Shows about wizards and magic are never without their share of frightening insanity, and even as a double Emmy award winning kids show, Wizards of Waverly Place is no exception.
- The two-part special "Wizards vs. Angels":
- Involved Justin giving up wizardry attempting to become an angel of darkness. When he meets with the leader of darkness, Gorog, they use powers to shroud NYC (and plan to get the world) in darkness, turning the citizens bad at their will. .
- Justin grabbing the little angel girl Tina, offering to throw her from the building in exchange for his own life. Um, a Disney protagonist just threatened to kill a little girl. Creepy.
- Then there's Mason, his werewolf counterpart, and his howling at the moon while a creepy song is playing in the background. Later, he literally eats Dean. Alex starts crying, and we don’t blame her.
- Stevie's death. First, she gets turned to ice. No big deal, Justin and Alex will probably change her back and get rid of her powers, right? Then Max accidentally (or was it?) knocks her over, shattering her into a million pieces. What's worse is how indifferent everyone acts about it. Alex makes a snarky comment and then goes to the fair with Harper to celebrate.
- Mantooth's face in "Halloween" might not be the most pleasant thing for kids to look at.
- Abercrombie. Especially when he likes Harper’s brain.
- The monster hunters going after the Van Heusens. Then they start going after Harper after she switches places with Juliet.
- It’s implied that Juliet’s parents killed King Arthur.
- Seeing Juliet turn into an old hag is rather unsettling.
- Harper’s stalker-level crush on Justin.
- Alex turning into a chocoholic after the pocket elf bites her is several levels of disturbing.
- Mason’s family wanting to eat Harper and Alex.
- Manny falling apart.
- Alex’s feet for hands spell is mild Body Horror. Same with Juliet’s wing arms.
- Mason accidentally going full wolf and scaring Alex.
- Alex getting stuck in the ceiling when Frankie throws her too high. Who knows how long she was up there?
- Alex drinking both halves of the love potion, causing her head to grow. If it weren’t for Max’s hat, her head could have exploded.
- Justin nearly getting his powers drained at Volcano Land.
- The mummy, especially when he makes Juliet work for him.
- Mr. Laritate turning into a zombie. He just looks so... off.
- Alex using a positivity spell and acting uncharacteristically kind is kind of disturbing. Fortunately, Harper changes her back after the home team loses.
- Harper and Alex survived outer space exposure. Real people, not so much.
- Justin’s talking zit sounds a bit rapey. Especially when he wants Justin to kiss his date.
- Isabella catfishing Justin. It gets worse when she turns him into a werewolf and he runs away from home.
- The Cucuys in "Alex Gives Up". Good God do they have terrifying Nightmare Faces. For the brave only, here
. - While it's somewhat deserved, Giselle turning back into a parrot at the end of the movie, with the uncanny visual of her sprouting feathers and a beak whilst shrinking and squawking. Could double as a slight Alas, Poor Villain moment too, as she sounds genuinely terrified as she realizes what's happening to her and desperately tries to convince Archie to reverse it, only for her voice to completely regress to avian squawks. In the end, it's implied that she's now trapped in that form forever.
- While the implications aren't lingered on, TJ from the early episode "Disenchanted Evening" is pretty scary in Fridge Logic: a teenage wizard who effectively brainwashed his own parents into being mindlessly and cheerfully compliant with anything and everything he does or says; it is exactly as creepy as it sounds, and viewers would be forgiven for being reminded of The Stepford Wives, especially when he cheerfully brags to Alex and Justin about how they're more like robots than parents, something both are understandably disturbed by. He ultimately gets what he deserves when his parents are freed at the end of the episode, but it's still disturbing, even more so because he's such a laughable, vaguely pathetic loser in every other way, just like any Villain of the Week. If Alex hadn't caught on to him, or if he hadn't tried the same trick on their parents, it's likely they never would've been freed from his control.
