7 Canadian TV Shows From The '90s & Early 2000s That Were Surprisingly Scary For Kids
If you grew up in Canada in the '90s-early 2000s, you may remember some of the classic Canadian TV shows and cartoons from that time that aren't around anymore today.
But looking back, some of the shows you may recall watching, like Are You Afraid of the Dark and Tales From The Cryptkeeper, were downright scary — despite being meant for kids.
Even today, you'd be forgiven for getting freaked out by the realistic bug puppets in Freaky Stories or the CGI monsters from shows like Courage The Cowardly Dog. Not to mention that the content of these shows often involved some super creepy paranormal beings, ghosts and ghouls, too.
Get ready for a hit of nostalgia — here are seven shows from your Canadian childhood that may or may not still scare you today.
Tales From The Cryptkeeper (1993-1999)
This classic anthology series sees selfish kids or those with a bad attitude learn their lesson by getting scared — what could be creepier to watch as a child?
The host is the crypt keeper himself, already a scary-looking guy. The episodes include everything from a haunted doll that teaches children how to play nicely to mutant frogs that chase down kids who think they're too cool for school.
The show, which ran until 1999, undoubtedly scared many kids into being on their best behaviour.
If you're in the mood for a spooky story, you can find episodes of Tales From The Cryptkeeper on YouTube.
Courage The Cowardly Dog (1999-2002)
While Courage The Cowardly Dog is generally a light-hearted show, there were tons of weird, heebie-jeebie-inducing moments that definitely made it creepy.
The show follows Courage, who, although cowardly, must constantly overcome his fears to protect his owners from the strange paranormal events, dangers, and menaces that appear on their farmland.
Some of the most terrifying moments from the show include a Sweeney Todd-inspired episode about a creepy barber named Fred, a CGI nightmare that appears in Courage's dreams in another episode, and a horrible moment when Courage comes upon a girl playing a violin.
You can watch Courage The Cowardly Dog on Apple TV and see the weirdness for yourself.
Are You Afraid Of The Dark (1990-2000)
Did you even have a Canadian childhood if you didn't stay up late to catch this show?
Are You Afraid of the Dark is an anthology series that follows a group of teens known as the Midnight Society, who gather to tell a new spooky story each episode hoping to impress the other members of the group.
While the stories don't get too scary (it is a kids' show, after all) many deal with elements of the paranormal, like a cursed monkey's paw that brings misfortune, aliens, vampires, ghosts, and other things that go bump in the night.
The intro itself is pretty unsettling, with eerie music playing over images of lonely playgrounds, an old attic and a creepy-looking clown doll.
Besides that, many of the stories don't have "happy" endings, adding to the show's creep factor.
If you want to see for yourself, you can find tons of Are You Afraid of the Dark episodes on YouTube.
Moville Mysteries (2002-2003)
You may have thought that this show was just a fever dream, and that's understandable, given how strange it is.
Moville Mysteries follows Mosley "Mo" Moville (played by Frankie Muniz) and his friends, Tommy "Hitch" Hitchcock and Mimi Valentine, as they navigate high school while also dealing with paranormal occurrences of the weirdest kind in their town, Ouigee Falls.
Not only is the show animated in a surreal way, but it also features creepy figures and unsettling circumstances — think of it as kind of like The Twilight Zone, but for kids.
One especially dark episode is "How Now Meowing Cow," in which Mo and his classmates make a pit stop at a farm on their way to a field trip, only to discover that the farmer is creating some terrifying creatures of his own.
You can find more creepy episodes of the show on YouTube.
Freaky Stories (1997-1999)
This show was super creepy when you consider it was meant for kids.
Freaky Stories is an anthology of "urban legends" — each story begins with the narrator saying, "This is a true story, it happened to a friend of a friend of mine."
The intro begins with a run-down looking diner and clips from the series of eerie-looking people, ending off on a nice shot of a couple that are either dead or undead (either way, they've seen better days).
Then, you have the show's hosts, a pair of horrifying bugs that live in the diner (and look very realistic).
Not only was the intro creepy in itself, but the content of the show may have also been off-putting, like an episode about a woman who frequently gets throbbing headaches, only to later discover that her beehive hairdo was full of huge spiders.
If you want to get freaked out for yourself, you can watch seasons one and two of Freaky Stories on Tubi or Apple TV, and can also find episodes on YouTube.
Goosebumps (1995-1998)
Goosebumps is a classic kid's horror show based on the books of the same name by R.L. Stine.
The series of anthology stories follows those of the books, like "Say Cheese and Die."
The show features scares like a creature picking off kids at camp and a seemingly evil ventriloquist dummy come to life. How could you not have a nightmare or two after watching?
If you have cable, you can still catch episodes of Goosebumps on TV today, or watch it on Roku.
Mystery Hunters (2002-2009)
While this show was mainly about investigating and debunking mysteries, it still had its creepy moments.
Mystery Hunters was a reality TV show hosted by Araya Mengesha and Christina Broccolini, who would travel to locations around the globe to investigate mysteries and legends like vampires, the Bermuda Triangle, witches and the existence of Bigfoot.
What sometimes made the show creepy was that the myths, lore and legends they were investigating existed in the real world.
From things like alien encounters to episodes about banshees and Mothman, the content of the show could definitely keep you up at night.
Feeling scared yet?
