I meant to do this in October because it feels sorta Halloween-y, or at least some of my things on the list feel Halloween-y. But I just wasn’t feeling up to putting the post together, so I’m doing it now. What better way to celebrate the holidays than by talking about the things that have traumatized us?
Joking, none of these were genuinely traumatic, but they did freak me out a bit. I probably should specify, these are non-horror media things. It would make sense to be disturbed by horror, or for disturbing things to be in a horror movie. That would be too easy, and honestly I was (still am) a wimp and didn’t watch/read much horror. Most of these were a little more unexpected. So enjoy this peek into my psyche 😅
Warning for mild spoilers.
Hercules (Disney Movie 1997)
There’s a scene near the end when Hercules jumps into the water in the Underworld to save Meg, and he starts shriveling into a skeleton as he’s swimming.
Beetlejuice (Movie 1988)
There’s a scene with a seance, and the ghosts, who just look like normal people for most of the movie—funny coincidence—start shriveling into skeletons. I don’t know! Something about that highly specific thing just really weirded me out as a kid. It’s a real “if I had a nickel for every time it’s happened, I’d have two nickels” situation.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Book)
Sorry, I don’t like to talk about Harry Potter anymore because of how anti-trans Rowling is. But this scene has to be on this list. Harry and Dumbledore go to get a horcrux in a cave, and Dumbledore drinks some potion that weakens him and messes with his head, so he’s no help, and then zombies start crawling out of the lake. I was like 17 when that book came out, but it was a genuinely scary scene for me.
Pendragon by D.J. MacHale (Book)
I can’t remember which specific book in the series it was, I know it was one of the later ones. But there’s this one scene where a giant stained-glass window shatters and falls onto one of the characters, and at first you think he’s dead, only later finding out he lived but was blinded. And for some reason, that moment stuck out to me. Before this, other characters died, other bad things happened. But I guess someone being shot with an arrow or something didn’t seem quite as horrifying as being crushed and ripped apart by a million shards of glass.
Anastasia (Movie 1997)
It’s that scene when Anastasia is dreaming about frolicking through a field, but in reality, she’s sleepwalking around the deck of a boat in a storm, and she almost jumps to her death. It’s honestly a really well-done freaky scene with how she doesn’t even realize the danger she’s in.
Dragonheart (Movie 1996)
This is going to be a harder one to explain, especially if you’ve never seen it, and also more realistically morbid. At the beginning of the movie, there’s a battle, and then it sort of ends, the prince is just standing there away from any remaining fighting, and then someone accidentally bumps into him, and he just trips and gets stabbed in the heart by some random spike sticking out of a post. And that alone freaked me out, because it happens in such a normal way. In a way that could happen to anyone. You’re fine one moment, you stumble, and now you’re dying. And then his people bring him to the dragon for help, but the whole thing, the way it’s shot and acted, the prince gasping and dying as they bring him to a dark cave and reveal the gaping bloody hole in his chest and then do dragon heart surgery. Has always disturbed me. (Love the movie though.)
Spongebob (TV)
Ok, hear me out. When Spongebob gets stuck in Rock Bottom, he’s in a strange place, at night, alone, in the dark, out in the open, with no way to contact anyone or get home. I don’t think this episode ever truly scared me, but I couldn’t help but imagine myself in his shoes in that situation. Getting kidnapped by a ghost pirate, probably not something that will ever happen to me. Getting stuck alone somewhere at night? That could. That’s still a scary prospect as an adult, but even more so as a kid.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (Movie 1993)
The toys. Believe it or not, it wasn’t Santa being kidnapped or Oogie Boogie torturing him and turning into bugs that scared me in this movie. It was the creepy living toys terrorizing children in the real world. Because I couldn’t help but imagine that in my real world. And those toys seemed indestructible. How do you kill a toy? What makes it alive? They clearly had sentience, they were specifically seeking out people to attack! If you smack it into pieces with a hammer, will those pieces still be alive via magic?? Scary, I tell you.
Theme Hospital (Game)
I’m sneaking a game onto my list. This whole game is disturbing, it’s all about running hospitals and treating weird health issues. But it’s offset by the humor. (Bloaty head lol.) Except. The autopsy machine. Because why the fuck did LIVING people go into an AUTOPSY machine and NEVER COME OUT?? We killed them! We killed those people and called it research!
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (Book)
I remember nothing about this book, except that they briefly end up in a 2D world, and they can’t even breathe because they’ve been made flat. That’s terrifying.
Invader Zim (TV)
This isn’t actually one scene or episode, this entire show disturbed me. Even as an adult, having rewatched the first few episodes, I think it’s a fantastic show, but it still disturbs me. It’s not even the aliens or that one episode about stealing children’s organs. It’s how the world is portrayed. It’s so dark and bleak and evokes this sense of hopelessness and helplessness and isolation. It’s every man for himself. Whenever anything bad or scary happens, no one cares and no place is safe.
Twilight Zone (TV)
I had to look up a summary because I couldn’t remember it exactly, but the episode “Death Ship” is about a spaceship crew who land on a planet, find a replica of their ship but crashed and with their dead bodies inside. Some think it’s the future and don’t want to try leaving because that’s what’ll happen. One says it’s telepathic aliens making them see it. So they lift off, they don’t die, and then they’re like, “Since we didn’t die, it must not be the future, let’s go back.” But the ship is still there, and I think they just get stuck in a loop of lifting off to test it, and then landing again, and then lifting off, etc. And it just really weirded me out, this loop they were stuck in.
But if you wanna talk about a TZ episode that’s not freaky but is very upsetting, it’s “Time Enough At Last.” The one where the guy just wants time to read but people keep getting in the way, and then the apocalypse happens and he’s finally alone and surrounded by books, and then his glasses break. That one disturbed me in a different way. I hate that episode 😭
Shriveling into skeletons seems like a popular thing LOL (or at least, apparently it was in the late ’90s…).
“But I guess someone being shot with an arrow or something didn’t seem quite as horrifying as being crushed and ripped apart by a million shards of glass.”
It does make sense!
I didn’t expect to find Spongebob on your list 😉…but that’s another one that makes sense…
“they briefly end up in a 2D world, and they can’t even breathe because they’ve been made flat.”
Disturbing…
That TZ episode…wow. An endless loop? It’s sort of terrifying, but I love the idea!
Thanks for allowing us to peek into your psyche 😂.
Also, I forgot to answer your question…I used to find blood and gore VERY disturbing when I was younger, but now I can stomach everything…except bugs and disfigured people (I mean, severe burns, skin welts…).
I still look away from the screen when there’s gore lol. Books I can handle because I don’t have to imagine it as graphicly. I think injuries like burns are disturbing because they’re real things that can happen, and because anyone experiencing that is suffering, and it’s upsetting to think about that. Bugs are just blegh, I hate them 😫
Why was it in multiple movies?? Lol.
Idk why that endless loop concept weirded me out so much, but it did.
Ohhh yep, I remember that Anastasia scene!
The one I remember clearly was my 12yo self watching amityville (dont know which one.. it was 2008-ish); that scene in the tub prevented me from having baths for a good while!
It’s a really memorable scene!
I’ve never seen Amityville, so I’ll take your word for it lol.
I can understand a lot of these ones, and those Twilight Zone episodes sound so disturbing. I’ve only seen one episode which wasn’t too bad but definitely a lot of “safer” media that has scared me in the past
They were! I can’t watch The Twilight Zone, some are just silly, but sometimes I’m too easily spooked lol.