Category: Name That Trauma!

There was a Hewlett Packard printer commercial that I saw at Christmastime when I was three or four if I recall, where an old man tries to cheer a baby up by shoving dolls and pictures in his face. I don't remember it fully, but I really, really hated it.

Another strange thing happened to me around Christmastime when I was three of four. I remember walking downstairs in the middle of the night and seeing an advertisement on the TV, which my dad was watching. In the ad, It showed a snow globe full of figures of happy children standing next to a snowman holding an umbrella. As I recall, the kids then flipped over into the snow, letting out a loud "Oof!", and the snowman's umbrella popped open. It then panned to show a creepy old man staring into the snow globe and smiling.

Perhaps I may never see these ads again, but they still reside in my brain. If anyone has pictures or videos, please put them up.

Since I have discovered this site last week, I've become completely addicted! Thanks for bringing up so many memories of my childhood and alerting me to movies I should have already seen.

But moving on, I have three traumas to submit. I'm afraid I don't have a lot on any of them, but you and your readers have mad skillz, and answering any of these would be wonderful. Presenting them in the order in which they occurred:

1) Mid-to-late 80s: a trailer for a vampire movie that aired repeatedly on TV. The only thing I remember is what traumatized me: a female vampire jumps through a window (perhaps in slo-mo), completely unscathed by the flying shards of glass around her. I think she was wearing a nightdown-ish dress in a pastel color, and might have been non-Caucasian. I have watched a bunch of trailers from that era and have yet to come across it.

2) Late-80s: I checked out a book from the elementary school library. It was an anthology of folklore horror stories from around the world. It was illustrated, but definitely wasn't any of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books. The story that traumatized me took place somewhere in Asia (sorry, don't remember which country specifically). There was a female ghost with long fingernails or claws and she was chasing a male. He stood in front of a tree and she charged at him. He lunged at the last second to get away. Her claws were embedded in the tree and he took off. Another story took place in Italy or France and involved a guy murdering someone (maybe his wife?) and making her into sausages, which he sold. This didn't bother me at all; apparently cannibalism doesn't traumatize me, but ghosts do. Those two stories were definitely in the anthology, but another jostles my memory that may or may not have been included. It had voodoo zombies that were controlled by salt or sugar (or maybe both?). One had been given whichever substance makes them work and, in a golem-like twist, works mindlessly on stuff around the farm.

The book wasn't new when I read it and might have been as old as the 60s.

3) Early 90s: Another book I read, this one checked out from the public library. I think it might have been intended for teenagers, or even adults, because I never saw it in the children's section again (or maybe enough parents complained). This one featured a girl, perhaps in her early teens, who started dabbling in black magic. She needed baby fat for a spell and wanted to sacrifice her little brother. I think she might have had a sister as well. I think her father was somehow not in the picture, and that might have been the driving force behind getting into magic. I checked out the book in paperback, and I think the cover was purple and had a pentacle or some other sort of magical symbol on it. Whatever it was, my mother saw the cover and told me I wasn't allowed to read stuff like that. I had to return it to the library that day.

Many thanks to anyone who can help with any of these!

I saw this anthology horror movie around 1980. I think it was about a group of college-age friends who are in a cabin/house during a storm telling scary stories. I don't think the movie was very good but one of the stories has stuck with me called "The Green Light." It's a story I've seen in other movies about medical students playing a prank on another student who claims nothing can scare him. The prank involve a cadaver arm or some other body part and the guy who couldn't be scared ends up getting so scared that he goes crazy or dies. In this movie, the story ends with the guy standing on a chair batting at a green light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Do you know the name of this movie?

UNK SEZ: I know this one like the back of my hand Jennifer! It's been the subject of at least one NAME THAT TRAUMA before (HERE) and it seems it's that same "green light" segment which tends to stand out! You're looking for one of my favorite traumatizers, SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT!

Hello Kindertrauma. I was wondering if I might be able to tap your extended knowledge base in helping to find an old poster image.Here's what I can remember so any further details or better yet, the actual image would be super cool.

When I was in kindergarten, circa 1979, there was what I believe to be an educational poster for dental health. It featured a witch with gross rotten teeth behind a table piled with candy and sweets. My sister used to refer to it as the "candy cavity witch". As a young kid I found it disturbing but I couldn't not look at it. A few years later I saw the same image in a book but ever since then it has only been a distant memory. I've done image searches and checked eBay with no luck. Please tell me I'm not imagining this memory! Any of you or your readers' collective memory able to help out on this?

Thanks.

Tom S.

Hi,

Let me nerd out for a second and say "thank you" for this site. Besides being a lifelong horror fan, it's also helped me remember some great memories that I had associated with some of these films.

I'm trying to remember the name of a movie/show. I remember only two scenes. The first was a woman shopping in a grocery store and she walks away from her cart for a moment and a gloved hand (because every killer must wear gloves) with a syringe injects something into the meat thru it's package. The next scene is then the woman going home, eating and dying from being poisoned. ???

Thanks in advance,

Josh K.

I'm trying to figure out what movie from my childhood scarred me. Foggy memory, indeed. It was probably from the 70's and about the only scene I remember is a guy's hand gets put into a meat grinder. Did his arm fall in or was it forcibly pushed in? I don't know… I just remember the shot of the "meat" coming out of the grinder while the guy screamed. Possibly one of the "Omen" films? But I don't know.

Ellow there Kindertrauma,

I'm looking for a movie and was hoping you guys can help me out once again!

I believe it's a movie from the 60's or 70's, probably a British one. It's about an old countess who has to drink the blood of young women to stay young. At the end of the movie, the countess is captured and locked up in a cellar, the camera zoom's in on her creepy old face, then the movie ends.

That's all I know about it.

Thanks in advance,

Goorlap

UNK SEZ: I hope I'm right on this! It sounds to me like you are looking for HAMMER's COUNTESS DRACULA (1971) which is based n the Eizabeth Bathory legend and stars INGRID PITT. Check out the trailer below and let us know if it rings any bloody bells! And if anybody has any other guesses make sure you leave them in the comments section!

Hi. I currently peruse the site under the user name "duckofthedead." I'm not a prolific commenter but I enjoy reading everything.

Anyway, I'm searching for a book. It was a book about UFOs and I am 99% certain I got it either at a school book fair or through the mail order book lists we got at school. It would have been between 1980-1985 because I know I got it while in elementary school. The book had a lot of the usual UFO photographs but one stood out and gave me the creeps. The photo in question was of a sculpture of sorts of an "alien." What makes it different from everything I have seen since is it had three legs and looked like it was covered in foil (I thought for years it was connected to Hopkinsville, KY incident but when searching online I found nothing connected to that remotely resembles the photo I remember). I know it's not a lot to go on but that picture stands out. In the years since I have remained intrigued in all things paranormal and have never seen that picture again. The book itself was paperback with black and white photos. I think the cover was primarily dark blue at top of the cover with grayish on the bottom half of the cover. The title may have been in yellow but I could be wrong.

Thanks for any help and thanks for your site.

Duckofthedead

Hi! I have a question. I saw a movie when I was younger and to this day can not figure out what it is. I saw it on TV so I don't know if it was a TV movie or an actual film. But this is what I remember:

-it's most likely from the late 80s

-the children in it had some sort of tree house

-the monsters or spirits in it sucked the kids into the walls or ceiling.

I know that's not a lot to go on. But I thought you may have a clue since you all seem to know so much and I very rarely watch horror films.

Thank you so much for your time!

UNK SEZ: I have only a guess for this one based on the time period, the presence of a treehouse and folks getting stuck in walls. Could it possibly be 1987s THE GATE? Check out the trailer below Mindy and if anyone has another theory please let us know in the comments!