“My parents took me to see The Exorcist when I was five years old back in 1975. I haven’t been the same ever since.”

"I saw it when I was five. I slept with the lights on for a week and was scared to stare at a TV."

"I was eight years old, and my parents said I could go see An Officer and a Gentleman with them or Poltergeist with my older sister. I chose Poltergeist and haven't looked at a 🤡 the same way since..."

"Nightmares for weeks and still can't watch movies like that."

"My parents took me to see The Exorcist when I was five years old back in 1975. I haven't been the same ever since."

"I watched it at 15, and my soul has never fully returned. I've tried rewatching as an adult, but the second that demon voice kicks in, I'm gone. I know that terrifying face is about to pop up next, and that's a full‑body nope. 30 years later, and I'm still traumatized."

"Chucky is the reason I threw away all my dolls."

"At age five. Seared terror into my brain forever."

"My best friend and I watched Megan Is Missing, and I saw it having a lot of online buzz before we watched it, but we didn't expect ANY of what we actually saw. DON'T watch it and take this as a sign."

"I was young and terrified that the little boy was always hiding behind the bathroom door and that the girl would crawl into bed with me. I love scary movies now, though. 😂"

"The Silence of the Lambs freaked me out, and I slept with the lights on for about a week or two after seeing it as an adult!"

"I was eight years old when I caught the ending of it on cable. I was absolutely terrified, but was even more fascinated by how they made a creature look so real. It got me started in my lifelong fascination with film practical effects, monsters, horror films, and stylistic art. The effects still hold up incredibly well, and it's a slow-burn movie I recommend to anyone interested in horror design and creature features."

"I was seven when Jurassic Park came out. It was rated PG-13, so I went to watch it with my parents. I was equal parts fascinated and scared at the same time. It did spark my interest in dinosaurs, though."

"The chicken's head being cut off in the tunnel scarred me. I'm 36 now and cannot rewatch it to this day."

"Too much heartbreak for a kid to handle."

"You have to remember that it was a different time. I mean, they couldn't show anything graphic (the technology didn't exist). It's a perfect child's nightmare."

"My parents did NOT monitor what we watched, which was typical back in the 1970's. However, we watched The Poseidon Adventure when I was about six, and my sister was about nine. It scarred us for life. I was too scared to even get into a rowboat for decades."

"I was six. My parents just divorced, and my dad took me to see it."

"I was 13 and went to the movies with my family. My older sister convinced us all that it was a great movie, and everyone loved it. I walked out halfway traumatized after some incredibly grotesque scenes and have never been able to see it again, even now at 33."

"Way too many horror movies before I was even 10, but I'm thinking Pet Sematary screwed the most with my brain. I actually asked to watch it again, which was not normal for a child, and a normal parent would have thought something was wrong instead of being glad their kid shared their passion for horror movies at that age."

"I was seven years old when I saw Carrie and The Omen. Didn't stop sleeping with a light on until my mid-30s."

"In first grade, I watched Mars Attacks! I had nightmares every night for an entire year. I've watched the movie many times now and love how ridiculous it is. In my mind, though, the movie I watched in first grade is not the same movie I have seen since."

Dracula, the one with Bela Lugosi. Saw just a snip of it when I was about four, and it really messed me up. I had nightmares for years and years. I don't watch horror movies because they have such a residual effect on me."

"I was maybe seven or eight, and I was TERRIFIED even to take a bath for years. 🥲 Still freaks me out to be underwater in a pool."

"I don't remember how old I was, middle school sometime, and my friend wanted to watch it. To this day, I cannot watch the prom scene. It was so scarring, I can't even look at Sissy Spacek anymore."

"I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street when I was six or seven, when it came out on videotape. I had nightmares for months about the scene where Tina was in the body bag. Then, I became obsessed with horror movies. It definitely broke my brain."

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.