History NightmareFuel / AreYouAfraidOfTheDark

->''"The episode that still haunts me to this day, and I mean this, was 'The Tale of the Dead Man's Float'. The one with, like, the zombie skeleton who would pull you down if you went swimming and drown you? I mean, that is--''''look at this!'' '''''Look at this!''''' ''[[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids They showed this to KIDS!]]"''

** The concept of fire as a sentient, potentially predatory entity makes [[JustForPun chilling]] use of PrimalFear. In the abandoned fire station, retired firefighter Jake warns Jimmy and Roxy of the ghost of such a fire put out by their dad. A sleepless Jimmy briefly sees phantom flames blaze across the darkened walls. A [[EvilSoundsRaspy coarse]], [[EvilSoundsDeep deep]]-voiced phone call then threatens vengeance. The Fire Ghost eventually manifests as a charred, smoke-blackened police officer, who, with [[SlasherSmile calmly gloating sadism]], threatens their incineration.

** Disturbed by having twice seen such an apparition of veiled woman, Mary Beth throws the Specs in a bin, only to later find them back in her bag. She then pushes them through the letterbox of Sardo's Magic Mansion, and returns to her empty house to find them in her bag again. Both fearful and curious, she puts them on, and sees a previously absent steaming kettle, which her hand passes seamlessly through, and in the previously clear fireplace, a blazing fire. Upstairs in her parents' bedroom, she once again sees the Dark Lady, and two more shadow people. In broad daylight, previously absent domestic furnishings; faceless silhouetted apparitions, and Mary Beth's perplexed, despairing dread make for one of the most unnerving scenes in the whole series.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b2G8ySKNgA The show's intro]], infamous for its reputation of striking fear into many a '90s kid's heart. Everything is awash with [[UnnaturallyBlueLighting a creepy blue]], and the genuinely eerie theme song accentuates unnerving imagery like [[AbandonedPlayground abandoned swings]], an abandoned canoe, and a [[CreepyDoll scary-looking doll]]. Not outright scary, per se, but creepy to a T.
** There's an interesting difference in the intro for Season One. While both versions end with a close up of a door handle before the title, the later seasons cut are cut short. The room just seems to have a draught. In the original version, ''something'' tugs at the door handle, [[NothingIsScarier trying to get in.]]

** The ''[[BigLippedAlligatorMoment completely out of the blue]]'' appearance of [[http://myrottingbrain.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/vlcsnap-243107.jpg the giant, talking doll]]. The prop somehow manages to be [[Series/TalesFromTheDarkside half "The Geezenstacks" and half "No Strings"]] in terms of '''what the fuck'''. What's worse is that Andy seems to be hypnotized, rather than unnerved, by the doll until the music stops.

** The ending counts too: he sics the monster on the bully that's been tormenting him all episode. However, he accidentally gets him ''eaten'' in the process. In return for this... the monster gives him a new bike (the bully destroyed his old one) and promises to give him anything he wants as long as he ''keeps feeding him''. The final kicker, though? The last shot of the episode implies that he's more than willing to give the monster what it wants with a subdued SlasherSmile and that '''his sister is next to go'''. Even worse with his sister's last line of dialogue. Hannibal Lecter would be proud.

** Disturbed by having twice seen such an apparition of veiled woman, Mary Beth throws the Specs in a bin, only to later find them back in her bag. She then pushes them through the letterbox of Sardo's Magic Mansion, and returns to her empty house to find them in her bag again. Both fearful and curious, she puts them on, and sees a previously absent steaming kettle, which her hand passes seamlessly through, and in the previously clear fireplace, a blazing fire. Upstairs in her parents' bedroom, she once again sees the Dark Lady, and two more shadow people. In [[DaylightHorror broad daylight]], previously absent domestic furnishings; faceless silhouetted apparitions, and Mary Beth's perplexed, despairing dread make for one of the most unnerving scenes in the whole series.

** Aside from quick scene (pictured above), Zeebo himself is never actually seen. The closest we get is when Josh sees the shadow of his feet outside his bedroom door, confirming that ''someone'' is definitely in there with him.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2021_02_05_at_054119.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Whaddaya think I am, some kinda clown?"]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2021_01_30_at_104421_5.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Who are you?! How did you get here?"]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2021_01_30_at_104650_4.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"'''''WHY DID YOU BREAK YOUR PROMISE'''''?!"]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2021_01_30_at_104950_5.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Fire's like a wild animal... it lives, it dies, and it thinks."]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2021_02_05_at_060201.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"It's been feeding on everybody!"]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2021_01_30_at_105905_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"There are bodies all over the lodge."]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2021_01_30_at_110525_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"No... ''No''! My face!"]]

* The Shadowman in "The Tale of the Haunted Woods" is downright terrifying in just the first episode as it is. With skin resembling tree bark in texture, long sharp fingers and a skull face, its appearance alone is enough to land it on this list, but then there's its modus operandi. Whoever steps into the woods after dark becomes cursed to be hunted by the Shadowman, until it captures its prey to drag them with it into the darkness. Only able to come after its victims at night and in the dark, they're only safe as long as there is light... except that it grows stronger with every day that passes, up until it has the power to sabotage sources of light, making it just a matter of time before its victims can avoid it no longer. The way the episode utilizes shadows, camera angles and silhouettes to display the Shadowman stalking and coming after its prey are downright nerve-inducing, and just the sight of the Shadowman standing there glaring at its would-be victims with empty eye-sockets leaves quite an impression, and as the episodes move along, the more terrifying the Shadowman becomes, as it becomes more relentless in it's efforts to capture th Midnight Society, including [[spoiler: making a shell of their leader, Connor, so he can stalk and hunt them even in the light, and as it can talk in this form, he also taunts them with no mercy as it comes after them]].

--->'''Little sister:''' Andy! Mom says you have [[ExactWords to make me dinner!]]

-->-- '''WebVideo/JonTron''', talking about the same monster depicted in the page image

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b2G8ySKNgA The show's intro]], infamous for its reputation of striking fear into many a '90s kid's heart. Everything is awash with [[UnnaturallyBlueLighting a chilling blue]], and the genuinely eerie theme song accentuates unnerving imagery like [[AbandonedPlayground abandoned swings]], an abandoned canoe, and a [[CreepyDoll scary-looking doll]]. Not outright scary, per se, but creepy to a T.

** That night, Sam dreams of being trapped in the ornament shop. The shopkeeper approaches. His head has been replaced by a huge white spherical clown head, from which issues a deep, gloating voice. A purple ribbon then flies into place around Sam, wrapping him up. He wakes in bed, to find himself tied to the bed with the ribbon. In Mike's bed, he finds a huge white balloon, again in the likeness of the Crimson Clown, accompanied by the deep, disembodied voice. Finally, a life-size version of the Crimson Clown corners Sam in bed. This thing is a chilling hybrid of MonsterClown and CreepyDoll: a looming, lumbering figure whose huge, spherical head is [[UncannyValley painted with a scornfully laughing clown face, and issues a disembodied growling voice]].

** The titular [[https://i.imgur.com/X9gSqiP.jpeg Ghastly Grinner]] just by himself has to be one of the creepiest-looking characters the show ever conceived: A harlequin jester MonsterClown with bright yellow skin, unsettling SlasherSmile (flashing yellow teeth), and sunken eye shading. The [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/92/f1/44/92f1447e73560b2aa3c26fe7cf612d82.jpg scary uplighting]] does NOT help at all.

** One of the most disturbing quotes in known history comes from the vampire after he's caught the main character. [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence Holy]] ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence shit.]]''

--->'''Little sister:''' Andy! Mom says you have [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor to]] [[ExactWords make]] [[JustDesserts me]] [[DeadlyEuphemism dinner!]]
** Of course the nightmare is subdued when one of the narrators mentions that he didn't completely go through with feeding his sister to the monster. Yet it still adds a dose of FridgeHorror when said narrator continues that he used the monster as a form of intimidation towards his sister. Which still screams HeWhoFightsMonsters territory.

* "The Tale of Old Man Corcoran". You never find out how or why the leader of the group of Hide-And-Seekers keeps gathering more and more kids to play these games, yet once the old grave digger explains that all those kids have been dead for years, the FridgeHorror comes in buckets.
** First, the girl who tries to keep those boys out of the group was just trying to make sure they didn't end up like her: a ghostly participant eternally bound to a game of hide and seek in the graveyard.
** Second, the leader of the group who was trying to get the two boys to come into his open grave was likely just going to somehow kill them and bind them to said eternal game of hide and seek.
** Third, that's why you never see the hide and seek group ever change their clothes during the new day, and why they are always colored in blues and whites during the night sequences. They are all dead.
** Even worse? When the leader called out everyone to start their game all over, the kids each came out from hiding behind (possibly their own) graves.

** Melissa realizes that the dollhouse replica of the house found in Susan's parents' house holds the key to finding her missing best friend. Her first attempt has her trying to jump out of an attic door, which she is only deterred from doing by her uncle, and good thing he did. Otherwise, as we see from her perspective, [[FridgeHorror she would have fallen off of the roof and to her death in the middle of the night]].

** That night, Sam dreams of being trapped in the ornament shop. The shopkeeper approaches. His head has been replaced by a huge white spherical clown head, from which issues a deep, gloating voice. A purple ribbon then flies into place around Sam, wrapping him up. He wakes in bed, to find himself tied to the bed with the ribbon. In Mike's bed, he finds a huge white balloon, again in the likeness of the Crimson Clown, accompanied by the deep, disembodied voice. Finally, a life-size version of the Crimson Clown corners Sam in bed. This thing is a chilling hybrid of MonsterClown and CreepyDoll: a looming, lumbering figure whose huge, spherical head is [[UncannyValley painted with a scornfully laughing clown face, and issues a disembodied growling voice]]. And just what had it planned to ''do'' to the kid? Judging by Sam's dream, the Clown [[FridgeHorror may have had in mind]] [[TakenForGranite some kind of imprisonment in the ornament shop]]...

* “The Tale of the Zombie Dice” isn't nearly as scary as most of the entries on this list, but there is quite a bit of FridgeHorror when you stop to think of the premise. Kids who lose Mr. Click's game are shrunken down and [[HumanPet sold to wealthy buyers as pets.]] Imagine being one of those kids, having your freedom and future stripped away and being reduced to a giant's pet just because you made a bet. While the episode ends on a happy note with Mr. Click being shrunken himself and unable to kidnap any more kids, there are still probably dozens of kids out there trapped in their situation forever. Not to mention all of the kids who didn't survive the journey to their buyers.

* The [[HauntedTechnology possessed camera]] in "The Tale of the Curious Camera" brings destruction to all it shoots. The subtle but undeniable proof of supernatural malice, courtesy of the destruction and each photo's sinister etching of a gremlin, constitute a [[NothingIsScarier chillingly inscrutable]] villain. Taken UpToEleven when it threatens to kill.

* The opening title of the mini-series, showing a montage of the Shadowman's shadow tendrils creeping in and snuffing out every light source they find, as though [[TheCorruption the darkness]] is taking over the show itself. If the show's theme isn't safe from the Shadowman, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou are we]]?