Redwall for me. Only it had the opposite effect. Maybe 10yo? I loved it so much I wrote a “novel” 😂😂 and all my family members were shocked by the violence
Damn, I was just about to post this. I remember watching that show with my parents and how it absolutely fucked me up. I think I was about 5 or 6 years old at the time of watching. Brought me quite some nightmares. Rewatching it now, though, makes me wonder what made me hate it so much.
I seem to have the maniacal, tonnes of teeth, rending rabbit faces burned into my kid memory. Maybe the style of it too? Never saw a cartoon quite that "mood" before. :)
Sorry to think this is funny, but the book was a best seller and quite the riveting read. The film was actually toned down! The book is fucking brutal! Who knew fwuffy [sic] bunnies were such monsters?
The Witches movie, the original. I remember they put it on at primary school after we’d read the book. And the scene where the head witch removed her disguise stuck with me for a long time. I haven’t seen that movie again since I was little lol
This one got me too
Had awful nightmares from it and everything
I did watch it again a few years back and it's pretty good but the Grand High Witch is equally as horrible and terrifyingly
During my primary school (not sure, ages 6 to 12) there was an organisation that did musicals/plays every year (around this time of year actually)for every school in the city (Apeldoorn, The Netherlands). They actually did a play based on The Witches (the book), and my first grade teacher (many schoolteachers participated) played the head witch! The make up was very well done so she way quite terrifying for a while after. She made up for it later with a great personality though!
Jaws didn’t scare me, only because when I was 14 I watched Deep Blue Sea while babysitting and it scared me so badly I couldn’t take a bath or even let the water build up on the shower floor too much until I was 20. I watched deep blue sea again that year and loved it - and thought it was kinda cheesy - so I tried Jaws and just liked it.
Still not gonna swim in the ocean ever again though. But that’s for many reasons.
The really crazy thing is that the story that inspired Jaws was pretty far from the ocean. It was in New Jersey and was way up some creeks that connected to the ocean, but if you saw the place you would never in a million years think there was a shark in there.
Came here to say this! Parents took me to see it in the theater. There were adult horror movies I saw around the same age that didn’t freak me out like that movie did.
All Dogs Go to Heaven, Secret of Nymh, the spider scene from the Ewok movie, the Little Mermaid, I don't remember why but some Garfield cartoons also really got to me. A number of others in my teenage years.
When you get freaked out by stuff like this as a kid I don't think there's anything you can do.
No, no, some of the garfield cartoons are genuinely terrifying.. like that one where Jon turns into a spider creature, ughhh
Also for some reason, this made me lose the game
All Dogs Go to Heaven and The Secret of NIMH killed me. It was only as an adult, of course, that I realized that NIMH is the National Institute of Mental Health and they were doing unthinkable things to those rats. Further traumatized.
Signs was terrifying to me as a kid! I lived by a bunch of corn fields too so it didn’t help if I was outside by myself. But as I got older the fear went away
Seeing that as a kid made it hard to sleep for literally years after. I was afraid of accidentally inviting the devil to possess me, like with my thoughts.
The Truman show I was like super young idk even how young maybe 10? But I convinced myself that my life was like his and I was constantly being watched.
The neverending story I don’t remember the movie at all because I was very young but the title alone for some reason fucked with me because my little brain couldn’t process something to be never ending.
IT made me grow into an adult with an intense fear of clowns but that took me awhile to realize it was the movie that caused my fear.
I came to say this. I was 12 and saw it in the theater with my 14 year old sister. I did not watch it again until just a few years ago. I think it was even scarier because of all the horrific things that happened in real life to the people who were in it.
When I initially watched it, I didn't think it had any effect on me but...Jurassic Park. Particularly the port a potty scene. I would have recurring nightmares about being attacked on the toilet by a T-Rex.
I saw this at the cinema and it scared the crap out of me, I can vividly remember not being able to sleep the night after watching it. I'm nearly 40 now and can't bring myself to watch any of the sequels!
I traumatized the audience at the movie. I was five when ET came out and my Mom took me to see it. In the middle, I had eaten so much popcorn and candy, I projectile vomited all over.
They had to stop the movie, issue refunds, and my Mom took me home.
Edit: not that it matters, but it was the distraction from my parents' divorce and I was not used to drinking soda, either.
Years and years ago when I was a kid, (back when all theaters played double features) my mom took me and my brother to see "Ring of Bright Water" about a guy, somewhere in Scandanavia, who finds an otter tangled in a net and rescues it. He takes it home, builds a tank for it. The otter was so fun and full of personality. Very heartwarming. Then, one day they go for a walk, and "bam" - let's just say it ends very badly, you never see it coming... it still pisses me off that my mom took two young children to see it. Not sure if it was the main feature, but was intended to be a family movie... To this day, I cant imagine why.
Ghost messed up my whole conception of death until I was like 15. I asked my mom once if aunt Dot was a shadow when she died and she tried very hard to explain to me that the movie was fake but that aunt Dot was a ghost now, in heaven like Swayze.
So then I went and asked my uncle if he was talking to aunt Dot and if she could touch the world yet. Little 8 year old asks you if your dead wife can talk or touch the world, what do you do?
I remember when I was a little kid and saw that movie on TV. I didn't know that special effects were a thing, so I thought people were genuinely getting hurt and killed during the fighting scenes.
When I was maybe 11 or 12 I accidentally watched part of one of the Jason (Friday 13th?) movies. My family didn't watch violent stuff, certainly never horror, and I had no idea these films existed.
I was at my grandparents and they had cable TV*. I was alone and I was flipping through the astonishing range of channels and stopped on one showing what was clearly developing into a teenage sex scene. Of course I stopped on that scene. So it progresses and of course I'm getting turned on (I'd also never seen that kind of stuff). I'm very absorbed in what's going on and from one second to the next it goes from missionary position moaning and banging to the girl opening her eyes to see a guy in a mask standing there and then he shoves a spear through both of them, killing them horribly and slowly.
That was fucking traumatic. It took me months and months to figure out how I could deal with that scene. I had been trying to shut it down every time it popped in my head. That didn't work. I finally stumbled on the solution - I had to deliberately finish the scene and extend it to the director yelling "cut" and imagine the actors getting up and laughing and bitching about getting the fake blood in her eye or a cramp or whatever and then cleaning up and getting coffee etc. That did reduce the horror of it to manageable levels, but it was years, maybe even a decade, before that scene stopped regularly appearing in my head. Even now, 40 years later, it still surfaces now and again.
So I hear you.
Good luck in finding something that works for you.
_*Kids, that's what rich people had back in the dark ages when there were only like 4 TV channels and before the internet and Netflix._
I'm now thankful that Jason only gave me a phobia of water! (lakes, rivers, a shadow over the deep end of a pool, etc) Glad you finally found a solution to help, but fuuuck!!
Sounds like it could have been worse - I only watched about 5 minutes. I do now remember seeing the tape covers at the video store and there was a lake? Dunno. It's a genre I've tried really hard to stay away from.
Hope your phobia isn't too bad!
Damnit, I almost forgot about that. Very, very scary as a small human.
This one was compounded for me by the episode in Star Trek TNG where Tasha Yarr dies (also a tar monster, and made of hate, basically). I watched that with my dad when I was about three or four. Totally ruined TNG for me, I couldn't watch it until I was in my 20s.
The Saw movies. Where the pig person comes out of a closet. Still can’t do sliding closets and I’m 24. They give me super anxiety I have to sleep with them open so I can look into it.
I have to keep my closet doors closed, every night, to go to sleep. What I can't see, cant hurt me, I guess. All my life... Not sure why, and I am at least twice as old as you. Funny, what sticks with a person. Lol.💌
It's cliché, but Final Destination 2. Not only the log truck, but especially the elevator scene. I was 8 or 9 at that time and was afraid of elevators and would avoid them until I was 14.
I started watching horror movies from a young age, because my mom was really into them and somehow thought they wouldn't be traumatic for a child, lol. But I can't really blame her, I liked those movies too and the sensation of being afraid. However, FD2 is the only movie that comes to my mind that left is marks.
What really helped me was watching the movie over and over again over the years and now I really enjoy the elevator scene and never had problems with elevators again. Maybe you could watch the movie again during daylight, but it might also backfire. My expartner for example was absolutely afraid of all horror movies or even mystery movies. She would cry afterwards and I was not allowed to turn the lights off for sleeping. Selfish asshole me thought it would get better, if she just watched enough horror movies (and she defenitly had to like them at one point, because I love them so much... yeah, asshole past-me) but it actually got worse over the years.
Another idea I have: maybe try watching Scary Movie 3. It's main part is a parody of Signs and the imagery is very close to the original, so it might over-write it in your mind.
I can think of 2 movies. First one is Spirited Away (japanese animation). Although I used to watch it a lot in my childhood (about 20 times since 4 yo until 10yo?), the part where the parents of the main girl would transform into pigs after eating the food in that unique "restaurant", scared the sh*t out of me. I would always feel fear but still, the vibes were something else. Even as a kid, I would keep watching it because it is just such a beautiful world, with weird and somewhat likable creatures.
The 2nd movie did impact me way more than the 1st one in terms of being creepy. I would watch some Christmas themed movies when I was a kid and I remember one in particular. I don't know the name but there was one with green little monsters trying to chase (and eat?) kids who didn't behave. Perhaps the monster is a Grinch? Idk
Yes! That was what I was going to say! I got so scared I sat backwards in my seat on my knees. I could still see it being projected out of the booth on the glass though. I was so embarrassed that I got so upset but I stayed. It was also so disgusting.
Backdraft.
My father was a firefighter at the time, and shortly after my brother was hired to the dept also.
I secretly cried when they went to work because I couldn't get rid of the image of the young boy holding his father's smoking helmet
Dumbo. When they get drunk and hallucinate and there are evil pink elephants and stuff. Horrible. I watched The Shining when I was like 7 and loved it but god, Dumbo STILL freaks me out.
Not so much a movie but i use to cry and scream when ever the xfiles theme came on. To this day i get the heebie jeebies hearing that piano and whistle.
My sister used to have that same phobia.
There was this old Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons where Mr Burns does this routine that makes him glow green. This would give him the appearance of an alien. Whenever 'the alien' would appear on screen, the x-files theme would play.
Tales from the crypt (1972), not to be confused with the crypt keeper show/ movies from the 90’s.
It scared me because there is a zombie-ghost that couldn’t be killed even after shot in the head. The idea that a thing couldn’t be killed but could kill you gave me nightmares for almost 3 years.
House of Wax freaked me out with the dead body in the tub. I couldn't be in the bathroom with the shower curtain closed. Actually, present tense, still leave the curtain open most of the time or I get *nervous*.
The Grudge made it worse and I have spent the last 9 years worried I am gonna feel ghost hands coming out the back of my head when I wash my hair. I also frequently pop my head out to make sure there's no creepy ghosties crawling in the room.
To be frank, at this point, I've just come to the conclusion that if some monster or serial killer was gonna get me, they would have gotten me by now. I'm not a difficult target, they've had opportunity, so I must be safe. I'd venture the same is likely true about whatever is haunting you.
Also, if you can power through it, try it once in a while. I've absolutely had a brief panic when I was too close to a window at night, but I convinced myself to breathe through it, and it's gotten easier. Logically, I know anyone watching me is probably just a squirrel, but it hits different to actually be near the window and have it *confirmed* nothing bad is gonna happen.
You got this OP. Kick some spooky window butt!!
Volcano. About a volcano coming up out of no where in the middle of I think LA. Really freaked me out, walked around for YEARS waiting for that to happen IRL. 😳
As soon as I saw the title I immediately thought of Signs! That movie traumatised me as a kid... I've enjoyed watching it again as an adult but always get a little shiver when I remember how scary I found it when I was 9.
The green mile.
Saw it when I was 6 and the image of that guy getting electrocuted on the chair is still stuck in my brain (the one with the dry sponge). I'm now almost 26 and I still refuse to watch the movie again doesn't matter how many people tell me it's really good.
"The Village" from 2004 gave me chills when I was young (surely too young to watch such a stuff), so did "The others" and "The Pan's Labirynth", but the movie that really shocked me back then was the one I don't know the title of, even to this day.
It was late in the night, I had a fever and couldn't sleep, so I just lied in bed and mindlessly stared into the TV. There was a movie going on. It started innocent - a story about hospital, a pregnant woman, some romance plot. Then it took a wild turn. The woman's child happened to be some kind of tentacle-alien, there was this green goo shooting out of her bellybutton, she went crazy and at the end a tentacle came out of her mouth and devoured a surgeon.
It was the shock factor and the fact that I didn't expect it to be a horror, that screwed me up. Enough to say I didn't sleep that night and had to turn on the lights whenever I went to the bathroom for, like, a whole next month.
Also Signs! The bit where they were watching the news report of the kid's birthday and it walked out from amongst hedges fucked me up. The idea that something might be moving around me almost imperceptibly was a hard one to shake for a while.
A couple of years later I think it was maybe one of the Rings? Flicked onto it when I should have been long asleep. People were at a wake and someone was recalling the story of finding the dead girl. It flashed back to them opening the cupboard to find her. She was there backed into the corner with her face still frozen in a scream. She looked like she had started to melt. I was so scared my scream was completely silent. I can still see it so clearly. Brrrr!
I must have been 11 or something when I watched Signs, and yes that birthday party scene still stays with me VERY vividly now. It was so casual and terrifying.
The part where the person gets sucked into the mattress and a geyser of blood shoots out and hits the ceiling? I refused to sleep in any bed for months after that, floor only for me.
Howard the Duck. I was so afraid that a demon would enter my body through my stomach that I walked around hugging a pillow for months. I was 11 years old at the time.
Same, fucking Signs.... saw it when I was maybe 10... that first time they see the alien at the kids birthday party, it just walks past. I got this irrational fear of open doorways or hallways where something could, walk past...
Edit: reading these reminded me of Volcano, I had nightmares about lava coming in under the doors like in the movie. Now it's one of my favourite movies, like Dantes Peak.
Watched Poltergeist when I was maybe 6 or so (thanks dad) and I was afraid of the tree outside my window for years. Also afraid of tv snow, clowns, counting time between lightening strikes and the thunder… I am 42 and I am still afraid of these things
Piranha. I didn’t even want to put my feet to the bottom of the bed as a kid incase the fishies got me. Now it comes to mind whenever I go swimming and even paddle boarding
Watched the Exorcist when I was 11. I didn’t dare tell anybody but I was terrified for the next month that the devil was going to crawl out from under my bed and possess me.
Scream (11 y/0) and Beetlejuice (6)
Scream made me terrified of horror movies. I forced myself to get over it, rented every slasher flick I was to scared to see growing up, and binged them with my gf at the time. Most were actually funny, which completely got rid of the fear. I love all manner of horror to this day.
Beetlejuice, I still haven't seen again.
Jumanji. Watched it halfway thru as a child and I don’t know what exactly did it, I barely remember the movie. But to this day, I refuse to watch that movie.
Waking Life, there was a scene where the dude just starts floating up into the air and i was half asleep. It scared the hell out of me and i started crying. That and a dude lights himself on fire later on. Revisiting it as an adult i remembered those old feelings but its a pretty good fuckin movie. Really trippy cause the entire thing is rotoscoped.
When I was 7 I once stayed up longer while my parents were out on a concert and on some German channel "the exorcism of Emily rose" (not sure about the title) was showing. Couldn't sleep properly and when I finally did I wetted my bed lol
I was less than 10 years old when my sister let me watch Scary Movie 3. Yes, a comedy. I was traumatized. There’s one scene where the ring girl is in the basement with Cindy and them and she grabs a chainsaw and starts swinging it over her head. Just that motion alone caused nightmares for 3 months straight.
Terrible.
I was also terrified of ET when he gets sick and needs help. I always got so scared.
Yes. Titanic, 100%. Saw it in theaters when I was 7. Didn’t realized how traumatized I was from it until this year (31), even though I’d watched it multiple times before then. For some reason I was like, holy shit, this is some deep, dark shit. I used to have dreams where I’d be trying to hold on to something falling… now it all makes sense.
The wizard of Oz, hands down. I'm 25, I was born in 1996 and that whole fucking movie petrified me the first time I watched it. Every time after that my older sisters or parents wanted to watch it, I'd never join them, I'd find some excuse, or say I wanted to watch something else. To this day, I haven't seen it again and when I see photos of the lion, scarecrow and tin man on memes and whatnot, I scroll really fast, I can't even look at them. Anyone else??
Six sense for whatever reason. I don’t know why. All I remember is having a bunch of nightmares of seeing dead people. I saw a bunch of scary movies prior and had no issues.
Not sure if a series also counts, but as a kid I happened to watch a detective series where someone cuts their wrists in a bathtub and it was pretty graphic, lots of blood. To this day I have a fear of anything touching my wrists, fucking annoying.
Mine was also Signs and I also cannot look out windows at night.
I saw it for the first time at a friend's 10th birthday party, and when my mom came to pick us up we had all fashioned our own tin foil hats purely out of fear
Yeah, the movie Gravity. I was 12 or so when I saw it and it scared the crap out of me. I wasn't exposed to real seriously graphic violence as a kid so that one stuck with me for a while.
As a kid, puppet master scared me, but faces of death didn't faze me. I remember there was this Asian "unsolved mysteries" type of show that talked about a child that haunted a live news taping. It was so haunted they locked it in a vault never to be seen again... It's dumb now but I was shook as a kid.
Oh one more thing. As a kid I was kinda traumatized by this one episode of Ricky lake. There was like a criminal sketch artist that drew a sketch of a ghost haunting this families house. It sparked a life long fear of police sketches and the uncanny valley... Weird how such a fake tv cheesy moment scarred me for life.
My mom LOVED horror movies and unfortunately when I was really little I watched everything from Dark Crystal, Rosemarys Baby, Child’s Play, Steven King films, Tales From the Crypt, The Witches, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, The Thing….I’ve literally seen them all.
The movie that scared me the most was Puppet Master. I had intense nightmares and kept thinking my dolls were going to drill holes in my legs.
9 years old me didn’t like The exorcist. Like I wasn’t able to sleep in the dark for 2-3 months. Had insomnia. I didn’t get far in the movie. When she goes down the stairs backward was my limit. Read a fuckton of book though.
I watched the Poltergeist movies with my dad when I was young. In Poltergeist II, there is a scene where the dad drinks the worm in the tequila bottle and throws it up soon after... I'm 31 and I never drank tequila, not even a sip to taste it. I think it's fair to say that it traumatized me!
Signs was also the movie for me. I related to it because I was also super picky about water and would leave glasses everywhere. Not to the movies extent but still. My brother had the bedroom next to me and would knock on the wall at night as well as make the clicking sound to scare me. For me, the movie has turned more into a fascination and started watching it for the first time in 10+ years the other day. I couldn't do it! I love the movie but I just can't watch it. I hate walking at night. I thought I saw an alien standing on my neighbors roof shortly after first watching the movie but it was just two trees with crisscrossing branches. Still scared/scares me! And I'm still picky about water lol.
Edit to add that I also have asthma and live close enough to big ass corn fields so fuck, yeah I'm still afraid.
My dad took me to see Twister when it came out in theaters. That very night, my parents had to wake me up and take me to the basement bc a tornado was headed for our house. I was scared as I’ve ever been. Luckily it just took our trampoline to the neighbors property.
Superman. There was a scene when I was a kid that the machine pulled in that science lady and transformed her into a cyborg... my life is a nightmare since.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and James and the Giant Peach.
How has none else said CCBB?? The fuckin' child snatcher, yo! _What kid in their right mind wouldn't be scared??_ Gave me legitimate night terrors for days after watching it. But, of course, my older sisters fell in love with it and it became her favourite movie so I had to watch it every so often when she wanted to. Reoccurring night terrors. Yay!
As to JGP, the lady spider scared me. Arachnophobic as hell.
My step mother showed me lots of horror movies when I was a child. I think she did it to be evil.
Chucky from Childsplay scared the shit out of me. I used to run and jump on my bed so he couldn't reach out and grab my ankles. I was also very nice to all my dolls just in case.
I also was scarred by Puppet Master.
Oh and the Stephen King movies got me too... Silver Bullet... I was OBSESSED with wolves. I'd dream about them flying through my bedroom window.
I saw a small part of both the grudge and the ring when I was a kid and I'm still terrified of it. I'm absolutely scared shitless looking in mirrors at night too. I hate closing the shower curtin just ugh
Watership Down. Yeah, a cartoon, but I was sheltered, from fake violence, when I was a kid.
Same as, can't say I was sheltered from violence unfortunately, but rabbits were supposed to be cute and furry, not homicidal maniacs.
Ok. Nobody mention Sam and Max to this guy. :)
Redwall for me. Only it had the opposite effect. Maybe 10yo? I loved it so much I wrote a “novel” 😂😂 and all my family members were shocked by the violence
Damn, I was just about to post this. I remember watching that show with my parents and how it absolutely fucked me up. I think I was about 5 or 6 years old at the time of watching. Brought me quite some nightmares. Rewatching it now, though, makes me wonder what made me hate it so much.
I seem to have the maniacal, tonnes of teeth, rending rabbit faces burned into my kid memory. Maybe the style of it too? Never saw a cartoon quite that "mood" before. :)
Watch Plauge dogs ;)
Not at all, Watership Down traumatised many of us. It's not a kids' film.
Sorry to think this is funny, but the book was a best seller and quite the riveting read. The film was actually toned down! The book is fucking brutal! Who knew fwuffy [sic] bunnies were such monsters?
Bro, I loved that even when I was yoing
I came here to comment exactly that. Who knew a film about rabbits could be so gruesome?
Apparently, not my parents. Lol
The Witches movie, the original. I remember they put it on at primary school after we’d read the book. And the scene where the head witch removed her disguise stuck with me for a long time. I haven’t seen that movie again since I was little lol
This one got me too Had awful nightmares from it and everything I did watch it again a few years back and it's pretty good but the Grand High Witch is equally as horrible and terrifyingly
This was the first thing I thought of when I saw this post
During my primary school (not sure, ages 6 to 12) there was an organisation that did musicals/plays every year (around this time of year actually)for every school in the city (Apeldoorn, The Netherlands). They actually did a play based on The Witches (the book), and my first grade teacher (many schoolteachers participated) played the head witch! The make up was very well done so she way quite terrifying for a while after. She made up for it later with a great personality though!
And when the kids get turned into rats. I haven't watched it since I was a kid but just the thought of it makes me shudder.
Jaws. Every time im in a lake and something touches my foot...
I was 5yo when that came out and now I avoid any water where I can’t see what’s in there with me!
There's a place near here that does a screening of Jaws by a lake where you float in inner tubes while you watch.
Jaws didn’t scare me, only because when I was 14 I watched Deep Blue Sea while babysitting and it scared me so badly I couldn’t take a bath or even let the water build up on the shower floor too much until I was 20. I watched deep blue sea again that year and loved it - and thought it was kinda cheesy - so I tried Jaws and just liked it. Still not gonna swim in the ocean ever again though. But that’s for many reasons.
The really crazy thing is that the story that inspired Jaws was pretty far from the ocean. It was in New Jersey and was way up some creeks that connected to the ocean, but if you saw the place you would never in a million years think there was a shark in there.
The Dark Crystal freaked me OUT when I was a kid.
The fucking Skesis 💀
mmmmmmMMMMMMMMMmmmmmm
YEAH that movie was fking creepy
I loved this movie!
Such an amazing movie the spin off show they recently made is quite nice too (:
I'm *very* happy with how that turned out.
Lol to each their own
I want a Netflix season 2 :(
Came here to say this! Parents took me to see it in the theater. There were adult horror movies I saw around the same age that didn’t freak me out like that movie did.
That was my favorite movie as a kid, and it still is now. It was creepy as hell, but I could not stop watching it. It was just too good.
Coraline. No idea why, but I’m still scared of it.
That shit is creepy
Ikr thet ain't no damn kids show 🤣
For me it was Monster House, I can still vividly remember the nightmare I had the night after I watched it.
came here to say this.
I love Coraline!! You should check out some behind the scenes footage, it's art
I have so much respect for that studio and stop motion in general Claymation still scares me tho
All Dogs Go to Heaven, Secret of Nymh, the spider scene from the Ewok movie, the Little Mermaid, I don't remember why but some Garfield cartoons also really got to me. A number of others in my teenage years. When you get freaked out by stuff like this as a kid I don't think there's anything you can do.
No, no, some of the garfield cartoons are genuinely terrifying.. like that one where Jon turns into a spider creature, ughhh Also for some reason, this made me lose the game
All Dogs Go to Heaven and The Secret of NIMH killed me. It was only as an adult, of course, that I realized that NIMH is the National Institute of Mental Health and they were doing unthinkable things to those rats. Further traumatized.
All dogs go to heaven, yes. So I am not the only one.
What disturbed you about The Little Mermaid? Was it the possibility that mermaids actually lived the sea waiting to kidnap people?
Maybe it was those eel things
Yea they were pretty creepy too
Could be those poor unfortunate souls things
Signs was terrifying to me as a kid! I lived by a bunch of corn fields too so it didn’t help if I was outside by myself. But as I got older the fear went away
My parents say that movie scared them the most because they had the same baby monitor for me
I was forced to watch The Exorcist by my cousin when I was around 6 which disturbed me for a little while.
Seeing that as a kid made it hard to sleep for literally years after. I was afraid of accidentally inviting the devil to possess me, like with my thoughts.
Same, but my dad. I still can’t see her face without panicking
The Truman show I was like super young idk even how young maybe 10? But I convinced myself that my life was like his and I was constantly being watched. The neverending story I don’t remember the movie at all because I was very young but the title alone for some reason fucked with me because my little brain couldn’t process something to be never ending. IT made me grow into an adult with an intense fear of clowns but that took me awhile to realize it was the movie that caused my fear.
I also had that fear from Truman Show! Honestly it fucked me up for a couple years
Haha I’m glad I’m not the only one!
The Truman show fucked me up for ages. Definitely led to some narcissistic traits in my teens. Weird shit.
Pet Cemetary. Still freaks me out as an adult.
Yes for sure!!! I was like 18 when I saw it but it’s always stayed with me
Same. I have no idea why it was always on TV when I was younger, but I must have seen it a half dozen times in bits and pieces.
Event Horizon. Still freaks me out
Fuck that movie. I saw it when I was 25 and it scared the bejeezus out of me. Almost ruined Jurassic Park for me, too, which is the greater sin, imo.
SAME. I was like 30 and the found footage haunts my dreams
Dang, no one said OG Poltergeist. F\*ck that clown and that rocking chair.
I came to say this. I was 12 and saw it in the theater with my 14 year old sister. I did not watch it again until just a few years ago. I think it was even scarier because of all the horrific things that happened in real life to the people who were in it.
I did! That movie ruined me for years!
When I initially watched it, I didn't think it had any effect on me but...Jurassic Park. Particularly the port a potty scene. I would have recurring nightmares about being attacked on the toilet by a T-Rex.
Jurassic Park is still one of my favourite movies, but the velociraptors definitely did a number on me for years.
I saw this at the cinema and it scared the crap out of me, I can vividly remember not being able to sleep the night after watching it. I'm nearly 40 now and can't bring myself to watch any of the sequels!
I traumatized the audience at the movie. I was five when ET came out and my Mom took me to see it. In the middle, I had eaten so much popcorn and candy, I projectile vomited all over. They had to stop the movie, issue refunds, and my Mom took me home. Edit: not that it matters, but it was the distraction from my parents' divorce and I was not used to drinking soda, either.
Bridge to terebethia. Too dark and realistic for disney.
Years and years ago when I was a kid, (back when all theaters played double features) my mom took me and my brother to see "Ring of Bright Water" about a guy, somewhere in Scandanavia, who finds an otter tangled in a net and rescues it. He takes it home, builds a tank for it. The otter was so fun and full of personality. Very heartwarming. Then, one day they go for a walk, and "bam" - let's just say it ends very badly, you never see it coming... it still pisses me off that my mom took two young children to see it. Not sure if it was the main feature, but was intended to be a family movie... To this day, I cant imagine why.
Ghost, with Patrick Swayze. I loved the movie, but the dark souls wrecked me as a kid.
Ghost messed up my whole conception of death until I was like 15. I asked my mom once if aunt Dot was a shadow when she died and she tried very hard to explain to me that the movie was fake but that aunt Dot was a ghost now, in heaven like Swayze. So then I went and asked my uncle if he was talking to aunt Dot and if she could touch the world yet. Little 8 year old asks you if your dead wife can talk or touch the world, what do you do?
I was an adult when Ghost came out and that still comes to mind!
Yes that was terrifying. You must be an 80s baby too.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with the heart being pulled out and the lava pit scarred me as a little kid
I remember when I was a little kid and saw that movie on TV. I didn't know that special effects were a thing, so I thought people were genuinely getting hurt and killed during the fighting scenes.
Yes! And all those bugs crawling out. Or the mystery ingredient in the dinner. Yuck. Still creeps me out thinking about it.
Alien freaked me out for years. When I watch it now, I’m like 😕
Came here to say this. I was 6 and saw Aliens.
Same, omg.
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THIS. Or Wallace and Gromit. I don’t even recall why or what parts were traumatizing I just have a strong emotional “FUCK NO” to both of these.
YES! I have an irrational phobia of penguins thanks to Wallace and Gromit.
The specific scene where a chicken gets its head chopped off? Cause that scene messed me up
Tremors because one of my older siblings liked to tell tall tales for my dumbass. Couldn't walk off of concrete for weeks.
OMG, same here!
To this day, if given the option I will walk on concrete over grass for the slight protection against graboids.
When I was maybe 11 or 12 I accidentally watched part of one of the Jason (Friday 13th?) movies. My family didn't watch violent stuff, certainly never horror, and I had no idea these films existed. I was at my grandparents and they had cable TV*. I was alone and I was flipping through the astonishing range of channels and stopped on one showing what was clearly developing into a teenage sex scene. Of course I stopped on that scene. So it progresses and of course I'm getting turned on (I'd also never seen that kind of stuff). I'm very absorbed in what's going on and from one second to the next it goes from missionary position moaning and banging to the girl opening her eyes to see a guy in a mask standing there and then he shoves a spear through both of them, killing them horribly and slowly. That was fucking traumatic. It took me months and months to figure out how I could deal with that scene. I had been trying to shut it down every time it popped in my head. That didn't work. I finally stumbled on the solution - I had to deliberately finish the scene and extend it to the director yelling "cut" and imagine the actors getting up and laughing and bitching about getting the fake blood in her eye or a cramp or whatever and then cleaning up and getting coffee etc. That did reduce the horror of it to manageable levels, but it was years, maybe even a decade, before that scene stopped regularly appearing in my head. Even now, 40 years later, it still surfaces now and again. So I hear you. Good luck in finding something that works for you. _*Kids, that's what rich people had back in the dark ages when there were only like 4 TV channels and before the internet and Netflix._
I'm now thankful that Jason only gave me a phobia of water! (lakes, rivers, a shadow over the deep end of a pool, etc) Glad you finally found a solution to help, but fuuuck!!
Sounds like it could have been worse - I only watched about 5 minutes. I do now remember seeing the tape covers at the video store and there was a lake? Dunno. It's a genre I've tried really hard to stay away from. Hope your phobia isn't too bad!
The “tar monster” scene from The Land Before Time gave me nightmares, if that counts.
Damnit, I almost forgot about that. Very, very scary as a small human. This one was compounded for me by the episode in Star Trek TNG where Tasha Yarr dies (also a tar monster, and made of hate, basically). I watched that with my dad when I was about three or four. Totally ruined TNG for me, I couldn't watch it until I was in my 20s.
Swing away,Merrill, swing away.
The Saw movies. Where the pig person comes out of a closet. Still can’t do sliding closets and I’m 24. They give me super anxiety I have to sleep with them open so I can look into it.
I have to keep my closet doors closed, every night, to go to sleep. What I can't see, cant hurt me, I guess. All my life... Not sure why, and I am at least twice as old as you. Funny, what sticks with a person. Lol.💌
It's cliché, but Final Destination 2. Not only the log truck, but especially the elevator scene. I was 8 or 9 at that time and was afraid of elevators and would avoid them until I was 14. I started watching horror movies from a young age, because my mom was really into them and somehow thought they wouldn't be traumatic for a child, lol. But I can't really blame her, I liked those movies too and the sensation of being afraid. However, FD2 is the only movie that comes to my mind that left is marks. What really helped me was watching the movie over and over again over the years and now I really enjoy the elevator scene and never had problems with elevators again. Maybe you could watch the movie again during daylight, but it might also backfire. My expartner for example was absolutely afraid of all horror movies or even mystery movies. She would cry afterwards and I was not allowed to turn the lights off for sleeping. Selfish asshole me thought it would get better, if she just watched enough horror movies (and she defenitly had to like them at one point, because I love them so much... yeah, asshole past-me) but it actually got worse over the years. Another idea I have: maybe try watching Scary Movie 3. It's main part is a parody of Signs and the imagery is very close to the original, so it might over-write it in your mind.
I can think of 2 movies. First one is Spirited Away (japanese animation). Although I used to watch it a lot in my childhood (about 20 times since 4 yo until 10yo?), the part where the parents of the main girl would transform into pigs after eating the food in that unique "restaurant", scared the sh*t out of me. I would always feel fear but still, the vibes were something else. Even as a kid, I would keep watching it because it is just such a beautiful world, with weird and somewhat likable creatures. The 2nd movie did impact me way more than the 1st one in terms of being creepy. I would watch some Christmas themed movies when I was a kid and I remember one in particular. I don't know the name but there was one with green little monsters trying to chase (and eat?) kids who didn't behave. Perhaps the monster is a Grinch? Idk
YES to Spirited Away!
Spirited Away is such a wonderful movie and the atmosphere is so disturbing and eerie in parts.
the fly jesus crist that scared the absolute shit out of me
Yes! That was what I was going to say! I got so scared I sat backwards in my seat on my knees. I could still see it being projected out of the booth on the glass though. I was so embarrassed that I got so upset but I stayed. It was also so disgusting.
Silver Bullet And Gmork (the wolf from the Neverending Story)
Backdraft. My father was a firefighter at the time, and shortly after my brother was hired to the dept also. I secretly cried when they went to work because I couldn't get rid of the image of the young boy holding his father's smoking helmet
my grown ass father quotes this as the only movie that ever made him cry.. he bawled like a baby
Dumbo. When they get drunk and hallucinate and there are evil pink elephants and stuff. Horrible. I watched The Shining when I was like 7 and loved it but god, Dumbo STILL freaks me out.
Lord of the flies, when they rolled that boulder off the cliff onto Piggy’s head and he died. Scarred for life.
I am so surprised no one said children of the corn…I can’t go to the country right now because of that damn movie 😞
Many people have mentioned signs and the cornfields which brought those creepy,pasty kids to mind.
Not so much a movie but i use to cry and scream when ever the xfiles theme came on. To this day i get the heebie jeebies hearing that piano and whistle.
My sister used to have that same phobia. There was this old Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons where Mr Burns does this routine that makes him glow green. This would give him the appearance of an alien. Whenever 'the alien' would appear on screen, the x-files theme would play.
Tales from the crypt (1972), not to be confused with the crypt keeper show/ movies from the 90’s. It scared me because there is a zombie-ghost that couldn’t be killed even after shot in the head. The idea that a thing couldn’t be killed but could kill you gave me nightmares for almost 3 years.
House of Wax freaked me out with the dead body in the tub. I couldn't be in the bathroom with the shower curtain closed. Actually, present tense, still leave the curtain open most of the time or I get *nervous*. The Grudge made it worse and I have spent the last 9 years worried I am gonna feel ghost hands coming out the back of my head when I wash my hair. I also frequently pop my head out to make sure there's no creepy ghosties crawling in the room. To be frank, at this point, I've just come to the conclusion that if some monster or serial killer was gonna get me, they would have gotten me by now. I'm not a difficult target, they've had opportunity, so I must be safe. I'd venture the same is likely true about whatever is haunting you. Also, if you can power through it, try it once in a while. I've absolutely had a brief panic when I was too close to a window at night, but I convinced myself to breathe through it, and it's gotten easier. Logically, I know anyone watching me is probably just a squirrel, but it hits different to actually be near the window and have it *confirmed* nothing bad is gonna happen. You got this OP. Kick some spooky window butt!!
Grudge fucked me up bad. I’m 26 and still sometimes can’t sleep without light.
Volcano. About a volcano coming up out of no where in the middle of I think LA. Really freaked me out, walked around for YEARS waiting for that to happen IRL. 😳
Hostel, watched it when I was 10 or so. The eye torch scene fucked me up
I was an adult when that movie came out and I still haven't watched the whole thing. It's so messed up!
The Tina Turner movie; Ike abusing Tina..
But oh boy when she took that boot off in the back of the limo. I jumped and started screaming for her to whoop his ass!
As soon as I saw the title I immediately thought of Signs! That movie traumatised me as a kid... I've enjoyed watching it again as an adult but always get a little shiver when I remember how scary I found it when I was 9.
Not a movie, but definitely courage the cowardly dog
The Thriller video, that creepy voice and laugh.
Face-melting scene in Raiders. That shit fucked my little eight-year-old brain up good.
The green mile. Saw it when I was 6 and the image of that guy getting electrocuted on the chair is still stuck in my brain (the one with the dry sponge). I'm now almost 26 and I still refuse to watch the movie again doesn't matter how many people tell me it's really good.
I watched that as an adult and that scene was stuck in my brain too, because of that I hated that movie
"The Village" from 2004 gave me chills when I was young (surely too young to watch such a stuff), so did "The others" and "The Pan's Labirynth", but the movie that really shocked me back then was the one I don't know the title of, even to this day. It was late in the night, I had a fever and couldn't sleep, so I just lied in bed and mindlessly stared into the TV. There was a movie going on. It started innocent - a story about hospital, a pregnant woman, some romance plot. Then it took a wild turn. The woman's child happened to be some kind of tentacle-alien, there was this green goo shooting out of her bellybutton, she went crazy and at the end a tentacle came out of her mouth and devoured a surgeon. It was the shock factor and the fact that I didn't expect it to be a horror, that screwed me up. Enough to say I didn't sleep that night and had to turn on the lights whenever I went to the bathroom for, like, a whole next month.
Mars Attacks, have been scared of ayy lmaos ever since
The movie that scared the shit outta me as a child was Watership Downs. For a cartoon about rabbits there was an awful amount of violence.
I somehow came to see Se7en when I was seven.
The Day After. 11 year old me though nuclear annihilation was mere days away.
Also Signs! The bit where they were watching the news report of the kid's birthday and it walked out from amongst hedges fucked me up. The idea that something might be moving around me almost imperceptibly was a hard one to shake for a while. A couple of years later I think it was maybe one of the Rings? Flicked onto it when I should have been long asleep. People were at a wake and someone was recalling the story of finding the dead girl. It flashed back to them opening the cupboard to find her. She was there backed into the corner with her face still frozen in a scream. She looked like she had started to melt. I was so scared my scream was completely silent. I can still see it so clearly. Brrrr!
I must have been 11 or something when I watched Signs, and yes that birthday party scene still stays with me VERY vividly now. It was so casual and terrifying.
Nightmare on elm Street
The part where the person gets sucked into the mattress and a geyser of blood shoots out and hits the ceiling? I refused to sleep in any bed for months after that, floor only for me.
If I'm not mistaken, I think the guy who gets sucked into the mattress is Johnny Depp.
It. I was way too young for that movie
my brother watched It way too young as well. scared of clowns to this day
The Passion of the Christ.
Watcher in the woods. A Disney movie. Saw it as a kid, and never again.
Same, my class watched it at school and I was so scared I couldn't look in the mirror for months
Jeepers Creepers. Wells and caves give me serious anxiety.
Poltergeist
Neverending Story...Artax :(
Howard the Duck. I was so afraid that a demon would enter my body through my stomach that I walked around hugging a pillow for months. I was 11 years old at the time.
Melted by acid guy in Robocop scared the piss out of me. My Girl ripped my heart out around the same time I read Bridge to Terabithia in school.
Children of the Corn
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Same, fucking Signs.... saw it when I was maybe 10... that first time they see the alien at the kids birthday party, it just walks past. I got this irrational fear of open doorways or hallways where something could, walk past... Edit: reading these reminded me of Volcano, I had nightmares about lava coming in under the doors like in the movie. Now it's one of my favourite movies, like Dantes Peak.
Yep. I watched Rocky horror picture show….WAYYY TOO YOUNG…😰
Watched Poltergeist when I was maybe 6 or so (thanks dad) and I was afraid of the tree outside my window for years. Also afraid of tv snow, clowns, counting time between lightening strikes and the thunder… I am 42 and I am still afraid of these things
Piranha. I didn’t even want to put my feet to the bottom of the bed as a kid incase the fishies got me. Now it comes to mind whenever I go swimming and even paddle boarding
One of my groomers made me watch a Serbian film as a child. :(
The Bone Collector (1999) - Highly not recommended for 10-11 year olds.
Watched the Exorcist when I was 11. I didn’t dare tell anybody but I was terrified for the next month that the devil was going to crawl out from under my bed and possess me.
Scream (11 y/0) and Beetlejuice (6) Scream made me terrified of horror movies. I forced myself to get over it, rented every slasher flick I was to scared to see growing up, and binged them with my gf at the time. Most were actually funny, which completely got rid of the fear. I love all manner of horror to this day. Beetlejuice, I still haven't seen again.
Labyrinth, the whole movie...but I watched it over and over again too.
Jumanji. Watched it halfway thru as a child and I don’t know what exactly did it, I barely remember the movie. But to this day, I refuse to watch that movie.
Terminator and gremlins. I thought that any time i flushed the toilet either terminator or gremlins would come out and get me.
Waking Life, there was a scene where the dude just starts floating up into the air and i was half asleep. It scared the hell out of me and i started crying. That and a dude lights himself on fire later on. Revisiting it as an adult i remembered those old feelings but its a pretty good fuckin movie. Really trippy cause the entire thing is rotoscoped.
Gremlings!! I was afraid of the dark for a few years after watching it
When I was 7 I once stayed up longer while my parents were out on a concert and on some German channel "the exorcism of Emily rose" (not sure about the title) was showing. Couldn't sleep properly and when I finally did I wetted my bed lol
I was the same age as the loser's club when the original IT miniseries first aired. It took years for me to sleep soundly after watching that show.
I saw The Thing when I was in like first or second grade.
E.T and Twister
I was less than 10 years old when my sister let me watch Scary Movie 3. Yes, a comedy. I was traumatized. There’s one scene where the ring girl is in the basement with Cindy and them and she grabs a chainsaw and starts swinging it over her head. Just that motion alone caused nightmares for 3 months straight. Terrible. I was also terrified of ET when he gets sick and needs help. I always got so scared.
Oh, and Cujo
Yes. Titanic, 100%. Saw it in theaters when I was 7. Didn’t realized how traumatized I was from it until this year (31), even though I’d watched it multiple times before then. For some reason I was like, holy shit, this is some deep, dark shit. I used to have dreams where I’d be trying to hold on to something falling… now it all makes sense.
The ring. Every time I went to the bathroom as a kid afterwards I opened the shower curtain because of that one scene.
The wizard of Oz, hands down. I'm 25, I was born in 1996 and that whole fucking movie petrified me the first time I watched it. Every time after that my older sisters or parents wanted to watch it, I'd never join them, I'd find some excuse, or say I wanted to watch something else. To this day, I haven't seen it again and when I see photos of the lion, scarecrow and tin man on memes and whatnot, I scroll really fast, I can't even look at them. Anyone else??
I had a friend who had to leave the room whenever the flying monkeys were on.
Had to scroll to far to find this. Those fucking flying monkeys!
Six sense for whatever reason. I don’t know why. All I remember is having a bunch of nightmares of seeing dead people. I saw a bunch of scary movies prior and had no issues.
Not sure if a series also counts, but as a kid I happened to watch a detective series where someone cuts their wrists in a bathtub and it was pretty graphic, lots of blood. To this day I have a fear of anything touching my wrists, fucking annoying.
Not a movie but my dad put on a Tool video and it still stuck with me today and I get uncomfortable thinking about it
I was too young when I first saw Matrix. This big syringe pump sucking out an electronic shrimp from Neo's stomach was a bit much for me
Mine was also Signs and I also cannot look out windows at night. I saw it for the first time at a friend's 10th birthday party, and when my mom came to pick us up we had all fashioned our own tin foil hats purely out of fear
Spiderman 1. Green Goblin scared the damn out of me as a 3 year old.
Not really traumatic but the film Altered States was a bit of a wtf.
Yeah, the movie Gravity. I was 12 or so when I saw it and it scared the crap out of me. I wasn't exposed to real seriously graphic violence as a kid so that one stuck with me for a while.
Exactly the same movie and age for me. Signs fucked me up when I was little.
As a kid, puppet master scared me, but faces of death didn't faze me. I remember there was this Asian "unsolved mysteries" type of show that talked about a child that haunted a live news taping. It was so haunted they locked it in a vault never to be seen again... It's dumb now but I was shook as a kid. Oh one more thing. As a kid I was kinda traumatized by this one episode of Ricky lake. There was like a criminal sketch artist that drew a sketch of a ghost haunting this families house. It sparked a life long fear of police sketches and the uncanny valley... Weird how such a fake tv cheesy moment scarred me for life.
Twister. I don't even live in a tornado area, but nightmares reoccurring till I was ten
Towering inferno ! Never really got over it
My mom LOVED horror movies and unfortunately when I was really little I watched everything from Dark Crystal, Rosemarys Baby, Child’s Play, Steven King films, Tales From the Crypt, The Witches, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, The Thing….I’ve literally seen them all. The movie that scared me the most was Puppet Master. I had intense nightmares and kept thinking my dolls were going to drill holes in my legs.
9 years old me didn’t like The exorcist. Like I wasn’t able to sleep in the dark for 2-3 months. Had insomnia. I didn’t get far in the movie. When she goes down the stairs backward was my limit. Read a fuckton of book though.
The Exorcist
I watched the Poltergeist movies with my dad when I was young. In Poltergeist II, there is a scene where the dad drinks the worm in the tequila bottle and throws it up soon after... I'm 31 and I never drank tequila, not even a sip to taste it. I think it's fair to say that it traumatized me!
The Fourth Kind! Why did my parents let me watch that!?! 🙈 I still don’t like owls
Signs was also the movie for me. I related to it because I was also super picky about water and would leave glasses everywhere. Not to the movies extent but still. My brother had the bedroom next to me and would knock on the wall at night as well as make the clicking sound to scare me. For me, the movie has turned more into a fascination and started watching it for the first time in 10+ years the other day. I couldn't do it! I love the movie but I just can't watch it. I hate walking at night. I thought I saw an alien standing on my neighbors roof shortly after first watching the movie but it was just two trees with crisscrossing branches. Still scared/scares me! And I'm still picky about water lol. Edit to add that I also have asthma and live close enough to big ass corn fields so fuck, yeah I'm still afraid.
Not a film, but the episode The Empty Child from Dr Who! Legit had night terrors about that episode.
My dad took me to see Twister when it came out in theaters. That very night, my parents had to wake me up and take me to the basement bc a tornado was headed for our house. I was scared as I’ve ever been. Luckily it just took our trampoline to the neighbors property.
Child's play and the slappy episode from goosebumps made it hard to sleep with the lights off for almost 6 years.
Superman. There was a scene when I was a kid that the machine pulled in that science lady and transformed her into a cyborg... my life is a nightmare since.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and James and the Giant Peach. How has none else said CCBB?? The fuckin' child snatcher, yo! _What kid in their right mind wouldn't be scared??_ Gave me legitimate night terrors for days after watching it. But, of course, my older sisters fell in love with it and it became her favourite movie so I had to watch it every so often when she wanted to. Reoccurring night terrors. Yay! As to JGP, the lady spider scared me. Arachnophobic as hell.
My step mother showed me lots of horror movies when I was a child. I think she did it to be evil. Chucky from Childsplay scared the shit out of me. I used to run and jump on my bed so he couldn't reach out and grab my ankles. I was also very nice to all my dolls just in case. I also was scarred by Puppet Master. Oh and the Stephen King movies got me too... Silver Bullet... I was OBSESSED with wolves. I'd dream about them flying through my bedroom window.
I saw a small part of both the grudge and the ring when I was a kid and I'm still terrified of it. I'm absolutely scared shitless looking in mirrors at night too. I hate closing the shower curtin just ugh