The results are in for Fabulous Films’ extremely scientific (Twitter) poll to find out which was the scariest children’s TV show from the 70s to the 90s. It has left us regressing back to our childhood selves, cowering behind the sofa. From Chocky to Eerie Indiana, The Trap Door to The Smurfs – what shows had you in a state of excited terror or frozen with fear as a child?
1.Worzel Gummidge (1979-81)
Rather than scaring the crows, Worzel Gummidge scared the shit out of children in the 70s and 80s. Although it wasn’t meant to be scary there is a long list of images that terrify us from Worzel coming to life in the thunder and lightning – to sharply twisting off his head to replace it with another. That is why Worzel Gummidge has been voted scariest kids TV show from our childhood.
2. Eerie Indiana (1991 -92)
Marshall Teller didn’t expect life in Eerie, Indiana to be so disturbing and unsettling. The show terrified children – not surprisingly as we now understand it was inspired by and referenced David Lynch’s surreal crime drama Twin Peaks (1990). The opening title sequence also featured clips from classic horror movies such as White Zombie (1932), Nosferatu (1922), and Night of the Living Dead (1968). What were they thinking?
3. The Children of The Stones (1976)
Who could forget/wants to remember ‘Happy Day’. Creepy children’s TV drama about an astrophysicist and his son who are studying ancient stones in the village of Milbury. It becomes obvious that all is not quite right in the village where chanting increases the tension and all the inhabitants greet each other with ‘Happy Day’.
4. Are You Afraid of The Dark (1990-96)
“Submitted for the approval of The Midnight Society, I call this story ……” and so it began each week, a group of children would meet in the woods with one participant telling a ghost story.
5. Terrahawks (1983-86)
Terrahawks was created by Gerry Anderson (Thunderbirds) – and he really should have known better. They defended Earth from the cunning and devious alien Queen Zelda- who hated humans with a passion rarely seen on TV these days.
- Dungeons and Dragons (1983-85)
- The Boy from Space (1971)
- Chocky (1984)
- Round The Twist (1990 – 2001)
- The Demon Headmaster (1996-98)
How many of these shows do you remember from when you were a child? Who scared you the most? Do they still scare you now and who still haunts you that hasn’t made it in to the Top 10? Join the conversation on twitter
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