Looking for creepy cartoons? You have come to the right place. While children's and family shows are known for being quite laid back, the eight children's TV shows were terrifying horrors when they first hit the screens. Intentionally or not, but these programs have traumatized more than one generation of children, becoming for many of them the first acquaintance with real horror. While these eight series are from different years, genres, and media, they all share a few things in common.
While many kids are still too young to watch the most popular slasher movies, some TV shows can be just as scary as their horror movie counterparts. Shows like Invader Zim and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy play on popular scary tropes, while other shows contain only unintentionally scary episodes. However, these eight children's shows are the scariest overall, with them ranked from least scary to scariest.
8. The Amazing Misadventures of Flapjack
Cartoon Network's classic animated series The Amazing Misadventures of Flapjack is known for its surreal humor, bizarre storylines, and gruesome character designs. However, Flapjack's Amazing Misadventures also has real nightmares, especially in the episode "Who Let the Cat Out of the Old Sack House?". The episode shows a realistic close-up of a cat with empty eye sockets and sharp teeth, and this image is imprinted in the minds of viewers. Overall, the series is full of creepy sea monsters, unsettling characters, grotesque visuals, and unsettling plot points like Dr. Barber's lifeless candy wife.
7. Adventure Time
The sprawling universe of Adventure Time and its various Cartoon Network spin-offs has created a rather rich world filled with terrifying characters. The franchise's main villain, the Lich, is a horned demon with skeletal arms and a face covered in rotting flesh, in stark contrast to Adventure Time's frivolous visuals. Adventure Time also has episodes that deal with demons, zombies, vampires and more, all designed to instill fear in the young viewers of the series.
However, characters and monsters are not the scariest part of Adventure Time. As the series progresses, it is revealed that the Land of Ooo Adventure Time is in fact a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and the series takes place long after the destruction of the Earth by a nuclear bomb. This nuclear war plot lends the Adventure Time story a level of existential horror, and things like the tragic story of the Ice King and the remains of Earth before the Mushroom War constantly remind viewers of the dire aftermath of nuclear conflict. The post-apocalyptic setting was first hinted at in episode eight, meaning it has been a part of Adventure Time since the very beginning.
6. Gravity Falls
Gravity Falls has been known for pushing the limits on the Disney Channel, which means the mystery series managed to avoid some truly horrifying visuals. Gravity Falls features possession, werewolves, zombies, and an extended scene in which dead animal heads are set talking while blood pours from their mouths. The main villain of Gravity Falls, Bill Cipher, is literally an interdimensional demon who demonstrates his abilities by turning a person's face inside out, which is a terrifying and unexpected scene. Although Gravity Falls only had two seasons, it packed a lot of horror into its 40 episodes.
5. Are you afraid of the dark?
Nickelodeon anthology series Are You Afraid of the Dark? is the first series on this list that belongs to the horror genre, and it really lives up to it. In each episode, a group of children known as the "Midnight Society" tell a scary campfire story, with some of the episodes being an absolute nightmare. The iconic "The Tale of the Grim Maker" is the most famous scary episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark, but there are many other scary episodes in the series, such as "The Tale of Midnight Madness", "The Tale of the Puppeteer", "The Tale of Dark Music". " and others.
4. Behind the garden fence
Beyond the Garden Wall is a Cartoon Network animated horror miniseries that is still a horror film to this day. The surreal show features Elijah Wood, Christopher Lloyd and other famous actors, with prestigious performers using their vocal talents to haunt audiences. The show is very atmospheric, but things like a giant scarecrow, Pottsfield, and a possessed Lorna still manage to inspire serious fear. Even ordinary people in the series, such as Auntie Whisper and the Woodsman, are undeniably creepy, and it seems that they can be more dangerous than real forest creatures.
However, the scariest part of "Behind the Garden Wall" is its main villain. Known as the Beast, this frightening monster remains in the shadows for most of the series, stalking the two main characters. The Lantern of the Beast emits an ominous glow, which makes the creature even more frightening. However, the Beast is eventually revealed to be based on the mythological creature known as the Wendigo, and its full-length appearance is an absolute horror. The creature has empty, glowing eyes, horns, long arms, and a gaping black mouth. But the most creepy thing is that the "Beast" is covered with stretched and disfigured faces, reminiscent of the horrors of Junji Ito.
3. Goosebumps
Like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Goosebumps is an anthology horror series based on the R.L. Stein. Some episodes are scarier than others, but the scary ones are absolutely breathtaking. “Say 'Cheese and Die', 'Be Careful What You Wish for' and 'Night of the Living Dummy II' are all incredibly scary. However, the "Haunted Mask" from "Goosebumps" has become so iconic that even those viewers who have not watched the series know it. This horror story "Goosebumps" has become a classic, because, ironically, it was the first episode of the series.
2. Courage is a cowardly dog
Courage the Cowardly Dog is Cartoon Network's scariest series thanks to how creatively he uses his fears. The series uses a variety of animation styles that emphasize its horror and make the creatures stand out even more. The clay girl from Courage In The Big Stinkin' City, the floating head from The House of Discontent, and the blue nightmarish creature from Perfect are all fantastic examples. However, Courage the Cowardly Dog's most famous scarecrow is the CGI scarecrow from The Curse of King Ramses, which is still remembered by the children who watched it.
1. Animals of the Farthing Forest
While other shows try to scare viewers, Animals of Farthing Forest tops the list of scariest kids' shows of all time thanks to the fact that it doesn't try to be scary. The 1993 British animated series tries to be a family show about a group of animals, but quickly turns into a bloody, violent parade of dead creatures. Animals are run over by trucks, pierced with thorns and shot point-blank with a gun. For a children's show, it's pretty intense. The scariest part, however, is that the series is far less gruesome than the book series it's based on.
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