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Kids\u2019 TV shows are supposed to be fun, educational, and, well, not terrifying. But somehow, certain characters slipped through the cracks and ended up scaring the bejeezus out of their young audience instead. From bizarre puppets to downright disturbing animations, these characters left us sleeping with the lights on despite their supposedly kid-friendly design. Let\u2019s revisit the ten characters that probably gave you trust issues with your television set.<\/p>\n
Related: Top 10 Bizarre TV Shows For Kids<\/p>\n
Top 10 WTF Mr Blobby Moments<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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You know a character\u2019s bad news when it makes both kids and adults uncomfortable. This pink and yellow spotted monstrosity from the British show Noel\u2019s House Party<\/em><\/strong> (1992-1999) is pure nightmare fuel. Picture a six-foot-tall blob with bulging eyes and a permanent grin whose only communication is screaming \u201cBLOBBY!\u201d while violently bouncing around like he\u2019s escaped from somewhere he definitely should\u2019ve stayed. He wasn\u2019t just creepy, he was chaotic, unpredictable, and honestly felt more like a fever dream than a children\u2019s entertainer. The guy crashed through walls and destroyed sets while maintaining that horrifying smile. <\/p>\n If you\u2019ve never heard of this Czechoslovakian nightmare, consider yourself lucky. This character from Slnie\u010dko<\/em><\/strong> (1979-1989) looks like what would happen if a bedsheet ghost had a mental breakdown. With massive googly eyes and a gaping black hole of a mouth, this thing was supposedly teaching kids moral lessons. Ironically, he was designed to encourage children to question authority during communist times, but instead probably just made them question why adults were trying to scare them to death. The only lesson most kids learned was how to check under their beds before sleeping.<\/p>\n The Day We Met EC: A Lift Off Throwback<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n Sometimes good intentions lead straight to horror. Australia\u2019s Lift Off<\/em><\/strong> (1992-1995) featured EC, a faceless, genderless doll meant to represent \u201cevery child\u201d so all kids could identify with it. Sweet concept, right? Wrong. The execution gave us what looks like a mummified child\u2019s head on a cloth body. The blank fabric face with vague indentations where features should be hits that uncanny valley sweet spot that makes your skin crawl. Australian kids didn\u2019t see themselves in EC, but saw it in their nightmares.<\/p>\n Peppermint Park: The Creepiest Puppet Show Ever Made<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n The educational series Peppermint Park<\/em><\/strong> (1987-1988) proves that a low budget can be truly terrifying. These human-like animal puppets had this weird, unsettling quality with dead eyes that seemed to follow you around the room. That lion puppet, with its wide, unblinking stare and mouth that moved like it was possessed, gave many children the creeps. They weren\u2019t cartoonish enough to be cute but weren\u2019t realistic enough to look normal, leaving them in this disturbing limbo that made learning the alphabet feel like a hostage situation.<\/p>\n CBBC: Wizards Vs Aliens \u2013 Nekross Video Log<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n From the British series Wizards vs Aliens<\/em><\/strong>, this guy was basically a giant reptilian face that boomed about \u201cfeasting\u201d on wizards\u2019 magic. Voiced by Brian Blessed, this massive head displayed on screens throughout his ship made escape seem impossible. Between his intimidating appearance, booming voice, and weird cannibalistic overtones, he was exceptionally terrifying for what was supposed to be a kids\u2019 show. His catchphrase \u201cThe Nekross will feast!\u201d probably didn\u2019t help anxious kids sleep at night.<\/p>\n Noseybonk \u2013 creepy kids program<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n If you grew up with British TV in the early 80s, you\u2019re probably still in therapy from this character. Noseybonk from Jigsaw<\/em><\/strong> (1979-1984) was basically a silent performer wearing a white mask with an enormously long, pointed nose and a fixed, maniacal grin that would make the Joker uncomfortable. He\u2019d prance around wordlessly in various scenarios, that permanent smile never changing, never speaking. Just watching. With that stark white face against dark clothing, he looked more like something that crawled out of a Victorian nightmare than a character designed to entertain children.<\/p>\n T\u00e9l\u00e9chat \u2013 Saison 1 \u2013 Episode complet<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n The experimental French show T\u00e9l\u00e9chat<\/em><\/strong> (1983-1986) featured what sounds innocent enough: a telephone with eyes. But this wasn\u2019t your friendly talking object. This was a regular landline phone that would whisper in this breathy, creepy voice that made you feel like it was telling secrets it shouldn\u2019t know. It took something ordinary and made it feel deeply wrong. Kids\u2019 shows typically make objects friendly and cute, but The Phone was like that one weird toy in your room that you\u2019d swear moved when you weren\u2019t looking.<\/p>\n Wizbit Rabbit Is A Great Dancer<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n Imagine a floating yellow triangle with a face that speaks in a hollow voice and moves like it\u2019s not quite bound by the laws of physics. That\u2019s Wizbit from the British show Wizbit<\/em><\/strong> (1986-1988). While he was supposed to be a magical alien wizard, something about his unnatural movements and simplistic yet alien appearance just felt off. Add in the surreal setting of Puzzleopolis, and you\u2019ve got a show that operated on dream logic rather than anything a kid could make sense of. What was meant to feel magical instead felt like a bad trip designed by Salvador Dal\u00ed.<\/p>\n The Estonian educational show Mommi Ja\u2019 Aabits<\/em><\/strong> (1977-1978) featured what might be the most disturbing educational mascots ever created: adults in animal costumes that only covered their bodies and heads, leaving their human mouths visible through the animal masks. Picture furry animal bodies with actual human mouths speaking Estonian. The combination of the stiff, unnatural movement of these hybrid creatures, their blank staring eyes, and those exposed human mouths created an effect so jarring it\u2019s a wonder any Estonian child learned to read at all.<\/p>\n \u2018Are You My Mummy?\u2019 | The Empty Child | Doctor Who<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n While Doctor Who<\/em><\/strong> walks the line between kids\u2019 and family TV, The Empty Child from the 2005 episodes deserves a spot for the sheer number of children it traumatized. A young boy in a gas mask wandering through World War II London repeatedly asking \u201cAre you my mummy?\u201d might not sound scary on paper, but it tapped into something primal. The dehumanizing mask, the innocent question turned sinister, and the fact that his touch transformed others into gas-masked zombies created perfect childhood horror. It took something pure \u2014 a lost child looking for his mother \u2014 and twisted it into something that had kids checking their closets for weeks.<\/p>\nWebsite design 9<\/span>Ra\u0165af\u00e1k Plachta<\/h2>\n
Website design 8<\/span>EC (The Faceless Doll)<\/h2>\n
Website design 7<\/span>The Puppets from Peppermint Park<\/h2>\n
Website design 6<\/span>The Nekross King<\/h2>\n
Website design 5<\/span>Noseybonk<\/h2>\n
Website design 4<\/span>The Phone from T\u00e9l\u00e9chat<\/h2>\n
Website design 3<\/span>Wizbit<\/h2>\n
Website design 2<\/span>The Mascots from Mommi Ja\u2019 Aabits<\/h2>\n
Website design 1<\/span>The Empty Child<\/h2>\n
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