Category: Name That Trauma!

Hi. I discovered Kindertrauma about a month ago and I'm hooked. Awesome site. I'm wondering if you might know of the short film that scared to me death when I was about eight or nine years old, in the late nineties. I thought it might be called "Monster in my Closet" but evidently I'm wrong. It was a short movie for kids (maybe on the Disney Channel?) about a kid that discovers a large monster with a cartoon-ish face in his closet.

At one point, his mom opens the closet door to show him there is nothing there, and when she turns the light back out and turns to face him, the monster's eyes can be seen in the open closet behind her, blinking. If you know the name of this movie, I would love to see it again. Love your site!!

—Kelly

Been wracking my brain about this one and my search engine skills are apparently lacking. I believe it's a late sixties or seventies era supernatural horror and it really freaked me out as a kid. All I remember is this: a bunch of teenagers go on a picnic (for some reason I remember they ate fried chicken) and naturally the weird stuff starts happening. At one point they see some kind of castle in the distance that vanishes and fight a giant bipedal monster in a cave. In the end one of them ends up committed and screaming about demons.

What I remember scaring me the most was, like the kids, I had no understanding of what was happening to them, other than they were all doomed. It seemed like they were fighting the devil and I knew that the devil's pretty good at not losing to people. That's about it. It's not much to go on but if anyone remembers my trauma I'd appreciate it.

Sorry. Forgot to mention that this was a movie. Additionally, a search for "supernatural horror seventies kids picnic vanishing castle monster devil" mostly comes up with SCOOBY DOO episodes – in case anyone's wondering. I need help!

Thanks! Great site!

UNK SEZ: Rob, I knew exactly what movie you were speaking of as soon as you said "fried chicken picnic", it's 1970's EQUINOX a.k.a THE BEAST! That fried chicken picnic has always stuck in my head too which is kind of strange when you consider all the crazy stuff that happens in EQUINOX, like this…

And this…

And this…

Plus it stars FRANK BONNER from WKRP IN CINCINNATI!

Hey there everybody,

In the mid '80s there was a novel about a killer kid called "Lost" or possibly "The Lost." The book also had a creepy T.V. commercial that ran late at night. Every time I try a search for this book everything that comes up is either related to the T.V. show or the Jack Ketchum novel. If anyone could tell me the name of the author it would great and a way to see the commercial again would be even better.

Thanks a bunch,

UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Nothing seems to get past the all-knowing senski, and he knew that this book is LOST by Gary Devon.

Hi there,

My sister told me about your site. Great stuff, and what a cool idea!

I was wondering if you could help me. For as long as I can remember, there has been ONE thing that I can recall from my childhood that scared the living crap out of me (and it still bothers me to this day when I think about it). I believe it was an act that appeared on the MUPPET SHOW, and it involved some kind of Japanese puppet.

Now, I've already done a little research myself and came across this:

This very well might be what frightened me so much, because it seems to match fairly well with what I can remember…but not quite. I seem to recall the puppet's movements being more jerky and frantic. My sister told me that you often track down the things that scared people so much as kids, and I was wondering if you could help me out. It would be much appreciated! If you need me to provide any more details, please just let me know and I'll do the best I can.

Thanks so much!

Megan D.

AUNT JOHN SEZ: Megan, I am pretty sure you might have provided the answer to your NAME THAT TRAUMA; however, I am by no means well versed in the art of Japanese puppetry. Therefore, I feel it's best to ask our infinitely more knowledgeable readers… what says youse guys?

Hi there kindertrauma! I've sent you guys a question before and I don't know if you have a limit of one question per person, but this question has popped into my head and it's driving me nuts!

Anyway what I'm trying to remember is not a movie or T.V. show, but instead a horror book for kids (and no, it's not a GOOSEBUMPS book), it was a picture book about a boy who goes into an abandoned and haunted movie theater and finds a nice popcorn and soda waiting for him and a movie about to start, so he watches the movie which is an old 1950's era B-movie about alien spiders on Mars and suddenly the kid finds himself IN THE MOVIE!

And what really scared me about the book is that it ends with him trapped in the movie and possibly eaten by the spiders.

I'm pretty sure it had "Spiders from Mars" or "Mars Spiders" somewhere in the title, but anything I Google gets me nothing but DAVID BOWIE results. Oh, and in case it helps, I believe the book is from the late ‘90s.

So there you have it, this has been driving me nuts and of course I no longer have the book anywhere, that would be too easy, so here's hoping you guys can help me out!

Hey, your site's wonderful. It's great to read about people's trauma.

I have one from the early ‘60s. It was a film I saw as a kid on television. Maybe it was black & white, but who knows. Maybe it was an anthology T.V show. I don't think it was a feature. I've checked ONE STEP BEYOND and BORIS KARLOFF and ALFRED HITCHCOCK, but I still can't find it.

A woman decides to kill her traveling-salesman husband. She types his fake suicide note on a typewriter. She (somehow) kills him and (somehow) gets rid of his body. All I really remember is her saying, as she cleans up the murder scene, is "Everything…everything" so she won't forget any clues.

And maybe there's a shot of the typewriter falling/plunging underwater, but I might be making a memory from THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER.

Any clues as to what this episode was?

Thanks,

Greg

UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Thanks to Reader Thunderknight for getting it with DEMENTIA 13!

First off… great site. I spent 3 hours on it tonight.

I remember a movie I saw on T.V. when I was a kid in the late '70s early '80s. It was about a group of teenagers in the woods being attacked by a monster made of mud? I believe they were on an island in the woods? or by a large lake?

Any idea on the movie name?

Thanks,

Stephen

UNK SEZ: Stephen C., that sounds very much like THE WORLD BEYOND A.K.A. THE MUD MONSTER! I don't recall teenagers being involved but the action did take place on an island and the monster was most certainly made of mud. Check out our review HERE and the video below and tell us if it looks like it might be the one you're seeking!

O.K., this will probably be a lay-up for most of the folks that read this site, but I'm going out of my mind trying to remember this one. I definitely saw this on T.V. and I want to say on PBS about 25 years ago. It was a half-hour black and white show from the ‘60s, possibly THE OUTER LIMITS or some U.K. counterpart. In it, a family discovers some kind of mushroom in their back yard. If I recall correctly, the mushrooms were extraterrestrial, but I can't be certain.

In any case, the Kindertrauma moment is at the end of the episode. The entire family has been taken over by these things, except for one person, possibly Dad. You can tell because their ears(!!!!!) have turned into mushrooms. Dad looks up at the top of the stairs to see the silhouette of his son with the mushroom ears telling him to 'join them' or something equally freaking terrifying. Then the episode ends.

I tell people this and they think I am nuts. Well, if I am nuts it is due to seeing a kid my age be consumed by ALIEN MUSHROOMS.

Thanks in advance,

Chad

UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Credit where credit is due to the unstoppable senski who got it with ALFRED HITHCOCK PRESENTS "SPECIAL DELIVERY."

Hello,

Here's another one for ya: I remember that there's a bunch of people in some kind of building and there's this pointy-headed green monster that's only seen in mirrors (Although I think it's seen walking through a cloud of smoke at the end.) I also remember a scene where a black guy is pulled by an invisible force up into a ceiling fan where he's presumably chopped to bits. I think there's also a scene where a chick gets killed while taking a bath.

Any thoughts as to what this could be?

UNK SEZ: A pointy headed green monster, death by ceiling fan and a chick gets killed in a bathtub (by snakes?). Sounds to me like you are talking about 1987's THE OUTING also known as THE LAMP!

This really scared me when I was little and I've never known what it was. It was the end, I think, of a movie I was watching on T.V.

There was a man and a woman, I think, trapped in this huge room with hundreds of tiny machines/robots who were crawling all over them and trying to kill them.

That's really all I can remember but I don't know if that's enough information.

There was a big metal structure in it too…can somebody help me?

UPDATE: NAME THAT TRAUMA SOLVED! Special thanks to Professor Von Whiskersen for nailing it with RUNAWAY!