History NightmareFuel / Arthur

** 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 imagine spot where the bus driver refuses to let him off the bus and randomly morphs into a disgusting-looking squid monster. To make matters worse, the other passengers also morph into squid monsters and prepare to attack Arthur.

** When Francine goes to sleep alone in her room for the first time with her new bat mobile, she has a dream where the bats come to life and fly into different shapes while ominous music plays. Things truly get scary when the bats vanish and a bigger, scarier looking bat appears in their place. The bat, sporting a Bela Lugosi accent, says that it's good she no longer shares a room with her sister, and swoops down at her. What really sells it that it shifts to Francine's perspective shortly before the bat dives at her, and [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the viewer gets a good look at the bat's face when it flies at the camera.]]

** When Francine goes to sleep alone in her room for the first time with her new bat mobile, she has a dream where the bats come to life and fly into different shapes while ominous music plays. Things truly get scary when the bats vanish and a bigger, scarier looking bat appears in their place. The bat, sporting a Bela Lugosi accent, says that it's good she no longer shares a room with her sister, and swoops down at her. What really sells it that it shifts to Francine's perspective shortly before the bat dives at her, and [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the viewer get's a good look at the bat's face when it flies at the camera.]]

** The same episode has an ImagineSpot involving the kids encountering a banshee alongside a carriage drawn by a headless skeleton horse. [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/arthur/images/d/d3/Banshee.png/revision/latest?cb=20111115180558 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''.

** When Francine goes to sleep alone in her room for the first time with her new bat mobile, she has a dream where the bats come to life and fly into different shapes while ominous music plays. Things truly get scary when the bats vanish and a bigger, scarier looking bat appears in their place. The bat, sporting a Bela Lugosi accent, says that it's good she no longer shares a room with her sister, and swoops down at her. What really sells it that it shifts to Francine's perspective shortly before the bat dives at her, and [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou the viewer get's a good look at the bat's face.]]

** 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 imagine spot where the bus driver refuses to let him off the bus and randomly morphs into a disgusting-looking squid monster.

** 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!!!!!''.

* How the feud between the circles and the triangles start in Sue Ellen's graphic novel: the circles are minding their own business, while the Triangulops notices that circles have no points. He, ahem "points" this out to the triangles, who start to get mad and start a war. That's right, the battle of the shapes starts out over something the circles couldn't control!
* Eventually, the circle leader Cantabulous is kidnapped. He's locked in a cage where he can barely do more but move around. While he doesn't lose his spirit and the art mitigates some of the horror, consider that from what we saw, he didn't instigate the battle or even cause any chaos.

* "Night Fright" deals with Binky confronting some of his long repressed nightmares. Binky dreams he's trapped inside his night light, while his friends gather around to mock him. The night light is shaped like a [[MonsterClown creepy clown]], by the way.

* "Arthur's Knee" has the junkyard scene. Arthur descends into a large pit, occasionally slipping. He is about to make it back unharmed until he scrapes his knee on a lima bean can. The music that plays is just chilling, and D.W. is actually something of an AudienceSurrogate during the scene!

* "D.W. All Fired Up" has a scene in which D.W. stares at the fire on a grill, which then forms into an evil face and laughs at her. Its laugh echoes and D.W. stares in horror.

* "D.W. All Fired Up" has a scene in which D.W. stares at the fire on a grill, which then forms into an evil face and laughs at her.
* "What Scared Sue Ellen"

* "Clarissa Is Cracked": In-universe, the kids at Ratburn's puppet show gasp when he drops Rapunzel by accident so that she falls and "broke her neck," in D.W.'s words. D.W., of course, finds it ActuallyPrettyFunny.
* "Arthur's Underwear"

* In "Francine Frensky, Super Star" 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, breathing hard, 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!
* "April 9th" is AdultFear, the Arthur episode

** The ScarySilhouette of Mr. Ratburn in the ColdOpen, making him look like a monster.

* In "Arthur Babysits," Rubella awakes from a CatapultNightmare shrieking a female StockScream with the heads of the Tibbles shooting out of her eyes! It doubles as a JumpScare because we don't see her face until she wakes up, and she's also staring [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou right into the camera.]] It turns out to be a DreamWithinADream.

* 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!

* In "Arthur's Underwear," while under hypnosis, Arthur imagines that his pants have sharp teeth and try to eat him.

* In "Lost!", 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 imagine spot where the bus driver refuses to let him off the bus and randomly morphs into a disgusting-looking squid monster.

** D.W. in the climax climbs a tree to get a vantage point of the race. She realizes too late that she's reached a tall height and can't get back down, and she drops her whistle. The crowd below goes MassOhCrap, and Arthur tries to reassure his sister while Muffy goes to get Mr. Ratburn. While [[KidsAreCruel a kid like D.W.]] [[AssholeVictim definitely would have had it coming if she fell]], the possibility of a little girl falling from a fatal height is AdultFear nonetheless.

** D.W. in the climax climbs a tree to get a vantage point of the race. She realizes too late that she's reached a tall height and can't get back down, and she drops her whistle. The crowd below goes MassOhCrap, and Arthur tries to reassure his sister while Muffy goes to get Mr. Ratburn.

*** But then again, considering it ''is'' [[KidsAreCruel D.W.]] in that situation, it would have been difficult to [[AssholeVictim have any sympathy for her even if she had fallen]].

* The {{Gainax Ending}} of The Boy Who Cried Comet would've probably caused nightmares with a few of the fans as well. It shows the cast as ''aliens'' in LatexPerfection masks producing the show itself. TheEndingChangesEverything, indeed.

** A similar scene is when Arthur looks in the garage in "Arthur's Lost Dog." The various sights he sees in the dark include a vacuum cleaner with menacing eyes.

Being a slice-of-life cartoon (albeit using [[FunnyAnimal anthropomorphic animals]]) about the lives of young children, ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' had a few moments that did a good job of depicting the dark sides of children's overactive imaginations.

* In "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.

* One episode 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.

* "Arthur's Knee" has the junkyard scene. Arthur descends into a large pit, occasionally slipping. He is about to make it back unharmed until he scrapes his knee on a can. The music that plays is just chilling, and D.W. is actually something of an AudienceSurrogate during the scene!

-->But it didn’t matter if I drank the stuff;

** A similar scene is when Arthur looks in the garage in "Arthur's Lost Dog." The various sights he sees in the dark include a vacuum cleaner with menacining eyes.

* TheTeaser to "Binky Rules" uses a spoof of the AnimatedCreditsOpening to the PBS series ''Series/{{Mystery}}!'', which itself is nightmare fuel. (''Series/SesameStreet'' also spoofed it with their "Mysterious Theater" segments of the early 90s, with similar creepy results.)
* In "Meet Binky", Arthur and his friends finally get the chance to meet Binky, a highly secretive band at their first live concert in Elwood City, where their music has been a huge hit. Arthur walks up to shake the hand of the lead singer, except she remains absolutely motionless and her hand ''sparkles'' when Arthur touches it. As it turns out, the band's four members are all ''holograms''. Makes for some hardcore UncannyValley as they remain absolutely expressionless and the kids seem rather turned off by the entire thing when they return to their seats.

* In "Arthur's Underwear," while under the influence of hypnosis, Arthur imagines that his pants have sharp teeth and try to eat him.

* In "Lost!" 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 imagine spot where the bus driver refuses to let him off the bus and randomly morphs into a disgusting-looking squid monster.

* There is an episode where the Tibble Twins watch a TV show about robot superheroes . They become completely obsessed with it, up to and including wearing homemade costumes to preschool and acting out scenes from the show. This takes a turn for the terrifying when the Tibbles chase after D.W. (who they are pretending is a bad guy) and throw a swing into her face. D.W. goes down into a heap on the grass, crying her eyes out, with her face out of view. Emily then rushes over in alarm to D.W. only to recoil in horror and scream: "Blood! D.W.'s face is bleeding, I think it's broken!" Then, it cuts to D.W. at the hospital with a lip full of stitches.

* Season 8's "Thanks a Lot, Binky." The second time is after Binky is told off by Rattles [[UngratefulBastard for "squealing" on him]] causing him to think NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished - he has an OpinionChangingDream that tells him what would happen if no one cared: Litter would be everywhere, Rattles would be in the hospital wearing a full body cast because no one stopped him from doing that stunt, and Binky's parents would constantly leave their house and children (possibly Mei Lin if they decided to adopt her) in extreme neglect as they fritter away their funds on lavish vacations and cruises.

* Every now and then, there's a song that will play that usually plays when something bad happens to one of the cast. It's ominous and chilling and certainly will creep some people out every time they hear it. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQFmoMbHKs8 Starts at about 3:41]].

* The sound of the laughing germs in "Germophobia" comes off as very disturbing. Even worse if you have seen and can remember the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episode where Zim kills a baby germ!
** Actually "Germophobia" just plain has a rather unsettling plot. Namely that when the majority of the cast has gotten sick of Buster's sloppy habits, they attempt to [[ScareEmStraight scare him into being more hygienic]] but [[GoneHorriblyWrong actually cause him to]] ''[[GoneHorriblyWrong develop OCD]]''. It doesn't help that Buster's behavior while suffering from OCD is ''very'' realistic.
* "JEKYLL - JEKYLL - HYDE! JEKYLL - HYDE! HYDE! JEKYLL!"
** Reason, some parts are in a minor key and it's about The Brain who turns into a monster after drinking a potion he concocted.
** In that same song, if you were to pause the video after the Brain drinks the formula at the beginning at the right time, you get what you see in the current page image: The Brain's head turns into two twisted, gnarled earthworms. The bird head afterwards is almost a relief.
** YMMV, some might find it catchy due to the [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong resemblence of "Here it Goes Again" by OK Go.]]
* For a kid's show, the series can be overripe with some pretty traumatizing examples, particularly "Night Fright", which deals with Binky confronting some of his long repressed nightmares. The monstrous hamburgers, attacking fries, and giant lips on a billboard are freaky enough (yet hilarious at the same time, given the absurdity of the whole dream), but probably the most terrifying moment in the episode was where Binky dreams he's trapped inside his nightlight, while his friends gather around to mock his nightmarish plight. The nightlight is shaped like a [[MonsterClown creepy clown]], by the way.
** Double points for the night light, since to some viewers it could look like Binky is burning inside it. The electrical sound effects don't help.
*** The giant purple orange, also a part of one of Binky's dreams, from the episode "Rhyme For Your Life." While it may seem silly written down, it is pretty scary. It roars, has sharp teeth, and even ''ate'' somebody.

** The possibility of a comet crashing into the earth is heavily discussed in this episode, which for anybody who grew up with the disaster movies of the late 1990s is sure to find a deeply unsettling prospect.
* If you have Asperger's Syndrome, Carl going into FreakOut in "When Carl Met George" might bring back unpleasant memories...
** Not to mention the "Uhh..uhh..." noises that he makes while freaking out that are sort of like halfway between sobs and grunts, but are so rhythmic and monotonous that they have an UncannyValley effect.
* The giant squid in Arthur's nightmare in the episode April 9th, although this one is almost more of a {{Tearjerker}} considering Arthur's nightmare is coming from the fear that he was shaken up because his dad was still in the burning building and he was worried he'd get killed. Heck, the episode itself is some very realistic NightmareFuel, from the fire at school to the aftermath.
** Even Binky had grown a fear of another fire breaking out. He gets better later on, but still... seeing someone like Binky acting scared out of their mind is rather [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness strangely unexpected]], yet still [[PrimalFear understandable]].
*** Did we forget to mention that this episode is dedicated to the infamous [[TheWarOnTerror September 11 terrorist attacks?]]
* The episode "DW's Name Game" features Arthur ''[[BodyHorror melting]]'' after DW calls him "the ultimate insult" in a dream of hers.
-->'''Arthur (melted into goop and now inside DW's glass):''' Calling people names can be dangerous to their health.
** Even D.W., who wanted to get back at Arthur in the worst way possible, was rightly horrified when this happened.
-->'''D.W.:''' [[DisproportionateRetribution Nobody told me you'd melt!]]
** Plus, Tommy's fantasy shows a hypnotized Arthur doing D.W.'s chores, with these red, swirly, DISTURBING eyes...
* The sudden appearance of the giant alien (which was really just a prank by Arthur and Buster) in DW's window in "Arthur's First Sleepover."
* In the episode "Revenge Of The Chip" there's a scene where Arthur's mom is on the phone blabbing about D.W.'s thinking green potato chips are fatal and at [[JumpScare one point her head turns into a giant pair of lips]] that [[MotorMouth speak faster and faster]]. Talk about BodyHorror!
* The episode "Arthur's Lost Library Book." Arthur loses a library book and has a series of disturbing nightmares as a result of his guilt, including one where Ms. Turner (the librarian) forcibly pries him out of his bed via a chain and drags him to the library to be punished for losing the book.
-->'''Ms. Turner:''' Next time, don't make me ''USE THE CRANK!''
** Strangely, Ms. Turner has always seemed rather demonic in fantasy form. 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.

* 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]].
** Hell, imagine being shut in without food or contact for possibly ''two days.''
-->'''Arthur:''' I just remembered something.
-->'''Francine:''' What?
-->'''Arthur:''' Today's Saturday, which means... ''the library will be closed until...''
-->'''Francine:''' (''gasps'')
-->'''Both:''' ''[[OhCrap MONDAY!!!]]'' ''(echoes)''
* There is an episode where 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 imagine spot where the bus driver refuses to let him off the bus and randomly morphs into a disgusting-looking squid monster.
* "Francine's Pilfered Paper" is so forceful in the delivery of its message that it seems more like a television adaptation of ''[[Creator/EdgarAllanPoe The Tell-Tale Heart]]''. Plagiarism is a serious offense, but the production team tries so hard to [[ScareEmStraight scare us straight]] that it winds up being scary.
* In "Sue Ellen's Lost Diary", Francine is paranoid that Sue Ellen is writing bad things about her in her diary. This leads to an ImagineSpot where Sue Ellen is telling a child psychologist how mean Francine is to her. The psychologist diagnoses Francine with "ogre-ism" and has her thrown into some kind of mental health facility, where the staff tell her she can no longer play with her friends.
-->'''Dr. Zimmer:''' I'm afraid there is no help for her. We must keep her away from the other children!
* The scene in Kate's debut episode where she cries at the top of her lungs, keeping D.W. awake. The closeup of her dead eyes wide open, mixed with Kate's crying ([[UpToEleven they even add ''reverb'']]) is bone-chilling. However, some people might laugh.
** There's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Fgqwnr16LPQ#t=200s a similar scene]] in "Arthur Babysits" involving Rubella and the Tibble twins. The scene speaks for itself... to say the least. Rubella awakes from a CatapultNightmare shrieking a female StockScream with the heads of the Tibbles shooting out of her eyes! It turns out to be a DreamWithinADream.
* In "Arthur's Knee" Brain informs Arthur about all the possible complications that can arise from his injury. What he lists is pretty disturbing. It includes tetanus, encephalitis, staphylococcus, conjunctivitis, and other such unpleasantries. Even D.W. was freaked out.
** Of course, there's also the rather infamous junkyard scene earlier in the episode. The music that plays is just chilling, and D.W. is actually something of an AudienceSurrogate during the scene!
** Heck, just the ''title'' of the episode is pretty scary-sounding. One's reaction to it will probably be, "Arthur's ''Knee''? Um...what about it, exactly...?"
** Also the beginning 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 provides a great deal of BodyHorror. Also counts as {{Squick}}.

* Before the title card for "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", Binky [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou glares down the audience]] when he thinks they're making fun of him. It's not a pleasant sight.
* The spinach heads scene from "I'd Rather Read It Myself". The way their skin turns green and their heads slowly turn into giant spinach leaves and the creepy zombie like *bleahs* (though Mom and Dad instead repeat "Duh! Duh! Duh!") can scare a lot of kids from eating their vegetables.
** Even worse, DW's story [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse ends/is interrupted]] without us seeing them rescued. [[HerCodenameWasMarySue "BW"]] may very well have forgotten about them and [[AndIMustScream left them as spinach heads forever!]]
* There is an episode where the Tibble Twins watch a TV show about robot superheroes . They become completely obsessed with it, up to and including wearing homemade costumes to preschool and acting out scenes from the show. This takes a turn for the terrifying when the Tibbles chase after D.W. (who they are pretending is a bad guy) and throw a swing into her face. D.W. goes down into a heap on the grass, crying her eyes out, with her face out of view. Emily then rushes over in alarm to D.W. only to recoil in horror and scream: '''Blood! D.W.'s face is bleeding, I think it's broken!'''. And then after your seven-year-old mind is reeling from that, it cuts to D.W. at the hospital with a lip full of stitches.

* The intro to "How the Cookie Crumbles" features Arthur, Francine, Binky, and Brain as living cookies, and Muffy trying to eat her friends. Her apathy and the scene as Cookie!Arthur backs against a glass of milk make an unnerving segue into the episode.
* In "D.W. All Wet", D.W. has a dream where Arthur is trapped and essentially being drowned by an octopus in its tank. ''[[EnfantTerrible And she's smiling in her sleep]]''.
* In the episode "Arthur's Mystery Envelope", Arthur has a nightmare in which the envelope he hid in the kitchen (that he got from Mr. Haney but was afraid to give to his Mom) keeps growing every time he tries to hide it, until he finally gets his confused mother out of the house with him as it breaks out of the house and even towers over the city.
** Not to mention D.W. popping out of the envelope and asking "Didn't you tell Mom yet?" (echoes)
* In "Mom and Dad Have a Great Big Fight", Arthur and D.W. have a series of {{Imagine Spot}}s about what will happen if their parents divorce. The most unsettling is when they ask their mother what's for breakfast, and she cheerfully tells them that she can't cook, ''so they won't be eating at all.''
* "The Tales of Grotesquely Grim Bunny", in which Arthur gets scared by a horror comic. It's… unsettling, to say the least.
* The intro to "D.W's Very Bad Mood", where a perfect family scene the likes of "Leave It To Beaver" is ruined by a gigantic D.W. showing up destroying the house and terrorizing the town, the intro going into the title card with a shot of the giant D.W. reaching right for the camera.
* H.U.G.O., a blatant [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey HAL 9000]] {{Expy}}, in "Get Smart". His VillainousBreakdown and death, complete with it singing "Daisy, Daisy", is very unsettling.
* Even if you don't think about the loads of FridgeHorror involved with it, "To Eat or Not to Eat" is still an episode about a ''very'' addictive and ''very'' dangerous [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin candy bar]] being marketed to children. Even worse, it's said to be radioactive, the creator himself runs away when pushed to eat one, and several kids were shown hoarding the stuff.
** The hyper kids' cries of "Sparkles!" and "More sparkles, please!" doesn't help [[note]] at least if you don't remember "[[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic FUCK YEAH SPARKLE SPARKLE SPARKLE!]]" [[/note]], nor does Binky selling the candy to kids for money.
** It also didn't help that the 2 most shown addicts were Fern and George, 2 of the more quiet and calm-natured characters. Their crash shown while Buster is trying and failing to figure out what's in the bars doesn't help (the room spinning is mentioned).
* The episode "Fernkenstein's Monster" has Fern telling a rather frightening story about an umbrella-shaped monster known only as The Thing, with the rest of the cast becoming obsessively afraid of the imagery, and for good reason. "Horrified shrieks" and "satisfied slurps" are PRETTY gruesome ways to describe someone's death in a horror story, especially on a children's show.
* Brain's nightmare about the world being overtaken by giant, [[{{Cyclops}} cycloptic]] worm monsters.
* One episode has Arthur and friends trying to make a James Hound fan film. While brainstorming for plot ideas, [[NightmareFetishist Buster]] comes up with the idea to have the Bond villain shoot a fish hypnotic 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!
* Annoyed by Arthur's NeatFreak tendencies in "Opposites Distract", Buster briefly attempts to reassure Arthur that he's not annoyed with [[http://67.media.tumblr.com/65cb5107a35096608ee631e39897f116/tumblr_o3mo7hMtci1reugqko1_500.png a rather disturbing and toothy]] [[TheUnsmile Unsmile]].
* Both Virtual Goose episodes have this in some form, especially for younger kids.
** The first episode had a red, fairly scary Game Over screen with a VoiceOfTheLegion.
** The second cranks this UpToEleven, where the plot of the MMO Best of the Nest revolved around [[AdultFear the baby geese being taken away from their mother]] and the ways that most of the player characters die (Brain's character is ''eaten by a shark'' while Arthur's is chomped up by a crocodile because [[WhatAnIdiot DW thought the best way to stay warm on a cold night was to cuddle with a crocodile instead of Arthur's intended, and fairly sensible, covering up with leaves]] and Francine and Muffy both imply they lost because their characters got eaten by bears.) And the bizarre ending scene that implies there's a wild bear coming towards is also unsettling since the characters chose to do the Hokey Pokey because of the game.
* One episode 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 but still, it's terrifying. This show definitely doesn't pull its punches with the [[NightmareSequence Nightmare Sequences]].

* The episode "Hide and Snake" could be unsettling for people who are afraid of snakes; in it, Arthur and his friends find what they believe is a coral snake. Though it turned out to be a harmless king snake, the idea that a poisonous snake ending up in somebody's house is frightening.
* The episode "The Contest" shows Arthur and friends animated in various styles, one of them showing Buster and Arthur InTheStyleOf ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHead''. [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111109035140/arthur/images/b/be/The_Contest.png Their appearance]] definitely goes into UncannyValley territory.

* Something about Art Garfunkel as the singing moose in "The Ballad of Buster Baxter" appearing out of nowhere and singing is rather unnerving...
-->'''Arthur:''' MOM! THERE'S A SINGING MOOSE OUTSIDE THE HOUSE!
* A few moments from ''Just Desserts'' would qualify.
** In Arthur's first dream, he goes to visit [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Grandma Thora who is a wedding cake]] and she forces him to eat her ([[AccidentalInnuendo not like that]]). When D.W. discovers he ate Grandma, Buster, who is a woodcutter in the dream, goes to chop Arthur open to free her. It forces Arthur to [[CatapultNightmare wake up and sit up screaming]].
-->'''Arthur:''' It's me, Arthur!
-->'''Buster:''' No, it isn't! You're a grandma-eating wolf ''disguised'' as Arthur. Or maybe you're a grandma-eating ''alien'' disguised as a wolf disguised as Arthur. (lifts axe) Either way...
** In Arthur's second dream, he's chased by a giant made of food, specifically everything Arthur has ever eaten in his life. Though a bit silly, the idea of being attacked by an anthropomorphic version of all the food you've ever eaten is a frightening concept. Especially if you're a BigEater.

* Several of the {{Sick Episode}}s can be this.
** In "Arthur's Chicken Pox", when Arthur ''hallucinates'' about blue elephants.
*** [[FridgeHorror When you think about it]], Kate sure got off lucky when both her older siblings got chicken pox and she didn't. After all, she's just a baby and chicken pox is very contagious.
** "Buster's Breathless", while not as bad, does imply that Buster has asthma which makes it hard to, well, breathe. It doesn't help that at one point, he suffers an attack due to not taking his medication like he's supposed to.
** "The Great [=McGrady=]" has Mrs. [=McGrady=] having ''cancer''. Yes, she gets better, but still... The gross food doesn't help.
** "Binky Goes Nuts", especially Binky's allergic reaction from cashews and when Mrs. Barnes mentions anaphylaxis.
** "Sick as a Dog", especially seeing Pal act lethargic and Arthur having a nightmare where he went missing.
** "Is There a Doctor in the House?", especially D.W.'s ImagineSpot of Jane and David never getting better, and if you weren't expecting them to get sick, the shock from them getting sick.

* The lice in "A Lousy Week" can be a combination of this and {{Squick}}. It shows lice that talk and act like soldiers on GrossUpCloseUp shots of the students' heads. Possibly the worst scenes are the scenes on Buster's head. There are cartoon stink lines and the lice have oxygen masks. And when their leader writes in his diary that he's the last one alive.
** And when he attempts to go back to Buster's head, the only kid unaffected by the outbreak, he ends up falling to the floor, screaming for help until he is ''squished to death''. The accompanying sound effect does not help.
* The episode "Shelter From the Storm" has the nightmarish subplot of Brain developing a WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes for the wind. Probably the worst part is that he has to visit an actual ''therapist'', which implies it's more serious than regular fear.
* The WGBH logo that closes the series is still a factor, though it's much tamer without that synth and normal animation.
* In "Three is a Crowd" Prunella tries to outdo Marina in yoga by trying a new move, namely ''forcing her leg behind her head''. She gets herself stuck and needs help to come undone. Her mother's alarm at what she's doing is quite justified.
** Similarly in "D.W. Flips" D.W. gets annoyed at Emily showing off and decides to try and do a cartwheel on the balance beam(Despite the instructor saying they weren't ready to use the beam yet) D.W. then loses her balance and is about to fall over and screams in terror and her mom comes in just in time for D.W. to jump into her arms. Although not many of the viewers would probably have been upset at seeing [[AssholeVictim someone like D.W. getting hurt]].
* In "D.W. Blows the Whistle" D.W. wants to see if the Ratburn Rally is "safe"(after being obsessed with safety to the point of absurdity, including worrying about Pal running down the stairs without using the handrail, something which he's completely incapable of doing)so she decides to climb a very tall tree in order to see better which results in her getting stuck at the top and yelling for help, fortunately a fireman does get her down, but it's still a legitimately terrifying scene because D.W. could have gotten seriously injured or killed if she fell from that height.
** [[AssholeVictim And who cares even if she had been?]]

* Season 8's "Thanks a Lot, Binky" has Binky going through AdultFear ''twice''.
** The first time is where Binky has a horrible ImagineSpot where his friend Rattles messes up a dangerous rollerblading stunt by tripping on a pebble, and falling onto the bikes lined up between the ramps, likely breaking every bone in his body. Binky is so terrified by this that he runs off to tell Mr. Haney.
** The second time is after Binky is told off by Rattles [[UngratefulBastard for "squealing" on him]] causing him to think NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished - he has an OpinionChangingDream that tells him what would happen if no one cared: Litter would be everywhere, Rattles would be in the hospital wearing a full body cast because no one stopped him from doing that stunt, and Binky's parents would constantly leave their house and children (possibly Mei Lin if they decided to adopt her) in extreme neglect as they fritter away their funds on lavish vacations and cruises.

** Also memorialized in song on the album ''Arthur and Friends: The First Almost Real Not Live CD (or Tape)'' with this line, which even if you haven't seen the episode, well, hope you don't have a good imagination...

* Arthur's ImagineSpot from "Arthur vs. the Very Mean Crossing Guard." Ted jokingly tells the boys he'll have to send his goons after them if they fail to pay the street crossing fee, and that night, Arthur has a nightmare about his room being ransacked by baboons. Creepy enough, but one of them says they're just the warm-up, and that the ''real'' goons are scarier.
* During "Buster's Growing Grudge", Buster is mad at Binky for "stealing" a joke he made up. While the episode was not scary in general, Buster does say he "feels better already" when Binky falls in the mud and says that he won't be happy until Binky "is miserable all the time". The idea of ''Buster Baxter wishing misery on someone'' is pretty chilling.
* The movie in "The Squirrels" that made Arthur, Buster and the Brain and (possibly indirectly) all their classmates except Binky afraid of squirrels: it begins with some picnickers seeing a squirrel but then when it jumps on them, [[NothingIsScarier we don't see what happens]] but they're screaming and shouting "no!" and it scares Arthur and Buster. The next thing you know, they've taken over the world. It's enough so that even Bitzi (Buster's mom) doesn't want to see it again.
* In the beginning of "D.W. Swims with the Fishes", the Brain is seen being angry at Buster for tripping on the cord and unplugging the video game he was about to beat. It's how he expresses his anger that's the kicker. He stands there silently, looking annoyed and not responding when Buster apologizes and offers popcorn...then he ''growls'' and starts ''chasing'' Buster.