History NightmareFuel / CalvinAndHobbes

* Some of Calvin's [[NightmareFace exaggerated]] [[SlasherSmile facial expressions]] can be pretty creepy, though they might be just [[NightmareRetardant nightmare retardant]] to some: [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQo77WFjZuVgUNQhNeFcnELc0b_DAc0KmIMB0xNhPejW1N947j1nQ]], [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/69/91/9e/69919e807967e963a26c17dd8251edda--calvin-e-hobbes-comic-strips.jpg]], [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ae/c0/92/aec092bd75236d267f506f6fcc4a008b.jpg]], [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b3/7a/d8/b37ad883a6efe12f9c014b76f3b63c49.jpg]], [[http://i.imgur.com/P0Huy7u.gif]].

* Calvin draws stick figure animation onto one of Dad's books, much to his frustration. Inspired by Hobbes, the loop depicts a man walking innocuously, suddenly stopping and alarmed by a threat. He turns, sprints for his life, but isn't able to outrun a ferocious tiger who bounds onto him, ''kills him by decapitation'', [[SlasherSmile smiles eerily]] and strides off.

So, you thought ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' was innocuous? Well, you're wrong; dead wrong, as you prepare to [[NightmareFuel visit your worst nightmares]]!

So, you thought ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' was innocuous! You're dead wrong, as you prepare to [[NightmareFuel visit your worst nightmares]].

** During a moment in the Rosalyn arc that follows, Calvin locks Rosalyn out of the house and proceeds to go nuts with Hobbes in watching TV and eating candy. His parents are understandably upset when they come home, with Calvin's mom pointing out that if there had been a fire or Calvin had been hurt, then there would have been no adult at home to help him.

* [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/02/05 One Sunday strip]] has Calvin dream about aliens keeping him in a cage and performing an imprinting experiment with the use of [[UncannyValley a]] ''[[UncannyValley very]]'' [[UncannyValley creepy-looking hand puppet]] of his mom. You can't really blame Calvin for remaining rattled even after he wakes up.

*** =Rosalyn has to deal with the possibility that Calvin flushed her notes down the toilet. Imagine, it's the day before a big test and all your hard work is about to be destroyed by something you have no control over. Thankfully for her, Calvin was bluffing.

* The arc where Calvin breaks his dad's binoculars. When dad finds out, we're treated to a POV of him [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/05/24 screaming at Calvin for the first three panels]] which can hit close to home for anyone who had an angry parent yell at them as a child. The third panel is particularly uncomfortable with Dad's face drawn with more anatomy in his face than usual. [[MoodWhiplash This quickly turns into]] TearJerker when Calvin apologizes and tells him he already feels terrible, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone with his dad now visibly sorry about yelling at Calvin.]]

* The arc where Calvin forgets to do his homework starts with Calvin having a nightmare where he completed his homework, only for all of the writing to jump of the page, leaving his paper blank. Miss Wormwood, angry at Calvin for not turning his homework again, then transforms into a monstrous alien and sets Calvin on fire. This lasted several strips before it was revealed to be AllJustADream.

* The arc where Calvin breaks his dad's binoculars. When dad finds out, we're treated to a POV of him [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/05/24 screaming at Calvin for the first three panels]] which can hit close to home for anyone who had an angry parent yell at them as a child. [[MoodWhiplash It quickly turns into]] TearJerker when Calvin apologizes and tells him he already feels terrible, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone with his dad now visibly sorry about yelling at Calvin.]]

* In one strip, Calvin gets sick and as his mom prepares to call the doctor tells him that he won't have to miss school because it's Saturday. Calvin responds [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness with a weak "I know"]]. [[AdultFear Understandably, his mom races to the phone immediately]].

*** Bordering on AdultFear, Rosalyn has to deal with the possibility that Calvin flushed her notes down the toilet. Imagine, it's the day before a big test and all your hard work is about to be destroyed by something you have no control over. Thankfully for her, Calvin was bluffing.
** During an AdultFear moment in the Rosalyn arc that follows, Calvin locks Rosalyn out of the house and proceeds to go nuts with Hobbes in watching TV and eating candy. His parents are understandably upset when they come home, with Calvin's mom pointing out that if there had been a fire or Calvin had been hurt, then there would have been no adult at home to help him.

* If you were to believe that any of Calvin's adventures through space and time were real, the idea that his parents were inches from losing their only child would be nauseating.

* Hobbes is stalking Calvin and the strips show this through his perspective. Calvin is seen in the distance, he panics when he sees Hobbes and starts running away, only to be quickly overtaken and pounced upon. His expressions are less humorous and convey genuine terror, especially where he shuts his eyes and braces for the impact. Moments later, this is revealed to be a dream, which Hobbes wakes up from still violently chewing on his pillow. While most fights are PlayedForLaughs, the state of the pillow is pretty bad, which makes one shudder what Hobbes was doing to Calvin in his dream.

* In one strip, Calvin imagines upsetting the balance between water and solids in his body by drinking too much water and turning into liquid. He's still alive in his liquid form and needs to get somewhere where he can not worry about drying up, but, being a liquid, he can only go downhill. Slightly mitigated by the last panel, where it's revealed that outside of the ImagineSpot, Calvin is just having a PottyEmergency after drinking too much water on a road trip.

** Hobbes attacking Calvin at night can be plenty scary, bedsheet or not. [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/00/93/d2/0093d2181f45687bce8d19f841cba442.jpg The strip]] that named "Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat" is a perfect example; imagine walking back from the bathroom, a bit sleepy and not all that alert, when a pair of glowing eyes and clawed hands lunges at you from the dark, with nowhere for you to flee.

* The break-in. Dear god... for anyone who's had their house broken into, this can be genuinely terrifying. Calvin's parents immediately freak out, and Calvin goes into hysterics when he realizes Hobbes was home when it happened. Even after the police arrive, there is a strong sense of ParanoiaFuel in the house. Calvin's father stays up for most of the night wondering how to cope with the situation:
-->'''Dad''': When someone breaks into your home, it shatters your last illusion of security. If you're not safe in you're own home '''you're not safe anywhere.'''

* The arc where Calvin breaks his dad's binoculars. When dad finds out, we're treated to a POV of him [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1988/05/24 screaming at Calvin for the first three panels]] which can hit close to home for anyone who had an angry parent yell at them as a child. [[MoodWhiplash It quickly turns into]] TearJerker when Calvin apologizes and tells him he already feels terrible.

-->'''Mom:''' [[IronicEcho Here's your breakfast.]] What's the matter?

** It wasn't just Calvin's Dad [[ImagineSpot being a giant eyeball]] that was scary. You can practically ''feel'' [[DeathGlare the anger]] coming off from him.

* The "Nauseous Nocturne," a poem about Calvin being menaced by monsters at night. [[spoiler:''And imagines being eaten alive. With illustrations of his bones'']]. Luckily, it has a happy ending, but that's not 'til the last few panels.

*** Bordering on AdultFear, Rosalyn has to deal with the possibility that Calvin flushed her notes down the toilet. Imagine, it's the day before a big test and all your hard work is about to be destroyed by something you have no control over. [[spoiler: Thankfully for her, Calvin was bluffing.]]

** It wasn't just his being a giant eyeball that was scary. Calvin's dad wasn't just giving him a glance of parental sternness; he was [[DeathGlare glaring]] with what looked like pure, primal anger. To be fair, it may have just appeared that way from Calvin's perspective, [[NightmareFace but still.]]

* In one strip, Calvin imagines upsetting the balance between water and solids in his body and turning into liquid. He's still alive in his liquid form and needs to get somewhere where he can not worry about drying up but, being a liquid, he can only go downhill.

* Calvin tries to pretend the monsters under his bed don't exist. [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1992/08/20 When it doesn't work...]]

* Not a visual source of Nightmare Fuel, but Calvin's observation [[http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1992/09/15 here]] is quite unnerving nevertheless.

** The last Rosalyn arc also has a huge one for Calvin. It starts by his parents letting him have his favorite food for dinner, with Hobbes. He [[GenreSavvy immediately realizes]] it's TooGoodToBeTrue and says "[[OhCrap Uh-oh]]". Cue the next strip, where he's begging his parents not to leave him with Rosalyn and screaming at the top of his lungs, and he's convinced she wants to play "Kill the Kid" when she tries to bribe him into behaving.

-->'''Calvin:''' Prove you're my mom.

* The final story-arc of the comic where aliens visit Calvin and the last thing we see of his parents is that his mum answered the door... Made even more horrifying by seeing [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/12/29 Calvin's final snowman]]... [[spoiler:Which has an ice-cream scoop in its back while it's fallen]], all while Calvin says [[DissonantSerenity rather calmly,]] [[SelfMadeOrphan "It's a sordid story..."]] A final GilliganCut to the landscape which is blanketed in white snow- and ''no sign of his parents''... [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse What happened to Calvin's parents?!]]