Now, what did you like as a kid that creeps you out now?

[Ameriblush]

I posted a thread a day or two prior to this asking the forum what spooked them as a child but makes them laugh or roll their eyes as an adult. The answers the thread received were pretty awesome, and it gave me the idea for a reverse thread:

What did you like as a child, but find creepy now? Can be a place, person, game, cartoon, movie, song, BGM, concept, phrase, anything, as long as its Safe for work and PG. Don't be shy to post links, videos, and photos if you want.

Mine was the floating head from Courage the Cowardly Dog. I thought that thing was hilarious when I was younger. Now...not so much.

 

[Katleya]

Frogs. I remember seeing a bunch of tiny frogs one day in the countryside as a kid, and being disappointed that we couldn't take some.

Now... just typing the word makes me shiver. I just can't. It is a phobia, and it has actually determined a few of my life choices (such as not going to a particular school because it has several ponds with many frogs, including right next to the buildings where the classes are taught; couldn't chance that).
And everybody seems to think they're super cute, so there isn't a single week that goes by without hearing a frog ringtone, or seeing one on a postcard, and yes, even freaking cartoon frogs have that effect on me (except Kermit. Kermit is okay).

Oh, and the frog phobia has even evolved into a "subset phobia" that's directly linked: one day I was grocery shopping with my mother, as a teen, and I went to do my favorite thing, pick up a head of lettuce. Sitting pretty in the head I picked up was... a frog. Alive and well, in all its clammy green splendor. Now I can't touch lettuce with my hands. Can't wash it if it's fresh, and can't get it out of a bag either. It's been over 20 years, and I probably won't ever overcome this (but I can rinse and touch spinach alright, go figure).

 

[Judge]

LOL. Maybe "J.P. Patches". A childrens' show about a harmless clown broadcast in the early 60s.

Not sure how my own common and current revulsion of clowns began. Perhaps either films like "Killer Klowns In Outer Space- or more likely "Poltergeist".

Then again I still recall Jimmy Stewart's endearing role as a gentle and compassionate clown in "The Greatest Show On Earth". However he was a doctor who euthanized his wife hiding from the law in a circus as a clown who never took off his makeup.

Clowns...no longer wanted.

 

[Gracey]

Eating earth/mud with a spoon (my granny let me use to dig) !!

Not three courses of earth or even heaped spoon fulls.

Just enough to taste/feel and crunch the gritty bits.
(I hope to God it was grit !!)



Edited to add,

I don't remember doing it after that initial taster session

 

[isthisreallife]

Mixing orange soda and milk.

 

[xudo]

Mixing orange soda and milk.

Mixing orange juice and Coca Cola.

 

[xDominiel]

Frogs. I remember seeing a bunch of tiny frogs one day in the countryside as a kid, and being disappointed that we couldn't take some.

Me and my brother encountered the same, but we actually stuffed a bunch of them in our pockets and took them home. We released them outside in the nearby woods later.

Also, I liked wandering the streets at night and in the woods in the pitch black darkness, I thought it was nice and peaceful. Now that I'm older and have a better understanding of the dangers of the world I'm a bit creeped out at the idea that I could easily have just not come back one night.

 

[WildCat]

Insects and the occasional wild animal or two...this was well before Pokemon hit the states, the real deal here. I absolutely had to catch and play around with one of every kind roaming around outdoors. Had to know everything about them also, was pretty curious as a wee child.

These days, the wow factor has nearly disappeared and I'm a bit disgusted by the little critters now.

 

[Nervous Rex]

Zombies. As a kid, I didn't think of them any differently than any other made-up monsters, like Dracula, Frankenstein, the werewolf, etc.

Now, the thought that something out of my control (e.g. the zombie virus) could make me evil is terrifying*. I only have nightmares once every few years, but my last three have been about zombies. I can't read any books with zombies in them, or watch any zombie movies. I've been waiting for 10 to 15 years for this zombie media craze to die out. Still waiting.

* Come to think of it, I have the exact same fear of senility**. I am so scared that, if I get Alzheimer's when I get older, I'll start saying what I think and following my every impulse, instead of the carefully-filtered kind and professional presentation I let everyone see right now.

**I think your conversational question just made me learn something about myself. I did not expect that.

 

[Mr Allen]

Mixing orange soda and milk.

Who loves Orange Soda?

If you watched Nickelodeon in the 90's you'll get that.

 

[Aeolienne]

I liked Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? when it first came out; thought it was inspirational and all that. Now I cringe at its inaccurate and patronising lyrics. For the record (no pun intended), it can and does snow in Africa at Christmas time (there are functioning ski resorts in Morocco and mountains in Ethiopia above the permanent snow line). Rivers do flow (have you heard of the Nile?) and crops do grow - in fact Ethiopia was exporting coffee during the 1984 famine. And as Ethiopia's indigenous Christianity long predates the European versions they have heard of Christmas, thank you very much.
More on Ethiopia from Responsible Travel

 

[Mr Allen]

Eating my own boogers.

Yeah a bit gross by all accounts, but it was one of my less savoury habits as a kid,

 

[pjcnet]

Frogs. I remember seeing a bunch of tiny frogs one day in the countryside as a kid, and being disappointed that we couldn't take some.

Now... just typing the word makes me shiver. I just can't. It is a phobia, and it has actually determined a few of my life choices (such as not going to a particular school because it has several ponds with many frogs, including right next to the buildings where the classes are taught; couldn't chance that).
And everybody seems to think they're super cute, so there isn't a single week that goes by without hearing a frog ringtone, or seeing one on a postcard, and yes, even freaking cartoon frogs have that effect on me (except Kermit. Kermit is okay).

Oh, and the frog phobia has even evolved into a "subset phobia" that's directly linked: one day I was grocery shopping with my mother, as a teen, and I went to do my favorite thing, pick up a head of lettuce. Sitting pretty in the head I picked up was... a frog. Alive and well, in all its clammy green splendor. Now I can't touch lettuce with my hands. Can't wash it if it's fresh, and can't get it out of a bag either. It's been over 20 years, and I probably won't ever overcome this (but I can rinse and touch spinach alright, go figure).

In the Summer as a young child I used to take a large plastic container, I'd wash some large stones and position them at the bottom so that I made a bridge structure with room for something to hide underneath, then I'd fill it up with water and bury it in the garden leaving the top open, effectively making a small makeshift pond. Now each day I'd top it up and check it. Before long I'd find at least one frog had moved in, especially if it was hot weather, but often there'd be a few. I sometimes used to catch one to frighten any unsuspecting girls out playing in my street. I also used to frighten the girls with spiders, insects and especially Daddy Longlegs (a type of large Cranefly) found mainly in the early Autumn, in fact my Mum had a proper phobia of Daddy Longlegs and I remember catching loads of them flying around in the grass in the early evening to let loose in my Mum and Dad's bedroom, I remember all the screams late at night and my Dad playing the knight in shining armour trying to get them all out, they never did suspect I'd done it lol!

I never later picked up any phobia, but obviously I wouldn't do anything like this now.... Or would I?


PS: At school I also used to use a compass needle to scratch off lots of small flakes of plastic from an old transparent plastic ruler, then I'd throw the flakes over an unsuspecting girl's hair. I used to call it a dandruff maker and it really did look like realistic dandruff, the girls hated it lol!

 

[watersprite]

When I was young I thought I liked my brothers and sisters.

 

[Progster]

The feet from pheasants or chickens that my Grandpa had. I used to play with them by pulling on the sinews and making then open and close, and freaking out other kids with them. Now I find them unpleasant and freaky. Here, some people cook and eat them. Yuck!

 

[Panthro]

When I was a kid, I watched this really weird movie called "The Peanut Butter Solution", it kind of freaked me out as a kid. It is about a kid whose hair falls out after visiting a haunted house, he then wears a wig to school to hide his bald head, which gets pulled off of his head by a bigger kid, and everyone starts laughing at him. For some reason, seeing that made my social anxiety worse. Now, I see it as no big deal, but being a 4 year old watching it freaked me out.

 

[Aeolienne]

The fondly-remembered (for some) schools' radio programme Singing Together was not without its controversies. I remember being encouraged to sing The Wee Cooper of Fife which is basically an endorsement for domestic violence. What was our music teacher thinking?!