Top 10 Scariest TV Moments You Totally Forgot About
#10: Locked in the Refrigerator
Veronica Mars (2004-07; 2019)
Its easily one of The CW dramas most chilling moments. High school private eye Veronica Mars has finally discovered the identity of her best friends killer. Unfortunately, the villain she spent the first season chasing down gets the drop on her in a crucial moment. The murderer locks her in an abandoned refrigerator, douses it with gasoline, and threatens to ignite it if she doesnt lead him to some incriminating evidence shes hidden. Fire swallows up the fridge as Veronicas father tries to save her. It may take place in a high school, but Veronica Mars is a show that really goes to some dark places.
#9: The Railroad Crossing
Duel (1971)
Master director Steven Spielberg made this disturbing Movie of the Week from 1971. A businessman cuts off a fuel truck on a deserted California highway and suddenly finds himself the target of its deranged driver. Its like Jaws but instead of a Great White Shark, its a relentless tanker truck. While stopped at a railroad crossing, the man is horrified as the truck begins physically pushing his car toward the passing train. Its as if the truck is trying to feed him to the passing trains crushing wheels. Were forced to watch as the man is caught between two dangerous, inhuman, and destructive machines. This is just one of the movies many pitch-perfect suspense sequences.
#8: Why Are You Repeating?
Doctor Who (1963-89; 2005-)
The Weeping Angels get all the love, but this entity capable of possessing humans stirs up chaos on a shuttle in this terrifying Doctor Who episode. Even as the Doctor tries to take control, the creatures eerie mimicking of their fellow passengers begins to drive them all to the brink of reason. Like a classic Twilight Zone episode, the real villain here may just be human suspicion and paranoia. The Doctor has traveled across many dimensions and encountered many, many monsters. Its especially unsettling when he goes up against an enemy that almost bests him.
#7: Manson Leaps at the Judge
Helter Skelter (1976)
In part two of this true crime miniseries, cult leader Charles Manson faces trial for his role in the Sharon Tate murders. Actor Steve Railsbacks performance as Manson is spine-tingling. One of his most memorable and bloodcurdling moments is when his notorious character makes a daring and violent leap for the presiding judge. In this moment, we see him as the animalistic monster he is. The Manson Family murders were still fresh in 1976. Seeing the man behind them so unhinged and wild might have been almost like reliving the terror of the real event.
#6: Talky Tina
The Twilight Zone (1959-64)
You better be nice to her. On screen, talking dolls are rarely as innocent as they seem. This classic Twilight Zone episode features Talky Tina, a ghoulish little doll who raises the suspicions of a little girls stepfather. Its when the doll finally gives the game away, making explicit threats toward him over the phone, that the episode really gets freaky. And it just keeps getting worse from there. With that cutesy voice and soulless face, Talky Tinas threats are genuinely scary. Shes not like Chucky. You never see her do anything all that weird. Sometimes the unseen is the most unsettling, however.
#5: The Laboratory Ambush
Stranger Things (2016-)
The season finale of Season 2 sees all the story threads smashing together in a big, bold, and bloody showdown at Hawkins Lab. Put-upon Will Byers is possessed by the Mind Flayer. A team of scientists watches as a group of vicious demogorgons escape from the portal to the Upside Down. These monsters begin to unleash all hell on the lab. Most of the cast is left to flee for their lives while the scientists are massacred by the otherworldly creatures. The chase is a breathless sequence that culminates in one of the shows most heartbreaking character deaths.
#4: Pick the Right Door
Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1990-2000; 2019-22)
Nickelodeons anthology series did an incredible job of exploring familiar settings and making them feel completely surreal. This funhouse-set horror story uses its setting to its full advantage. Josh learns the hard way that a game of Got Your Nose can have deadly consequences. The clown whose nose he stole pursues him, cornering him in a funhouse full of misshapen and oversized doors. The game is simple. Open the right door, and he is free to go. But open the wrong door, and Zeebo the Clown will be there to seal his fate. It is truly nail-biting television, even after all these years.
#3: Possessed
Trilogy of Terror (1975)
In the third of three horror tales, a woman named Amelia finds herself trapped in her apartment by a doll. The figurine is said to be possessed by an ancient and malevolent spirit. After fighting for her life, Amelia gets the upper hand and tosses the doll into an oven. Thinking shes finally defeated the doll, she opens the burning oven where shes trapped it, only to be attacked once again. This time, though, the demon switches bodies. The last shot reveals Amelia, her face disfigured by the possession, lying in wait for her mother to arrive, presumably to murder her. She stabs absently at her floor before baring the same sharp, fang-like teeth that the doll used to have. Talk about twisting the knife.
#2: The Nuclear Bomb
Threads (1984)
Praised for its realism, this British-Australian TV movie was released at the height of the Cold War. The movies brutal depiction of a nuclear detonation over the UK is not easy to forget, and thats the point. We see the calamity through the eyes of several citizens. Some characters we came to care about die instantly, some flee in vain, and some are frozen with fear. Through the use of inserts, flashes, and even complete silence, the sequence shows how impossible it is to truly take in the experience. It was designed to stick with you, and it really does.
#1: Bob Approaches
Twin Peaks (1990-91; 2017)
From the mind of David Lynch, this murder mystery series got metaphysical very fast. The villain is not even a real person, but an evil entity called Bob, whose anthropomorphic form is somehow scarier than any abstract image you could think up. His most memorable moment is in Twin Peaks second season when he appears to Maddy in a vision. Bob makes his way slowly from the kitchen and into the living room, climbing over the couch and crawling right into the camera. A maniacal smile is glued to his face the whole way. Its so simple and so terrifying.
Did these TV moments give you nightmares? Let us know in the comments.
