Horror Movies: Did They Terrify You as a Kid?

Question

Okay, random question for today because I was thinking about this earlier. 😂

Did horror movies scare you when you were a kid, or do they still scare you now?

The one that got me was Michael Myers from the Halloween movies. That expressionless white mask and the way he just slowly walked toward people with that knife… I don't know why, but it absolutely creeped me out. 😭 Even now, whenever I see someone wearing a Michael Myers mask around Halloween, I still get that weird uncomfortable feeling for a second.

I know it sounds dramatic, but some childhood horror movies really leave a permanent mark on you. 😂

What movie was that movie for you? I want to know which horror character or scene messed you up the most growing up. 👀🍿

FunkyMonkee · Accepted Answer

In the first place, when I was growing up, there were LOADS of monster movies and t. v. shows on the tube and we LOVED them and DARED them to try to scare us!! A good example would be the comedy piece, "Chickenheart" by Bill Cosby. Most often, they failed. There were also lots of monster-based comic books and bubblegum cards and stickers and the freakier the monsters were, the more we liked it!! (Kids of the past 30 or 40 years are such pussies when it comes to scary stuff!) So, we were quite used to that sort of stuff.
I was about 6 when The Outer Limits came to TV and I was lucky enough to have been able to watch several episodes back then, but not all of them. Most weren't all that scary but a few really hit the mark. "Nightmare" was probably the scariest!! The aliens, themselves were the really freaky part!! Once you got an extremely close up and heard their voice, that was REALLY terrifying!!
"The Zanti Misfits" was another that was really scary but, not until you got a close-up look at the aliens!! Extremely large ants with human faces!!
"The Invisibles" was another semi-scary episode with strange alien creatures.
Since then, I've picked up a DVD collection of the entire series.
"The Fly" was another one that was freaky, especially scary was the very end of it with the fly trapped in the spider web screaming, HELP ME!!! I recently heard that a few of the cast were very disturbed by the movie and had to step away from it for a while before continuing to shoot the next scene.
In `65, I think, maybe `66, there was an episode of, "The Avengers" where this REALLY CREEPY looking ventriloquist dummy named, Henrietta was commanding a group oof women to kill their bosses!! The creepy part was the doll!! And, how it talked and moved with no physical help at all.
In `67 we were treated to a very bizarre show that psychologists today are still trying to figure out!! "The Prisoner". I was lucky enough to see the first episode and one or two others during original broadcast but, my parents hated it and refused to watch it. I don't think I saw more than 3 or 4 episodes back then and, the first one, where Rover attacks its first victim REALLY freaked me out but got me REALLY interested in the show!! I finally got to see the entire series in the mid-`90's when I found a video store that had them all on VHS.
By the time I was 12, I finally got to see, "The War Of The Worlds" and I was perfectly fine with it until the alien went scooting across the screen!! That REALLY freaked me out!!
A decade or so later, there was an old horror flick I saw called, "The Colossus Of New York" and although it wasn't much of a scary movie, more like, "Frankenstein" meets "I, Robot", the part that really got to me was the POV they gave you of what "the monster" saw when it first woke up because that USED to be a human scientist but, he was killed in a car crash so, they tried to save his brain and connected it to a machine body that saw things the way a TV tube would see if it had eyes. When it first woke up to see what had happened to it and it screamed, that freaked me out, too!!
Ther's a little known movie from the early `80's called, "Galaxy Of Terror". Some astronauts go to a planet that manifests your real fears and kills you with them. In one scene, one of the people uses these three-pointed crystals that obey him and are quite loyal to him. They are his weapons and he's VERY adept at using them! At one point, on this planet, he throws one of the crystals and, to get them back, all he has to do is open his hand towards it and it flies back to his hand. Well, this time, it injects itself into his wrist! He goes to pull it out but, it snaps off and stars crawling up his arm under his skin!! He tries to stop it but can't so, he uses another one to cut off his arm and it still continues until it kills him. That freaked me out a bit.
Another little known movie of that era is, "Dead And Buried" where people on this strange New England island are enticed into a position where they can be tied to a wooden post with fish nets and then a bunch of people show up and take lots of pictures of them then toss gasoline onto the victim and set them on fire. Quite disturbing.
Another one not many know about is, "Cube" where some guy finds himself trapped in a strange white cube and has no idea how he got there and starts trying to find a way out. He discovers there's LOTS of other cubes that look exactly the same but, some of them are safe while others have really bizarre ways to kill anyone that sets foot into it! They also move around once in a while so, you may end up in the same cube several times. There was also a sequel, "Cube 2".
And, then we have "Hellraiser"!! Quite a bizarre series of films but, after about the 3rd one, they get a bit old hat. I think there were at least 6 of them.

abc3643 · Accepted Answer

No, I was never scared, but I did enjoy them.
Two of my favorites are British and are currently free to view:
"Dr. Terror's House of Horror" (1965)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU_2mfXzuuc

"City of the Dead" aka "Horror Hotel" (1960). For this one, you want to watch "City of the Dead" because that is the complete film. "Horror Hotel" was the US version, but, to appease uptight Christians, some parts of dialog were left out. Watching the full "City of the Dead" because what is not in "Horror Hotel" goes a long way to explaining a very important part of the plot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FqtmRM56ag

Technically, I don't know if this qualifies as a horror film, but it is scary. That British film is "Village of the Damned". I watched it not too long ago and, yes, it's a bit scary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AUBlW5EWnI

Some scary movies aren't strictly horror movies but are scary nonetheless. I think "The Andromeda Strain" is rather scary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw-k50EIGyM

Cinematic Lily · Accepted Answer

Michael Myers is such a classic childhood trauma generator 😅 That dead walk and the music… instant chills.

For me it was The Ring and The Grudge. Samara crawling out of the TV and Kayako coming down the stairs ruined dark hallways for years. I’d literally run past TVs at night 😂

Chucky also made me side‑eye every doll in my room. Still a bit uneasy around old porcelain ones 👀🪩👻

HawkPerception · Answer

There was only one a long time ago that gave me chills when I was a kid and made it hard to sleep. It was an old movie where everyone was on a submarine and there was some kind of parasite on board and it got into people and killed them and made them look disgusting. I can barely remember it other than that as a vague plot.

Other than that, not really... I actually developed a hatred for horror movies. They always had terrible acting, predictable jump scares, and the decisions of characters made zero sense. And even if it wasn't any of that, why would you go to a movie to purposely make it harder to sleep or to imagine nonsense? I haven't been scared of a horror other than that one time and I've watched most of the recommendations people say will definitely scare me.

They're all shit.

ohsheeT · Answer

I don't watch TV anymore but even when I did I would not watch them I would babysit my nephews and nieces on the weekend sometimes and they would watch him they would want me to sit down and watch with them and I would say no they would say you're scared and I would say yep

And it's because No matter what it is about I'm going to fill it I'm going to fill it deep if it's done right And I don't need to be feeling that kind of stuff

Like I told them if I have to fill it it's only going to happen one time and I'm not going to feel it all the way I'm going to in the story right then and there LOL

So for me I don't watch them never have never will

Will_Allard · Answer

I never really watched them as a kid. I remember being really scared of one of the Pirates of the Caribbean when I was 9 when the guy gets his eye pecked out.

I can’t believe children watch Jurassic Park even, I saw the clip on TV of the guy getting eaten off the toilet and felt genuinely lightheaded when I was a teenager.

Something scary like Midsommar makes me feel disturbed just hearing about it. I knew a couple of girls who thought parts of that were funny so I watched a clip out of curiosity. I shut my eyes but only after the scene started getting bad it was awful

NathanDavis · Answer

not really, no...

I did watch movies like The Exorcist when I was a kid...

and a couple other horror movies from the 90's or 80's, not sure... all those horror movies about dolls and puppets coming to life and murdering everyone

was I terrified of it? no... not that point, lol

Iron_Man · Answer

This man Count Dracula

DryGermanGuy · Answer

Yeah, these are definitely not made for children... ooofff... 😳🫣

choco-latte · Answer

I couldn’t even watch Freddy vs Jason because the first few minutes of the intro terrified me lol… now it takes a lot to scare me.

Still-alive · Answer

Yup. I grew up in the 80s when horror was enjoying its heydey. i had loads of nightmares thanks to nightmare on elmstreet, especially part 4, pet semetary, Friday the 13th and then in 1990 the killer bob from Twin Peaks.

bear34 · Answer

I haven't been scared by horror movies for quite some time. I do like *The Conjuring* series, though; it's good.

AgentG111 · Answer

I watched the original war of the worlds alfred Hitchcock movie that one got me good when I was like 9?

After that they made me laugh and actually got kicked out of a couple of movie houses because of it.

MerakSahibi · Answer

Movies like Hostel or Saw may have made them squint in disgust, but what Turkish people are truly afraid of are horror movies about jinn

MicroJ · Answer

They did not. Just the opposite I enjoyed them. My friends and I have horror movie night once a week.

Natasha1995 · Answer

Most of these scared me as a kid. I don't like them now, it's just not what I like to see.

Champange · Answer

Misery just imaging being tied to bed legs crippled.

AngryCarl3 · Answer

I wasn't allowed to watch that stuff as a kid.

LiamS95 · Answer

I never liked them as they were always low budget poorly executed movies.

lilBigPotato · Answer

They still do today.

TonyMetal___1986 · Answer

Yes ofc, especially child's play "chucky"...

Paige2006 · Answer

Yes and still do

Bklynbadboy12 · Answer

They did when I wad a kid but not as an adult

Ironco · Answer

Cujo, that one scared me...

mat566 · Answer

Yes it did

wkhan_87 · Answer

Yes as a kid

Horror Movies: Did They Terrify You as a Kid?

Most Helpful Opinions

Most Helpful Opinions

AI Opinion

What Girls & Guys Said

Which Halloween horror film absolutely scared the hell out of you and gave you nightmares as a kid?

Horror Movies: Did They Terrify You as a Kid?

Most Helpful Opinions

Most Helpful Opinions

AI Opinion

What Girls & Guys Said

Which Halloween horror film absolutely scared the hell out of you and gave you nightmares as a kid?

We're glad to see you liked this post.