General Woundwort (Watership Down)

Kids and parents everywhere assumed that any animated film about rabbits would inevitably be cute and cuddly, but we were seriously proven wrong by Watership Down – not least because of the fearsome General Woundwort. With his foaming mouth, bloodied teeth, menacing cloudy eye and gravelly voice (British actor Harry Andrews), this particular bunny was never in any danger of being confused with Thumper from Bambi.

The Wicked Witch of the West (The Wizard of Oz)

Before the Harry Potter series changed the way we viewed witches, there was The Wizard of Oz, and Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West. With her green skin, taloned fingers and all-black wardrobe including the essential pointy hat, the Witch was scary enough to look at, but it was her evil laugh and relentless persecution of Dorothy which made her particularly terrifying.

Scar (The Lion King)

Modelled on a whole host of villains from Claudius in Hamlet to history’s most infamous dictators, Scar of The Lion King has scared audiences for years. With his jet black mane, pointed fangs and emerald eyes, Scar gives off extremely threatening vibes, but it’s his heartlessness that really chills the blood, as he plots to murder his own brother and blame it on his nephew.

Rasputin (Anastasia)

Historians weren’t thrilled with 1997’s less-than historically accurate Anastasia, but this didn’t stop younger viewers from being seriously creeped out by the film’s take on Rasputin. The animated movie presents the real-life figure as a sorcerer who sells his soul and proves near-impossible to kill. It certainly helps that he’s voiced by Christopher Lloyd, an actor with a real knack for making his characters extra-scary.

Claude Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame’s Frollo is potentially the most underrated of all Disney villains. Pretty much immediately, we learn that Frollo doesn’t really care that he’s guilty of murdering an innocent woman, and he’s even prepared to commit infanticide on the infant Quasimodo. Small wonder the 1996 film is considered one of, if not the darkest entry in the canon of Disney’s animated movies.

Miss Trunchbull (Matilda)

Many of us dreaded going to school, but at least we didn’t go to Crunchem Hall, and at least our headmistress wasn’t the dreaded Agatha Trunchbull, as was the case for poor old Matilda in the 1996 film of Roald Dahl’s novel. Pam Ferris made Trunchbull a true titan of terror, and everything a good teacher shouldn’t be.

Jaws (James Bond)

Never mind Steven Spielberg’s killer shark film: the Jaws that really scared us as kids was hulking henchman with metal teeth, portrayed by the 7’2″ Richard Kiel and introduced in 1977’s classic James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. Kids were creeped out, but also loved the character, hence when Kiel returned as Jaws in Moonraker, he was reworked to become more heroic.

The Child Catcher (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)

The otherwise light-hearted family film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang contains one of the scariest movie villains ever in the form of Robert Helpmann’s Child Catcher, hired by Baron and Baroness Bomburst to catch and imprison youngsters. Let’s face it, the idea of a man luring kids with sweeties then stealing them away is every bit as terrifying to parents as it is to children.

The Evil Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)

Right from their first feature, Disney established that every great animated movie needs a truly terrifying antagonist. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs brings one of the most memorable of them all in the form of the Evil Queen, a vain and cold-hearted ruler jealous of her stepdaughter Snow White’s beauty, who conspires to use her magic and malevolence to destroy the innocent young woman.

Emperor Ming the Merciless (Flash Gordon)

Flash Gordon may be considered a camp classic, but it sports a truly scary villain in Max Von Sydow’s Ming, the tyrannical Emperor of planet Mongo, who attacks Earth for no better reason than that he’s bored. He seems dead at the film’s end, but the closing moments chillingly suggest he’s survived, leaving many young viewers scared that Ming would be back to get them.

Chucky (Child’s Play)

Although as kids we really shouldn’t have been watching horror movie Child’s Play, most of us grew up knowing about killer doll Chucky. Voiced by Brad Dourif, the possessed piece of plastic is relentless in his quest to transfer his soul to the body of his initially unwitting owner Andy. Millions of youngsters would never look at their toys in quite the same way again.

Judge Doom (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)

Christopher Lloyd was never more terrifying than when he took on the role of Who Framed Roger Rabbit’s seriously sinister bad guy with the suitably portentous name, Judge Doom. With his black hat, glasses and cloak, Doom is immediately intimidating, and he only becomes more fearful when we witness his sheer ruthlessness in cruelly killing an innocent animated shoe.

The Grand High Witch (The Witches)

As if Roald Dahl’s 1983 novel wasn’t scary enough, kids everywhere were left gibbering wrecks when The Witches was adapted into a film. As played by Anjelica Huston, the Grand High Witch wears a disguise to blend in with human society, but her true form is ghastly indeed. The 1990 film really pushed how far the PG rating could go in the old days.

Gmork (The NeverEnding Story)

The NeverEnding Story is filled with images that have haunted us since childhood (Artax drowning, anyone?) but one character that we all remember being particularly petrified of was the fearsome, talking wolf Gmork. Wolves are scary enough to begin with, what kid wouldn’t be disturbed by any animal threatening, “if you come any closer I’ll rip you to shreds”?

The Library Ghost (Ghostbusters)

She appears for just a few moments, but the spectral librarian in Ghostbusters gave us the biggest fright of our young lives. One second she’s floating along looking at books, the next she’s a roaring demon. It’s one of the all-time great jump scares: unexpected, very scary, but also kind of funny all at once, and as such it perfectly encapsulates the film’s eccentric tone.

Skeletor (Masters of the Universe)

Despite his bare-skulled face, Skeletor was ultimately a pretty non-threatening villain in the classic Filmation animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – but when the character came to live action, he was genuinely intimidating. The make-up used wasn’t the greatest (look at that nose, for goodness’ sake), but the big screen Skeletor was given real gravitas by seasoned actor Frank Langella.

General Zod (Superman II)

A recurring problem with Superman is that almost no opponent poses any real threat to the near-invulnerable superhero. Superman II fixes this with General Zod, who – like Superman himself – comes from the planet Krypton, and subsequently has the exact same superpowers on Earth. Portrayed by Terence Stamp, Zod memorably demands that Superman kneel before him, and we shuddered to see our hero genuinely intimidated.

Medusa (Clash of the Titans)

Clash of the Titans sports perhaps the most terrifying creation of legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen, in the dreaded gorgon Medusa. Traditionally a woman with snakes for hair who can turn people into stone with a single look, the 1981 fantasy classic makes her even scarier by giving her a reptilian body, complete with a rattlesnake-like tail, and placing her in a shadowy, torchlit temple.

Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)

We definitely shouldn’t have been watching any of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies back when we were kids, but Freddy Krueger became so iconic in the 80s that all kids knew his name. With his hideously burned skin, his razor-tipped glove and the fact that he stalks victims in their nightmares making it impossible to escape, it’s no wonder Freddy remains so scary.

The Rancor (Return of the Jedi)

The Star Wars series had no shortage of memorable monsters, but none struck quite so much fear into our hearts as the fearsome Rancor of Return of the Jedi. Kept by the evil Jabba the Hutt, the massive monster has one function: eat anything that crosses its path. We were truly terrified when our hero Luke Skywalker fell into his pit.

Zelda and MOID (Terrahawks)

Created by the puppeteering legend Gerry Anderson, this was Anderson’s first puppet-based show in over a decade. Anyone who watched Terrahawks was in fear of the wicked Zelda and her family (oh, and the enslaved monsters), largely due to their features. MOID was especially scary, having the ability to morph into someone else – hence his full name, Master of Infinite Disguise.

The Cryptkeeper (Tales from The Crypt)

Fair to say that many of the characters from this show were pretty ghastly, but the scariest had to be The Cryptkeeper, voiced by John Kassir. Based on a comic series, the Cryptkeeper was not without a sense of humour. Each opening sequence would begin with a suitably horrific pun from the Cryptkeeper, such as “Hello Boils and Ghouls”, and each episode would end in a similar vein.

The Firefighter Clown (The Brave Little Toaster)

While much of this Emmy-nominated 1987 cartoon focuses on the story of abandoned household items trying to be reunited with their perceived owner, the terrifying Firefighter Clown from the toaster’s nightmare could be the stuff of anyone’s nightmares – human or anthropomorphic electrical appliance alike. Clowns have long been a fear for many, with some people even suffering from coulrophobia – a genuine phobia of clowns. Understandable, when you see this decidedly unamusing example.

The Coachman (Pinocchio)

Pinocchio is a pretty dark story in parts, whichever version you watch, but the original character of the coachman from Pleasure Island has to be the one who invokes most terror. Aside from the fact that he’s knowingly transporting children to their doom as a future donkey, his appearance in the 1940 movie is pretty horrific, with those arching eyebrows, huge maniacal grin and leering eyes.

The Wheelers (Return to Oz)

Even watching Return to Oz as an adult, the Wheelers are still pretty weird, and they were suitably strange for the story. What’s more, they were intimidating enough to scare the bejesus out of you as a kid. There were twelve wheelers altogether led by Pons Maar, who was also Performance Co-ordinator for the film. He also did a great job of scaring plenty of children!

The Cybermen (Doctor Who)

Since as far back as 1963, villains and monsters have been overwhelming children (and adults!) One of the earliest are the Cybermen, who forcefully and often painfully adapt humans into cyborgs, void of flesh or feeling. Conceived by Kit Pedler, who was also the unofficial scientific advisor for the series in the 1960s, they are still terrifying to this day.

Great Owl (The Secret of NIMH)

There’s something about a cartoon mouse that provokes intense loyalty, such as dear Mrs Brisby in the 1982 animated movie, The Secret of N.I.M.H. You desperately want her to succeed, and so when she encounters the intense and terrifying (especially for a mouse) Great Owl, you are rooting for her every step of the way. Voiced by John “The Voice” Carradine, who was known for his roles in early horror movies, the Great Owl was an awful sight to behold, both for Mrs Brisby and the kids rooting for her.

Krang (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

As an adult, you might look at Krang and think he’s just an anthropomorphised portion of Jello, but as a child in 1987, he looked creepy and terrifying, especially sat in the belly of his humanoid exo-suit (which was weird enough in that it only wore underpants.) Voiced by Pat Fraley, also known for his work as the cruel falcon in Stuart Little, the gelatinous pink brain no doubt sent shivers down lots of young spines – even though Krang himself didn’t have one.

Skeksis (The Dark Crystal)

Marketed as a family film, The Dark Crystal was rather darker than what had come before (such as The Muppet Movie), and the Skeksis were particularly evil. They cast terror into the hearts of so many kids, and with good reason – Jim Henson said that the creators drew inspiration for them from the seven deadly sins. Brian Froud, conceptual designer, designed the Skeksis as “part reptile, part predatory bird, part dragon”. No wonder they were so fearsome.

Evil Edna (Willo the Wisp)

It says a lot for the talents of Kenneth Williams (of the Carry On films) that he was able to voice every character in Willo the Wisp and still make Evil Edna a pretty frightening one. A witch turned TV doesn’t sound all that scary, but his inimitable voice lent her a sinister edge that was pretty effective for the small people watching.

Vigo The Carpathian (Ghostbusters II)

We’ve likely all seen these types of paintings – the ones that peer down at you with dead eyes and give you the heebie-jeebies. Vigo the Carpathian is a prime example, and a particularly dreadful one at that, notably when he shoots orange lightning bolts from his eyes and commands you to do his evil bidding. Played by Wilhelm von Homburg (James the henchman in Die Hard), he had the scowl down to a T.

Large Marge (Pee-wee’s Big Adventure)

The fearful moment that Large Marge, unbeknownst to Pee-wee as a dead woman, is one that will have imprinted itself on many a child’s memory. Directed by a relatively unknown Tim Burton, the freakish moment that she shows herself, thanks to stop-motion animation, is clearly a Burton trick. The fact that it’s totally unexpected in an otherwise charming comedy only exacerbates the shock.

Mombi (Return to Oz)

As a child, if you thought the Wheelers were scary stuff, you would have been utterly overwhelmed by Mombi, the ghastly woman with interchangeable heads. You could imagine the prospect of being kept captive until you were old enough to become one of the fated heads – a grim thought for an adult, and utterly horrific for a child.

The Goblins (Labyrinth)

Nominated for a BAFTA (notably for Best Special Visual Effects), Labryinth is a cult classic, not least amongst Bowie fans. However, small children might harbour less than happy memories, given the goblins created by master puppeteer Jim Henson. The film has a big following, but that doesn’t change the slightly creepy little goblins who dance with the baby. Interestingly, the baby (Toby Froud) became a puppeteer and filmmaker. Small world.

Darth Vader (Star Wars)

Hard to imagine how any list of characters that scared us as kids wouldn’t include Darth Vader. The ultimate bad guy, his mastery of The Force and his sheer height and deep, commanding voice were quite scary. However, the fact that he could dispose of you on such a whim was pure terror for kids, and the permanent helmet meant he was more myth than man. Eeek!

Stripe (Gremlins)

The cute little furball that was Gizmo the mogwai was loved by audiences worldwide, and generated all manner of merchandise. Unsurprisingly, the alarming Stripe wasn’t so popular. The prospect of getting Gizmo wet was not an appealing one, given Stripe’s mischievous nature, and he certainly struck fear into younger audiences of the original Gremlins movie back in 1984. It would have been even more horrific had executive producer Steven Spielberg not toned it down.

Venger (Dungeons & Dragons)

Imagine you’re at an amusement park and you get yourself all psyched up for the Dungeons & Dragons ride. But it all goes awry when you find yourself transported to another world, where you must do battle with Venger, the Force of Evil. A terrifying idea, and one that captured many young minds and terrified plenty more back in the early 1980s. Venger was voiced by Peter Cullen, a legend in the world of voiceover, and responsible for other famous children’s TV characters such as Eeyore and Optimus Prime.

Round the Twist

Devised for parents and children alike, and pitched as a comedy, the first series of Round the Twist was based largely on the stories by Paul Jennings. It won a raft of Australian TV awards and comprised four series. There isn’t one specific scary character, rather that the whole first series had an underlying sense of what weird thing would happen next, which made it scary. Just the idea that you could find an old bone on the beach and not be able to stop yourself saying “without my pants” every time you spoke led to a brilliant and terrifying show.

Messina (Freddie as F.R.O.7)

A parody of James Bond, this animated movie starred Ben Kingsley as Freddie, a human-sized frog who used to be a prince before his evil aunt Messina turned him into an amphibian. The plot sounds wacko, and critics and audiences obviously agreed, as this film held the undesirable record of being the lowest-grossing animated film at the US box office until 2007. Nevertheless, the snakey, shape-shifting Messina was pretty terrifying for children, using hypnosis to dominate her lackeys and with an evil plan to steal all the world’s famous landmarks.

Phoebe, Filbert & Hangle (Wizadora)

Puppets are always creepy, especially weird ones inspired by all manner of household items and foods. In this bizarre show from the 1990s, which was designed to help non-English speakers to learn the language, a trainee witch sought help from her rubbery friends. At this point we must pay homage to the puppeteer Phil Eason, who designed the Wizadora wonders, as he also had a hand (no pun intended) in Spitting Image, Labyrinth and Little Shop of Horrors. Doesn’t stop the Wizadora characters being pretty unsettling.

Slappy (Goosebumps)

Perhaps the scariest and certainly the best-known character from the Goosebumps franchise, Slappy the ventriloquist doll is all kinds of unpleasant. He was terrifying – R. L. Stine drew inspiration from Pinocchio and from the 1978 film Magic, where the ventriloquist dummy was voiced by Anthony Hopkins. In turn, Slappy himself was so scary that he was the inspiration for the Bensons, the silent ventriloquist dummies in Toy Story 4. Not so dumb, these dummies.

Ren Hoek (The Ren & Stimpy Show)

Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman of Animation World Magazine once described Ren as a “screaming klaxon, neon-pink eyes dilating into twin novae inches above his jagged, monolithic teeth.” That’s a pretty sophisticated way of saying that he was rather unstable and quite terrifying as a consequence. How poor innocent Stimpy coped with such a friend was quite astonishing, when kids everywhere were totally terrified by his outbursts.

Oogie Boogie (The Nightmare Before Christmas)

What could be more terrifying than the boogeyman? One that wants to kidnap Santa, of course. The horror! Surely one of the most awful creatures going, Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas was a seriously scary villain precisely because of the threat to Santa. Thankfully, Jack Skellington came to the rescue and undid the dreaded Oogie Boogie – quite literally. Who knew a loose thread could be so deadly.

Lord of Darkness (Legend)

Tim Curry is pretty good at portraying dastardly villains, but he excels himself as the gargantuan Lord of Darkness in this Oscar and BAFTA nominated film from Ridley Scott. Oh, and it must have done something right, despite the poor critical reviews, as it won the British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography. It featured a young Tom Cruise as the hero, so even now it’s watchable, and even now Lord of Darkness is impressively frightening.

Sandworm (Beetlejuice)

Given that it’s a Tim Burton film about the recently deceased, it’s not surprising that there are all manner of weird creatures in Beetlejuice. Having said that, the first monster is possibly the scariest, by nature of it being the first but also because the sandworm has sharp teeth and a head emerging from a head. Pretty scary for little ones.

Ursula the Sea Witch (The Little Mermaid)

Classic Disney movies always came with a wicked nemesis, and there wasn’t much worse than Ursula. Conniving and manipulative, she and her slimy electric eel sidekicks persuaded Ariel to part with her identifying feature – that beautiful voice – in order to force Trident’s hand and gain power over the ocean. When she rose to gargantuan size, it was truly terrifying. Thank goodness for dashing prince Eric and his ship.

Mumm-Ra (Thundercats)

Thundercats was hugely popular on both sides of the Atlantic, with kids regularly tuning in to watch Lion-O and his clan do battle with the evil Mumm-Ra and the Mutants. Mumm-Ra was a spine-chilling character, with his loose bandages and demonic red eyes, and all too often children would be cowering behind the couch or peeking over a cushion to see what happened (even though it was well known that the Thundercats would always win).

D’Compose (Inhumanoids)

The cynically minded amongst us might now look upon Inhumanoids as a marketing ploy to sell yet more action figures based on a comic book series. Regardless of what truth there may or may not be in that, the show was pretty horrific viewing for kids of the time, with the terrifying mess that was D’Compose as the main villain. Voiced by Christopher Collins, also known for voicing Starscream in Transformers and Cobra Commander in G.I. Joe, D’Compose embodied many of your childhood fears all at once.

Mr Noseybonk (Jigsaw)

If anyone remembers anything about the TV show Jigsaw from the early 1980s, it will be the odd-looking Mr Noseybonk, a mime actor called Adrian Hedley in a suit and wearing a creepy white mask with the most enormous nose. It was so odd that it prompted a cameo in Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe, and a parody in X-Files episode Familiar (as the equally disturbing Mr Chuckleteeth). Once seen, never forgotten.

The Grinnygog (The Witches and The Grinnygog)

Gargoyles are intentionally quite ugly things, and the statue in this 1983 TV adaptation did look rather like one. So, when viewed through the eyes of a kid (likely with an active imagination), the Grinnygog would have looked quite fearsome, and all the more so given its connection to witchcraft and the occult – oh, and its ability to make kids do naughty things. Funny that something made of stone could be so creepy – but then look at the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who.