Category: Name That Trauma!

Hey there Kindertrauma,

Long time listener, first time caller.

I remember from my youth, probably when I was 8 or 9, which would make it 1978 or 9 a rerun of a '50s or '60s anthology series. I don't remember which one, I don't think it was the Outer Limits but I DO remember my mother warning me not to watch lest I be scared, but of course I did anyway.

I recall it being black and white, about a group of disparate passengers on some sort of spacecraft in the near future and an alien sort of life form represented as a what looked like a slug made of light beamed upon people as it brought back traumatic feelings from their past.

Sound familiar anyone?

-Greg of the THE TROUTCHIVES.

Big fan! I would love some relief from this ear worm (ear thought?) that I've had for years now. I don't remember whether it was on TV or a movie I saw back in the late '80s/early '90s. My most vivid memory is a sort of council of elders or ruling class that were running some sort of post-apocalyptic Earth where people were either underground or underwater. The elders were all in tanks and there were between 5 and 7 of them, horribly misshapen and hooked up to all sorts of plugs and tubes that kept them alive. I think they were planning on exterminating the people they ruled until a woman (?) caught wind of the nefarious plot and murdered them by destroying their tanks. One of the elders or council members was a woman (who always reminded me of Alice Krige or Frances McDormand) and was sort of the head elder who was primarily responsible for said nefarious plot. I appreciate any help!

Thanks!

Joey

I remember seeing a movie a few years ago from either the '70s or '80s about a killer who calls and stalks this woman who is working at night at a call center or radio show or answering service or something in this big building. She starts getting calls from some guy which start to freak her out and she wants to leave but she is either unable to or she calls her boss but gets talked into staying. I remember it being very good but I completely forget the name. I don't have much else to go on. Any help on this would be much appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

-Eric D.

UNK SEZ: Thanks Eric! Your NTT description sounds an awful lot like "All Night Messenger" the last segment of the 1989 horror anthology AFTER MIDNIGHT starring MARG HELGENBERGER. Check out the clip below and see if it clicks or read our full review HERE. On the other hand, I keep feeling like I've seen a very similar storyline in another movie that I can't remember so I may be wrong. If anyone has another idea, please let us know!

I hope you can help me find a traumatizing movie from when I was a kid. I think it was a '60s movie. All I remember is that it was set in the early 1800s, had something to do with a witch and at the end a soldier dies and his face melts. I kind of sorta remember something about a time trip between the 1800s and current day, but I may be mixing that up with another movie. Hope you can help.

Thanks!

Hi, longtime listener, first time caller. Love, love, LOVE this site! But to save time, I'm gonna cut to the chase (sort of).

I was rarely bothered by scary movies as a lad, but some commercials and PSA's haunt me to this day. I remember when the National Enquirer used to run TV ads with their tagline, "Enquiring minds wanna know!" One of those had a photo of Marilyn Monroe that the special effects folks animated, so she said, "Murder." Still gives me the creeps.

Anyway, I'm writing about a PSA from the 80's. I lived in Florida, so I don't know if it was a local or nationwide ad, but I remember it clearly…

A man picks up a lady in his car. I do not know for sure, but I believe she was supposed to be a prostitute. In any case, after some banter, she gets in the car and, as it pulls away, we see that the lady/possible prostitute is now a rotting, skeletal corpse that shouts one word: "AIDS!"

Well, I don't know if that helped discourage prostitution or encourage abstinence or safe sex practices at all, but I DO know it gave me nightmares. I didn't really understand what AIDS was, exactly, but I doubt ads like this generated much sympathy for the unfortunate victims of that condition. I actively avoided that commercial from then on. And prostitutes.

I have looked online for this PSA, because I think seeing it now, as a middle aged man, would lessen its impact and render it harmless.

Can anyone else find this trauma?

Hello Kindertrauma!

Long time, first time. Since you and your readers have such success in tracking down traumas, I was hoping that you could help me with mine. It must have been a PSA from the mid-seventies, and was probably exclusive to the New York City area, given the content. A grave-sounding narrator described the action as it happened – a man with a rocking 70's-'stache is reading a newspaper on a subway platform. He drops it to the tracks, and leaps down to retrieve it. You know were this is going – the train comes, and the PSA ends with the sound of a train breaking, and a series of still images of the guy holding his hand in front of his face, eyes wide, the train's headlights brighter and brighter on him, each still closer and closer to his face.

My father took the train to work and read the paper every day. This so traumatized me that I remember standing in our kitchen pleading with him to leave his newspaper if he ever dropped it. I've been unsuccessful in finding it online – searching for "70's NY subway PSA" yields only the "New York – let's clean up New York" litter PSA. I'd be most grateful if your readers could help me pick off this almost-40-year-old scab!

Thanks!

Hey there, love your blog. I was hoping somebody could help me out. There was an arcade game that I remember from my childhood (early '90s) that terrified me. I don't remember the objective of the game or how it was played, but there was an animatronic, anthropomorphic rat that was the size of a small adult. It was in a glass box, and it may have been wearing a suit, but like a tattered hobo suit (it might have also been wearing no clothing and had really grody/tattered looking fur). Playing the game made it rattle around or animate somehow I think, but it may have just blinked and made a noise (I think it was a creepy, cackle laugh). Something about the rat was really crusty-looking, like it wasn't cute or friendly looking I think it was deliberately supposed to look sort of gross/scary.

The one I remember was located in a Chuck E. Cheese on Long Island (although I've had friends tell me they remember the game from similar establishments). It had nothing to do with any of the franchise characters, and the one by my house was (I believe) removed when they removed the ball pits and replaced them with the toddler area. It was by the ball-pit in the one close to my house, sort of toward the back of everything, and every now and then if I got disoriented in the ball pit I would find myself too close to it. I'm really hoping, with all the birthdays that have been held in those kind of places, that somebody would have a picture with that freaky rat in it/remember the name of the game.

I love your site and I'm hoping you guys can help me track down a story/record I had when I was a kid. I had a bunch of 45 records growing up (in the late 70's early 80's) and on one of these records there was this cool story about a witch that came down the chimney of a house and terrorized some kids. Unfortunately, that's all I can remember about the story but I remember that scene scaring the hell out of me. I think the story of Peter and the Wolf was on the other side of this record. Any help you guys can give would be appreciated, keep up the great work.

UNK SEZ: Thanks TK! Hopefully one of our knowledgable readers will remember this one! In the meantime, you gave me the idea to listen to BORIS KARLOFF narrate PETER AND THE WOLF while we wait…

UNK ALSO SEZ: For some reason this NTT made me think of the old board game WHICH WITCH? Let's check out this TV commercial too…

Hello, my name is Randall.

I was hoping you could identify a massive childhood trauma for me. It was a reality TV show (supposedly anyway) that ran in the UK although I'm not sure of its origin, might have been American. A team of contestants were brought together for a series, and then one by one they were eliminated, though I'm not entirely sure how. It centered on visiting 'haunted' locations, and each night a new contestant would have to visit a creepy location.

They all were together in a house and I remember the location of the next haunt was revealed by someone posting Polaroids and scrawled creepy messages on a large glass window at night. One location that really stuck with me was a supposed underground missile silo or bunker or something. The contestant was walking down a hall and out of nowhere a dummy on a rolling chair came hurtling towards him! Obviously these locations had all been made creepy with set design and everything.

It sounds like it would be easy to find but I have had zero luck on it. Most think it is the MTV series 'FEAR,' but I am pretty sure it is not. This was much creepier and disturbing and I'm fairly sure it was British, looking back on it. Similar concept to FEAR, but it was not FEAR.

Thanks if your readers could help me on this guys!

UNK SEZ: Randall, you may be thinking of SCARIEST PLACES ON EARTH which aired around the same time as FEAR premiering in 2000. The show was hosted by the legendary LINDA BLAIR, narrated by the lovely ZELDA RUBINSTEIN and the onsite correspondent was a UK DJ named ALAN ROBINSON which might explain your memory of it being a British production. You can find a list of episodes HERE and it looks like most, if not all, are on YouTube! This is my best guess but if readers have any other suggestions, please share!