As children (sometimes adults), we all had characters or theme songs in film and on TV that would terrify us so much, that our parents would threaten to put them on to make us go to bed (at least mine did anyway, but don’t worry I still grew up to be a normal individual, mostly).

I saw a clip of something earlier today that reminded me of my completely rational fears as a child, so thought I’d share with you some of them today:

The X Files theme tune

This is the TV show that my Mum would turn on at around 9 o’clock, if she wanted to force me to go upstairs and brush my teeth ready for bed. It worked every single time. That creepy high pitched music combined with the terrifying 90s images of poorly edited flying saucers and people’s faces being stretched into weird shapes was enough to make me run up the stairs, covering my ears and shouting ‘la la la la la’. I’ve since overcome my fear to watch the series, and enjoyed it.

Mr Burns 

Talking of X Files does anyone else remember that episode of The Simpsons where Mr Burns is mistaken for an alien due to his medication and comes out of the bushes saying ‘I bring you love.’ Whenever that episode came on (and the Simpsons was on A LOT in my house) I’d make some excuse to leave the room. It still creeps me out a little.

Batman 

My parents tell me I was terrified of Val Kilmer as Batman, although I really don’t remember it. What I should have been terrified of was Jim Carrey in a skin tight unitard…that terrifies me now actually. Apparently they’d have to turn it off and tell me ‘it’s just a silly man in a suit’ until I’d calmed down. These days I can’t get enough of the guy! Batman that is, not Val Kilmer.

The harpy in the Last Unicorn 

The Last Unicorn is one of my absolute favourite childhood films but this scene used to terrify me enough that I would ask for it to be fast forwarded – on the video player, now I feel old. The harpy’s creepy voice and the witches acceptance of her death at its hands are probably the worst things about the scene.

Watership Down 

The whole film. All of it. Every single moment is a train wreck of horror, despair and anguish for a child watching. The scene where Bigwig is trapped on the snare, Fiver’s terrifying premonition and the fight in the warren have haunted me to this day. How was it ever approved as a film for children? I remember it always being on the TV, hopefully not at Easter though.

Night on bald mountain from Fantasia 

I always had to turn this film off before this last scene. It’s another example of something made for children that really shouldn’t have been, like seriously how are those ghost faces okay? Popping up out of the graves and entering that swirling vortex of doom up to the mountain. There were also a lot of tits in that scene, for a kids film. A lot of tits…

What used to terrify you as a child? Do you still cower away from some things?

Jade