Although most shows aimed at younger audiences are more on the innocent and fun side, they definitely have their fair share of heavy moments. From intense subject matter to moments that are truly disturbing, some kids’ shows have storylines and scenes the push the limits of what we think of as being “for children.”
Some shows have more of these moments than others, and some of them are almost entirely comprised of scary scenes and storylines. Looking back on a lot of these shows and remembering how creepy they were is pretty surprising. We all remember movies from the 1990s and 2000s like Nickelodeon’s Cry Baby Lane and Disney Channel’s Don’t Look Under The Bed as being pretty creepy, but there were also a lot of series aimed at children that were just as eerie.
So Weird (1999-2001)
So Weird is a Disney Channel series that aired from 1999 through 2001 and starred Cara DeLizia as Fi, a rock-star’s daughter who runs a paranormal blog and travels around the country with her mom on her tour bus. On their travels, Fi often comes into contact with various seemingly supernatural or paranormal entities and writes about them on her website.
This series was one of many that was added to Disney+ when it launched, and has given many people that grew up in the ’90s all kinds of nostalgic feelings. But the show was often pretty terrifying. With episodes about ghost dimensions, immortal people, and even a vampire cult trying to recruit her brother, this show was too creepy for kids.
House Of Anubis (2011-2013)
House of Anubis is a suspenseful series that aired on Nickelodeon between 2011 and 2013. It opens with a new student named Nina moving from America to the UK to attend a boarding school called Anubis House. Shortly before she arrives, one of the most popular girls has mysteriously disappeared, and Nina finds herself trying to track down answers as to where she went.
This show was a pretty intense mystery that had many twists and turns throughout its three seasons. The schoolmates learned throughout the series that their classmate’s disappearance was much stranger and scarier than they could have ever imagined.
Courage The Cowardly Dog (1999-2002)
Courage the Cowardly Dog is one of the first shows that many people think of in terms of creepy kids’ shows. This show aired between 1996 and 2002. It features a purple dog named Courage that lives in the middle of nowhere with his owners, Eustace and Muriel. Despite his name, Courage isn’t exactly brave, which is a problem because his home seems to be a constant target for the paranormal and generally unusual.
This show had a ton of terrifying episodes, but the one featuring King Ramses and a stolen artifact is definitely at the top of the list. The figure of Ramses standing out in the desert, asking for Eustace to return his cursed slab while he sends a whole list of various plagues to the house is burned into our memories.
Goosebumps (1995-1998)
Goosebumps is based on R.L. Stine’s book series of the same name. The show aired from 1995 through 1998, scaring ’90s kids all over the world. Most of the episodes of this anthology series followed a book or story by R.L. Stine, and featured children getting into scary and unusual situations.
Some of the creepiest episodes included The Haunted Mask, an episode in which a high school student wanted to rebel and be something scary for once for Halloween. After stealing a creepy mask, this student found herself changing into something horrifying and realized that the mask was stuck onto her face.
Are You Afraid Of The Dark? (1990-1996, 1999-2000, 2019-present)
Are You Afraid of the Dark? is an anthology series that originally aired from 1990 through 1996 and was rebooted twice, once in 1999 and once in 2019. Each episode of the series has the same basic plotline: a group of friends called The Midnight Society come together to a campfire late at night. One person tells a terrifying tale to the rest of their friends.
Watching now, some of these episodes are a lot more laughable than they are scary. But anyone who grew up in the ’90s and watched this series will know that as kids, even the episodes that are now cheesy and funny were totally terrifying.
Ghostwriter (1992-1995, 2019)
Ghostwriter is a mystery series that originally aired from 1992 through 1995 on PBS. The series was rebooted in 2019 on Apple TV+.
The original show followed a group of friends living in Brooklyn who would solve mysteries with the help of a mysterious figure known as the Ghostwriter. This strange figure could communicate with the friends only through writing and manipulating words and letters that were already printed. Despite being scary, we can’t deny that their ghost was handy.
Eerie, Indiana (1991-1992)
Eerie, Indiana is a science fiction-horror series that aired for a single season between 1991 and 1992. The show aired as reruns on the Disney Channel through the mid-1990s, and scared a whole new audience of children that hadn’t already seen it when it was originally airing.
The series follows Marshall Teller, a young boy whose family has recently moved from their home in New Jersey to the town of Eerie, Indiana. Nothing in Eerie is as it seems, and Marshall soon learns about the way that the town lives up to its name when strange things begin to happen all around him.
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (1994-1997)
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters is an animated series that aired from 1994 through 1997 on Nickelodeon, and featured a group of three young monsters-in-training named Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm. The trio attended scaring school in the sewers below the city’s streets. They would often be sent out on assignments in order to learn how to properly scare people.
This series was definitely more of a humorous take on monsters, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t some totally scary episodes.
The Haunting Hour: The Series (2010-2014)
The Haunting Hour: The Series is a horror-fantasy anthology series that aired from 2010 through 2014. The series is based on the work of R.L. Stine, just like Goosebumps. Since The Haunting Hour is from someone so famous for creating terrifying books and shows for kids, it’s no surprise that this series was pretty creepy, too.
Each episode has a different scary story. Among the scariest is an episode in which a life-size doll seems to come to life and take over a girl’s life, replacing her within her own family.
Hey Arnold! (1996-2004)
Hey Arnold! is an animated series that aired on Nickelodeon from 1996 through 2004. Although this series is technically not a horror show, it still had a few episodes that were downright weird and a ton that had some intense emotional storylines.
When it comes to scary kids’ shows, Hey Arnold! definitely deserves a spot on this list because of the episode about the haunted train. This episode, fittingly called “Haunted Train,” follows the main characters as they take a subway car all the way to the end of the line after hearing a rumor that it’s haunted. Their fears are proven wrong when all the strange things that happen on the train are easily explained away… Or are they?
Next: 10 Animated Kids Movies That Pushed The G/PG Rating
