25 Photos Of '80s Things That Literally Scared People Who Are Now Between The Ages Of 36–47

    I really believe the No. 1 rule adults had when creating stuff for kids in the ’80s was: Scar them for life.

    1. Being very creeped out by the faces of your Cabbage Patch Kids dolls after hearing the urban legend that they were designed to get people used to what the kids of survivors would look like if there was a nuclear explosion/war:

    Cabbage Patch Kids dolls

    2. The jump scare moment that was the Large Marge scene in Pee-wee's Big Adventure:

    Large Marge

    3. All of the illustrations inside Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books that were way scarier than the actual stories themselves:

    "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" books

    4. Having your Teddy Ruxpin slowly run out of batteries and begin speaking in a demonic voice:

    A Teddy Ruxpin bear

    5. Kate's "why I hate Christmas" monologue in Gremlins that was just so disturbing and somehow stayed with you longer than the scary stuff in the movie itself:

    Screenshot from "Gremlins"

    6. Being told that there were razor blades and drugs inside of your trick-or-treat candy, which made you a little scared to even eat it after you checked it:

    Kids in Halloween costumes

    7. The episode of Punky Brewster where Cherie got trapped in the empty refrigerator and almost died. Which 100% made you scared to ever play near a fridge again:

    Screenshot from "Punky Brewster"

    8. And also the two-part “The Perils of Punky” Punky Brewster Halloween episode, that basically had all of Punky's friends die weird deaths, and she was attacked by a giant spider:

    9. The trees that used to be decorations inside of McDonald's and that looked like they were staring deep into your soul and ready to haunt you in your dreams:

    A McDonald's tree

    10. Going to see Return to Oz and expecting to see a family-friendly musical like The Wizard of Oz. But, instead being treated to scene after scene of twisted characters and situations...

    Screenshot from "Return to Oz"

    11. ...but, in particular, the scene where Dorothy wakes up all the heads in the closet, and a headless Princess Mombi begins to chase her:

    Screenshot from "Return to Oz"

    12. The moment when Michael Jackson turned around at the end of the music video for "Thriller" and revealed he had yellow eyes:

    Screenshot from "Thriller"

    13. And all the creepy puppets used in Genesis' "Land of Confusion" music video:

    Screenshot from the "Land of Confusion" video

    14. The battle scene in Watership Down that completely caught you off guard because you thought you were watching a cute animated movie about bunnies:

    Screenshot from "Watership Down"

    15. The dancing Fireys in Labyrinth who were already pretty scary but could also take their heads off and play with them:

    Screenshot from "Labyrinth"

    16. Artax's traumatizing death in the Swamp of Sadness in The NeverEnding Story:

    Screenshot from "The NeverEnding Story"

    17. Getting a Garbage Pail Kids card that was just way too much — you basically had to hide the gruesome thing in the bottom of a drawer:

    Garbage Pail Kids cards

    18. Being scared of this one scene in Three Men and Baby because of the urban legend that there is a ghost in it because a little boy had died in the apartment the movie was filmed in (it was just a cutout of Ted Danson, FTR):

    Screenshot from "Three Men and a Baby"

    19. The Time Life Mysteries of the Unknown books commercial that would just send a chill up your spine as soon as it started playing:

    "Mysteries of the Unknown" books

    20. The PSA with the creepy singing pills telling you not to take them:

    "Fear of Us"

    21. And the downright terrifying Partnership for a Drug Free America PSA where the little girl's face changes and she dies in front of your eyes because of drugs:

    Closeup of a girl's face

    22. The random clown dolls you would get as gifts that always looked like they were possessed:

    clown dolls

    23. The scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit where Judge Doom kills the cartoon shoe in Dip...

    Screenshot from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"

    24. ...and the scary AF scene where he reveals his true identity:

    Screenshot from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"

    25. And finally, accidentally catching the intro to Unsolved Mysteries and almost peeing in your pants 'cause of the theme song:

    Closeup of Robert Stack