15 Scary Kids’ TV Shows That Terrified the Audience
Everyone deserves a good scare in their lives. Even kids, who always find the fun in wetting their pants in fear. While it’s not an easy feat to craft a scary and entertaining horror story for kids, given the extreme TV limitations that come with it, these nostalgic shows managed to scare the bejesus out of their viewers with what they had.
A lot of these horror shows were only made possible by networks like Nickelodeon trying to make a name for themselves during the 1990s. However, thanks to streaming services like Netflix, older-skewing kids shows have found homes for modern audiences to watch with their hands over their eyes.
Past or present, these scary TV shows offer the perfect bonding experience for any family.
1. Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Are You Afraid of the Dark? became the perfect kid-friendly equivalent to The Twilight Zone, an anthology series about a group of teenagers trying to scare each other with ghost stories.
Like many Nickelodeon shows of the 1990s, the series pushed the limits of acceptable content for kids with monster designs made out of nightmares, like the Renegade Virus or the Ghastly Grinner. The stories also didn’t shy away from death nor spare their protagonists from an ironically cruel end. The series was even revived for three seasons in the 2020s.
2. Goosebumps
No, not the 2015 movie starring Jack Black. The 1995 Goosebumps on Fox Kids brought the iconic horror stories of R. L. Stine to life in this delightfully spooky and sometimes cheesy (an evil dog is barking in the intro!) live-action adaptation.
While the 30-minute runtime didn’t always work in the show’s favor, Goosebumps still nailed all the best stories from the books, like “The Haunted Mask” and “Night of the Living Dummy.”
3. Over the Garden Wall
For a lot of people out there, Over the Garden Wall isn’t just a show. It’s an annual event.
The Cartoon Network miniseries from 2014 has become a yearly TV event for the fall — Halloween, in particular — as the series follows two half-brothers trying to find their way home through a cursed forest.
The odd characters and creepy scenarios they encounter on their journey often center around fear, grief and death — building up to a shocking finale. Over the Garden Wall has become so loved by the public that its temporary removal from Max in August 2023 sparked widespread outrage online.
4. So Weird
The Disney Channel is so well-known for pre-teen shows like Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place that it’s crazy to remember the House of Mouse actually made its own version of The X-Files in 1999.
So Weird tells the story of a teenage girl named Fiona Phillips who encounters paranormal activities while traveling with her rock star mom on tour.
Alright, the premise certainly seems like typical Disney stuff, but So Weird would often deal with shockingly down-to-earth horrors. The best example of this is the Season 2 episode, “Fall,” where two adults are haunted by visions of their childhood friend falling to his death.
5. Courage the Cowardly Dog
It’s easy to forget that the Cartoon Network pilot of Courage the Cowardly Dog featured a scene in which Courage watched an alien chicken strangle a bunch of regular chickens to death.
The full-fledged TV show centered around the frightened pup trying to save his elderly owners — well, Muriel Bagge more so than the grumpy husband Eustace — from the supernatural terrors that would often invade their simple lives. The show knew how to be creepy, silly, and emotional at the same time. Courage’s backstory is enough to bring a tear to the eye.
6. Doctor Who
With Doctor Who’s decades of critically acclaimed stories, observers often forget that the BBC sci-fi series is aimed at children. Admittedly, episodes like “Space Babies” serve as a rude awakening for older viewers.
However, modern Doctor Who can still deliver frightful episodes like “73 Yards,” which feels more like a folk horror than a time-traveling adventure. Of course, it’s impossible to talk about scary Doctor Who episodes without mentioning writer and former showrunner Steven Moffat, who wrote fan-favorite episodes like “Silence in the Library,” “Blink” and “The Impossible Astronaut.”
7. The Ren & Stimpy Show
If one show embodied the rebellious spirit of Nickelodeon in the 90s, it would be The Ren & Stimpy Show. The Nicktoon had the classic cartoon premise of a dumb cat named Stimpy and his hothead best friend, a chihuahua named Ren, going on various adventures together.
However, the gorgeous animation and horrifyingly hilarious humor elevated it to new heights. One moment in “Stimpy’s Fan Club” where Ren is contemplating strangling Stimpy to death while he sleeps. The only joke is the nervous laughter from viewers, as the episode portrays Ren as a psychopath with creepy hands ready to end his best friend over mere jealousy. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
8. Eerie, Indiana
Eerie, Indiana never got the recognition it deserved in 1991, but fans remember the sci-fi horror series as a cult classic by those lucky enough to catch it when it originally aired on NBC.
For a total of 19 episodes, Eerie, Indiana, followed Marshall Teller and his best friend, Simon Holmes, as they explore the bizarre happenings of the self-titled desolate town. Although the show’s spooky atmosphere is more akin to Gravity Falls than Twin Peaks, Eerie, Indiana never felt like it talked down to its young audience and always delivered a surprisingly cinematic experience on TV.
9. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
Given the never-ending new series, spinoffs and movies, it’s easy to take the original Scooby-Doo for granted. Yet, the original 1969 show is still a treasure for its campy comedy and bone-chilling designs.
Monsters like Spooky Space Kook, the Phantom Shadows and the Creeper look so frightfully fun, as do the beautifully creepy environments.
10. Detective Conan (Case Closed)
In Japan, Detective Conan (Case Closed in North America) has become a pop-culture juggernaut. For American viewers…not so much.
The 1996 anime series plays too mature for young audiences with its focus on horrific murder mysteries. However, the anime also feels too kiddy for adults, as the series follows the young detective Conan Edogawa as he unravels these complex mysteries for the dim-witted adults. Regardless, the series makes for a binge-watching treat that often feels like an edgy Scooby-Doo.
11. A Series of Unfortunate Events
The 2004 Nickelodeon movie starring Jim Carrey surprisingly kept a lot of the hilariously dark vibes of the novels. The 2017 Netflix series does the source material even better, as the episodic TV format allows the imaginative and gloomy world of Lemony Snicket to fully stretch its legs out.
After a mysterious fire burns down their house and kills their parents, the three Baudelaire children are shuffled from one apathetic home to the next, while a “distinct relative” named Count Olaf tries to wipe them out for their family’s fortune. Neil Patrick Harris as Olaf and Patrick Warburton as the fictitious author/narrator light up every scene they’re in.
12. Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics
The 1987 anime anthology adapted the classic fairy tale stories by the Brothers Grimm. These episodes would often faithfully adapt these magical stories and the dark elements that came with them.
One infamous episode, “Donkeyskin,” tells the tale of a princess who escaped from her kingdom after her crazed father tried to marry her! He’d promised his deceased wife he would only marry one that could match her beauty. The princess now hides her identity by wearing a donkey skin coat. And to think: the series aired on Nick Jr!
13. Creeped Out
Creeped Out has had the most success at matching the intimidating atmosphere of the original Are You Afraid of the Dark? without going too overboard for its younger audience.
Just like the Nickelodeon classic, Creeped Out is an anthology series in which new unsettling stories tie together by an unbelievably creepy figure named “The Curious.” All 23 episodes stream on Netflix. Just make sure the kids aren’t all alone when The Curious pops up.
14. The Storyteller
Jim Henson fans don’t need anyone telling them that the late creator and his studio mastered creepy-looking puppets. The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth are all the proof anyone needs.
The live-action/puppet anthology series The StoryTeller embodied the best of Henson’s legacy, as an old storyteller and his adorable puppet dog would recite fascinating European folk tales filled with nightmare-fuel Muppets.
15. The Animals of Farthing Wood
Eat your heart out, Game of Thrones. The British animated series, The Animals of Farthing Wood, follows a group of forest animals trying to find a new place to live after humans demolish their old homes for suburban constructions.
The animals trying to live outside their forest would often result in a cruel end, such as becoming road kill or getting gunned down by hunters. They also live through the everyday struggle of not becoming another animal’s meal.
