Horror shows & movies from our childhood
Remember the days of plopping in front of the TV while waiting for your mum to finish cooking your favourite dish? Chances are, somewhere between the snacks and anticipation, you’ve probably stumbled upon horror shows that still spook you today.
And since it’s Halloween szn, we’ve compiled a list of iconic horror shows and movies that might’ve given you the heebie-jeebies as a 90s to early 2000s kid.
Table of Contents
– Horror shows –
1. Incredible Tales
Cult-favourite horror show among Singaporeans
Image credit: IMDb
You’re probably lying if you say you have never gotten chills from the haunting opening theme of Incredible Tales. That eerie tune still manages to bring shivers to our inner child. This popular Channel 5 TV series is a staple in the memory bank of any Singaporean who grew up in the 2000s.
It ran for 8 seasons from 2004 to 2017, and each episode delved into horrifying Southeast Asian urban legends, from black magic to local superstitions that make you double-check the lights at home.
Image adapted from: Mediacorp Drama via YouTube
One episode that still freaks us out is Taxi in Season 1. It follows the story of an unlucky taxi driver who, in the dead of night, accidentally hits a lady in red. Unbeknownst to him, she’s been dead for a couple of days and is back to haunt him and his family.
Watch Incredible Tales.
2. Moon Face
An original Kids Central production
Image credit: Sitting In Pictures via YouTube
Imagine having recurring nightmares about a creepy face shaped like the moon – that’s essentially the fate of ordinary Mun Yee, and the plot of Moon Face. This original Kids Central production aired from 2000 to 2008, and left more than a few of us sleeping with the lights on.
The show follows Mun Yee and her teenage friends as they investigate and solve strange and paranormal events throughout each episode, told in a way that’s ambiguous and mysterious – leaving plenty of room for your imagination to run wild.
Image adapted from: You Xuan via YouTube
The Haunted Room, an episode in Season 2, is one of the scariest, telling a tale about a room that’s possessed by a doll owned by a deceased girl. Add the words “haunted” and “doll” together, and it’s a recipe for disaster.
Watch Moon Face.
3. Are You Afraid Of The Dark?
Iconic campfire storytelling setting
Image credit: Prime Video
The best way to tell scary stories at night when camping outdoors with friends is by the campfire, and Are You Afraid Of The Dark? gets that. It’s the classic setup straight out of every horror show: a flickering fire, eerie silence, and someone ready to spin a ghost story that’ll keep everyone up all night.
It’s also one of the longest-running TV series on this list, first aired in 1992 and ran all the way till 2019 on Channel 5 – that’s a whopping 27 years of haunting our screens. The plot follows a group of teenagers known as The Midnight Society, who gather to share stories about everything from ghosts to vampires.
Image credit: IMDb
Fans of the show still shudder when they think about The Tale Of The Dead Man’s Float in Season 5, Episode 1. It was one of the most horrifying episodes featuring a corpse that lurked in a swimming pool, dragging unsuspecting swimmers down into the depths.
Image adapted from: Google
Fun fact: if you Google the episode’s title and click on the “images” section, they’re most likely all censored because of how grotesque the corpse looks.
Watch Are You Afraid Of The Dark?.
4. Goosebumps
A string of supernatural events unravels
Image credit: IMDb
Goosebumps is another legendary horror show on this list – one that had every 90s kid both terrified and weirdly addicted. Airing on Channel 5 back in the day, the show followed teens who always seemed to land themselves in supernatural and scary situations.
Adapted from R.L. Stine’s top-selling horror book, this TV series delivered just the right amount of “safe” scares for young viewers. It wasn’t nightmare-level terrifying, but we all remember being scaredy cats at some point.
Image credit: Amazon
One episode that gave viewers the most goosebumps was Night Of The Living Dummy, which introduced us to Slappy the Dummy, a creepy ventriloquist doll that comes to life to torment people. It was almost like Chucky the Doll, but replace knives and guns with black magic.
There’s also a 2023 version of the TV series – a remake that’s darker and more modern. It follows a group of teens who accidentally release spooky forces linked to their parents’ past, mixing old-school Goosebumps vibes with a fresh twist.
Watch Goosebumps (2023).
5. Mystery (Mi Li Ye)
Classic 90s horror show
Image credit: meWATCH
If you’ve ever looked at butterflies and felt squeamish, it might stem from watching Mystery, also known as Mi Li Ye, growing up. This Channel 8 drama is known for its horror-themed stories that consist of 8 short mysteries.
Image credit: Teo Zhiliang via Facebook
One of the most lasting and terrifying episodes for viewers is Mi Li Ye Butterfly. The plot follows a poor soul who gets attacked by a swarm of butterflies in a foreign country, and worse still, the butterfly attacks make you age faster than usual.
Watch Mystery.
6. Shiver
Singapore’s first fantasy anthology series
Image credit: meWATCH
If the “backrooms” were ever a thing back in the 90s, it would be the Mediacorp TV series Shiver, which aired on Channel 5 back in 1997.
It’s known to be Singapore’s first-ever fantasy series where each episode tells a scary and supernatural tale, one of which includes The Last Train in Episode 2, about a man who accidentally entered a parallel dimension in the MRT station.
This is one of the most terrifying episodes because of how eerie the scenario will be if turned into a real-life situation – imagine stepping into an MRT station you’re familiar with, only for the signs and symbols to be completely different from what you remembered.
Episodes like these left viewers with an unsettling feeling in their stomachs, making Shiver a memorable yet haunting childhood horror TV series.
Watch Shiver.
7. Mr. Midnight
Children’s horror book turned Netflix series
Image credit: IMDb
Most of us probably pulled out a Mr. Midnight book and indulged in the plot during silent reading sessions in secondary school. The popular children’s horror book series captured most of our hearts back then with its eerie storytelling and emphasis on the phrase “if it isn’t the consequences of our own actions.”
While not exactly a TV series, Netflix introduced Mr. Midnight: Beware the Monsters in 2022, bringing a whole new world to the original book series, so that now, you can binge-watch one of your childhood faves all day. The plot follows a group of friends who participate in paranormal investigations in parts of Singapore and Batam.
Image credit: TV Guide
The most unnerving episode is said to be Buried but Breathing in Season 1, Episode 4. Instead of relying on jump scares, it leaned into psychological terror, following a town threatened by a demonic presence.
Watch Mr. Midnight: Beware the Monsters.
– Horror movies –
8. The Ghosts Must Be Crazy
Horror comedy movie produced by Jack Neo
Image credits: meWATCH
As Singaporeans, we’ve all heard of the hit movie series Ah Boys to Men that turned National Service into comedy gold. Well, the much scarier version of that is The Ghosts Must Be Crazy , a comedy horror movie that’s split into 2 separate parts: Day-off, followed by Ghost Bride.
Many viewers agree that the latter takes the cake for being downright terrifying because of how personal and psychologically distressing the story gets. It follows Ah Hui, a fresh graduate, who has terrible luck with women and is deep in debt.
Image credit: Asian Film Archive Collection
Of course, the only woman who would willingly be wedded to Ah Hui is a ghost, and so the plot thickens and the nightmares unfold. There’s also a quote that left viewers unsettled at the end before the credits rolled: “If you choose to make a deal with the devil, you must be prepared to pay the ultimate price.”
Watch The Ghosts Must Be Crazy.
9. 23:59
Inspired by a true story
Image credit: IMDb
23:59 is one of those horror flicks that feels straight out of the scary stories your NS friends might have whispered about back in the 90s – you know, the kind that supposedly happened on Pulau Tekong during the Basic Military Training. This one’s about a vengeful female spirit who’s said to have died on Tekong grounds at exactly 11.59pm.
Image credit: IMDb
What left watchers feeling unsettled wasn’t just the eerie sounds and visuals – it was the psychologically haunting plot twist. Turns out, the vengeful female ghost wasn’t the one hunting down the NS men. The real culprit was her deformed daughter, whom she had poisoned and killed.
Watch 23:59.
10. Where Got Ghost?
Spooky 3-part horror movie
Image credit: Disney Plus
Where Got Ghost? is a 2009 horror comedy movie split into 3 parts: Roadside Got Ghost, Forest Got Ghost, and House Got Ghost. Each part centred on different characters’ eerie run-ins with the supernatural.
Of the 3, Forest Got Ghost hits closest to home, especially for those familiar with infamous NS ghost stories that get passed around every bunk. It’s the most realistic segment, capturing what many NS men half-jokingly call a “rite of passage” – paranormal encounters in the middle of nowhere..
The story follows 2 NS men who are stalked by a mysterious woman in red after taking a shortcut through a haunted forest, leading them to a tragic fate.
Watch Where Got Ghost?.
Relive your childhood with these nostalgic horror shows & movies
Back when our only form of entertainment was the TV, these were some of the nostalgic horror shows and movies that kept us awake at night, or helped us strengthen our bonds with friends and family, because they kept everyone collectively scared. So choose one to rewatch and take a walk down memory lane this Halloween.
Read our other articles on nostalgia:
- Singapore Airlines’ new in-flight safety video
- Nostalgic card & board games
- Iconic water bottles in the 2000s
Cover image adapted from: YESASIA, Filmograph, meWATCH