I love your website and it brings back some awesome memories from my childhood. I have a couple of future Kindertraumas that will possibly fuel good memories to come.
Spongebob Square Pants: Now how could the wimpy yellow kitchen sponge possibly scare anyone? Well in an episode called "Nightlight" a terrified Spongebob is told by his boss to go in the dark cooler to get some fresh Krabby Patties to grill up for the lunch crowd. Meanwhile Spongebob had spent the previous evening watching a scary show and has developed a morbid fear of the dark. As the cooler door opens a disembodied head (played by Tom Kenny who voices Spongebob) floats out accompanied by evil sounding laughter. When my then 5-year-old saw the face she screamed like someone encountering an ax murderer. Several weeks later my husband was sleeping and I was engrossed in something else when the episode came on again. This time she screamed even louder and ran around the room. We raced to see what the problem was, thinking that maybe she had fallen and was somehow hurt only to see "Nightlight" playing on the television. For months afterward she would ask if "Nightlight" was coming on whenever we watched Spongebob.
My son is pretty brave for a two and a half year old but comes unglued when confronted by giant inflatable lawn decorations. Last October he screamed and flailed around in the shopping cart when faced with a giant inflatable dancing pumpkin. Even after the thing was quickly sold he would cover his eyes and wail, "Oh no oh no!" any time we passed the holiday section where the inflatable had been displayed. He also goes bananas when he sees puppets on television or YouTube, this just proves that the Uncanny Valley continues on to the next generation.
Keep up the good work on an awesome website!
Ah, Spongebob. You wouldn't think a show with such a cute little guy would be frightening, but it has its moments. I remember babysitting one Halloween night, and this episode called "Night Shift" came on, the one where Squidward makes up a story about "The Hash-Slinging Slasher" in true horror movie fashion. It even features an appearance by old-school Nosferatu at the end. I love this episode to this day, but the kid I was babysitting at the time pretty much shat his Underoos.
Ah yes! Now for a Weird Al reference: "Just then a floating disembodied head…"
Show your 5-year-old the Face Freeze episode.
Holy shiznit, not only did this remind me of the hot sauce drop from the Karate Choppers episode (season 1), but it also reminded me of the Spirit of the Harvest Moon from the Courage the Cowardly Dog episode "The House of Discontent". That gorram floating white head will forever scare me and my cousin. I think we almost stopped watching Courage after that XD
I used to be scared of that face too! My mom told me it was Tom Kenny, but I read it was Derek Iversen. I could still watch the episode, but I always had to cover my eyes or look down when the face came up. (Why do I remember the face being black and white?) Now, the hot sauce drop from "Karate Choppers", on the other hand, scared the SHIT out of me for 10 years. I saw it TWICE and it freaked me the hell out. Then I'd avoid the episode. No questions. No just averting my eyes. I WOULDN'T WATCH IT.