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19 Kids' TV Episodes So Terrifying, People Can't Believe They Actually Aired

Don't even talk to me about Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Hannah Marder
by Hannah Marder

BuzzFeed Staff

Recently, we asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us what they think are the most terrifying TV episodes, and a lot of them were actually from kids' shows! Here are some of the most terrifying TV episodes people saw when they were kids.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

1. Are You Afraid of the Dark?, "The Tale of Laughing in the Dark"

Zeebo the Clown
Nickelodeon

"'Laughing in the Dark' is, hands down, the greatest and spookiest episode of the series and stills stands on its own all these years later."

—jayelle1683

"The kid steals the nose of a creepy clown in a fun house, and the clown follows him home...it still gives me nightmares to this day! You never actually see the clown, you only hear him creeping around his house. Just nope."

—nina098

2. R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series, "Mascot"

The Hub

Basically, two boys hate their school mascot, Big Yellow, so they petition to replace him. However, Big Yellow doesn't want to be replaced, so he EATS the new mascot AND one of the boys AND the team manager! One of the boys realizes this when he hears his friend's phone ringing in the mascot's stomach. Terrifying.

—graciepoo1335

3. R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series, "Really You"

The Hub

"When we were still in actual school, every Friday at lunch would be a Haunting Hour viewing in my classroom. My seventh graders would beg to watch those two doll episodes and scream every single time. I miss those days."

—lisamariegc

4. Adventure Time, "No One Can Hear You"

The Deer licking one of the candy people and then Finn finds the candy people ina. sticky liquid
Cartoon Network

"So many people I know refuse to watch that episode because of how creepy the deer is, and how unsettling it is watching Jake be unhinged."

—grangermalfoy

5. Boy Meets World, “And Then There Was Shawn”

the gang pointing at the blackboard, where "No one gets out alive!" is written in blood
ABC

"It had all the classic humor of any other episode but in the style of a horror movie. The reveal of Feeny with the scissors in his back...*shivers*"

—allisonalbitz

6. Ren & Stimpy, "Jerry the Bellybutton Elf"

Nickelodeon

Basically, Stimpy GOES INSIDE HIS BELLY BUTTON after hearing a voice telling him to come inside. The following scenes are super trippy and bizarre, and then Mimby eats??? the??? belly button??? Stimpy left behind???? Terrifying.

—pinkdeedle

7. So Weird, "Gone Fishin'"

the sea creature with black eyes grabbing Annie's arm
Disney Channel

"The 'Gone Fishin’ episode of So Weird creeps me out to this day. They go to this lakeside resort and find a key in the lake. It turns out the lake was man-made over a town. A resident never left, so he became this sea creature who grabs Annie’s arm when she puts the key back into the water. HIS EYES WERE THE WORST."

—ayseeoh89

8. Avatar: The Last Airbender, "The Puppetmaster"

Nickelodeon

Avatar introduced the concept of bloodbending in a terrifying episode where Katara gains a creepy mentor named Hama who has nefarious intentions. It's honestly one of the best episodes of Avatar, but also one of the creepiest. There are weird disappearances, Hama herself is pretty terrifying, and then the very concept of bloodbending is horrifying.

—oliviaci30

9. SpongeBob SquarePants, "Graveyard Shift"

Nickelodeon / Via buzzfeed.com

"The hash-slinging slasher episode of SpongeBob when they show Nosferatu was so scary. I would always run and hide when I knew the scene was coming. Why did they have to include that? Who was the joke for???"

—olh66380

10. Salute Your Shorts, "Zeke the Plumber"

Nickelodeon

"I’m showing my age here, but that episode haunts me to this day. The resident camp badass Budnick asks 'What is this guy? The Freddy Krueger of custodians?' and he’s not wrong. The early '90s mask with the nose missing is alarmingly effective."

—jayelle1683

11. The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, "The Ghost of Suite 613"

Disney Channel

"No joke, that episode of Suite Life of Zack and Cody where they summon a ghost. I still can’t watch it."

—dynamiclights

"THE ZACK AND CODY HAUNTED HOTEL ROOM EPISODE WHERE ESTEBAN PRETENDS TO BE POSSESSED SCARED ME MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY 'CAUSE IT WAS THAT SCARY!"

—rachelmay

12. Avatar: The Last Airbender, "The Siege of the North, Part 2"

Nickelodeon

This is the first episode we're introduced to Koh, the face stealer. If Aang shows any emotion, Koh will steal his face. So creepy.

—mckennagilmer

13. Hey Arnold!, "Haunted Train"

Nickelodeon

"The ghost train song creeped me out, and even years later, the thought of the episode freaks me out."

—olivial1010

14. Courage the Cowardly Dog, "Freaky Fred"

Cartoon Network

"As a kid (and adult), Courage the Cowardly Dog's episode 'Freaky Fred' scared me so terribly. Freaky Fred visits the dog's home and keeps muttering 'Naughtyyyy.' He shaves the dog and talks about how he shaved his hamster and ex-wife, too, which I now interpret as some sort of creepy innuendo. I can't describe how unsettling Fred's monologue is, particularly for kids..."

—hiitsnicetomeetyou

15. Courage the Cowardly Dog, "King Ramses' Curse"

Cartoon Network

"King Ramses used to give me nightmares. That was definitely not a children's show."

—ks0526

"Return the slabbbb!!!"

—lindseyn48c669350

16. Hey Dude, "Ghost Stories"

a severed hand in a box
Nickelodeon

"There was an episode of the Nickelodeon show Hey Dude called 'Ghost Stories,' where the characters all try to scare each other. Most of it is funny, but near the end of the episode, Lucy relays a story about brutal murders that happened at the ranch years earlier where all of the ranchers, after a dark and stormy night, were found slaughtered in their beds. The event remained a mystery ever since because all of their doors and windows were latched from the inside. The story, and the way it's told in the episode, used to freak me out when I was a kid!"

—coolertemps

17. Mr. Meaty, "Moochmaster P."

Josh pulls the tapeworm from Parker's mouth with a fishing rod
Nickelodeon

"You guys are forgetting about the scariest episode that shaped all of us...the tapeworm episode of Mr. Meaty. That tapeworm was terrifying."

—kissthykillers

18. Hey Arnold!, "Headless Cabbie"

Nickelodeon

The demonic ghost lady cackling and the the cabbie literally being decapitated were absolutely terrifying. And then Ernie runs into the ghost lady at the end!!

—hannahl4492cd943

19. And finally, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, "The Tale of Dead Man's Float"

the red corpse in the pool
Nickelodeon

"I was and still am terrified to open my eyes underwater in case that red corpse thing is in there. Seriously the most disturbing and traumatizing creature I have ever seen."

—jayyyyyyjayyyyyy

Note: Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.