History NightmareFuel / AaahhRealMonsters

* Throughout the series, there are a few references to the "Era of Disbelief", a period sometime in the forties when humans stopped believing in monsterst. If one tracks all the hints, one can work out that this period lasted from 1943-1945 -- the period of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII where the Allies managed to turn back the Axis Powers. Since the show later establishes that bad times for humans are good times for monsters, the implication is that the monsters gorged themselves on humanity's fear and horror during the Great Depression and the Holocaust, nearly went extinct as the world economy recovered and the Axis fell, and then recovered thanks to the Red Scare and the Cold War.

* Throughout the series, there are a few references to the "Era of Disbelief", a period sometime in the forties when humans stopped believing in monsters. If one tracks all the hints, one can work out that this period lasted from 1943-1945 -- the period of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII where the Allies managed to turn back the Axis Powers. Since the show later establishes that bad times for humans are good times for monsters, the implication is that the monsters gorged themselves on humanity's fear and horror during the Great Depression and the Holocaust, nearly disappeared as the world economy recovered and the Axis fell, and then recovered thanks to the Red Scare and the Cold War.

** The episode also confirms monsters exist because YourMindMakesItReal. The Pool of Elders, the collective source and wellspring of all monsters explains to Ickis that monsters were born out of the fears of the human mind. It is that very fear that fuels the pool and continues to give existence to monsterkind. If the pool ever dries up, then monsters will begin to vanish from existence altogether. Monsters are literally forced to scare people just to survive.

** The episode also confirms Monsters exist because YourMindMakesItReal. The Pool of Elders, the collective source and wellspring of all monsters explains to Ickis that monsters were born out of the fears of the human mind. It is that very fear that fuels the pool and continues to give existence to monsterkind. If the pool ever dries up, then monsters will begin to vanish from existence altogether. Monsters are literally forced to scare people just to survive.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dcivtqp_96d1733e_8e1b_40b1_818d_6f71def8af4d.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[TheSoCalledCoward This is NO silly rabbit!]]]]

Considering it's a show about all sorts of EldritchAbomination creatures existing to scare the crap out of people and an actual inspiration for many nightmares in future shows and films, nightmare fuel is to be expected. Especially the more you know about the world of monsters.

* Throughout the series, there are a few references to the "Era of Disbelief", a period sometime in the forties when humans stopped believing in monsters. If one tracks all the hints, one can work out that this period lasted from 1943-1945 - the period of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII where the Allies managed to turn back the Axis Powers. Since the show later establishes that bad times for humans are good times for monsters, the implication is that the monsters gorged themselves on humanity's fear and horror during the Great Depression and the Holocaust, nearly disappeared as the world economy recovered and the Axis fell, and then recovered thanks to the Red Scare and the Cold War.
** This is shown literally in the episode "Where Have All the Monsters Gone?" It features [[spoiler:monsters disappearing due to their failure to scare people. That's right, failing to scare people pretty much ''erases them from existence [[BodyHorror one body part at a time]]''. And it nearly happens to Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm, who respectively lose their body, arms, and eyes.]] Also a TearJerker.
** The episode also confirms [[spoiler: Monsters exist because YourMindMakesItReal. The Pool of Elders, the collective source and wellspring of all monsters explains to Ickis that monsters were born out of the fears of the human mind. It is that very fear that fuels the pool and continues to give existence to monsterkind. If the pool ever dries up, then monsters will begin to vanish from existence altogether. Monsters are literally forced to scare people just to survive.]]

* In ''"Smile and Say Oblina"'', Oblina gets hooked up with a metal device wired to her jaws with corkscrews and a timer on it. [[Film/SawI Fast forward to 2004, and we have a movie featuring a torture device that looks similar to that]].
* In the case of Krumm's father Horvath, the method in which he lost his right eye as the infamous bullet in "The Shot Heard 'Round the World" is extremely terrifying. Imagine having one of your eyeballs loaded into a gun, this being the last thing it sees before the barrel clicks…

* Some of the monsters' scare tactics can be really creepy to younger viewers, such as Ickis transforming his body to giant size with blood red eyes (pictured above) or most infamously, Oblina pulling out her internal organs.

** This is shown literally in the episode "Where Have All the Monsters Gone?" It features [[spoiler:monsters disappearing due to their failure to scare people. That's right, failing to scare people pretty much ''erases them from existence [[BodyHorror one body part at a time]]''. And it nearly happens to Ickis, Oblina and Krumm, who respectively lose their body, arms and eyes.]] Also a TearJerker.
** The episode also confirms [[spoiler: Monsters exist because YourMindMakesItReal. The Pool of Elders, the collective source and wellspring of all monsters explains to Ickis that monsters were born out the fears of the human mind. It is that very fear that fuels the pool and continues to give existence to monsterkind. If the pool ever dries up, then monsters will begin to vanish from existence altogether. Monsters are literally forced to scare people just to survive.]]
* When the gang meet Krumm's uncle Grungy in "Monsters, Get Real", he's introduced stalking along behind them like a predator until he and Krumm recognize each other. Thing is, as the previous episode established and other episodes will hint at, MonstrousCannibalism is perfectly alright in this world. Oblina herself even threatened to eat Ickis once. When you put the two together, you realize Grungy might have been stalking Ickis and Oblina in hopes of eating them!
* The first episode reveals that monsters find the idea of eating humans disgusting. This may seen comforting at first, until you remember that things that are disgusting to monsters are [[ImAHumanitarian nice and pleasant to humans in this universe.]]

* In ''"Smile and Say Oblina"'', Oblina gets hooked up with a metal device wired to her jaws with corkscrews and a timer on it. [[Film/SawI Fast forward to 2004, and we have a movie featuring a torture device that looks similar to that]].

** The episode also confirms [[spoiler: Monsters exist because YourMindMakesItReal. The Pool of Elders, the collective source and wellspring of all monsters explains to Ickus that monsters were born out the fears of the human mind. It is that very fear that fuels the pool and continues to give existence to monsterkind. If the pool ever dries up, then monsters will begin to vanish from existence altogether. Monsters are literally forced to scare people just to survive.]]

** This is shown literally in the episode "Where Have All the Monsters Gone?" It features [[spoiler:monsters disappearing due to their failure to scare people. That's right, failing to scare people pretty much ''erases them from existence one body part at a time''. And it nearly happens to Ickis, Oblina and Krumm, who respectively lose their body, arms and eyes.]] Also a TearJerker.

* The episode also confirms [[spoiler: Monsters exist because YourMindMakesItReal. The Pool of Elders, the collective source and wellspring of all monsters explains to Ickus that monsters were born out the fears of the human mind. It is that very fear that fuels the pool and continues to give existence to monsterkind. If the pool ever dries up, then monsters will begin to vanish from existence altogether. Monsters are literally forced to scare people just to survive.]]

* The first episode reveals that monsters find the idea of eating humans disgusting. This may seen comforting at first, until you remember that things that are disgusting to monsters are [[IAmAHumanitarian nice and pleasant to humans in this universe.]]

* The episode also confirms [[spoiler: Monsters exist because YourMindMakesItReal. The Pool of Elders, the collective source and wellspring of all monsters explains to Ickus that monsters were born out of the human mind. It is that very fear that fuels the pool and continues to give existence to monsterkind. If the pool ever dries up, then monsters will begin to vanish from existence altogether. Monsters are literally forced to scare people just to survive.]]

** This is shown literally in the episode "Where Have All the Monsters Gone?" It features [[spoiler:monsters disappearing due to their failure to scare people. That's right, failing to scare people pretty much ''erases them from existence''. And it nearly happens to Ickis, Oblina and Krumm, who respectively lose their body, arms and eyes.]] Also a TearJerker.

* The episode also confirms [[spoilers: Monsters exist because YourMindMakesItReal. The Pool of Elders, the collective source and wellspring of all monsters explains to Ickus that monsters were born out of the human mind. It is that very fear that fuels the pool and continues to give existence to monsterkind. If the pool ever dries up, then monsters will begin to vanish from existence altogether. Monsters are literally forced to scare people just to survive.]]

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