# TV Moments That Scarred You For Life **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2006, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051 "2006-05-09T12:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/301 "2016-08-17T01:52:59Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > For me, it was the _Twilight Zone_ [episode](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_His_Image) in which a character discovers that he’s a robot when he tears open his wrist and finds wires and machinery. I wouldn’t say that it “scarred” me, but it gave me a permanent sense that reality is very tenuous. > > _The Wizard of Oz_ was broadcast regularly on network television when I was a kid, and that movie scarred me in dozens of ways. I still think it’s a very disturbing movie. Hell, it starts with Dorothy’s aunt and uncle meekly surrendering her beloved dog, and then _locking her out of the fucking tornado shelter_. The bicycle in the wind of the tornado freaked me out. ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/302 "2016-08-19T01:51:56Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Thanks, **Max**. I’m gonna have to ask you _not_ to give me that for Christmas 😉 > [@Max\_Torque](#): > > Not to give you what? The movie? Or one of [**THESE?!?!?!?!!!?!?**](http://www.amoktime.com/detail.asp?product_id=ss1237) > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Eeeeeeep! :eek: > > I should have known not to open that ;_you’re_ the jokester that provided the link to that heinous picture of Pyramid Head! A pox on your house, **Max Torque** 😉 Is it just me or was reading that absolutely hilarious? ---
**Author:** ![peptastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@peptastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peptastic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/303 "2016-08-19T14:05:49Z")
The x-files episode _Home_ about the Peacock family terrified me. I wasn’t the only one who thought it was gruesome. [http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/arts/television/the-x-files-home-scary-tv.html?\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/arts/television/the-x-files-home-scary-tv.html?_r=0) It was banned from TV for three years. ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/304 "2016-09-07T01:57:03Z")
So who else besides my sister’s friend was scared of that devil-spawn of computer animation that was considered perfectly fine for daytime Cartoon Network? Of course we find him sexy now, but back then, why the hell would you show that during Hamtaro, when 5 year olds could be watching? Trust me, his voice is even worse. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/305 "2016-09-07T02:16:11Z")
> [@Shockaholics](#): > > So who else besides my sister’s friend was scared of that devil-spawn of computer animation that was considered perfectly fine for daytime Cartoon Network? Of course we find him sexy now, but back then, why the hell would you show that during Hamtaro, when 5 year olds could be watching? > > Trust me, his voice is even worse. You’re going to have to be more specific… ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/306 "2016-09-07T02:25:25Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You’re going to have to be more specific… [THIS](http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/toonami/images/1/15/Swayzak2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160904203159http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/toonami/images/1/15/Swayzak2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160904203159) ungodly thing. Seriously. Who the hell thought that was acceptable to show during Hamtaro? Also, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Uxa0z1njI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Uxa0z1njI) 0:55 in, that’s when we first see him. That voice. They showed this to kids!!! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/307 "2016-09-07T03:24:41Z")
> [@KSO](#): > > Helter Skelter. To this day, I view California as a place filled with wild-eyed drifters waiting to kill unsuspecting victims. You wanna know the first time I saw that movie? Travelling alone, in a hotel room by the ocean, in the dead of night, in a tiny town in Mexico. The thing I never got over was one of the killers chasing a woman across a lawn and then later complaining that her wrist hurt from all the stabbing. Shit that was disturbing, if only because it dawned on me for the first time that killing is physical _work_. I don’t usually watch stuff like that, but I was mildly drunk so my anxiety reflex wasn’t as strong. ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/308 "2016-09-19T16:16:35Z")
Metal Sonic’s voice in the Sonic OVA. ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/309 "2016-12-11T01:52:15Z")
Remember when **Max Torque** sent **WOOKINPANUB** a link to a Zuni fetish doll? Well, I ran a search through the site, [AmokTime.com](http://AmokTime.com), and found something a bit more pleasant. [Enjoy your Luke Skywalker action figures, StraightDope.](http://www.amoktime.com/star-wars-action-collection-luke-skywalker-12in-figure.html) This is my Christmas present to you all. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Happy holidays. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/310 "2016-12-13T14:47:53Z")
When I was a pretty young kid back in Russia, I chanced to watch some kind of short movie (one of those ‘artistic’ ones…?) - which included a small girl wandering through raspberry brambles with her stuffed bear, picking/eating raspberries. The kid alternatively fed and beat/berated the bear- it was made clear that she was basically repeating the actions towards her by her mom. The clip ended with her throwing herself off a cliff. Not sure how accurate the recollection is, that was in the mid-90s. That video made a huge impression back then (I had a pretty unpleasant childhood and could relate), and it still occasionally pops into my head in context of domestic violence. ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/311 "2016-12-13T17:16:09Z")
I was about 4 - 6 years old (making this sometime between '77 and '80) and at my babysitters place so it must have been in the afternoon. It seems to me (nearly 40 years removed) that it was black and white but may have been grey / grainy colour. All I remember is a Neanderthal (I think it was young) throwing a fit in a room lined with cages as two lab-coat types looked on. I don’t know that it scarred me but it has stuck with me for the best part of 4 decades. I sort of want to see it just to put some meat to the memory but I have no idea what it was. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/312 "2016-12-13T23:06:48Z")
> [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](#): > > I was about 4 - 6 years old (making this sometime between '77 and '80) and at my babysitters place so it must have been in the afternoon. It seems to me (nearly 40 years removed) that it was black and white but may have been grey / grainy colour. > > All I remember is a Neanderthal (I think it was young) throwing a fit in a room lined with cages as two lab-coat types looked on. > > I don’t know that it scarred me but it has stuck with me for the best part of 4 decades. > > I sort of want to see it just to put some meat to the memory but I have no idea what it was. [Trog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trog)? ---
**Author:** ![Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zeke\_N.Destroi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeke_N.Destroi)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/313 "2016-12-13T23:59:16Z")
I’m really not sure. It’s hard to guess based on a single scene viewed 40 years lol. The photos seem way too colourful for what I remember. I just watched “The Ugly Little Boy” and I don’t think that is it either. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/314 "2016-12-14T15:06:31Z")
I don’t know about “for life” but I saw [The Norliss Tapes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070458/) much too young. Yowsers! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/315 "2016-12-14T23:38:22Z")
1.) **Twilight Zone** episode (_everybody_ has a Twilight Zone episode, huh?) - When that kid turns his drunk uncle into a clown before it’s suggested what a good thing it would be to send him to the corn field. 2.) In **Roots: The Next Generation** when a black man was burned at the stake for insisting on his right to vote. 3.) When Saturday kids’ programming **The Secrets of Isis** [captured those two bad guys in the junkyard at the end](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF9WOZ4sojw&list=PLyr0bSOkRSWfdTExqZPLYAqZYA08aKl2C&index=3), tying one guy up in a net, another by securing him into place with discarded tires. It was the very first episode of that show and she never did something like that again and I know because I watched every damn one of them! I guess it was more like getting a permanent tattoo than being scarred, but whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/316 "2016-12-15T15:00:14Z")
Since this thread is back again, I will add that I just recently began watching “Black Mirror”. The first episode? The one with the pig Yeah, nothing is likely going to disturb me that much again. No, not even the “white bear” episode was that incredible. (Close though.) ---
**Author:** ![Shockaholics](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Shockaholics](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shockaholics)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/317 "2016-12-26T22:41:10Z")
My sister’s friend’s mother used to be scared of that scene in Empire Strikes Back where Luke has that dream about his face being underneath Darth Vader’s helmet. I thought that part was hilarious IMO. Then again, she grew up in San Fernando Valley, and I think growing up there has effects on your mind. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/318 "2016-12-31T02:11:57Z")
> [@Cordial\_Jim](#): > > [In Search of… Bigfoot](http://www.tv.com/in-search-of...../bigfoot/episode/247480/summary.html) :eek: > > As an 8 year-old, it scared the living crap out of me! Had nightmares for weeks! Me, Too!!! ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/319 "2016-12-31T02:15:57Z")
[quote=“ddgryphon, post:17, topic:356051”] I think I can trace my hatred of Semi-Tractor Trailers (Mac Trucks) to the Spielberg/Weaver movie where Dennis Weaver is chased across country and terrorized by a Mac Truck. It was called _Duel_ You remind me of a movie (I think it was made for TV) about “The Freeway Fiddler,” a van terrorizing women by tailgating and playing loud music. Don’t remember anything about it, but it left an impression. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051/320 "2016-12-31T03:53:31Z")
My husband says: “The scariest monster movie for me was “Island of Terror.” Low budget British. These arms/tentacles came out of a shell and sucked bones from people. My parents told me that these monsters were coming down our street to get me. I literally tried to crawl up the wall (no exaggeration) while screaming in panic. Meanwhile, my parents were rolling on the floor laughing at me. Forgiveness is a very tough virtue to master.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-moments-that-scarred-you-for-life/356051.md?page=17)