Nightmare Fuel / Thomas & Friends

aka: Thomas The Tank Engine

"THIS ENGINE'S NOT FOR SCRAPPING!!"

Let's face it: nothing is scarer than a British animated series teaching you everything you need to know about the rail industry though an actually deathly island where perfectly sentient beings are cut up while still alive, abandoned for years in places where nobody else can find them while they helplessly rot away, other people's incompetence can get you killed and have you blamed for it, and even some of your coworkers are out to have you killed. This being the centrepiece of a children-focused franchise, it can often cross just as much lines as a normal train can go.

For examples related to The Railway Series, go here. For examples related to Thomas and the Magic Railroad, go here.

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Model Series

• Various faces over the course of the series are quite frightening, particularly when they are shown close-up. Examples might include Henry's 'sick' face and Thomas' 'exhausted' one.
  • In addition, the way the characters' eyes move can sometimes be pretty creepy.
• In The Sad Story of Henry/Come Out, Henry!, Sir Topham Hatt has Henry bricked alive in a tunnel and his rails stripped as punishment for disobeying Hatt's orders to depart from the tunnel. In addition, Henry is trapped in there long enough that his fire goes out, and he can't even whistle for help! His sad eyes in the dark peeking above the wall communicate damn well the intense isolation and terror Henry experiences in this confinement. The episode ends with Henry still in the tunnel, although Henry is freed later in Edward, Gordon and Henry/Henry to the Rescue.
  • In the original UK broadcast Ringo addresses the audience "I think he deserved his punishment. Don't you?". Thankfully, the US versions have mercy and instead have Starr or George Carlin (yes, that one) promising that Henry's being bricked up would be temporary.
  • In fact, when Awdry first sent the series to the publishers, the original story didn't include Henry getting out of the tunnel. The publishers demanded otherwise, lest the children be disturbed.
• The accident in The Flying Kipper, where Henry gets into that massive wreck after crashing into the brake van of another train. The look of absolute horror from the big engine as he realizes at full-speed he can't stop in time, the frantic whistling to warn the other train's crew. It goes on. The sudden strike, dark lighting, the dramatic chord, and the sight of Henry derailing are disturbing in their own right, with a dose of Tearjerker for seeing Henry in this state. Had Sir Topham Hatt not sent Henry to Crewe afterwards to be repaired and redesigned, Henry would have easily been scrapped.
  • This is possibly made Nightmare Retardant by the fact that a hand is seen pushing Henry.
• The close up of Gordon's surprised face when he goes into a ditch in "Off the Rails", could be seen as Unintentional Uncanny Valley for some viewers.
• Thomas Goes Fishing can be pretty unnerving when you see Thomas writhing in agony and worried he's about to explode. And then we learn a fish had clogged his boiler which very well could've caused him to explode.
• There's the scene in Old Iron where we see the runaway James' empty cab and his regulator/throttle at the full speed position.
  • There's also his horror when he realizes there's nobody in his cab and he can't stop.
• Diesel's growling in Pop Goes the Diesel, that goes, "HUGH GURR SMUURR". And then in Dirty Work, he managed to turn everyone (except the Fat Controller) against Duck with a few simple lies. Even now, in the new series, he still turns up despite other characters falling by the wayside. He's just that good.
• Duck and Thomas' close-up faces from A Close Shave and Thomas Comes to Breakfast are just... WRONG. The unnaturally wide mouths, the eyes bulging out of their sockets, the off-kilter eyebrows, everything about them falls into the absolute rock bottom of the Uncanny Valley.
  • Duck is particularly creepy since he appears to be smiling as if he's getting some sadistic pleasure out of wrecking the barber shop wall, and similarly to "Buzz Buzz" said face stares directly at the viewer and fills almost the entire screen. Thankfully, this isn't the case, as the engine has remorse for his intrusion into the barber's estate.
• In Donald and Douglas' introduction episode Break Van, Douglas smashes through the brake van, splintering it to pieces. Granted, the Spiteful Breakvan is an Asshole Victim, but seeing a crane tote its bruised face away is kinda unnerving.
  • When Donald first confronts the brake van he gives it a gentle nudge before we see a rather unsettling front-facing close up of Donald angry. After chastising the van he rams it even harder and promises to do more harm if it screws with Douglas anymore. Naturally, the van was scared into behaving better as a cheerful Donald watches with a rather menacing smile on his face. Don't fuck with Scotland!
  • In both the book and TV episode take on the story, Donald crashes into a signal box. Sir Topham says that he had decided to send Douglas back until this postponed his plans. And then, Douglas said "Anyone would think that Donal' had his accident on purpose." Granted it's likely he's trying to tease James, but given Sir Topham's information and Donald's earlier behavior with the brake van and his overall Twin Brother Instinct... it's likely Donald did crash there on purpose.
  • In the original book, the brake van is in agony during the incident, screaming for the trucks to stop the prank, they're shouting too hard to listen and ultimately set about his demise via Douglas. The trucks' sociopathy and disregard for anyone's well being extends to their own kind.
  • While the following episode The Deputation focuses on making sure Donald and Douglas aren't sent away to be scrapped, the show never really established why they would be scrapped—unlike Oliver, for instance, they were in good condition and proved to be immensely useful once they got to Sodor. It seemed to hint that any engine could, and would, be scrapped if it was convenient for the humans, regardless of how 'useful' they actually were.
• James getting spun on a windy turntable in the penultimate scene of Tenders & Turntables. The music takes on and off-putting twist, getting faster and high-pitched before slowing down to a stop along with the turntable. James' frowning face and spinning eyes are unsettling, but the worst part as when he backs into the shed, dizzy, completely humiliated and without uttering a word— we cut to a gloomy-looking and partially green-faced James staring right into the camera◊, accompanied by chilling music. Sweet dreams.
  • Again, some may find Nightmare Retardant in the fact that James is green from feeling ill after his spin on the turntable.
• Percy Runs Away features a very near miss between Percy and Gordon. Percy is waiting quietly for the signal man to change the points so he can move onto the other line. However, Percy forgets to whistle and is soon forgotten. Then suddenly, GORDON comes speeding towards him. If Gordon hadn't braked in time or the panic-stricken Percy backed up at the last moment, there would have been a very nasty crash!
  • There's a chilling build up. We have a tranquil scene of Percy waiting at the signal box, though the narrator makes clear Percy has made an oversight and is dawdling on the main line, which is very dangerous. If one listens carefully through the narration, they can hear Gordon's chuffing gradually rise offscreen...
• The ghost train sequence in Ghost Train/Percy's Ghostly Trick. If the jerky-moving ghost train doesn't scare you, the horror-movie soundtrack sure as hell will...
• In Thomas, Percy & The Dragon, Thomas is assigned to take a Chinese dragon decoration to another town in Sodor for a festival. Its appearance, particularly the bulging eyes and how it glows in the night, is very haunting, and the music that plays when it is on camera doesn't help.
  • Percy is startled awake and terrified by the dragon passing by him in the night, and the preceding sequence featuring the screeching owl is like something out of a horror movie.
• When Sir Topham Hatt angrily chastises Diesel at the end of "Diesel Does It Again", he has a very startling, downright "crazed" look on his face◊.
• When the bee stings James in Buzz Buzz, we get an unnerving close-up of his face in agony as he lets out a very loud shriek of pain.
  • "EEEEEEEEE!!!"
  • The rather primitive special effects used to illustrate the scene arguably worsen the fear factor, namely the cel-animated bee and the light bulb placed inside James' nose that flashes red when he actually gets stung.
  • The build-up when the beehive breaks is also worth mentioning. The sharp rising musical notes, the Mass "Oh, Crap!" reactions and the shot of the evacuating passengers and station staff really sells the sense that something bad is about to happen.
• Smudger's fate in Granpuff, which was to be turned into a stationary generator. What makes it worse is Duke's nonchalant response of "You can see him behind our shed. He'll never move again." And what really makes it horrifying is that you can see that Stuart and Falcon are just as disturbed by this as the viewers. However, Duke is actually smiling as he tells his unhinged story.
  • The railway eventually closes down, and by the time Duke is rescued years later, the railway's barely visible, covered completely in overgrowing trees, grass and bushes. We never hear about what happens to Smudger. Imagine him still trapped there, covered in grass and mud, unable to call out for help.
• In the episode Trucks!, some troublesome trucks, attached to the top of a hill by a cable, snap loose and roll down the hill yelling, "hurrah, hurrah," and then smash into Peter Sam and are completely destroyed (Peter Sam is badly battered himself, and is left for a while surrounded by and covered in debris).
  • His funnel also gets cracked by the debris and causes some trouble in the long run until it gets knocked off by an icicle in "Special Funnel".
  • What's worse, there are trucks heading upward, yelling for their downward-traveling compatriots to stop, since it's not the engine they want to hurt.
• In Toad Stands By, S. C. Ruffey, at the head of Oliver's train so that he can bumped if he causes nonsense. S. C. Ruffey tells the rest of the trucks in the train to hold back, which turns out to be his fatal flaw. Effectively, Oliver pulls on S. C. Ruffey and tears him apart. Granted, he's put back together at the end of the episode.
  • Though not in the original books. There, Sir Topham Hatt inspects Scruffey's remains and discovers he was extremely poorly built and maintained, and decides to scrap him.
• In Cranky Bugs, a tramp steamer runs aground due to stormy weather. The look of sheer terror on the big engines faces sums up the horror due to the imminent crash. The ship does indeed crash into the shed, both trapping the engines and causing Cranky to fall. Jerkass or not, Cranky's scream is pretty agonising.
• In A Better View for Gordon, Gordon, unable to stop himself, smashes through the back wall of Sodor's main station and ends up hanging halfway out the hole. The impact is severe enough that Gordon's wheels break off, but are hanging below him. This is equivalent to a person having their legs torn off but attached by a small amount of flesh.
  • Gordon's crew and Sir Topham Hatt (who was riding along) are actually depicted as having susatined injuries due to the impact of the crash. This is quite jarring because the show very rarely shows people hurt, even after accidents that in real life would be much deadlier than this one!
• The mine collapse from Put Upon Percy, which effectively killed 9 troublesome trucks and would have got to Percy if he weren't lucky enough to remember the canvas barrier from earlier.
• Toby and the Flood involves our endearing tram engine going over a bridge during a severe flood. Due to the dam breaking, the surge of water sweeps the bridge away with Toby, and his crew, still on it. It is horrifying to see poor Toby stuck on the bridge floating helplessly along the river, wailing for help. To make matters worse, they pass by a warning notice saying "Beware the Waterfall", putting everyone's nerves at a pitch. Luckily, Harold and Percy were on hand to help.
• Haunted Henry is a pretty unnerving episode:
  • Edward warns Henry that when an owl hoots, a mist rolls in, and with it comes ghosts. Henry scoffs at this and leaves with his freight train, until a mist does roll in. All of a sudden, the crossing gates appear to close by themselves and there was an abandoned fogman's coat hanging from a tree with a sign saying: 'Beware of the Viaduct'. Then, a light in the station suddenly flickers off. Henry and his crew, horrified, wisely choose to retreat to Wellsworth. It's then revealed that they are lucky they didn't try to cross the bridge or else there might've been trouble. What makes this sequence scary is that, until the end, we never find out what happened.
  • Later that day once the viaduct is repaired, Henry's driver tells his engine they must take their train back along the rickety line that night. After a brief scare courtesy of Gordon and an owl, the trucks troll Henry... only to later become spooked themselves, charge forward and crash into the ravine, yet Henry did try to stop them after braking hard. In short, the Troublesome Trucks (Whom deliberately put both their own lives and the trains that carry them in danger, sometimes even resulting in their own deaths, just to spite the latter on a regular basis) were terrified by the seemingly Real After All ghost. That's how scary it was.
• Stepney Gets Lost (the page image) is an episode where, well, Stepney gets lost while going down the tracks at night. He comes across a disturbingly red glow and finds himself in the scrapyard. His driver and fireman go out to search for any help, leaving Stepney stranded on the line (and thus, completely unable to move). The diesels Iron 'Arry and Bert come up alongside and behind him, smirking at his situation while Bert pushes a helpless Stepney beneath a massive grabber with the intent of leaving him to be scrapped. And they take pleasure in this idea. If it hadn't been for the arrival of Sir Topham Hatt, poor Stepney might have been...lost forever.
  • Even worse? In this episode, Iron 'Arry and Bert are both Karma Houdinis. The effect is diluted due to Villain Decay in later episodes, but their first appearances here are frightening. The fact that they take pleasure in pushing a helpless engine towards a scrapping death...
    • How about a hint of Fridge Horror, what does 'Arry say when they kidnap Stepney? "Got you this time, Stepney." This meant that this is not the first time these two diesels tried to murder Stepney! Sir Topham Hatt, why do you still allow these two to run amok instead of sending them away like you do with Diesel?!
  • According to one of their bios, they are known as Grim Reaper figures due to their work in the scrapyards and have a desire to see Oliver get scrapped. Villain Decay or not, that's messed up.
  • They manage to revive this creepy quality in their later cameo in Fergus Breaks the Rules. When Fergus ends up at the scrapyards, Iron 'Arry and Bert appear through the hellish red glow and ominously ask if Fergus "likes it there".
  • Alone, Bert's smugly and evil facial expressions◊ whenever he is inside the scrapyard can haunt little kids in their nightmares.
• Rusty's ghost story in Duncan Gets Spooked. And unlike in Ghost Train, we actually see the little engine derail on the old bridge and fall to its death on-screen. The chilling music doesn't help, either.
  • The Trucks derailing and falling off the same bridge in an earlier scene may arguably count as this too or funny depending on how much catharsis one gets to seeing them derail or both.
• Boulder◊ from Rusty and the Boulder. True, it's just a carved version of Gordon's displeased face mask, but seeing it fade is a tad creepy. So is the final shot of Boulder looming over the quarry where it zooms up to Boulder's frozen expression.
  • Boulder is creepy throughout the episode. Look at the damage it does. Look how close it came to running over several engines. One notable instance is when Rusty gets around the corner and believes he's safe, only for Boulder to somehow appear behind him, as if it had a mind of its own.
• In Snow, Skarloey travels to the mines with empty trucks, while at the mine, the winch that hauls the trucks up and down the incline was not working properly. His driver was concerned that any noise could cause an avalanche, so he set an emergency cap. Up in the slate mines, a long line of full trucks was to be winched down the slope, but the winch became jammed when some empty trucks derailed. A coupling on the full trucks snapped and they ran down the slope. The trucks broke through the buffers and plunged into the ravine, and all the noise from the trucks caused an avalanche. Both the driver and Skarloey cry out in fear as they are buried deep in the snow, with trucks falling down with a crash. Thankfully, Skarloey's heat had created an igloo, and inside Skarloey's crew were sipping cocoa.
• In "Thomas, Percy, and the Squeak", Alicia Botti screams after seeing a mouse. Her screaming is incredibly loud, high-pitched, and very out of place in a normally laid-back show such as this. Her face also looks creepy. We even get a close-up of her uvula at one point.
• In Percy and the Haunted Mine, there is an unsettling scene where Percy collects garden gnomes. We get to see a shot of the warehouse sinking into the ground. He bumps into some trucks and gnomes fall out when the side door opened. Percy was convinced that the gnomes were naughty gnomes, which steal wheels and filch funnels. The poor green engine is horrified, and the dark lighting doesn't help. However, the Fat Controller explains that the gnomes were only garden gnomes and that the buildings were just sinking into old mine shafts.
• Percy getting covered in icicles in Jack Frost, which gives him a very eerie appearance.
• In Snow Engine, Oliver crashes into a snowman. Some of the snow gets into his eye sockets, making it look like he has no eyes◊.
• Thomas' nightmare in Thomas To The Rescue (Season 8 episode). He imagines a demonic foggy version of the scrapyard with rusted "corpses" of engines. To worsen this, these seem to be recycled models of Donald and Douglas.

CGI Series

• James' manipulation of the nighttime fog and some steel pipes in The Phantom Express is quite frightening. There's also Stephen creeping through the tunnels of Ulfstead Castle as we hear him puffing ominously.
• The episode "Slow Stephen" has The Sodor Suspension Bridge collapsing yet again. Only this time, it nearly KILLED GORDON AND HIS CREW AND ALL OF THE PASSENGERS ON THE EXPRESS. Thank God that Stephen could stop him before he could cross. Not to mention the actual collapse is pretty unsettling, complete with a Scare Chord.
• In "Hasty Hannah", Henrietta's sister, Hannah comes to the Island of Sodor to work with Toby while Henrietta is having new seats installed at the Steamworks. Hannah always wants Toby to go faster, despite Toby's warnings that tramway coaches like her and Henrietta aren't built for high speeds, even if it means going past closing crossing gates and other engines at switches. In the second half of the episode, Toby leaves Hannah on a siding and James pulls her. Hannah gets her wish to go as fast as she wants, but because she didn't listen to Toby's warnings, she begins to fall apart as James goes faster. Much like Hiro in Hero of the Rails, Hannah is screaming in agony as her parts go flying off her, and she demands that James slows down. She finally does slow down when her coupling breaks and she is diverted onto a siding.
• James' accident in "The Fastest Red Engine", which brings things right back into old Railway Series conventions, with not only the crash itself being realistic but the sheer amount of damage it does to James (his handrails are twisted, his funnel and dome are nearly off and his splendid paint worn) and it taking more than one episode to fix him. Oh and as a result, you get to see James smash through Tidmouth Shed as a recap for two more episodes in case you missed it.
• The Engines' nightmare about Rebecca dealing with the Troublesome Trucks in "Chucklesome Trucks". It's basically what if the crashes from "Thomas and the Trucks", "Dirty Objects" and "Percy Takes The Plunge" were put together. First, Rebecca is pushed down Gordon's hill, where she crashes into tar wagons, and goes all the way to the docks and ends up flying into the ocean with no indication she survived. Note that Rebecca is excited to pull the trucks, and sees the accidents as exciting events. It's a bit jarring. Had the episode gone with an accident for Rebecca, the nightmare would have been the least to worry about.

Specials

• In Calling All Engines, the engines have nightmares about what happens when they are no longer deemed "useful", and some of their dreams are very surreal and disturbing... particularly Percy's. He dreams he's used as a roller coaster. He's also wearing goggles in his dream, making it look like he has massive bloodshot eyes.
  • What's worse is that, originally, there was going to be a song to go with it. Unlike other songs in the series, it's not cheerful in the slightest.
• Hero of the Rails has Hiro, the old Japanese engine, falling apart while running for his life. And it doesn't help that's he's calling out in agony for help as all his parts go flying off of him, and all Thomas can do is yell for him to keep running.
• From Misty Island Rescue:
  • Diesel, who's just trying to be useful, who ends up hanging off the edge of an unfinished bridge...on only two wheels, trying not to fall into the sea below.
  • The scene where Thomas and the logging engines get trapped in the underwater tunnel with nobody knowing they're there.
  • And then Diesel 10 creeps up in during The Stinger...
  Diesel 10: [chuckles sinisterly] You'll be laughing on the other side of your boilers soon, silly steamies... [Evil Laugh] Yes...
• From Blue Mountain Mystery:
  • The entire plot is about new character Luke thinking he'd gotten someone killed.
  • It's revealed that Luke accidentally knocked Victor into the sea when they were both on the ship going to Sodor. Victor knew something was wrong, but because he could not speak English, no one understood him. Victor stood in the sea for a very long time, all on his own, with no one to come save him, and became slightly rusty as a result.
• From Tale of the Brave, we get the Scrap Monster. It resembles a twisted, metal monster with twirling eyes, jagged teeth, a crooked nose, and a giant shovel arm. Percy encounters it late at night, and is understandably terrified. It's really just a pile of old scrap metal on some flatbeds, left by James to scare Percy.
  • Monsters Everywhere, the show's first ever Disney Acid Sequence!
  • Cranky nearly topples over trying to retrieve a ship. Thomas, Porter and Salty are suitably horrified. Adding to this, we have the engines, dockmen, and Cranky himself worried that he might fall.
  • The landslide in the climax, mainly in that it's the most destructive one in the series, even more so than the one in "Put Upon Percy". An easy example is the fact that it actually catches Percy and carries him along a wave of PURE DESTRUCTION. It ends with him NEARLY GETTING SMASHED IN THE HEAD BY A MASSIVE DINOSAUR SKULL. Thank God for Marion just NARROWLY saving him!
• From The Adventure Begins, James' crash. While it happened off-screen in "Thomas and the Breakdown Train", here we get to see it play out in its entirety. We even get a shot of the guard looking back in terror, just before his brakevan buckles and derails on its side. The bonus of hearing James' screams for help and the sinister remix of the Runaway theme throughout don't help at all.
  • It's made even worse when the cars come off the rails. You can hear the Troublesome Trucks SCREAMING, COMPLETELY TERRIFIED, having only now realized what they're in for and it's too late to save themselves. They're the ones that caused it in the first place, but still!
• Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure is the first movie/special to officially have a human antagonist. This antagonist, known as Sailor John, is utterly ruthless. Not only does he spout some incredibly dark threats, but he also throws a stick of dynamite at Thomas!
  • Skiff's predicament in the climax is actually terrifying in its own right, with him being used as a getaway vehicle for a crime he doesn't even want to take part in, and his friend being forced to potentially destroy him in order to put a stop to the crime!
  • The scene in which Thomas shunts the cars into the closed cutting. The way the ground just opens up beneath him, and the way the rails give out, makes it literally a reprise of "Down the Mine", except so much more destructive. This time, Thomas is dragged in by the flatbed in front of him...and he doesn't even stop falling when he enters the hole.
    • The way Thomas comes out after that scene is quite bad.
  • The scene with the flaming dynamite cars, in which the engines and diggers frantically try to get rid of the dynamite before it can explode. Thomas manages to get into action, but Ryan ends up in front of him and the dynamite cars, completely terrified and in the absolute worst place possible.
• The Great Race
  • Thomas' collision with Norman at the junction at Knapford Station the morning of when Sir Topham and the engines are heading to The Great Railway Show. While the crash isn't seen (barring the book adaptations), the horrified looks on Thomas and Norman's faces as they realize they are about to collide say it all, along with Ashima only being able to watch helplessly as the crash is inevitable.
    Ashima: THOMAS!! LOOK OUT!!
    • Thankfully, Thomas suffers minor damage to only his front buffer beam, leaving him still in good operational condition.
  • As Victor tries to cheer Thomas up back at the Steamworks, Kevin asks him about Gordon's safety valve he has on his pallet. After a double-take does Victor realize the severity of the situation.
  Victor: Gordon's safety valve?! But that means Gordon hasn't been reassembled properly! I told him to wait for his safety check! If Gordon's safety valve isn't working properly, he could overheat, especially at high speeds!
  • Victor's fears are proven right as Gordon goes red in the face as his boiler temperature goes past the danger zone, and despite Flying Scotsman trying to warn Gordon of the danger, Gordon keeps going until his streamline casing ruptures as his boiler bursts, though not as bad as one would fear.
  • Even before that, when Thomas warns Henry, Percy, and Philip of the danger, knowing it could happen to them at some point as well, Percy and Henry are deeply worried for their fellow steam engine.
• Journey Beyond Sodor
  • The second-to-last scene of the trailer shows Thomas ABOUT TO BE MELTED DOWN IN A MASSIVE SMELTING PIT.
  • Frankie's line "I'd say he's a keeper" gives off a very creepy vibe.
  • Frankie's treatment of Thomas as a whole gets creepier and more passive aggressively callous as time passes, perhaps most disturbingly when she starts refusing to call Thomas anything besides "little tank engine". While Hurricane shows semblances of The Kindnapper and being sympathetic towards Thomas, Frankie's behavior veers unsettlingly towards a cruel slave owner.
  • Frankie and Hurricane's methods of keeping engines in the Steelworks. It starts with them simply manipulating Thomas into helping them in exchange for them taking his trucks to Bridlington, then when Thomas escapes, they attempt to chase him down. Later on, when Thomas and James attempt to leave, they resort to chasing James all around the Steelworks, attempting to block his path and derail him if necessary.
  • Hurricane pushes Thomas out of the way of some spilled molten steel and gets caught up in it himself, causing his wheels to melt.
• Big World! Big Adventures!
  • Nia being swept up in an avalanche caused by Thomas trying to get her attention to apologize before she can reach the safety of a tunnel. It only gets worse when Thomas tries to pull her back up to safety, but Nia's larger size and weight cause her to slip over the edge and pull Thomas toward the cliff as he struggles to stay on the rails. If Yong Bao had not shown up in time to help, the Himalayas would have claimed the lives of Thomas, Nia, and both of their crews.
  Yong Bao: I still can't believe how close that was! You really gave me a fright, Thomas! Let's never do that again...okay?

Other

• There's a nightmarish quality to the Troublesome Trucks/Freight Cars themselves. They are utter sociopaths; they giggle and take pleasure in engines' misfortunes, like to be a pain and interference, and are even willing to undergo their own destruction for the sake of getting back at an engine.
• The second season had a recurring Leitmotif for whenever an engine crashes. While it also qualifies as Awesome Music, the rising Jaws-esque riff gives a heavy sense of inevitable dread as you know something brutal is about to happen to the engine in question.
  • Especially effective in "Thomas Comes To Breakfast" and "Percy's Predicament". It starts with the character's themes playing as their run as normal, then as things start to awry, the themes become out of key and dark, slowly fading into the standard danger theme. The extended version in the former even has a shock chord as the stationmaster's house comes into view, the synthesised whistle sounding almost like an engine screaming.
• Some of the engine's face masks (prior to the CGI transition) can come off as creepy to the uninitiated, primarily due to a bit of Unintentional Uncanny Valley in their facial designs and expressions. Thomas and Percy's original "eyes closed tight" expressions stand out in particular, due to the unpleasant contortions of their faces (though it doesn't help they were almost always used as they were about to smash into something face first).
  • James easily has the nastiest angry face out of the main engines, simply because of how pissed off he appears. He looks like he's literally fighting the urge to go on a murderous rampage.
  • Gordon's cross face is on the same boat as James'. The wrinkles on his forehead help make it look very unpleasant to look at.
    • Heck, Gordon's whole face can be scary due to how long it is. His angry tone of voice (particularly narrated by Ringo Starr and Michael Angelis) doesn't really help at all either, which makes it a whole lot worse.
  • Edward's cross face can be nearly as scary as James', if not more so, because of the wrinkles on his face. Thankfully, unlike James, Edward hardly ever gets cross.
• Season 12 was filmed using models, but used CGI faces for the trains and vehicles (with the exception of Harold who was entirely CG), the CGI faces can look rather creepy, unsettling and unnatural at times, the sunken back eyes don’t help. The full CGI seasons made the faces look more appealing thankfully.
• The music video for Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo deserves explanation. Most music videos in this show always reuse footage from their stories, but it sometimes has a tendency to use new footage or alternate versions of reused footage. Among this music video was all kinds of new footage, and the new footage is...creepy, to say the least. You've got a broken down train and lawn gnomes that are apparently able to move on their own. That's not really much of a problem due to the regular motion of animation...but the creepy owl is. The music video hits you right off the bat with a quick zoom right up on his face. And his glowing eyes...they're nothing like the usual motion of animation we're used to seeing in this show! But perhaps the biggest frightening moment of them all was a scene at the Smelters, where an owl is just sitting there...and then, right out of nowhere, a gigantic puppet-like owl popped up right behind him. That is bound to catch one off-guard. This is all happening when they're singing about how you shouldn't be scared.

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Boo Boo choo choo

Don't be afraid of the dark

It's easily explained you see why things go bump in the night Boo! 👻

Boo Boo, choo choo

Don't wander from your track

And don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be, don't be afraid of the dark