this post was submitted on 05 Nov 2023
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Back when I was very young, like still in elementary school, I started playing Super Metroid for the first time. I was running around Norfair, generally having a good time, when I opened an innocuous-looking super missile door and encountered... Crocomire.

If you're familiar with that game, you might be thinking "Oh, you got scared when Crocomire's skeleton popped out of the lava, right?" No, I never even made it that far. Instead, on finding myself suddenly confronted by this huge, grotesque monster to a background of intense, blaring music, I freaked out. I didn't even think of aiming for his mouth, instead just firing all my missile and super missiles in a blind panic as he slowly pushed me toward the spiked wall at the far end of the room. At the time, I didn't know you could hurt bosses with the charge beam, so once I was out of missiles, I used the only other weapon I thought might work: a power bomb. Turns out that's the worst possible thing you can do. Power bombs make Crocomire go apeshit, charging at you and quickly smashing you into the rear wall, at which point you're basically guaranteed to die. Sure enough, I did.

I didn't quit the game forever, but I did put it give up on progressing further until I was older, wiser, and generally better at video games. And even then, for years afterward, I played the Crocomire fight with the volume off.

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[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Courage the cowardly dog scared the shit out of me, but specifically there was an episode where anthropomorphic eggplant try to take over the world. I couldn’t eat eggplant for years after that, and I still mostly avoid it

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

Return the slab was my one. Would scare me to tears lol.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I dunno if "it wasn't supposed to", but the Bilbo/Galadriel ring scenes from The Fellowship of the Ring lived rent-free in my head and continued to haunt me throughout childhood

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Ever see the "not going anywhere for a while? Grab a Snickers" joke version of that with Bilbo? troll

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I haven't actually, can't seem to find it on youtube either

Also, what the hell is that trollface, threw me out for a good loop there

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The monsters in Minecraft. They always freaked me out but they're manageable with sound off. So, I listen to podcast and stuff instead of the sounds of the game

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

There were multiple times when a younger me got spooked by cave noises enough to put the game down. I still turn cave ambience down to zero lol

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 years ago (1 children)

In Ocarina of Time, the scene after you get the Master Sword and walk out of the Temple of Time and see the ruins of Castle Town infested with ReDeads scared me so much, I didn't play the game for 4 more years.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Oh yeah, that was terrifying. ReDeads were the absolute worst.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago

My sibling and I ran screaming from the room when my family was watching a presidential debate in 1992. We were about five and were convinced that Ross Perot was an extraterrestrial. Which, to be fair, he was.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Motherfucking ET that was one disgusting looking creature

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago

I'm 35 and still haven't finished the movie

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

There was a commercial for funding for PBS that ran when I was a kid, and in the middle it said something like, "If we run out of funding, the channel will go" and then the screen just went black. It freaked me out so much as a kid that, in front of my whole family, I stood up and turned off the tv before it got to that part. I just stood there and glared down my fam for about a minute before I turned the tv back on.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago

That 3 eyed monkey from the production company logo at the end of Jimmy Neutron credits gave me nightmares for some reason.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

my parents told me that creepy james and the giant peach movie from 1996 have me nightmares as a kid, to be fair all of roald dhal media is pretty terrifying (and sketchy as heck)

please dont let this thread be the cia gathering info on how to torture children lol

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

I never watched it but I always saw the trailers and felt something unsettling about it

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

That was creepy.

If you've managed to catch The play that goes wrong they mention that their previous productions was, due to budget cuts...James and the Peach, and after an unfortunate accident in previews James...wheres your...peach?

Oh, also, something seemed really off about Danny, Champion of the world as a kid that only became apparent to me after. I'd brushed it off as Danny being Traveller or Roma and then when I read it again as an adult realising, no, Danny's dad is just kind of an asshole.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

The ending of Assassin's Creed 2 where

spoilerthe camera zooms in on the goddess and she breaks the 3.5th wall and stares right into your soul

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I was spared that by being really bad at assassins creed I never managed the tutorial mission where you have to race someone to learn the parkour mechanics I just kept losing the race and gave up in frustration. I wish there was an option to say "yeah I get the mechanic I'm bad at it though can I please move on with the game"

That really annoyed me as I had saved up to buy the game and hate racing games because I've never been any good at them - comically so I was once playing need for speed at a friends house and I managed to be so bad at it I escaped the racetrack and got into the open world without finishing the race

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

The Weeping Willow screen from the NES version of Kings Quest V. Something about the face and the music terrified me.

A lot of the discordant music in the original Metroid freaked me out too. The series has an amazing soundtrack.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

There's a lot of good unsettling music and triumphant music from Metroid

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

@[email protected] should have a Jeff Tiedrech profile picture

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

There was a TV skits show for kids on Fox I watched as a kid in the 90's, God knows what the fuck it was called, but I remember there was one scene with puppet animals playing poker in a dark room and I don't remember the point of the scene nor why but as the different characters spoke it was very tense—probably for comedic effect that was lost on me—and then it just cut to the next scene/skit, but that bit remains stuck in my head as High Horror.

Also, many old timey black and white cartoons creeped me the fuck out.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago (3 children)

ET scared the living fuck out of me, especially when he was wailing in fear and trying to flee the feds while his chest was glowing. I had to leave the theater; was freaking out too much. madeline-scared

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Bro ET scared the fuck out of me as a kid too. He looks so creepy and gross

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Wonder if the drowning music in no-copyright 's earlier 16 bit games freaked anyone out when they were little.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0FZ-I5AIvo

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

It makes a great alarm, I wake up panicky and sweating, but I definitely wake up.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

The opening scenes from Beauty and The Beast. The music is so creepy.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

PBS had this program called Nova when I was a kid and it had an episode about epidemics and the black death and the hantavirus. Gave me a panic attack or something close to it. The music was super ominous.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago

I remember when I was a little kid, maybe 3? My babysitter took me to see the iron giant. I thought the iron giant was scary and started crying. We left the theater within the first 5 minutes of the movie.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

The dianogas in Dark Forces. I went back and played the Anoat City level when I was like twenty and it's so silly to say but I was still scared. Like the memories of being afraid got ingrained really deeply in my brain.

Edit: I just started watching a youtube playthrough of that level and my blood pressure is going through the roof.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

Half the scenes from Body Troopers (Jakten på nyresteinen / Chasing the Kidney Stone), including even just the trailer for it at the start of my family's Grinch video cassette. You'll probably get the most results searching for the original Norwegian title.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

A imax movie of ocean life where a jellyfish was the whole theater screen. 5yo me literally ran out of the theater crying.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

the opening disaster sequence in star trek generations, 1994. i was just too young, it jumpscared me and i had to leave

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

PS1 game called Heart of Darkness freaked me the fuck out. I could never get passed like the 3rd or 4th screen because I didn't understand how to play and despite the cartoon art style the death animations were disturbingly violent

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Chaos in Sonic Adventure 1. Seeing this weird water ghost slowly creep towards you at the exact moment you gain control freaked me out as a kid.

Also a lot of early 2000 music videos on MTV were weirdly creepy for me, though I can't remember specific examples rn

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Sluggy the Unshaven from Yoshi's Island for almost identical reasons. "Crush you against the wall" bosses are pretty spooky until you figure them out.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Classic, although I'm not convinced this wasn't meant to be scary.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Sesame Street monsters trying to teach me the alphabet.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

I found a YouTube link in your post. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

Your avatar

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

The yeti from SkiFree as well as Dopefish from Commander Keen.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

The short vids with the sawtooth bear Radiohead advertised Kid A with. I was 7 and had no idea what a radio head is but that bear looked creepy af.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I had a great fear of social awkwardness growing up, so a shitton of rom coms were far more nerve wracking to me than any horror film, where at least the social expectations were clear (Stab Jack the Ripper with the hatpin) Like literally the scenes in The Worst Witch where she gets sent to the headmaster were scarier.

Oh, also, Cow and Chicken has always left me with an indescribable sense of unease.

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