History NightmareFuel / Arthur

* The "Jekyll and Hyde" song in "Arthur's Almost Live Not Real Music Festival." Brain reads ''Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'' and has a nightmare where he makes a potion and turns himself into Hyde. The look of Hyde-Brain is rather scary, being green with one red eye.

** Hell, Francine in this episode ''alone'' can sound rather fierce when she's angry. For instance, "If an incandescent lamp had air holes, it wouldn't work. DON'T YOU (The Brain) KNOW ''ANYTHING?!''" and of course, "If ''you'' (Arthur) don't do it right, i'll ''UN-INVENT YOU'' '''''AND YOU WON'T BE IN MY PLAY AT ALL!!!!!'''''".

** In the ColdOpen, Pal is snoring so loudly that Arthur can't sleep. Neither can the monsters under the bed nor the closet respectively. The one under the bed looks like a cross between the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' Gengar and a deranged version of Stanley, Arthur's teddy bear; while the one in the closet looks like a green, hairless weasel. The two start bickering and tossing Arthur's toys as part of a melee war. All Arthur can do is hide under the covers and wait for it to end, and he mentions he hates it when this happens.
** Binky's first nightmare is him getting chased by a giant hamburger for trying to eat one of her children (a regular-sized hamburger). First, Binky freezes when the hamburger he's holding starts talking, because ''he'' doesn't want to eat anything sentient. Then he steps all over the other burgers (who turn out to be sentient as well) as he runs for his life. Then he ends up on the streets, chased by fast food cops until he runs right off a cliff, where he flies for a few seconds only to fall and wake up.

** The ColdOpen has Arthur imagining several scary things such as falling to his death from a building, only for the environment to change from a busy city to a mountainous valley with a river and caught by a giant spider (who turns out to be friendly, but still). The sequence ends when Arthur hears a deep, demonic voice taunting him and he runs for it, though that's revealed to be D.W. with a megaphone.

** While only lightly touched on, the discussion on Sue Ellen's story being supposedly real has some distressing themes. Since Sue Ellen laughed off their scary stories due to being a snob about her own experiences around the world, her friends are pretty unwilling to hear her out and call her out for it, even though there is legitimately something going on in the woods. It's a cry wolf situation that many kids surely have gone through.

** Meanwhile, Jane receives a call that Arthur never made it to his swimming lesson. She calls the bus company while his dad goes to search for him at school, but it's not until several hours later that they find out Arthur is okay and Sam the bus driver is bringing him home safely. You can't blame Jane for crying as she recounts the moment.

* "Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe" has a realistic one; Cousin Mo has been bullying Arthur for ''three years straight'' at family reunions, and the adults just find it cute because he's her favorite cousin. While she's mellowed this time, the flashbacks are nightmarish when they show her turning toddler Arthur into a sprinkler ornament and tossing him as part of her karate practice as a warmup to "The Headlock of Death". It's hard to blame Arthur for screaming in terror and running away from Mo.

** Also, the episode opens on anthropomorphized versions of Arthur's intestines, heart, kidneys, lungs and stomach (the latter of whom is complaining that Arthur ate too much cake), which all look rather creepy.
** When Arthur is resting in bed, D.W. worries that his cut will get worse and he'll die. Brain admits she's ''right''; while getting a cut in the backyard wouldn't be a big deal, getting one at the dump means that all sorts of bacteria will enter his body and make him sick. Sure enough, the doctor gives Arthur a tetanus shot confirming that D.W.'s fears are valid.
* There's a song that plays during scary or ominous happenings, such as when D.W. throws Arthur's plane out the window in "Arthur's Big Hit." It's a horrific song that starts off as a few drum beats before building up to several scream-like {{Scare Chord}}s.

* In "Arthur Makes a Movie," while brainstorming for plot ideas, [[NightmareFetishist Buster]] comes up with the idea to have the villain shoot a ray to hypnotize the fish of the ocean to EAT people! What really sells it is the fishes' [[CreepyMonotone creepy voices]] as they chant "We must eat the land people, we must eat the land people." And then they actually try to get up onto the beach to get the humans! The other kids have to veto this because they can't create such special effects.
* "Double Dare" mentions the {{Franchise/Batman}} {{Expy}} Dark Bunny fight against a giant clam who spews digestive juices. Later, Arthur has a nightmare where he and Buster are trapped in said clam and the exit is sealed. Suddenly, green liquid starts pooling at their feet and Arthur and Buster realize they're about to be digested with no way out. The dream ends right before this happens.

* In "Binky Barnes, Wingman," Binky has been collecting butterflies for a school project, and finally catches a rare, blue butterfly he's been chasing throughout the episode. He then invites Sue Ellen to come with him to a nearby butterfly museum to take the blue butterfly...but then things take an ominous turn when Binky sees that the museum is [[NothingIsScarier full of motionless butterflies in glass cases]], and there is an empty one [[OhCrap for the blue butterfly]].

* At the beginning of "Buster's Back," Arthur has a bad dream about Buster [[ItMakesSenseInContext returning from a trip to Jupiter]]. However, when Arthur goes down to greet him, Buster's body parts suddenly begin [[BodyHorror mutating]] in various ways (one of his feet bursts into flames, one of his arms turns to rubber, etc.). Then, without warning, Buster starts growing to gigantic size...and throughout this whole process, [[DissonantSerenity Buster's carefree mood never changes]]. It's a spoof of the origin story of the ComicBook/FantasticFour, but if you're a little kid watching on TV, you're probably not going to understand the context. (Hell, the scene may still scare people who get the reference.)

* In "Bugged", everyone is angry at Brain for being an insufferable know-it-all, and Francine labels him a "pest". Sure enough, that night Brain imagines himself ''[[JustWokeUpThatWay turned into a giant bug]]'' and is ostracized by his friends and teachers alike for it. The next time he so much as opens his mouth, his friends gang up on him and in classic comic book villain fashion ''strap him to a conveyor belt to be squashed by a giant flyswatter!'' And while Brain begs to be spared, his friends just look on his misfortune in ''absolute glee''. Brain is so unnerved he opts ''not to speak'' the next day. He gets better, but the scenario is enough to rattle any child to see their own friends turn on them.

* In "Meek For a Week", Francine is trying to be nice for a week due to a bet she made with Muffy. When her friends notice she's being nicer, the Brain says that if she does that, she'll hold in her anger and eventually "pop" like a soda bottle that's been shaken and it could happen at any time. He then has an ImagineSpot of it being a seemingly normal school day but then Francine stretches her neck out, looking like she has a headache, and then it falls off, while [[BodyHorror soda comes out of her neck]] and the head flies up through the ceiling and into a random kid's yard. All the while, [[DissonantSerenity her head is smiling and saying positive things]].

** During the drill itself, Tommy has a panic attack. He screams that he smells smoke and he can't breathe, freezing in place and coughing. D.W. has to reassure him that there's no smoke, and helps him get outside where he still is having trouble calming down.

** One of Arthur's nightmares features an evil form of Mr. Ratburn torturing his classmates. While it's somewhat NightmareRetardant that all he does is scratch his nails on a chalkboard, the kids screaming in pain and fear can rattle a person.

** Arthur's panic attack when Francine, Muffy and Brain reveal they know about his nightmares. He thinks he's in a dream and begs Buster to wake him up.
* In "Francine Frensky, Superstar" during the rehearsal of the play Francine had changed everything to make the play her way the one scary moment is when Brain and Buster come to her. Buster is in the light bulb costume suffocating to death, gasping for air, and his face is blue. Brain tells Francine that his costume needs air holes in them but Francine tells them that the costume doesn't need air holes because the picture of the light bulb doesn't have air holes either then walks away from them. "Can't breathe!" Buster cries out. Thankfully later on, the costume was fixed with air holes in them and he got back at Francine by spraying water on her. But still, it's the disturbing moment even worse Buster also has asthma making it even worse for him. It was a good thing they fix the costume with air holes in it or otherwise Buster would've ''died.''

** Afterward, he has AnxietyDreams about an aquarium catering gig endangering his dad. Arthur imagines the aquarium is filled with pirates who are brusque with David and don't care when a giant squid in one of the tanks grabs him. As the squid tries to drown Mr. Read, the pirates hold back Arthur from saving his dad. No wonder Arthur wakes up terrified and tries to fake a sore throat so his dad won't go to the gig.

* "Shelter from the Storm" has a few, particularly in Brain's storyline.

** The ColdOpen has Arthur imagining several scary things such as falling to his death from a building, only to be rescued by a giant spider (who turns out to be friendly, but still). The sequence ends when Arthur hears a deep, demonic voice taunting him and he runs for it, though that's revealed to be D.W. with a megaphone.

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLCoKdD8F8Q&ab_channel=ArthurRead this digital short about fighting racism]], Arthur and Buster express their horror at a video they've watched about a racist attack. One that took place ''right outside the Sugar Bowl''.

** The same episode has an ImagineSpot involving the kids encountering a banshee alongside a carriage drawn by a headless skeleton horse. [[https://www.deviantart.com/maastrichiangguy/art/Arthur-The-Banshee-831322566 The banshee itself]] is drawn in a frighteningly realistic way, to near-UncannyValley levels, and is made scarier that it's not anthropomorphic - ''it looks like a human''.
* "The Fright Stuff"

** Fortunately, a bat-centric episode from Season 12, "Bats in the Belfry" feature bats that don't have a frightening design.

* "What Scared Sue Ellen?":
** Sue Ellen has an ImagineSpot of a Baba Yaga chasing her through the woods to eat her. The DreamWithinADream shows that Baba Yaga ''followed her to her house'' and is screaming at her to get up for school through the window.
** Everyone freaks out when they hear the strange noise, which is quite eerie. Even when Sue Ellen convinces everyone to find equipment around their house to wear as armor, they nearly trip each other up with nerves.
** TheReveal: Mrs. Wood's dog, Pal's mother Perky, was trapped under tree roots for several days. Mrs. Wood even says that it could have been for longer if the kids hadn't been so brave as to investigate.
** The same episode has an ImagineSpot involving the kids encountering a banshee alongside a carriage drawn by a headless skeleton horse. [[https://www.deviantart.com/maastrichiangguy/art/Arthur-The-Banshee-831322566 The banshee itself]] is drawn in a frighteningly realistic way, to near-UncannyValley levels, and is made scarier that it's not anthropomorphic - ''it looks like a human''.

* "Buster's Growing Grudge" does a good point of getting across the anxiety people might feel when they need to speak in front of a large audience. Too well. Because the faces of everyone in class turns into giant, hyper-realistic [[FacelessEye Faceless Eyes]] with a lovingly animated close-up of Mr. Ratburn blinking in this state. And all they're doing is staring.

* In "D.W.'s Library Card", D.W. has a nightmare where the book she wants to read rips and then explodes in her hands. What we get is a wrathful Ms. Turner revoking her card as punishment for her crime.
-->'''Ms. Turner:''' ''(Angrily)'' ''YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ANOTHER LIBRARY CARD AGAIN!''\\
'''Tibble Twins:''' More books for us!

* "Night of the Tibble" has an ImagineSpot of what James thinks the Tibbles' house is like. This includes an angry dog in the basement and worms for dinner. They even plan to put James in a machine that ''spins him around and throws him into the wall'', as demonstrated with a teddy bear which is thrown so hard, ''the stuffing gets ripped out.''

** Arthur gets lost while taking the bus across town. While listening to Buster tell him a story about someone who rode the bus, he has an ImagineSpot putting him in the story where the bus just keeps going and going. The driver tells Arthur that this bus ''doesn't make any stops''... then he randomly morphs into a disgusting-looking squid monster. To make matters worse, the other passengers also morph into squid monsters and advance towards Arthur as the bus turns into a rocket ship and flies off.

** D.W. is pretty tough, all things considered. She's genuinely rattled by the Tibble Twins and how they get away with anything: in this case, covering her head in various fingerpaints.
** The babysitter running away from the twins shooting water at her. It's [[NothingIsScarier never explained how their antics lead up to that point]]. Prunella also doesn't know what Rubella went through, only that the Tibbles gave her nightmares.

* "Hide and Snake": A lot regarding the snake in question. Even though it turns out the snake is harmless, it triggers ones herpephobia and ParanoiaFuel.
** A snake crawls up Arthur's shirt while he's playing hide and seek with his friends. He starts giggling as something is tickling him. Arthur reaches behind him, realizing he's holding a snake, and falls over.
** Arthur agrees to take the snake home, and brings it to his room. A few minutes later, his friends come and reveal that it could either be a deadly coral snake or a kingsnake. When they go to check, the snake has escaped!
** D.W. screams that there's a sea serpent in the bathtub. The parents would normally dismiss her, except they see Arthur suddenly washing Pal in D.W.'s bathwater, and Arthur sees the snake slip out through the door. Jane and David immediately realize something is wrong.
** Offscreen, David finds out how the snake got into the house. He tells the kids gently but firmly to let it go, since that is the reptile's proper habitat.

* The scene in "The Rhythm and Roots of Arthur" where Buster cuts his foot on the dock. There's no blood but they do show him holding his foot in pain for a few seconds.

** What actually happens is more realistic but much worse: Arthur falls asleep on the bus and misses his stop. He wakes up, and ends up at the edge of town, too shy to ask the bus driver for help before getting off (which is what his parents told him he should have done from the start). Arthur only has a quarter, doesn't know where he is, and the nearest phone -- in the diner-- is busted. It is ''very'' lucky that the waitress who gives him a free meal tells him to explain to the driver what happened when he refuses to borrow the bus fare from her.

* "D.W. All Fired Up"

* "April 9th":

* "Arthur's Tooth" has Arthur's brief ImagineSpot of him restrained in a chair getting his loose tooth forcefully yanked out by a DepravedDentist, a scene that can be especially terrifying to anybody afraid of dentists.

** What actually happens is more realistic but much worse: Arthur falls asleep on the bus and misses his stop. He wakes up, and ends up at the edge of town, too shy to ask the bus driver for help before getting off. (Which is what his parents told him he should have done from the start.) Arthur only has a quarter, doesn't know where he is, and the nearest phone -- in the diner-- is busted. It is ''very'' lucky that the waitress who gives him a free meal tells him to explain to the driver what happened when he refuses to borrow the bus fare from her.

* "D.W. Blows The Whistle" has two horrific moments that are AdultFear worthy:

** One moment of AdultFear is when the boys play hide & seek with Arthur, and he freaks out when thinking they got outside and ran away. Cue an ImagineSpot of them releasing all the animals at the zoo, with a bear climbing a tree to attack his friends.

** The AdultFear that comes with TheReveal: Mrs. Wood's dog, Pal's mother Perky, was trapped under tree roots for several days. Mrs. Wood even says that it could have been for longer if the kids hadn't been so brave as to investigate.

* "Hide and Snake": There's a lot of AdultFear regarding the snake in question. Even though it turns out the snake is harmless, it triggers ones herpephobia and ParanoiaFuel.

** Offscreen, David finds out how the snake got into the house. His reaction when he realizes is AdultFear. He tells the kids gently but firmly to let it go, since that is the reptile's proper habitat.

** The AdultFear that Mr. Frensky has when he finds Binky playing hooky and putting away litter. He asks with concern why Binky isn't in school, and comforts him as the kid cries and admits that he's too scared to go back into Lakewood Elementary because he sees fire everywhere burning people. Mr. Frensky understands; he relates how he couldn't sleep for a week after seeing his first fire. If Binky isn't ready, he can come with Mr. Frensky on his rounds and they just need to tell Mr. Haney.

** Lakewood is restored, and the kids can return to class. Binky is brusquer than usual, refusing to let Francine interview him. Then he sees the teachers' lounge and Mr. Haney testing out a new recliner. Cue an ImagineSpot of Binky imagining the fire burning Mr. Haney alive. He turns around screaming and runs out of school, as Mr. Haneyy calls after him.

-->This was too much, I simply had to stop!
-->I threw that potion away!
-->But it didn't matter if I drank the stuff;
-->I just kept on changing anyway!

-->'''Narration''': The book lady said...
-->'''Ms. Turner''': Are you returning?
-->'''Narration''': I thought, and I said...
-->'''Brain''': No... ''[turns into Hyde]'' [[HereWeGoAgain renew!]] ''[vanishes]''

-->'''Ms. Turner:''' ''(Angrily)'' ''YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ANOTHER LIBRARY CARD AGAIN!''
-->'''Tibble Twins:''' More books for us!
* The episode "Locked In The Library" has plenty of disturbing imagery from Arthur's fear when he and Francine are, well... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin locked in the library]]. Arthur sees many scary faces and the grandfather clock turning into a ferocious monster before he reassures himself that he's just imagining it.
** Not to mention that Arthur and Francine realize that unless someone knows where they are, no one will open the library until Monday. Arthur's stomach growls as he realizes they don't have anything to eat. He gets so hungry that he eats a magazine page of a roast turkey. Becomes NightmareRetardant when Francine finds the library's staffroom and snacks for them to eat, but still! Miss Turner is apologetic and horrified for a reason.

-->'''Francine:''' Augh! Catherine! A bat! Help!
-->'''Bat:''' I'm so glad you don't share a room, Francine. (Laughs menacingly)

-->'''Binky:''' They're not moving.
-->'''Sue Ellen:''' [[CaptainObvious Of course not. What did you expect?]] Haven't you seen a real collection before?
-->'''Binky:''' No...

-->'''Buster:''' ''(in a distorted voice)'' Gee, you think it's those cosmic rays I went through?
-->'''Arthur:''' I don't think this is going to be like old times.

-->''But even if my head pops off I still won't let them win / My bodyless head will smile and grin.''

-->'''Arthur:''' What's going on?! Where's my family?!
-->'''Mr. Ratburn:''' Arthur Ratburn, stop fooling around and get to work!

* "Prunella and the Haunted Locker" is probably one of the most disturbing episodes in the series. The whole episode revolves around Prunella having to temporarily use a new locker who Fern tells her was used by a kid from the 1950s who mysteriously disappeared afterwards, and Prunella also hears strange voices and smells coming out of it. After some research, Francine finds that the rumors are only half true, but that the locker was indeed used by a kid from the 1970s for a single year. Prunella starts having nightmares about the locker, including one where it comes to life, confirms that it ate its previous owner, and then tries to eat her. Finally, Prunella learns that the strange talking and smells were because the locker is just behind the kitchen, and Fern is forced to admit her lie. All's well that ends well, right? Well, at the very end of the episode, after Prunella and Francine walk through the park, one of the swings starts moving on its own as a child's laughter is heard. This would imply that, living locker or not, '''an actual child died in the show's backstory'''. What the hell, PBS?

* "Night of the Tibble" has an ImagineSpot of what James thinks the Tibbles' house is like. This includes an angry dog in the basement and worms for dinner. They even plan to put James in a machine that ''spins him around and throws him into the wall'', as demonstrated with a teddy bear which is thrown so lard, ''the stuffing gets ripped out.''

** Afterward, he has AnxietyDreams about an aquarium catering gig endangering his dad. Arthur imagines the aquarium is filled with pirates who are brusque with David and don't care when the octopus in the tank grab him. As the octopus starts drowning Mr. Read, the pirates hold back Arthur from saving his dad. No wonder Arthur wakes up terrified and tries to fake a sore throat so his dad won't go to the gig.