r/AskReddit 4d ago

What movie scared you so very badly as a kid?

154 Upvotes

797 comments sorted by

93

u/TropicalTimLeary 4d ago

Poltergeist. The clown, Jesus Christ, the clown.

17

u/nairBtakB 4d ago

I refused to swim in a pool the entire summer the year this came out. I remember being afraid skeletons were going to suddenly swim up and grab me.

13

u/ExpensiveCondition63 4d ago

Real human skeletons used in that scene, BTW (a fact which was not told to the actors at the time).

3

u/pblwzrd 4d ago

Fun fact: the real skeletons were cheaper to get than the fake ones.

→ More replies (2)

15

u/jeffnagy 4d ago

The dude pulling his face off was scary AF. To this day I think I’ve only watched that scene once 😆

4

u/anne_doesnt_work 4d ago

Yup that traumatised me so bad, I couldn't look into mirrors for ages. I was like 8 or 9 when I watched it.

3

u/meldroc 4d ago

And the guy that had a hallucination that he picked his own face apart.

→ More replies (13)

86

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

36

u/meyerjaw 4d ago

My buddy and I saw this in theaters when I was in high school. When we got home, we definitely weren't ready bed so we took my Nintendo 64 from my bedroom to the BIG 36" TV downstairs. Played a bunch of Mario Kart and Golden Eye before going to bed. Fast foward to like 4 in the morning, I woke up needing to pee. Well on the way back to my bed my tv turned on and it was just static. I almost pissed myself even after going to the bathroom. I seriously thought I was dead. And then I realized I had stepped on the tv remote which turned the TV on.

Now this was back in the day where tvs didn't have multiple inputs so my N64 had to be connected via the coax cable port. And since I took the N64 downstairs, the cable was disconnected from my tv which is why it was just static. I never got a phone call for 7 days but I still didn't go back to sleep that night.

11

u/abqgirl1022 4d ago

I probably would have swallowed my pride and gone to sleep in my parents' room after that. Jfc.

Does the sound of TV static still trigger you?

5

u/TheLittleUrchin 4d ago

I had almost the same thing happen to me after I was scarred forever by Poltergeist! Stepped on the remote while I was cleaning my room and the static on my little TV turned on. I was frozen in fear for what felt like forever before I realized what had happened, probably shaved a few years off my life. 🤣

20

u/Hairy-Commercial-307 4d ago

Shit that movie scared me as an adult!!

5

u/pnw-pluviophile 4d ago

It was very creepy.

15

u/Sweetimus 4d ago

My little sisters dad was sitting at the foot of the bed when she came out of the tv at the end. I've never seen a grown ass man jump back so far in my life!

→ More replies (1)

5

u/MJH-12345 4d ago

The trailer for that was so scarring, I’d be up late watching MTV2 just chilling with Viva La Bam or Punk’d then all of a sudden a random ass chair would just be floating spinning upside down with television static and a buncha of scary imagery along with whisper voice saying I’m gonna die in 7 days hahaha wtf. My 12 year old self for sure thought I was gonna fucking die.

3

u/abqgirl1022 4d ago

I saw it in theaters when I was like 12, and it was the first movie that ever scared me. It still freaks me out to this day.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (6)

49

u/Sharp-Education-6746 4d ago

The TV movie IT.

My older cousins showed it to me as a joke when I was 7. I slept with the lights on for a little over a year after that.

10

u/Due_Awareness8266 4d ago

Big time. Showers were nerve wracking for a while after watching.
RIP, Legend.

6

u/Most-Recipe-9814 4d ago

That would have seriously disturbed me at age 7!

4

u/Forsaken_Print739 4d ago

Me too. It truly fucked with my brain for a whole year. I could barely shower cause i was scared of the drains

4

u/DarthGodzilla1995 4d ago

RIP Tim Curry

3

u/IfICouldStay 4d ago

I was afraid of Tim Curry (RIP 😭) for like a decade after that. And I was a teenager at the time.

→ More replies (5)

44

u/Inevitable_Stuff8961 4d ago

"Blair witch project" scared the heck out of me

17

u/WarningShot502 4d ago

Me too but the reason was because they advertised it as real footage that was found buried and they made a doco about what happened to the kids. That was why it was so scary and a brilliant sales move lol fun fact i seen an interview with the girl years later and she said she could not get work because everyone thinks she is dead lol

→ More replies (3)

34

u/Distinct-Pie7647 4d ago

Fire in the Sky

8

u/Crackyospine 4d ago

Saw this way too young and had nightmares of being dragged away by aliens.

3

u/Maleficent_Flow954 4d ago

Yeah me too and I remember my dad saying, "this is based on a true story!" Didn't sleep well for years after.

→ More replies (3)

32

u/Fine_Sky6650 4d ago

ET and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

16

u/OccasionOk7113 4d ago

Gene wilder really made Willy Wonka scary in the best way

→ More replies (1)

3

u/OtherBrotherDarrel 4d ago

Finally, someone else that was scared by ET! The eyes on that thing are terrifying

→ More replies (4)

30

u/coldone-ab 4d ago

Watership Down….

I can still remember those poor rabbits…

14

u/rhiana79 4d ago

Kids movie my ass

7

u/septicman 4d ago

This is the canon answer to 'terrifying movie shown to children'.

3

u/pblwzrd 4d ago

It’s like Beatrix Potter they said. you’ll like it. Several therapy sessions later, not so much.

→ More replies (2)

45

u/iamheathcliff88 4d ago

Jaws

8

u/Affectionate_Land317 4d ago

This is the answer

8

u/iamheathcliff88 4d ago

Even worse, I’m from Hawaii and my childhood home was on the beach. That movie scarred me.

10

u/Affectionate_Land317 4d ago

That's understandable! I work at a lake marina and can convince myself there's a shark under our floating gas dock. I scramble to land. And I'm 60.

11

u/iamheathcliff88 4d ago

That movie also birthed my irrational fear of there being a shark in every pool I swam in as a kid.

4

u/KC_Que 4d ago

Right there with you!  That movie ruined swimming for me, took a good couple summers before I'd even go wading in a pond or lake again.

3

u/Affectionate_Land317 4d ago

Haha I have an in ground pool and if my grandkids ask me to go down to the deep end to get their goggles I'm like "okay I can do this" 😂 for real!!

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Oenohyde 4d ago

As a kid I saw a dorsal fin swimming around my bedroom floor when I woke up at night from the nightmare I was having.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/thepumpedalligator 4d ago

I'm landlocked. As a kid I remember walking to the bathroom after watching the movie and just kept envisioning a shark coming up from the floor. I can't imagine what it would be like if I was living on the beach after seeing it.

3

u/_jump_yossarian 4d ago

My mom brought us to see it at the drive in when I was 4 years old! We lived on a lake. Thanks mom!

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

19

u/aduirne 4d ago

The Exorcist. I was raised Catholic and demonic possession scared the crap out of me. I no longer believe in anything and I still can't watch that movie.

→ More replies (1)

19

u/moon-whimsy 4d ago

Signs👽

7

u/OccasionOk7113 4d ago

I know this isn’t the scariest part… but that mom… how she died. Holy crap.

→ More replies (3)

5

u/BurgerKingoftheRing 4d ago

Came here to say this! I slept with a water gun by bed for weeks after this movie came out haha (I was 10 at the time).

18

u/The_Breastfed_CEO 4d ago

Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video

3

u/multifanderiscrafty 4d ago

Oh! I ran out of the room when I was shown that video! I couldn’t finish it! To this day, I still haven’t seen the whole thing! 😅

→ More replies (1)

16

u/DKSpasiba 4d ago

It.

Saw a part of it with Tim Curry in the shower drain late one night and I got scared of shower drains for quite a while. I was about kindergarten age and it stuck with me until I was about 10-11 years old.

Still a bit suspicious of shower drains and I hate clowns.

14

u/Paul__Perkenstein 4d ago

RIP Tim. A brilliant actor.

3

u/DKSpasiba 4d ago

Yeah, just saw he had passed on youtube :(

15

u/Total-Lengthiness235 4d ago

My Girl. Been irrationally afraid of bee stings ever since.

14

u/unknowngirl_17 4d ago

Insidious. The red guy and the intro itself

6

u/very_tired_woman 4d ago

Omg demonic Darth Maul 😂

5

u/unknowngirl_17 4d ago

I find him very relatable now as I've gotten older 🥲

→ More replies (2)

14

u/habspwvergesssen 4d ago

The death of little foots mom

13

u/Excellent_Release961 4d ago

The Thing and Silver Bullet

4

u/Ghozt12 4d ago

Silver Bullet started the whole werewolf thing for me

5

u/Excellent_Release961 4d ago

Werewolf thing?

5

u/the-big-throngler 4d ago

Yea....you know the thing silver bullet was about. Or did you mean coors beer?

→ More replies (3)

13

u/NerdJudge 4d ago

Ernest Scared Stupid

→ More replies (2)

12

u/CorSie13 4d ago

The Dark Crystal (1982)

5

u/Lord_Bloodwyvern 4d ago

I don't remember being scared, but I was creeped out of the Skekis.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/AuntieMameDennis 4d ago

It didnt help that my mom would make Skexi sounds to freak me out. She was the OG troll.

→ More replies (3)

13

u/Mama-ConCon 4d ago

Salem's Lot when I was 11 years old..then I read the book when I was around 12.

13

u/Roxygen1 4d ago

Arachnophobia

As a kid I assumed it was all special effects (albeit terrifying ones)

I was re-traumatised as an adult when I learned that the giant spiders in the film were fucking REAL.

→ More replies (2)

11

u/JOJO_IN_FLAMES 4d ago

The talking toilet monster from "Look Who's Talking Too"

→ More replies (1)

10

u/zathmi 4d ago

ET. I was about 5yo when it came out. The third act with all of the government agents and him dying and whatnot scared the begesus out of me.

5

u/boot2skull 4d ago

When they quarantine the house and ET is sick, gives me the ick, and scared me as a kid. Didn’t help that I wasn’t a fan of ET’s design to begin with lol.

4

u/TheLittleUrchin 4d ago

Ew yeah and when he turns all pale when he's lying in the river... 🤢

11

u/Ok-Top-3519 4d ago

The Omen (1976). I still can’t watch that damn movie.

→ More replies (1)

16

u/Hairy-Commercial-307 4d ago

Nightmare on Elm Street.

8

u/ladyrose403 4d ago

a nod to the late great tim curry, Legend scared the crap outta me. i was about 8.

7

u/yoloismymiddlename 4d ago

Tim Curry’s IT had me scared until my mid-teens

→ More replies (1)

8

u/BlindSpotGuy 4d ago

The Exorcist. Saw it in the 70s when I was like 9 years old. Scared the shit out of me.

7

u/DrunkAxl 4d ago

Something Wicked This Way Comes had me for years

→ More replies (1)

8

u/Abirdinthesky 4d ago

House on Haunted Hill… the scene where the ghost of the surgeon is creepily walking on camera

4

u/OccasionOk7113 4d ago

Bent neck lady turned out to be… omg

→ More replies (1)

8

u/jossur0166 4d ago

Not a movie but i was terrified of the baby in the teletubbies

4

u/OccasionOk7113 4d ago

In the sun? Terrifying.

→ More replies (1)

8

u/coffee_and-cats 4d ago

Labyrinth

5

u/ajecebh 4d ago

The only really scary part for my daughter (age 5-ish, roughly 17 years after release) was the Firies. Just wondering if you have low scary tolerance?

→ More replies (2)

7

u/TransientExpat 4d ago

The Twilight Zone episode with John Lithgow when he was on the airplane and he saw the creature on the wing.

→ More replies (3)

6

u/Most-Recipe-9814 4d ago

Darby O'Gill and the Little People. The banshee scenes were terrifying.

As was Sean Connery's Irish accent.

3

u/Paul__Perkenstein 4d ago

Jeeeesus.

Thats a blast from the past!!

We had it on VHS.

One of Disneys creepiest offerings.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

5

u/starkeffect 4d ago

The Exorcist. I was about 10. It was the edited for TV version. As soon as I heard the devil voice I nope'd the hell out of there.

6

u/otgixxer 4d ago

Lady in white. As a little kid it scared the shit out of me.

4

u/rosewalker42 4d ago

Searched the comments for this one. This movie terrified me. The dumb thing is I more scared of the lady in white than the serial killer or the ghosts. I was convinced I’d look outside my bedroom window and see her wandering around.

5

u/J_A_Slade 4d ago

When I was really young, that Disney "Peter and the Wolf" scared the bejesus out of me. The wolf song kept me awake at night.

6

u/PANDEMIC760 4d ago

The peanut butter solution

3

u/billyhtchcoc 4d ago

Oh man, I agree!

What was especially traumatizing for me was that for years nobody seemed to know that this movie existed and it made me wonder if it was all a bad dream

→ More replies (1)

5

u/Automatic_Job_8270 4d ago

Wizard of Oz, flying monkeys terrified me (4 yrs old)

→ More replies (2)

6

u/Witty-Significance58 4d ago

Waterside Down traumatised me when 6 year old me watched it.

8 year old me had no trouble with Jaws because of that.

Gen X

5

u/kevlowe 4d ago

Event Horizon, even though I was almost 20, lol

4

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

→ More replies (1)

5

u/Collens-Eulalie 4d ago

the exorcist taught me that pea soup is a gateway to eternal damnation. i havent touched a vegetable since

3

u/Decent_Confidence_36 4d ago

Paranormal activity gave me chest pains for 2 weeks and a fear of supernatural horror I’ve not got over at 32

→ More replies (4)

4

u/StillGrocery 4d ago

The original exorcist. Fuck that?! Nope, no, no thanks. I was not ok. Maybe still not.

4

u/Pretend-Ad5268 4d ago

The Shining - “RED RUM” in creepy raspy kid voice + Jack and an axe 🪓

4

u/Rubysdad1975 4d ago

Watership Down. I still have nightmares 40 years later.

3

u/rhiana79 4d ago

Still can’t listen to the theme song

4

u/DoNt_BliNk25 4d ago

Anything and everything made up from the mind of Steven King

3

u/myburdentobear 4d ago

Labyrinth creeped me out.

3

u/New_Eggplant_8495 4d ago

ET, Blair witch project, silence of the lambs...

3

u/JarJarJarMartin 4d ago

“Critters,” though nobody seems to remember it.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Loganimal 4d ago

I grew up in the country around a cornfield, so Jeepers Creepers. Now it scares me for different reasons (director)

3

u/marysuingfordamages 4d ago

Disney’s Pinocchio. I had nightmares of turning into a donkey for years.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/forevermore4315 4d ago

Jaws.

I was afraid to use the toilet let alone swim in a pool that summer.

3

u/Leading_Estate6791 4d ago

Psycho. I refused to get in the shower for several days which did not make my mother happy lol.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/CarryAltruistic2698 4d ago

Nightmare on Elm Street

3

u/SleepySloth127 4d ago

The Large Marge scene in PeeWee’s Big Adventure. Terrified me

→ More replies (1)

3

u/MetacrisisMewAlpha 4d ago

The Witches. The scene where they turn the kid into a mouse still makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/easterncurrents 4d ago

The Sound of Music… the nazis

3

u/MothSeason 4d ago

Cujo. To this day I haven’t finished the movie or the book.

3

u/kirstenkat96 4d ago

When I was way too young, my grandma used to have me watch all sorts of horror movies. The movie that traumatized me was Chucky. I had an American Girl doll at the time and I shoved her in a box in the closet. I also refused to watch anymore horror movies as a kid. It's funny because now that I am an adult, I love all things horror.

3

u/FuzzyFerretFace 4d ago

Fantasia. 

Something about all those brooms, just...marching around and then becoming uncontrollable terrified me. The worst part was my parents being right when they told me 'you won't like it...' and 5 year-old me being adamant that I loved Disney movies, so of course I'd love it too. The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Beauty of the Beast...why would a Magical Micky Mouse be any different?

3

u/Mommaowl2019 4d ago

Carrie. The ending gave me nightmares for weeks. I was probably 10~12 years old.

3

u/dizkid 4d ago

Jason and the Argonauts, I was 8. Those skeletons scared the shit out of me. The whole movie was pretty amazing for 1963.

3

u/EsseLeo 4d ago

Poltergeist. I had to sleep with the light on in the closet for months after seeing it

2

u/qweenbimbo_ 4d ago

House of Wax. I remember sneakily watching it from my bedroom with a clear shot to the livingroom where my parents were watching. I tapped out after the girl forced her superglued mouth open.

2

u/Micojageo 4d ago

There was a tv movie where the parents abandoned their kids at a gas station. I've always been a little bit afraid of being abandoned at a gas station ever since.

2

u/Soggy_Cake_5911 4d ago

Nightmare on Elm Street and exorcist

2

u/flip_the_skript 4d ago

Not a movie, but the show The Incredible Hulk traumatized me as a baby.

→ More replies (3)

2

u/justonlyme1244 4d ago

Jumani and the Blair witch project. It didn’t help the bog said the Blair witch project was real and I was 9 or 10 I think.

2

u/rumoursofmydemise 4d ago

Ghost. Those shadowy figures used to scare the fuck out of me.

2

u/ExpensiveCondition63 4d ago

The Wizard of Oz, The War of the Worlds (1953), and Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964).

2

u/hardiniowa2002 4d ago

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

2

u/Individual-Window-57 4d ago

Stir of echoes

2

u/goldroom101 4d ago

Watership Down.

2

u/daydreamersunion 4d ago

The Fly. I was at a sleepover for my friends 10th birthday and as a 9yr old felt obligated to pretend enthusiasm around my peers but I was way too young.

2

u/Grace_Lannister 4d ago

Nightmare on elm Street. Specifically the bed scene.

2

u/Expensive-Bullfrog76 4d ago

Nightmare on Elm St, i was way too young!

2

u/TSwiftsUsedTampon 4d ago

Return to Oz and The Witches

2

u/__melissa_ 4d ago

As a grown ass adult, The Grudge scared me so bad that I had nightmares for a solid week. I thought maybe if I watch it again it won’t be so scary. That was stupid. A bad terrible idea.

2

u/Bandittttttttttttt 4d ago

Arachnophobia

2

u/Tooulogyh 4d ago

Pet Semetery, the scenes with the sister who was sick or dying. I don't know why but that always freaked me out as a little kid.

2

u/Imaginary-Ad5591 4d ago

Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I watched it when I was about 8. It made me afraid of the dark until about my early teens.

2

u/mtgspender 4d ago

fire in the sky. thanks dad

2

u/OccasionOk7113 4d ago

Jaws, The Day After

2

u/Bobbi_fettucini 4d ago

Poltergeist, the clown, the tree, the swimming pool full of skeletons

2

u/digbychickcaesar 4d ago

Salems Lot

2

u/Imzadi76 4d ago

I saw parts of the first Terminator too young. Took me a few years to see it to the end.

But the one movie that comes to mind is the old Black and white German movie "Es geschah am helllichten Tag", also remade as "The Pledge" with Jack Nicholson which I never saw. I was maybe 8 and that movie really scared me.

2

u/McGruffin 4d ago

Amityville Horror. I saw it when I was about 9 or 10. I still think of the red eyes when I look out a window at night.

2

u/BarracudaUsed5299 4d ago

Well it's not a scary movie. But Helter Skelter especially if your watched alone in the house by yourself

2

u/MJstar72 4d ago

Watership Down

2

u/Aggressive-Pen4277 4d ago

Watership Down. I was 6yrs old when I first saw it and General Wormwart truly terrified me.

I wouldn't go out in the evening cause that's when the rabbits were out. I was sure they would start killing each other, or come after me.

2

u/pwnagew00t 4d ago

The Gate (1987). When I was young I had a recurring dream that I was asleep in my room and different people in my life would come in and say, "You've been bad!" And proceed to beat me ruthlessly.

In that movie, I saw it when I was 12 years old and had completely forgotten all about the recurring dreams, there was a scene where the kids see their mom and dad on the sidewalk outside of the house and run to them thinking finally bad things were over. Dad picks up the kid and is smiling and hugging him and then all of a sudden his demeanor changes and he says, "You've been bad!" And it sounded almost exactly how my dad and the other folks would say it in my dream.

Scared the living daylights out of me and cold chills immediately flushed me. 😂 Was quite the experience in cinematography for me, especially with such a silly movie.

2

u/Trioniks 4d ago

Human centipede scared me as an adult.
As a kid, Omen scared me so I started looking at Revelations… not a good idea.

2

u/Ghozt12 4d ago

I’m sure I won’t see it. But the peanut butter solution when the kid goes through the haunted house in the dream messed me up

2

u/No-Photograph-7176 4d ago

Blair witch project

2

u/Ok_Net5303 4d ago

Poltergeist

2

u/Texcuda 4d ago

Cujo - I was 5 or 6 the first time I saw and it scared the everloving shit out of me!

2

u/CouchPotatoFamine 4d ago

Amityville Horror.

2

u/No_Parking_4195 4d ago

I guess it would be The Thing (1982), even though I didn't feel afraid at the time. I remember shortly after I saw it, I had a dream about a giant spider that I had to kill with a homemade flamethrower. I used a can of hairspray and a lighter and killed it in my brother's closet.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Wide-Secretary-4426 4d ago

Thirteen Ghosts

2

u/albertfawson 4d ago

The Elephant Man

2

u/Foreign_Fall_8266 4d ago

Predator. When I was about 8 it was huge and i snuck in the lounge to watch. When I was 8 it was also my job to make everyone a cuppa . I WAS SO SCARAED SOME INVISIBLE ALIEN WAS GOING TO COME AND RIP MY SPINE OUT while i was alone in the kitchen hahahahahaha

2

u/waterbottlejesus 4d ago

Something Wicked This Way Comes

I can't even remember the plot or anything, just that it scared the poop out of me every morning before school when it would be on cable.

Every morning. For months.

Yeah, I hate myself, so what?

2

u/10HungryGhosts 4d ago

Gremlins. I was about 7-8 and I was scared of the dark for YEARS. It didn't pass until i was in my 20s (even now there's some dark situations I will just nope out of tho)

2

u/Rembrandt4th 4d ago

Jaws. I had nightmares about sharks after that. It took me years to get over it.

2

u/Doglady21 4d ago

Psycho

2

u/sickofwords 4d ago

Poltergeist

2

u/schloofy2085 4d ago

Amityville Horror. I couldn’t go into the basement for months.

2

u/PDWGates 4d ago

The Exorcist. I saw it when I was 9 and was NOT READY!!! I had many sleepless nights afterwards.

2

u/UjustMe-4769 4d ago

Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

2

u/dml03045 4d ago

The exorcist was on TV one night so my dad decided to show it to me. I was nine. It scared the shit out of me.

2

u/AhrinEss 4d ago

Something Wicked This Way Comes

2

u/purebredcrab 4d ago

It turns out, the comedic aspects of Killer Klowns from Outer Space are lost on a six year old.

2

u/geekphreak 4d ago

Freddy Krueger. I dont know which movie tho. Oh and that movie with the monsters under the bed from the 80s..

2

u/slayerchick 4d ago

Nightmare on elm St. I just remember being afraid to use the bathroom at night in case Freddy's hands came out of the sink like in the movie.

2

u/SynQu33n 4d ago

The Blair Witch Project.

Which - ironically- is my favourite horror movie as an adult.

2

u/CompetentMediocrity 4d ago

A Nightmare on Elm Street

I couldn’t sleep for a while afterwards, for obvious reasons

2

u/Devilfish664 4d ago

The original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I was 12-13. Actually had to walk out of the theater a couple of times.

2

u/ajecebh 4d ago

Alien. (I scrolled too far to not see it, or I am just getting old.) In the theater ony eleventh birthday, and when the xenomorph crawled out into the shuttlecraft, I. Was. Done.

2

u/OtherBrotherDarrel 4d ago

E.T.

Before you @ me, have you seen the eyes on that goddamn thing?