History NightmareFuel / TheBerenstainBears

* The narration (with or without the audio) of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INZWCrSliYs ''The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree'']] where Brother, Sister and a third bear cub (presumably Cousin Fred) explore a spooky forest and the inside of a tree (which looks like a mansion in its interior) in the dark of the night unaccompanied. They go through a hole, go up a "twisty old stair) where some alligators in a moat attack and just miss Fred, walk on a broad ledge, go through a hall with armored knights where one's ax lands on Sister's walking stick just missing her, and end up getting chased by a giant sleeping bear. They make it home safe....only for adult readers to pick up...the spooky old tree is conveniently close by!

** The fairy tale he reads her, about Wily Fox leading Silly Goose to his lair. All it takes is a few snaps of his beak, and Silly Goose is gone except for a few feathers floating in the air. No wonder Sister lies awake at night, thinking about the newspaper and the story.

* "Forget Their Manners" has Papa being driven to rage and intending to tear the Politeness Plan to pieces, with a maddened look on his face.

* The Southern Star/Hannah-Barbera Australia logo that would appear at the end of each episode. The loud thunderclap and the flashing background might have jump scared several children back in the day.

* The Space Grizzlies toys from "Bad Dream". Also an InUniverse example, as they were enough to give Brother and Sister actual nightmares.

* "Too Much Internet". If you read the title, you'd probably think it's probably just a boring old "don't spend too much time online" book, or maybe a slightly-unnerving "don't give out your personal info online" book. Actually, it's kind of the latter, but ''moreso''. One of the cubs spends a lot of time (but not so much so that it's an ObsessiveHobbyEpisode) on a kids' poetry website, but then it turns out that criminals have been using the site to transmit secret codes about ''bombing Squire Grizzly''. That's right-- Squire Grizzly would've ''died'' if not for the cubs' discovery. Even worse, the codes were in rhyme, giving off a "creepy nursery rhyme" vibe, and the girl who found the scary poem? Squire Grizzly's ''niece''.

* The narration (with or without the audio) of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INZWCrSliYs ''The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree'']] where Brother, Sister and a third bear cub (presumably Cousin Fred) explore a spooky forest and the inside of a tree (which looks like a mansion in it's interior) in the dark of the night unaccompanied. They go through a hole, go up a "twisty old stair) where some alligators in a moat attack and just miss Fred, walk on a broad ledge, go through a hall with armored knights where one's ax lands on Sister's walking stick just missing her, and end up getting chased by a giant sleeping bear. They make it home safe....only for adult readers to pick up...the spooky old tree is conveniently close by!

* While Big Paw's VillainSong in "Meet Bigpaw" is awesome for its time, there are some notable moments where it gets freaky, particularly the scene where he explains that one of the things he likes to do is chew; and explains it with a tree. There also the "grind and tear and rip it all" lyric-- he explains this by using said tree and ''snapping it in half'' '''''with his two bear hands'''''.

* "Meet Bigpaw" does a good job of building up the menace and dread until Bigpaw properly appears on-screen. TheScareChord when Mama foresees Bigpaw's impending arrival, followed by Papa laughing it off, only to cut to a POVCam of Bigpaw arriving at the border of Bear Country, is particularly chilling as it reveals Bigpaw is indeed RealAfterAll.

* Sister's [[AdultFear fear of strangers]] in [[TooSmartForStrangers "The Trouble With Strangers"]]. The worst of it actually comes early when Papa reads several newspaper articles to Sister regarding stranger danger. Among them is a headline reading ''Stranger Bothers Cub''. Suddenly Bear Country doesn't look much safer than real life -- if anything, it seems particularly riddled with kidnappers and sex offenders.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ampf_reY4E The Southern Star production logo]] that would appear at the end of the credits. It's a loud, sudden thunderclap and screen flash that can really startle if you're not expecting it.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ampf_reY4E The Southern Star production logo]] that would appear at the end of the credits. It's a loud, sudden thunderclap and screen flash that can [[Jumpscare really startle you]] if you're not expecting it.

* Whenever the bears got angry in the books, [[NightmareFace their expressions could be quite unsettling]]. An example would Papa yelling at Brother and Sister in ''Forget their Manners''.

* The narration (with or without the audio) of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INZWCrSliYs ''The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree'']] where Brother, Sister, a third bear cub (presumably Cousin Fred) explore a spooky forest and the inside of a tree (which looks like a mansion in it's interior) in the dark of the night unaccompanied. They go through a hole, go up a "twisty old stair) where some alligators in a moat attack and just miss Fred, walk on a broad ledge, go through a hall with armored knights where one's ax lands on Sister's walking stick just missing her, and end up getting chased by a giant sleeping bear. They make it home safe....only for adult readers to pick up...the spooky old tree is conveniently close by!

* While Big Paw's VillainSong in "Meet Bigpaw" is awesome for its time, there are some notable moments where it gets freaky; notably, the scene where he explains that one of the things he likes to do is chew; and explains it with a tree. There also the "grind and tear and rip it all" lyric-- he explains this by using said tree and ''snapping it in half'' '''''with his two bear hands'''''.

* The narration (with or without the audio) of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INZWCrSliYs ''The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree'']] where Brother, Sister, a third bear cub (presumably Cousin Fred) explore a spooky forest and the inside of a tree (which looks like a mansion in it's interior) in the dark of the night unaccompanied. They go through a hole, go up a "twisty old stair) where some alligators in a moat attack and just miss the Fred, walk on a broad ledge, go through a hall with armored knights where one's ax lands on Sister's walking stick just missing her, and end up getting chased by a giant sleeping bear. They make it home safe....only for adult readers to pick up...the spooky old tree is conveniently close by!

* The narration (with or without the audio) of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INZWCrSliYs ''The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree'']] where Brother, Sister, a third bear cub (presumably a friend or cousin or Brother Chuck?) explore a spooky forest and the inside of a tree (which looks like a mansion in it's interior) in the dark of the night unaccompanied. They go through a hole, go up a "twisty old stair) where some alligators in a moat attack and just miss the third cub, walk on a broad ledge, go through a hall with armored knights where one's ax lands on Sister's walking stick just missing her, and end up getting chased by a giant sleeping bear. They make it home safe....only for adult readers to pick up...the spooky old tree is conveniently close by!

* The ghosts in the ''Haunted Forest'' level of ''Videogame/BerenstainBearsCampingAdventure'' level. If you leave them around on the screen too long, they will moan with their fur standing on end as they attack you. They also do this in the second bonus level although they can't hurt you.

* Whenever the bears got angry in the books, their expressions could be quite unsettling. An example would Para yelling at Brother and Sister in ''Forget their Manners''.

* Whenever the bears got angry in the books, their expressions could be quite unsettling.
* The fact that a lighthearted series that's mainly about either simple Aesops like "don't lie" or goofy happenings that could happen in RealLife, has a book which starts out like a "be careful on the Internet" Aesop book, but somewhere in the middle is an actual ''bomb threat'' on one of the students' dad. Thankfully, the dad was okay, but still.
* The animals in "The Christmas Tree", who attack Papa for attempting to cut down trees.

* Sister's [[AdultFear fear of strangers]] in [[TooSmartForStrangers "The Trouble With Strangers"]]. The worst of it actually comes early in the episode of the 1988 series when Papa reads several newspaper articles to Sister regarding stranger danger. Among them is a headline reading ''Stranger Bothers Cub''. Suddenly Bear Country doesn't look much safer than real life -- if anything, it seems particularly riddled with kidnappers and sex offenders.

!!TV Shows
* When Mama Bear goes on a [[UnstoppableRage rampage]], throwing the cubs' toys into a trash box, it's terrifying. Brother and Sister even start crying for help. It may be funny for some, however.
* The lightning bolt Southern Star logo at the end of the 1980s credits. Many kids still recall how much of a JumpScare that logo was.

* The ghosts in the ''Haunted Forest'' of the ''Videogame/BerenstainBearsCampingAdventure'' level. If you leave them around on the screen too long, they will moan with their fur standing on end as they attack you. They also do this in the second bonus level although they can't hurt you.

* When Mama Bear goes on a [[UnstoppableRage rampage]], throwing the cubs' toys into a trash box, it's terrifying. Brother and Sister even start crying for help. It may be funny for some, however.
* The lightning bolt Southern Star logo at the end of the 1980s credits. Many kids still recall how much of a JumpScare that logo was.

* The slightly eerie feel of ''Bears in the Night'', accentuated by the simple narration, be unsettling to some. [[http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5AUlkMkn3Jw/T0x30UVtyvI/AAAAAAAAFu0/kWScQjDWmJk/s1600/bere2.jpg) See some for yourself.]]

* The evil, green version of Sister in The Green-Eyed Monster can be disturbing.

Books

*
The evil, green version of Sister in The Green-Eyed Monster can be disturbing.

* "Visit the Dentist" involves Sister worrying about the dentist while simultaneously wondering why her freshly loose tooth isn't coming out. She's afraid that he'll yank it, but when they get to the dentist, he assures her that it will come out all on its own when the time is -- oh wait, no, ''he grabs it with a piece of gauze and yanks it.''