froodle: (Default)
[personal profile] froodle posting in [community profile] eerieindiana
If you’ve ever ask someone what scared or freaked them out as a child, most responses will revolve around a horror film or terrifying personal experience - like seeing a clown. But if you really think back, many of the times we were disturbed as youngsters happened when we were sitting in front of the TV. Watching some of our favorite kids' shows after school or on weekends, we’d come across imagery or moments that would scar us for life. Those shows that were intended to be silly fun often had the opposite effect, making for a sleepless night.

Children’s television has always been a labyrinth of the strange and twisted, with the 1980s and 1990s in particular having a plethora of programming that entertained and traumatized in turn. Most of these shows we end up loving as adults because of that same dark tone.

In creating this list, we looked at animated and live-action shows specifically made for kids that incorporated supernatural, other-worldly, and bizarre fantasy elements in its plots or characters. No TV specials or movies-of-the-week found here. So without further ado, here’s the 15 Creepiest Kids Shows of All Time.

6: Eerie Indiana

Having directed horror classics like The Howling and Gremlins, Joe Dante took that love of genre and helped usher in a supernatural kids show in Eerie, Indiana.

Watching TV, kids could only wish that their lives were exciting and interesting as that of Marshall Teller's. The show’s young protagonist moved from New Jersey to Eerie, Indiana, a strange small town where the weird is commonplace. Kids were immediately drawn into this strange version of suburbia as Elvis and Bigfoot lurked around in the opening credits. When the series premiered on NBC in 1991, there was nothing else like it on TV. This cleverly written show, made just for kids, didn’t dumb down the horror or science fiction storylines.

Before we had Agents Mulder and Scully, Marshall Teller and his buddy, Simon Holmes, were the best investigators of the strange and unexplained. The series developed a cult following with fun and creepy episodes like “Foreverware”, “The Retainer”, and “The Hole in the Head Gang.” The series only lasted one season but in 1998 Fox Kids reimagined it into Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension, though this new version never reached the popularity of the original.

Profile

eerieindiana: (Default)
Eerie Indiana

May 2025

M T W T F S S
   1 234
56789 1011
1213141516 1718
19202122232425
262728293031 

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jun. 3rd, 2025 09:40 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios