Throughout its history, Nickelodeon has created some of the best original programming for
kids, especially when it comes to a wide variety of quality cartoons.
Some of these animated shows were so creative and popular that they went on to create long
lasting memories for an entire generation of viewers.
That said, the network did run certain episodes that weren’t so innocent or pleasant.
Here are ten Nickelodeon cartoon episodes ranked creepy to creepiest.
SquidBob TentaclePants: SpongeBob SquarePants.
In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season four titled “SquidBob TentaclePants'',
as SpongeBob gets ready for his shift at the Krusty Krab, he checks out Sandy’s transporting
machine.
He then asks her to transport her to the workplace, but somehow the machine malfunctions and SpongeBob
finds himself fused with Squidward.
The mix-up causes Squidward’s head to stick out of the upper left of SpongeBob’s body
and the two of them have a ton of trouble while carrying out their everyday tasks.
As Sandy tries to work on a solution, the two morphed creatures panic and continue worrying
about the scary thought of staying like this forever.
However, the episode grows even creepier towards the end, when it’s revealed that besides
SpongeBob, Squidward gets further morphed with everyone around him, including Sandy,
Pearls, Patrick, Mrs. Krab, Larry and Mrs. Puff.
The flesh-colored blob produced as a result is sufficient to make any child scream.
Angelica's Worst Nightmare: Rugrats.
For nine seasons, ‘Rugrats’ has given viewers countless life lessons on friendship
while revealing the world from a baby’s point of view.
One of the most prominent characters in the show is Angelica, who’s the oldest and likes
to terrorize her cousin Tommy, and his friends.
While most ‘Rugrats’ episodes are fun to watch and harmless, there was one which
can be identified as creepy.
In the season three episode “Angelica’s Worst Nightmare”, Angelica’s mother, Charlotte,
gets to know that she might be having another baby, which comes as rather a shock to Angelica.
See, the little girl relished her status as the only child and upon hearing about the
possibility of a new baby in the family, she realizes that her parents will get too busy
for her and won’t pay her as much attention as before.
Frustrated, Angelica goes to her room and mimics how her parents can’t stop talking
about the baby and even falls asleep saying, “Babies, who needs them?”
This is when she has a terrible nightmare, hence the episode’s title.
The dream shows the baby already born, and Angelica’s parents are in her room.
They fail to recognize her and when she goes up to the crib to have a closer look at the
newborn, he starts speaking in a man’s voice.
The baby also grows taller and threatens her by saying he’ll “teach her a lesson”
if she doesn’t leave home, as she’d now be the “old baby.”
In the nightmare, he even steals her food and chases her around the house, until Angelica
yells in her sleep, “No!
No!.”
The entire nightmare scene can be a bit horrifying for kids and perhaps should have been toned
down a bit, considering the young audiences watching ‘Rugrats’.
Ren's Toothache: The Ren & Stimpy Show.
‘The Ren & Stimpy Show’ ran on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1996 and has been notorious for
not being the ideal cartoon for kids.
However, one episode from the second season took things a bit too far.
Titled “Ren's Toothache”, it shows how Ren’s teeth start cracking and decaying
after he refuses to maintain basic oral hygiene and ignores his tooth ache for a long time.
As if sight of his open mouth wasn’t frightening enough, Ren is even shown plucking out his
twitchy nerve endings.
Arnold Visits Arnie: Hey Arnold!
‘Hey Arnold!’ qualifies as one of Nickelodeon's most popular shows, but not every episode
from the cartoon series was sterile.
The season five episode “Arnold Visits Arnie” gives off some seriously creepy vibes and
you’ll soon understand why.
As the name indicates, this episode features Arnold visiting his cousin Arnie, but what’s
weird about it is how his friends look remarkably familiar to Arnold’s.
In fact, Arnie’s entire life looks a lot like Arnold’s, with the exception that people
here have much stranger personalities and behavior, which eventually freaks Arnold out.
Dark Harvest: Invader ZIM.
The title of this Invader ZIM episode is enough to prove its place on this list, but there’s
one shocking fact about it that many Nickelodeon fans may not know about.
As per an MTV article, a convicted killer named Scott Dyleski once admitted that he
got his inspiration from this episode.
Yikes!
“Dark Harvest” is an episode from the first season of ‘Invader ZIM’ and shows
Dib scanning Zim with his brand new X-Scope, only to find out that none of Zim’s organs
bear any resemblance to those of humans.
Later, Zim gets to know about this alien nature of his and decides that in order to appear
more human, he must obtain human organs.
The episode actually includes a ‘dark harvest’ which is shown when Dib realizes that Zim
has started going around the Skool, ambushing innocent school children by stealing their
organs and replacing them with various objects.
If this isn’t creepy, we don’t know what is.
The Tale Of The Dollmaker: Are You Afraid Of The Dark?
There’s no way to sugarcoat it, this one’s downright spine-chilling and should never
have aired on a kids TV channel.
In “Are You Afraid Of The Dark?”
season three episode titled “The Tale Of The Dollmaker'', Betty Ann narrates the story
of a young girl named Melissa who would frequently visit her Aunt Sally and Uncle Pete on weekends.
There she meets a next door neighbor named Susan when the Henderson family moves into
the new house.
Despite being best friends with her, Melissa later finds out that Susan’s family moved
back to the city.
But the story doesn’t stop here.
Curious to know about Susan’s house next door, Melissa ends up exploring a strange,
scary Dollhouse which later had to be burned by her Uncle Pete.
Also, it’s later revealed that Susan never ‘moved’ away, she actually disappeared
in a horrifying incident involving the eerie Dollhouse.
Zeke The Plumber: Salute Your Shorts.
Speaking of petrifying sights, ‘Salute Your Shorts’ definitely blurs the line between
a cartoon and a horror show with its third episode from season one.
It highlights one of the show’s villains named Zeke who’s a plumber plus ghost who
used to clean the toilets at camp and lost his nose in an accident.
The only remnant was his toilet plunger that now bears a curse.
Zeke’s ghost likes to haunt other people’s nightmares and this psychopath wanders around
the camp looking for victims who touch his plunger.
At the very first sight, Zeke’s appearance is sufficient to creep out not just kids but
also adults.
The Tale Of Laughing In The Dare: Are You Afraid Of The Dark?
Another episode from “Are You Afraid Of The Dark?” that features chilling characters
and story is titled “The Tale Of Laughing In The Dare” from season one.
While clowns have been utilized as a horror element in numerous scary movies and shows,
the sight of Zeebo, the petrifying clown in this episode will send chills down your spine
like never before.
He comes to haunt a young boy Josh, who steals the clown’s nose in a funhouse at Playland,
completely unaware of the terrible consequences.
Graveyard Shift: SpongeBob Squarepants.
Perhaps nothing comes close to this “SpongeBob Squarepants” episode from season two.
When Mr. Krabs forces SpongeBob and Squidward to work a night shift, Squidward gets bored
and decides to scare SpongeBob by telling him a made-up story about the terrifying “Hash-Slinging
Slasher”.
This evil doer was once a fry cook at the Krusty Krab who accidentally chopped off his
arm and later replaced it with a spatula.
He was later killed and fired during his funeral, which is why his ghost now returns to Krusty
Krab every Tuesday night to seek revenge.
Upon listening to this, SpongeBob starts screaming in horror, after which Squidward ensures him
that the story was something he made up.
However, later that night, the same events from the story begin to come true, signifying
the arrival of the “Hash-Slinging Slasher”.
The Puppetmaster: Avatar: The Last Airbender.
“The Puppetmaster” is a season three episode from “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and
can easily be considered one of Nickelodeon's most haunting episodes till date.
When the Avatar gang visit a creepy village that’s linked to several disappearing incidents,
they come across an old woman named Harma whose vibe is dark and terrifying right from
the start.
Later, the episode reveals how she’s capable of horrifying things, such as controlling
another person’s body in a process called “bloodbending.”
In fact, it’s Harma who had been causing villagers to disappear using her wicked ways.
The scary woman even uses her creepy techniques to force Katara into submission until the
young waterbender becomes a blood bender.
Harma’s evil intentions and her scary controlling skills explain why this episode is called
“The Puppetmaster.”