Hi there! I have a Name That Trauma that I'm hoping someone might be able to help me out with.
From what I recall, it was an episode of a TV series that aired around the mid-90's. It was live action, and was about a boy who noticed something strange about the adults at his school. I believe he suspected that they were being abducted by aliens, or being replaced by them, Body-Snatchers-style, and I think he was particularly concerned about his principal. The scene that totally creeped me out was when the boy was summoned to the principal's office. He walked in, and the "principal" started scolding him in this slow, creepy voice. Something to the effect of he shouldn't stick his nose where it doesn't belong. The whole time he was talking, he was holding a newspaper in front of his face, but after a few moments of suspense, he put down the newspaper, revealing a green alien face! Absolutely terrifying (at least, for seven year old me)!
I think it may have been an episode of a kids' anthology horror/fantasy show, like Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of the Dark? Here in Canada, we also had a show called Incredible Story Studio, which was supposedly based on story ideas sent in by kids (disturbingly, they were almost always more unsettling than anything on Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of the Dark). If it is in fact an episode of one of these shows, or one like it, I'm sure it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was. But it's the first jump scare I remember…and a pretty effective one at that!
P.S. Your website is brilliant!
– Sebastian
Two things…
I'm not sure this is it, but since you said you were Canadian, I wondered if maybe the thing you saw came from Mind Benders:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347544/reference
I saw Mind Benders a few years ago and don't recall anything about it, but for some reason I thought of the title when reading this post.
Second, I am also totally obsessed with the Nancy Drew/Freddy/Laurie Strode episode that you guys got your screencaps from. I wrote about it here:
http://madefortvmayhem.blogspot.com/2010/06/laurie-strode-and-freddy-krueger-vs.html
I'm kind of surprised people aren't walking around with tee-shirts of that 1st image you posted!
Thanks Sebastian!
Amanda,
Right? Good idea! I think I will have to make a T shirt of that image! Love me some Drew.
And don't forget A. Martinez. He was just in Curse of Chucky! 🙂
Thanks for the suggestion, Amanda, but I'm quite certain that's not it. I'm pretty sure it was a TV show and not a movie, and the kids were younger (at least in my mind), which makes me think it took place at a middle school.
I'm hoping someone else can shed some light on this. It's been haunting me for years, and I can't seem to find the answer anywhere!
Could it possibly be this episode of ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0514422/
Jenny, that's an excellent guess but after checking out that episode I can say that it's definitely not right. Thanks for the suggestion though!
I do suspect it was an episode of Incredible Story Studio, which I sadly cannot find online anywhere. Either that, or some other equally obscure kids' show.
Oh shoot. Well, good luck! I'll keep an eye out for you!