ABC

What it was about: In the country town of Werrinup, Western Australia, Ben Johnson discovers a portal to multiple parallel universes and starts exploring them with his friends. Oh, and in these alternate universes, different versions of his family and friends exist.

Creepy childhood memory: To be completely honest, the entirety of Parallax felt like one big fever dream. What creeped me out the most was these demon-like creatures called Kremlins (I prefer the term “nightmare fuel”), which had slits for eyes and scuttled across the forest floor in the “green world”. Imagine one of these grabbing your foot that you left hanging off your bed in the middle of the night. NO THANK YOU!

ABC

What it was about: Taking place in the year 2050 on board the Star Runner, an interstellar spaceship, a crew of mostly teenagers are put in charge of safeguarding cryonically suspended colonists on the way to their new home called Silversun.

Creepy childhood memory: The whole concept of a bunch of teens being put in charge of a whole colony is terrifying in itself — I mean, could you imagine the pressure if something went wrong?! And stuff did go wrong in Silversun! The series ended on a huge cliffhanger with the team running out of food and supplies, and the Star Runner’s sister ship going through a wormhole. I guess we’ll never know if they made it to Silversun.

Network Ten

What it was about: An underwater research facility is built near an island, which leads to Jason and Brett Bates meeting Neri, a mysterious young girl who lives alone on the island and has the power to communicate with whales.

Creepy childhood memory: The whole plot of Ocean Girl revolved around finding out who Neri is, where her family has gone and why she’s living on an island all alone. Then, spoiler alert, it turns out she’s an ALIEN. File that under plot twists Aussie kids never saw coming.

ABC

What it was about: Plasmo, a two and a half-year-old space orphan, lives on the world of Pynco alongside his friends Parsty and Niknik. Some red flags: Plasmo has no idea who, or where, his parents are, and there are no adults on this planet. So, when space adventurers Brucho and Coredor land on Pynco, an opportunity to explore the universe presents itself.

Creepy childhood memory: Plasmo? Cute as a button. Coredor, on the other hand, tainted the wholesome appeal of this kids show. The animators knew exactly what they were doing by creating a character whose face so plainly resembles genitalia — or, as my co-worker describes him, “a vulva-faced maniac”. We may not have seen it as kids, but we could definitely sense the cursed vibes — especially when old mate’s face flaps would flail open when he was feeling angry.

Network Ten

What it was about: Noah Daniels, his family and other survivors live in an underground colony called North Col in the year 2020. The Earth’s surface is uninhabitable due to the extreme cold, constant snow storms and lack of animal life, which are all after effects of when a comet hit Earth. After inadvertently creating a time travel device, Noah attempts to bring animals back to his timeline and repopulate the world.

Creepy childhood memory: The whole post-apocalyptic world vibes and it being in the near future was CHILLING. Plus, looking back as an adult and realising that the show was set in 2020 — and it’s now 2022.

ABC

What it was about: Lift Off was one of those ~educational~ shows, featuring a live-action storyline about a group of young children alongside segments of short animation and cursed puppetry (more on that in just a tick).

Creepy childhood memory: Ask any Australian and they’ll say that one of the most terrifying characters from their childhood was this soulless creature that looked like it had clawed its way through the depths of hell. Named EC on the show, the mummified corpse was meant to represent “every child” in Australia through its faceless, genderless appearance. Instead, it continues to haunt the nightmares of Australian children. To the team of Lift Off — how did any of you think this character design would appeal to children?!

ABC

What it was about: A group of eight Scottish high school students and their teacher travel to the Australian bush to look for UFOs and document their findings on camcorders.

Creepy childhood memory: LITERALLY THE ENTIRE SHOW. From the shaky camcorder footage to the batshit storylines (creepy twins, alternative universes, aliens, government conspiracies and that red eye disease), Jeopardy emotionally scarred an entire generation of Australians. I can also confirm that it’s still just as creepy when you rewatch it as an adult.

Nine Network

What it was about: After a prank goes wrong, Paul Reynolds is stranded in a parallel world where the industrial revolution never happened. Only a small number of people have access to technology — the Spellbinders — and they pretend it’s magic and use it to rule over everyone else.

Creepy childhood memory: Ashka was one of the most ruthless and calculating Spellbinders — and the way she was portrayed as a villain gave everyone chills.

Nine Network

What it was about: After being sucked inside a wormhole, a modern-day astronaut finds himself part of a fugitive alien crew who are escaping corrupt authorities called the Peacekeepers.

Creepy childhood memory: Look, Farscape was definitely not a children’s show, but a lot of Aussie teens ended up watching it. The sci-fi hijinks were cool, but some of those characters were pure nightmare fuel (I’m looking at you, Scorpius) and the storyline was dark AF.

Nine Network

What it was about: Alana, a girl from the year 3000, is kidnapped by Silverthorn, a criminal from the year 2500, and brought back in time to the year 1990. While here, Alana befriends Jenny, who helps Alana adapt to life in the ’90s and find a way to return to her own time.

Creepy childhood memory: Silverthorn was sinister AF and gave you nightmares about suddenly being kidnapped. Stranger danger!!!

ABC

What it was about: Technically a New Zealand production (but I’m including it because it was a staple for ’00s Aussie kids), each episode of Freaky featured three spooky talents covering a fast array of sci-fi and horror sub-genres.

Creepy childhood memory: You may laugh at the comical special effects now, but back in those days it was enough to rob you of sleep for weeks. Freaky was essentially like The Twilight Zone, but for kids. You were drawn to watching it, even though you knew you would be paying for it later.

ABC

What it was about: A mining colony on Jupiter’s moon, Io, is forced to flee when a volcanic eruption destroys their world. The surviving colonists, who are mostly made up of children, seek shelter in a derelict space station and attempt to get back to Earth.

Creepy childhood memory: The sci-fi in this show was epic (the ship they used was so cool!), but the thought of being stuck in space, with no contact whatsoever to friends, family and anyone to help, always made your stomach sink a little.

ABC

What it was about: Another New Zealand production that got a lot of love in Australia was The Tribe, which focused on a group of young adults struggling to survive in a world where all the adults have been killed by a mysterious virus. Also, let’s acknowledge that The Tribe was a great show that had many of us hooked, but it’s definitely a product of its time (the cultural appropriation in the show would not slide today — and for good reason!).

Creepy childhood memory: The whole setting of The Tribe taking place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where food is scarce and violence is a constant threat was enough to put you on edge. Mixed in with some incredibly weird storylines and heavy topics (teen pregnancy, eating disorders and sexual assault), this show made you actually thankful for having adults in your life.

Nine Network

What it was about: After moving into a new home with his family, Jools realises that the house is haunted by the ghost of Elly, a young girl who was murdered. He helps her solve the mystery of how she died.

Creepy childhood memory: When it was revealed that Elly was never murdered but had died in a tragic accident. Oh, and there’s more because Elly became a ghost to clear the name of the man suspected of her murder. I’M SORRY, HOW IS THIS A CHILDREN’S SHOW AGAIN?!?! Sensing some real adult themes here, which most likely explains why Aussie kids are traumatised by this show.

ABC

What it was about: Round The Twist needs no explanation. In fact, even if I tried to give one, I don’t think I could do this show and its wacky plotlines justice. But basically, a family — The Twists — live in a lighthouse and get up to a lot of strange (emphasis on the strange) adventures.

Traumatising childhood memory: There are way too many WTF-inducing moments from Round The Twist to recall, but this terrifying scarecrow wearing circus clothes will forever give me nightmares.