Top 20 Kids Show Concepts That Are Actually Horrifying

“CatDog” (1998-2005)
Sometimes siblings may feel like they’re joined by the hip, but that saying is very literal when it comes to CatDog. The premise of the cat and dog brothers being fused together isn’t the only thing that might creep out viewers. The show had many unsettling episodes like “Meat, Dog’s Friends” where Dog decides to turn vegetarian after learning how meat is made. While it’s a noble lifestyle change, it traumatizes Dog when he hallucinates sentient meats who torment him. Another recurring element of the show is the ridicule that CatDog faces. They’re constantly treated poorly by characters like the Greasers and other citizens of Nearburg for being different. Ultimately, that sends a pretty bad message to the show’s audience of impressionable children.

“Mr. Meaty” (2005-09)
Things just went off the rails in “Mr. Meaty.” The show is about Josh and Parker, two teenagers working at the fast food joint known as Mr. Meaty. They’d often get into wacky antics, and that’s putting it mildly. They’ve burnt off a coworker’s nose, turned mall shoppers into zombies, and even had a stowaway vampire in their freezer. And honestly, that’s just scraping the surface! Besides absurdly creepy episodes (for which there are plenty), there’s also so many off-putting character designs that the show feels like a fever dream. If you were someone traumatized by this show, just know you’re not alone!

“Dan Vs.” (2011-13)
Sometimes you may feel like the world is against you, but eventually you learn to move past your problems. Well, at least that’s the ideal scenario. Unfortunately that’s not always a reality. Just ask Dan. The star of “Dan Vs.” lives a pretty miserable existence. Each episode he picks fights with just about anything and drags his friends into his messes. Sometimes Dan’s right to be angry. But he always ends up going overboard in his quest for revenge and never changes, which is pretty sad. In one of the first episodes he develops a vendetta against the entire state of New Mexico! Characters also get severely injured and there’s almost a blood sacrifice that happens! This series stretches the definition of a kids show.

“The Secret World of Alex Mack” (1994-98)
Getting superpowers is awesome. Getting exposure to dangerous chemicals? Ehh, not so awesome. When Alex Mack is nearly run over by a truck, a radioactive substance from the vehicle spills onto her. While she makes it out in the end, Alex discovers she has powers. It might be cool but it comes with a serious cost. Throughout the show, she constantly has to evade the chemical plant that made the substance and keep her powers a secret from her own parents. That’s a lot for a young girl to deal with. Her constant fear of being snatched and experimented on adds a creepy vibe to this show that keeps viewers on edge.

“Aaahh!!! Real Monsters” (1994-97)
Having to do homework can be scary, but what if your homework was to be scary? In this show, monsters attend their very own school where they get a quality education in terrifying humans. Besides getting a crash course in how to frighten, these monsters have to regularly travel up to the surface world to scare humans as part of their assignments. The modern education system is haunting enough, so the idea of a school designed solely for monsters to terrify us is pretty cruel. The monsters-in-training can also give us plenty of nightmares already just by their hideous looks alone. Let’s just hope class won’t be in session for much longer.

“Infinity Train” (2019-21)
The Infinity Train is definitely one of the most unique forms of therapy we’ve seen. It may look like a regular train but don’t let that fool you! Inside are infinite environments of virtually anything you could imagine. Passengers who get picked up are assigned a number that goes up or down depending on their actions as they pass through the cars. The goal is to get the number down to zero, so that they can leave. Spoiler here, but the number basically represents how well they’re working through their personal problems. While the train’s purpose is technically good, riding this locomotive is an undeniably dangerous experience. Working through unresolved issues is a lot easier said than done, and some traumas can take a lifetime to heal!

“Animorphs” (1998-99)
This adaptation of the popular “Animorphs” book franchise arguably might not be the kind of show that could be made today – at least not for an audience of kids. The show follows a group of teenagers who meet an alien and develop the ability to morph into various animals. It’s soon up to them to stop an evil species known as the Yeerks from conquering Earth. These critters are the worst! They control people by sneaking in through their ears and… yeah, that’s pretty nasty. The fate of the entire world resting on a bunch of teenagers’ hands can also be pretty stressful. If you really think about it, they were essentially enlisted into a war overnight.

“Ghostwriter” (1992-95)
Meant to get kids to love reading and writing, “Ghostwriter” taught us that words definitely have power. The show centered around kids from Brooklyn who essentially became detectives with the help of a ghost named ‘Ghostwriter’. Admittedly, despite having a ghost involved, the show wasn’t too haunting. Don’t get us wrong, there were still some creepy moments, like that episode with the slime monster ‘Gooey Gus’. But what really makes this show so disturbing is actually a detail that was shared after it already ended. Kermit Frazier (a writer/producer for the show) revealed that Ghostwriter was originally a slave who was murdered after escaping during the Civil War. It definitely adds a layer of dark realism to everything.

“Boohbah” (2003-05)
Even the title “Boohbah” sounds disturbing and threatening, like an ancient incantation that can raise the dead. In actuality, “Boohbah” is just a nonsense word and the title of this extremely disturbing children’s show from the United Kingdom that aired in the early 2000s. The Boohbahs are terrifying and psychedelic alien creatures, complete with sparkling fur, enormous, unblinking eyes, and retractable necks, who do little else but dance around and direct mysterious noises towards each other. While children may enjoy the colors and music, the rest of us are left in horror as we watch the rituals of this weird alien race.

“The Demon Headmaster” (1996-98)
Every child thinks that their headmaster or principal is some kind of evil entity, but that is actually the case in “The Demon Headmaster.” And it is terrifying. This is a show from the UK, and it concerns a student named Dinah Glass, who does battle with her titular demon headmaster. He has green eyes, manipulates and controls the students, and eventually tries ruling the world by accelerating evolution and building a Hyperbrain. School is supposed to be a sanctuary for children, and the idea of its leader controlling the students and causing them harm is a pretty disturbing concept to imagine, particularly for parents.

“Goosebumps” (1995-98)
The ‘90s were clearly the peak of children’s horror. Not only did “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” air from 1990 to 1996, R.L. Stine terrified us all with “Goosebumps” throughout the mid-to-late decade. And let us tell you, most of these stories were downright disturbing, even for adults. These include a haunted mask that molds to the wearer’s face; a creepy dummy that terrorizes children; a haunted house that needs blood; and a father who is apparently turning into a plant. We’re surprised that the children who watched this show turned out OK, because these are some straight-up scary stories.

“Invader Zim” (2001-06)
The concept of aliens is equal parts terrifying and wondrous to human beings, particularly kids. But in the case of “Invader Zim,” they are definitely more scary than wonder-inducing. The premise of this unsettling and disturbing show is that an alien named Zim integrates himself into society and attempts to enslave the human race. Zim’s pursuits lead him into doing some extremely nasty things like plucking out eyes, murdering his classmates, and performing operations we’re sure he’s not qualified to perform. And to think, this was a cartoon on Nickelodeon!

“Courage the Cowardly Dog” (1999-2002)
“Courage the Cowardly Dog” has to be one of the scariest and darkest cartoons of all time. The basic concept of the show is that Courage and his owners, Eustace and Muriel Bagge, are tormented by scary supernatural entities, and the cowardly Courage must do what he can to protect them from danger. The pilot episode shows some pretty gruesome imagery involving chickens, and it only gets worse from there. These aren’t innocent supernatural stories – these are legitimately scary, disturbing, and disgusting stories filled with some blood-freezing imagery that will undoubtedly stick in your mind. We can’t imagine how children take to it.

“Teletubbies” (1997-2001; 2015-)
What is it with children enjoying these freaky alien shows!? “Teletubbies” has always had a bit of a reputation for being creepy. After all, it features strange-looking creatures who speak in alien gibberish and broadcast human children on their stomachs, eat custard, room with an intelligent vacuum cleaner, and live under a sun composed of a human baby’s face. Talk about an acid trip. The show is well-known for its surrealism, and like most surreal fiction, it has a tendency to really get under your skin and creep you out to no end. Artistic? Sure. Disturbing and unsettling? You betcha.

“Cow and Chicken” (1997-99)
While “Cow and Chicken” is often presented as a comedy, its basic premise is quite disturbing, and the episodes are full of dark humor and unnerving surrealism. For one thing, Chicken and Cow have delirious parents whose upper halves are mysteriously absent, so their home lives are none too happy, and more than a little creepy. On top of that, they frequently encounter someone from Hell called the Red Guy (AKA the Devil) who, obviously, does numerous disturbing things, like drag Chicken to the underworld. It’s surreal, it’s dark, and it’s full of eerie scenes. Seriously, what was with the cartoons of the ‘90s?

“Adventure Time” (2010-18)
“Adventure Time” is very fun, but it is also incredibly dark. The premise of the show is that two best friends, Jake the Dog and Finn the Human, go on adventures in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo. While the show is mostly innocent fun, it also features a host of nightmarish villains, including The Lich and Goliad, a creepy baby-sphinx hybrid with mind-control powers. Other monsters include the Earl of Lemongrab (a Frankensteinian creation who is downright horrifying), and mysterious, formless beings covered in teeth, called Lub Glubs. Needless to say, this post-apocalyptic world, and the monsters inhabiting it, are more than a little spine-chilling.

“The Ren and Stimpy Show” (1991-95)
To this day, “The Ren & Stimpy Show” is known for being one of the darkest and most violent children’s cartoons of all time. The show was infamous for being needlessly brutal, and numerous episodes were censored as a result. One episode in particular was banned from airing on Nickelodeon and resulted in the firing of series creator and showrunner John Kricfalusi. While the show received critical acclaim, parents despised the content matter, and it quickly gained a negative reputation for being disgusting and inappropriate.