TV miniseries of **Through the Looking Glass**. And there was this Jabberwocky that kept showing up. Still scarred by it. The funny thing is, any time **Alice and Wonderland** or “things you were scared of on TV” as a child" comes up with anybody within several years of my age (24), somebody always brings up that damned Jabberwocky. I keep thinking it’s actually a part of **Through the Looking Glass** instead of just a poem in there. Extremely disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/52 "2004-10-24T17:50:19Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Ever see the finale of _Spaceballs_? 😛 Not `til years later. I dreamed it first! (Do you suppose I could sue Mel Brooks?) ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/53 "2004-10-24T17:58:52Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Holy crap, nobody’s said mine! I went through the whole thread expecting to see it, but no! > > When I was a kid, there was a TV miniseries of **Through the Looking Glass**. And there was this Jabberwocky that kept showing up. Still scarred by it. > > The funny thing is, any time **Alice and Wonderland** or “things you were scared of on TV” as a child" comes up with anybody within several years of my age (24), somebody always brings up that damned Jabberwocky. I keep thinking it’s actually a part of **Through the Looking Glass** instead of just a poem in there. Extremely disturbing. Not a film or TV version, but I always found the original Tenniel illustration of the Jabberwock to be very creepy: [http://www.jabberwocky.com/pics/jabberwocky.jpg](http://www.jabberwocky.com/pics/jabberwocky.jpg) Was the version you saw based on that? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/54 "2004-10-24T18:15:52Z")
I must be older than most of you, so I have older frights. The scene from **Invaders from Mars** (the original) when the saucer goes into the sand pit. I had sand in my backyard, so it struck close to home. When I was 4 my parents left me at my great-aunts, who took me to see **The King and I**. One of the very first scenes had the boats coming to get her, and it scared me to death, so much so I had to leave the theater. My poor aunt! As for Wizard of Oz, I never made it to the monkeys. The first appearance of the lion scared me when I was little. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/55 "2004-10-24T18:49:52Z")
> [@Miss Mapp](#): > > Not a film or TV version, but I always found the original Tenniel illustration of the Jabberwock to be very creepy: [http://www.jabberwocky.com/pics/jabberwocky.jpg](http://www.jabberwocky.com/pics/jabberwocky.jpg) > > Was the version you saw based on that? Oh, I don’t remember what it _looked_ like, duh. 🙂 I’d guess, based on my impressions, that the show didn’t really show the whole Jabberwocky, just bits and pieces, maybe. It was a dull metallic gray color, I think, and I recall an overall metallic _appearance_ also, like armor. Perhaps it’s online somewhere and I’ll find my memory of it is absolutely and completely inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/56 "2004-10-24T18:56:45Z")
[This](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6303212220/qid=1098644339/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-0848818-7054309?v=glance&s=video&n=507846) may be it - it never says it was a miniseries (although it does say it’s 3 hours long, which suggests miniseries), but some of the comments are along the lines of “I was so terrified of the Jabberwocky”. 1985 is about right. I may have to check it out - I do remember some bits very strongly, and suspect there must be a matching “Alice” because I remember the “Drink Me” chamber in the beginning having two doors - one was the one she eventually went out of, and the other led to the Jabberwocky. Does nobody else remember this? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/57 "2004-10-24T21:32:02Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > Any scene with the Oompa Loompas in it from **Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory**. Actually, I found this movie deeply disturbing for any number of reasons. Like when Violet chewed the gum and turned into a giant blueberry. Or when Veruca went screaming down the death chute for being a “bad egg”. But the Oompa Loompas…Freaked. Me. Out. I don’t know why. Just the thought of those sanctimonious little malchromatic freaks gave me nightmares for a week after seeing that goddamn movie. If I ever have kids, I swear they will not see **Willy Wonka** until they are at least 18. I feel like I have found kindred spirits in Loopydude and Lsura. I especially admire Loopy’s bravery in actually being able to say (type) the “O-L” word. What is even more frustrating than being creeped out by little orange men is that if you tell anyone they insist on mocking you by singing that song! I was just discussing this with my boyfriend the other day and he laughed about my fear of O-L’s but this thread helped me to remember that he was creeped out by \*Darby O’Gill and the Little People \* so now I have ammunition to use against him next time. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/58 "2004-10-24T21:54:47Z")
My parents kept pretty tight control over what I watched, so a guy stubbing his toe had the ability to traumatize me. I was allowed to watch the clean, wholesome film **The Great Waldo Pepper**. A guy’s stunt plane crashes, and he’s screaming because he’s burning to death. His protégé used a propeller blade to smash his head so he wouldn’t have to suffer, but it took a few swings to quiet him down. I walked around in a daze for about a week after that. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/59 "2004-10-24T23:12:32Z")
> [@ggurl](#): > > It was **Creepshow**. The scene where the dead guy comes up out of the grave, grabbing the murderous(?) relative, and hissing, “I want my cake!!” We all loved the Cake Guy. Mister Pratt was a different story though, with the roaches crawling inside him. Now that was nasty. ---
**Author:** ![sleeepy2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@sleeepy2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeepy2)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843/60 "2004-10-24T23:17:32Z")
> [@Chicago Faucet](#): > > I have to echo what other posters have already mentioned. My one weakness is Zombies. Yes, Zombies, with a capital “Zom”. > > I remember one time when my wife was out of town. I happened to be into playing used Playstation games at the time. My latest purchase was “Resident Evil”. For anyone who is, in the least, suseptible to Zombies (with a capital “Zom”), I do not recommend this game. Even to this day, I have not finished it. My wife called me at a reasonable hour of the day: > > Wife: “Hey, what’s up?” > Me: “N-n-nothing…” > Wife: “What are you doing?” > Me: “N-n-nothing…” > Wife: “You’re playing ‘Resident Evil’, aren’t you?” > Me: “No. Well, yes, actually.” > > Keep in mind that it was still daylight, but I was alone, and sober. The game Resident Evil 2 takes place in a police station. At one point, my character (Leon) is in the interrogation room. I go past the one-way mirror, and I can see my character’s reflection! Cool! So, I’m making Leon strike poses, left , right, gun goes up, gun goes down, generally being an idiot. After about two minutes of this nonsense, _a freaking zombie-licker comes flying through the glass at me!_ I yelled so loud my wife came downstairs to see if I was okay! Still the best game I’ve ever played. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-traumatized-you-as-a-child/270843.md?page=4)