Top 10 Scariest Sesame Street Moments

Sunny day

Sweepin' the clouds away

On my way

To where things aren't so sweet

Can you tell me how to get

Get away from So Scary Street?

Ah, good old Sesame Street, the TV show that every child watched, some more frequently than others (my younger siblings, and my niece and nephews, all but devoured it), but surely no less than once or twice in their lives. And no doubt there was "that one thing" in the show that absolutely scared one poor kid or another out of their socks.

Yep, even yours truly was not truly immune. As if you haven't already guessed from this blog's title, I'm about to share the moments that never failed to give me the willies. Some of these moments I didn't start to get over until junior high, or even high school; even now, this very day, a shiver or two will still crawl along my spine.

So, if you dare, mates, proceed with great caution. (And apologies in advance for the sucky quality of the images!)

10. King Minus

This one didn't make me seek protection from the couch, but it was still bizarre watching, even by today's standards. If you're at all familiar with the old Greek myth, King Midas was blessed with the curse of "the golden touch," except here, "King Minus" has the gift/curse of making things disappear, "like magic subtraction."

Naturally, this gift comes in handy when dealing with four awful dragons (special emphasis on "awful")...

...but not so handy when touching his fair maiden, his trusty steed, and ultimately himself. This is the part that everyone considers (and for good reason) the most disturbing. One of those rare moments in which you're really torn between laughing and being completely weirded out.

9. "Danger (It's No Stranger)"

A song about safety from "How Now Brown and the Moo Wave" that's every bit as catchy as it is creepy. Most people deem it pretty cool now, myself included, but even I have to admit it may be a bit much for much younger viewers.

The eerie lighting in a dark, narrow alley, the ghostly whoosh of that enormous "DANGER" sign, the explosions, the shower of bricks, the piano player dangling high in the air and then plummeting out of sight with a heart-stopping crash...if it's not one of those nightmarish aspects, it's another. In my case, it was the piano player that almost did me in. You didn't even get to see if he (or she) was okay or not.

If this song doesn't convince you to take care out there, nothing will.

8. Cookie Monster trying to eat Guy Smiley

I'll be honest: out of all the Sesame Street characters, Cookie Monster is my most favorite by a long shot. He's the "monster" I consider the funniest and most charismatic, and I relate to him the easiest. I'd love to cuddle with that blue fuzz and pig out on cookies with him, provided he doesn't get to the last cookie before I do!

But this is the one segment that made me legitimately afraid of him. This is that one moment in which he makes a serious attempt to eat another person (when I was little, I thought I saw an actual bite taken out of Guy Smiley's arm) and chases that poor person all over the place and out of the scene.

In this clip, Cookie Monster is indeed a monster, and not the fun kind. All I can say today is: thank heaven this happened no more than once.

7. "What Happens Next"

I had a bad dream involving this segment, and I think that's what got to me above all. While I know they were trying to be funny, there was something about that "Charlie Chaplin doppelganger" that turned me off; somehow, something about people with facial hair never sat well with me when I was little.

It turns out the "doppelganger" was Maria all along, and I still think that costume doesn't become her, least of all when she breaks the fourth wall with you.

 

6. The Magic Mirror

Did Disney's version of "The Slave in the Magic Mirror" ever make it tough for you to sleep at night?

Well, this version made it even tougher for me:

Breaking the fourth wall scared me. People with beards scared me. Put those two together and you get a most unpleasant spine-tingling combination, as the "Magic Mirror" scene with Jerry Nelson will attest. I always hated that Jerry's hairy face took up the entire mirror, not to mention how he looked straight at us and almost never diverted his gaze. It was like telling us kids that he could see us clear through the TV screen, and that we could not get away.

His role as the Giant from "Jack and the Beanstalk" was no treat, either:

"Aww, they often come to visit, but they never stay!"

I wonder if the poor guy ever felt bad for traumatizing children like this. I'm willing to bet he did.

5. The giggling skeleton

Count von Count singing a song that teaches kids about the human skeleton? Good idea!

Giving that skeleton (who never speaks or moves on its own at any other time) a totally unexpected and utterly terrifying laugh? NOT so good idea!

Listening to that laugh now only reminds me of how much it spooked me then. 'Nuff said.

4. Humpty Dumpty

Whose brilliant idea was it to invent a fairy tale puppet that looked like this?

All I can say is that I was most relieved whenever Humpty Dumpty got knocked off his perch and we didn't have to look at his ugly slasher-smiling face anymore...even if it meant he got smashed to bits in the process.

There was even a full episode in which Mr. Dumpty kept trying (in vain) to find some special place where he wouldn't break and he looked worse and worse every time they put him back together, to the point where I just had to ask, "Why did they keep bothering?"

I mean, this image speaks for itself...yeesh!

3. "Count to 10 With Nobody"

This is one segment I was most fortunate not to have discovered in my childhood...and it still had the unfortunate ability to give me the heebie-jeebies in my adulthood.

For real, what were those guys thinking?

2. "Wet Paint"

How Now Brown and the Moo Wave did it again. Where "Danger (It's No Stranger)" was only mildly spooky for me, "Wet Paint" practically crippled me for many years. Once, when I was watching Sesame Street at a cousin's house, I all but dove behind the coffee table when this scene appeared on the screen.

I don't know if it was the eerie music, the constant splashes of paint that looked like colored blood, or the "Wet Paint"-induced nightmare I once had, or all of the above. Most likely the latter.

In any case, it wasn't until high school that I could watch this clip from start to finish without squirming, and I still get an unpleasant flashback now and again.

If not for what I'm about to reveal next, "Wet Paint" would have topped my list with no trouble at all.

1. A talking stormcloud

A living, breathing cloud with no eyes (just a pair of very thick brows) and a low, rumbling voice that has the ability to venture indoors?

No.

Just...no.

No, thank you, thank you most kindly!

With no further ado, mateys, I'm getting out of here!

And before I go, just so I'm not leaving you on such a frightening note, a very happy Leap Year to you all! This is a day we shan't see again for another four years, so make the most of it!