I'm dumb and have dumb ideas

I don't think it's child abuse, just a bad parenting decision. The first two movies I remember are Alien and the Exorcist, probably not a good idea. While they didn't haunt me for years, I think it's pretty normal in this day and age to be exposed to something that freaked you the fuck out during child hood. I try to not make the same mistake with my kids but I let my son watch the Shrek Halloween special and it gave him nightmares for weeks on end. I'm sure they didn't mean to traumatize you... well, pretty sure. I saw some thing last week where you can hire this demonic clown to stalk your kid for a week straight, with increasing frequency and severity until it climaxes in the kid getting a pie in the face from Pennywise. Now that might be child abuse.

In 2nd grade our music teacher showed us the original Phantom of the Opera. I wouldn't say it fucked me up for life, I don't think, but it certainly gave me nightmares.

Interesting. I do think it would be a poor decision to show that to a kid under say age 10, without explaining that it was all fake.

It's really ironic that a recurring nightmare I had as a child was with weird cloaked men with bird masks just like in your avatar Gareth. (And that was way before Evangelion).

My 1-year-old was with us when we watched Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad over the weekend. We tried to turn her head away and she seemed utterly uninterested anyway, so it appears she's safe. I turn those shows off when my 3-year-old walks in the room though.

one of my earliest tv memories is sitting on the floor in my aunt and uncle's living room, watching "the best little whorehouse in texas"...

that probably explains a lot, actually.

Now I know why you're always wearing that cowboy hat in the city

You know, after my wife was in a car accident a couple years ago, she was totally freaked out and making some bad decisions. She sought treatment for PTSD, and it helped her get back to normal. The therapist used a type of treatment involving specific eye movements while discussing her feelings subsequent to the accident. I've also read the PTSD is now being treated with Ecstasy! Talking therapy seems safer to me.

I find if you fear something the best way to handle it is to confront it, examine it and try to deeply understand it. Rewatch the videos, pause them look at the faces, study the makeup techniques. Think of the reason behind the creation or spread of them. I used to be terribly afraid of Chucky as a kid, Now I love creature design and every time I see a Chucky doll in a toy store I have to stop to examine the design and production.

Fear is the path to the dark side.

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering...

MJ's Thriller gave me nightmares for about 2 years.

I remember my parents had just started watching A Nightmare On Elm Street. They told me you can't watch this but I told them I was a bog boy and they said ok, go for it. I watched that movie with my hands over my eyes peeking through my fingers. That movie scared the shit out of me. My parents lesson was, see, you should had listened to us.

My dad said I cried when I first watched the Exorcist. I must have blocked that out, as I don't remember and this was just last year (kidding).

Today, I love everything about horror and being scared. Anytime I have ever gone to a haunted house attraction or Halloween Horror Nights or the like as an adult, I can't stop giggling. It's fun to me because it's a rush and you don't know what's going to happen next.

But I think it's good advice to confront most fears, especially something like this that you have a whole lot of control over -- You can pause the videos, you can have all of your lights on when you watch it, watch it from across the room so it's not right in your face, etc.

in all the years since I first got scared by one I've been startled by a few and seen plenty in the form of reaction vids (they even have them on America's Funniest Home Videos), and the exact face that popped up in the first one is a bit popular for them. while I've never brought up the video again I've actually looked up and examined the still picture many times, as sometimes I get forgetful of the details.

despite all that, much more horrific versions of that image find their way into dreams from time to time. and any time I interact with a TV, computer, etc. in a dream it's always dreadful anticipating the coming terror even if it never shows up.

I really just kinda wish I had a way of making more people aware of how fucked up I think it is that parents show that stuff to tiny little kids and the internet thinks it's funny. but there's obviously infinitely more fucked up stuff in the world and plenty of it, and I dunno, maybe I'm just more easily fucked-with than a lot of those kids. who knows.

thanks for all input

When I was a kid, a neighbor invited me over his house. When I went there the basement door was open and I heard his voice say Im down here. So I go in, noting, he says Im back here, so I keep going. I get all the way to the end of the dark ass basement when BAM he jumps out with a Halloween mask. It terrified me and sent me running. It was only when I was in my late teens that I was able to go into basements again. And even to this day, there is still that little twitchy feeling when I'm alone in a basement.

So yes, I totally think one small incident like that can scar you for life.

Its like its rewires your thinking. Your mind just keeps replaying that moment over and over and feels like a hammer is hitting your brain when you think about it.

But at some point you have to deal with it and just face it and get past it.

We're all different bud, don't be down on yourself for it. What's small potatoes to one, can indeed be a much larger deal to another, especially when dealing with fear. Why? Cause fear can lead to a phobia depending on how it's handled. I'd say you definitely have a said phobia of such & since you haven't been able to handle it on your own and an now reaching out, you should take the next step & seek professional help from those trained to do so. Not only will you get assistance working through your issues, but hopefully you'll be taught coping skills, etc. to make it easier to handle sensitive situations for you in the future. It definitely takes a certain acceptance to go, but if your therapist's worth a damn, you'll be all the better for it. Yep yep.

there was a claymation short that used to air around the holidays. It featured "The Raggedy Man", a grotesque geriatric with a stovepipe hat and cape who flew from window to window on christmas eve. If you were still awake instead of in bed like a good little kid, he would point his walking stick at you, turning children into rats. I remember being totally freaked out by this when I was 5, and I was pretty sure the raggedy man was going to stop by every night, not just on christmas eve. I think watching Poltergeist when I was 6 traumatized me so much that I forgot all about The Raggedy Man. Thankfully the video seems to have disappeared and kids today don't have to endure such an abomination.

I was going to say something similar to what boo said, our problems are real because they are our problems. For the same reason though, don't take it too hard on the parents out there. It's really hard to know what will freak a child out. My son loves Shrek and he loves Halloween but apparently the two together are traumatizing. Some of the stuff that terrified me the most as a child makes absolutely no sense and wouldn't even phase another person. I am truly sorry that it had such a strong effect on you though but as others have said, I hope the final outcome is in some way positive or at least not causing further stress. No need to feel self conscious about it though. Anyone who says they haven't faced an emotional battle or struggle in life is lying to themselves, if not directly to you. Those that don't gain an understanding for the trouble of others as a result are not worth your time.

my parents put me on a tiny roller coaster at a local faire when I was like 4 or 5 and it scarred me for life. to this day, I really can't go on any kind of roller coaster. sucked growing up.

I had these nature books I always flipped thru. I knew the pages with scary spiders and sharks, so I tried to flip through them. But with them always watching nova, Marty stoufer, juaq quistowe. I always thought bugs were in my shoes or while swimming in a pool the sharks were going to eat my ass off. But some bugs still make my spine twitch. And swimming in the ocean. Fuck still freaks me out.

Also my next door neighbor was a lot older than me. I was in preschool when he was in highschool. Took me to a haunted house. Was during the Freddie and Friday the 13th were popular, and these guys scared the shit out of me!!!!! I fucking cried and plead to get me outta of there. Everyone was laughing, but I was serious, that sucked.

Still freaked out by Freddie and Friday the 13th mike myers

I just remembered this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntm0Z7dpMKU

The funniest show I've ever seen.

No wonder therapy is such a big business in the US . . . you all need to grow a pair!

I've got a pair, but they're at odds.


At 4 Wizard of Oz was terrifying. At 8 Night of the Living Dead was dull. As an adult male the only thing that scares me are the women I date.

Just because you were raised by wolves doesn't mean you can't be part of our community

+1 Brah