Family Guy/Nightmare Fuel



This show started out as sort of a darker, edgier, denser, and wackier version of The Simpsons, which of course already has enough regular Defanged Horrors (and not just in the Halloween episodes). In recent years (especially after getting Uncancelled for the second time between 2002 and 2005), it's almost started going into South Park (when the humor and themes became more Anvilicious and the animation improved immensely) territory.

"Stewie: Just relax and get some reeeeest!"
 * The ENTIRE mushroom trip, from Seahorse Seashell Party.
 * Peter being roasted and turned as seen on the right. Oh GOD.
 * Wanna have sssssssssssex?
 * Groggitty.... (a twisted "Giggity" from a gargoyle Quagmire)
 * BRIAN!!!
 * To be honest, the one part of that sequence that felt out of place was when Peter's face appeared on a drumstick, floating by Brian and asking him if "he tried the chicken".
 * Peter was being roasted earlier. Try not to think about that.
 * The bees. Not just how they swarmed Brian and his entire body swelled up, but that awful gurgling squeak the first one made when Brian stepped on it.
 * Not to mention Brian cutting off his own ear.
 * "I'm gonna cut my ear off to prevent World War II."
 * And Brian jittering violently in Stewie's crib.
 * Not to mention the very beginning, Stewie's rubbing Brian's back while's he's trying to rest, then suddenly, Stewie's hand becomes a claw that scrapes Brian's back, exposing blood and transforms into a huge monster towering over a terrified Brian.

""Do you like my soothing voice? R-r-r-r-return the map. R-r-r-r-return what you have stolen from me."
 * Also, the hallucination with Stewie's mouth being animated by Syncro-Vox.The quote below however nullifies the scariness.

""GLENN QUAGMIRE, YOU'RE DEAD!!!""
 * A lot of the artwork for the background is creepy. Just look at the right at that picture.
 * Another hallucination has Lois having an egg cracked over her head. Followed by her skin cracking with white yolk oozing out!
 * The thing that's really scary is that out of all the scary crap Brian was involved in, Stewie was always in the background or on screen. Maybe Brian is more afraid of Stewie than we thought...
 * Rush Limbaugh's visual representation in the Family Guy Presents Laugh It Up Fuzzball parody of Return of the Jedi, It's a Trap!, and his subsequent death afterward. The lighting, camera angles, and filtered voice really sells the idea of a monstrous Limbaugh-Rancor. And seeing Limbaugor's brains spill out of his skull as the blast door slams down on top of him...
 * In "The Perfect Castaway", Joe wakes up to find that both of his legs are neatly torn off his body. Now, if that isn't Nightmare Fuel enough, we soon discover that Peter, not only responsible for chopping Joe's legs off, has completely devoured them! His only defense? There's no food, and Joe wasn't going to use them any time soon.
 * No, it's even worse than that: Peter didn't chop Joe's legs off; he was eating them straight from his body!
 * Whenever Cleveland's Berserk Button is pushed to the point he becomes consumed by rage. Like in "The Cleveland-Loretta Brown Quagmire", though it is totally justified, after going through the majority of the episode accepting, and even apologizing for the fact Loretta cheated on him, seeing all his repressed rage explode like a volcano to the point where he vows to kill a man is pretty terrifying, especially if that hatred comes from a man who normally wouldn't hurt a fly, even if that fly hurt him.

"Bitch-Stewie: Whoa, I hope that doesn't happen to me. (melts)"
 * The episode Quagmire's Baby finally got this show an example of Nightmare Fuel so extreme, it pretty much cannot be classified as normal Nightmare Fuel: in the subplot of said episode, Stewie creates a retarded clone of himself (dubbed Bitch-Stewie). Later, he creates a "Bitch-Brian" even more dumb than "Bitch-Stewie." At the end of the episode, both clones slowly begin to decay-- Bitch-Brian loses his jaw, and his upper stair of teeth-- gums too. And Bitch-Stewie has an eyeball hanging out. Suddenly, Bitch-Brian melts extremely graphically, with his muscles and bones visible (the bones melt too). And Bitch-Stewie melts, too. Afterwards, Brian comments he has an urge to lick the bloody puddle of ex-clones.

""I don't think he even knows where he is.""
 * There's also the scene in the Miley Cyrus episode where Peter falls into Chris' log trap and gets his head smashed in between two logs, blood spurting and everything. Next scene is Peter sitting at the table with his head still mangled.
 * Hell, the Myley-Terminator thing from the climax made me looking away from the screen!
 * You and me both, brother!
 * "Who's laughing now? I got my hat."
 * Road to Germany, where Brian and Stewie travelled back in time to find Mort and are attending the wedding of one of Mort's ancestors. As the (Jewish) music plays the scene switches between happy wedding guests dancing with the couple and the Nazis rolling out tanks and aircraft ready to begin attacking Poland. Then the bombing starts and the music stops, the dancers stop and look at the doors. It's just... creepy...
 * The post-apocalyptic episode, Da Boom. The whole episode was scary, especially where Stewie mutates into a head with octopus arms, then lays a bajillion eggs, which hatch into MORE Stewie heads with octopus arms, that take over the town.
 * I remember that episode being quite funny when I was younger, it's the twist ending that scares me.
 * To be clear, it was a parody of the (in)famous Dallas scene where Pam wakes up from a dream that retconned a whole season. The original actors even reprised their roles for that scene.
 * The season 9 opener. After Lois figured out it was who did it, the scene where Lois' eyes go wide and then, could send shivers down anyone's spine.
 * And there's also the recent holiday episode, Road to the North Pole. Santa's workshop, the carniverous reindeer...and the elves. Oh sweet gods, the elves...
 * The song "Christmas Is Killing Us" was also pretty creepy. Did the rhythm and some of the choreography remind anyone else of "Be Prepared"?
 * And then Brian and Stewie play Santa and end up horribly bludgeoning a mother and father after they "see Santa" and try to call the cops, then tie up the family to make it look like a robbery, including their young daughter. The poor kid will probably view Christmas for the rest of her life the way the Futurama cast views Xmas.
 * How about the catatonic elf who never reacted even when his arm was cut off.

"Stewie: That's an adult ear!"
 * Stewie's head wounds after Chris and Meg accidentally pushed him down the stairs were pretty horrible. His brain was showing. And of course things got worse when the wounds became infected and maggot-ridden. The icing on the cake was first Meg and Chris trying to cover it up Weekend at Bernies style, then Peter and even Lois. Somehow he recovered, but with those injuries, how?
 * What's even worse was watching Chris scrubbing the wound with what can be assumed to be a pretty stiff-bristled brush. Just imagining that... oh god.
 * Being a parody of Poltergeist, the episode Petergeist had some genuinely disturbing moments, such as when Peter starts shaving, parts of his face start falling off in bloody chunks, then his face morphs into Hank Hill and he says "hehehe, propane"
 * In the episode "The Hand That Rocks the Wheelchair", Stewie accidentally creates an evil clone of himself. When he first meets said clone, the clone punches Stewie, breaks his arm, cuts Brian's tail off, proceeds to put the tail in Stewies mouth, and runs. Oh, and right after almost being run over, he takes out a sword and cuts the female driver in half. You even see her insides in vivid animated detail!
 * And then he kills the Kool-Aid man. THEN DRINKS HIM.
 * Evil Stewies entrance. He just stands there and gives the most chilling stare EVER.
 * Don't forget the ending with Stewie's demon eyes along with that chilling laughter.
 * And that god-awful smile Evil Stewie always has on. It's almost not natural.
 * That part when Brian is trying to jam his tail back on is just horrifying.
 * Not to mention when Evil Stewie tried to kill Brian by plugging his nose with batteries and tightening his collar around his mouth so he couldn't breathe. Just seeing him panicking and desperately trying to save himself from suffocating/choking to death.
 * Plus a Deleted Scene of Evil Stewie apparently doing something horrible to a child (offscreen). And when his parents come in, Evil Stewie mutilates them.

"Stewie: I think that's why it was tied up."
 * All this, and the episode's A story, which involves Meg becoming obsessed with Joe after he treats her with kindness, and ends with is a strong contender for the darkest story Family Guy have done.
 * In "Dog Gone", Brian is showing a PSA on the mistreatment of dogs by humans. In one segment of the PSA, a dog's owner leaves NPR on for her dog after leaving for work. The dog begins to frantically scratch at the door until it grinds its paws down to blood and bone.
 * There's also the scene where Brian unties a dog, which then viciously attacks and kills a smaller dog before being shot to death by cops. Not before biting one of the cops in the neck.

"Peter: Tough girl. Made it into work."
 * The scene where they show a cow giving birth just for the baby to fall through a meat-grinding device and being served to a whole family!
 * That whole PSA, like when Brian shows the effects of animal testing, scientists test "bullet-proof lipstick" on a rabbit by shooting it. It doesn't work.
 * In "Stewie Loves Lois", Lois had a nightmare where she put Stewie in a washing machine to stop his constant yelling. But what really got terrifying was the screams Stewie made. Worse, she repeatedly slams the lid on his fingers!.
 * In "Lottery Fever" Quagmire mentions taking an experimental sex drug and says that the waitress he had sex with has a great time and then it cuts to a shot of woman graphically SPLIT IN HALF!.
 * Even worse, according to the dialogue, SHE'S STILL ALIVE. Sweet Jesus.

""It only hurts when I see.""
 * Dialogue? She was at the bar, and waved.
 * Peter attempting to dive into a money bin, only for reality to ensue and horrifically injure himself.
 * His reaction to it was funny, though.
 * When Stewie confronts New Brian and he
 * "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q".
 * THE WHOLE EPISODE!
 * Unlike the other abuse seen on the show, the abuse presented here was NOT played for laughs!
 * The shot of Quagmire laying in his bed with an extremely sad face while he listens to his sister get abused is very disturbing, and will make viewers want to bawl their eyes out.
 * Jeff strangling Quagmire to near-death is one of the most heart-pounding moments in the entire series.
 * Jeff, period.
 * This guy makes even the most Jerkass characters look like saints!
 * Plus he has No Indoor Voice. What's so bad? His voice is the scariest when he's not being violent.
 * Quagmire autoerotic asphyxiating himself at the beginning leads to some Fridge Horror. Cleveland moved, and they already lost Loretta. How would they take it if they lost another friend?
 * The fact that relationships this abusive actually do happen in Real Life.
 * Which doubles the Fridge Horror: what if Brenda, who was pregnant with Jeff's baby, actually went through with marrying him?
 * The most dramatic beating of Brenda. Foe three reasons:
 * Instead of offscreen, the abuse was seen in silhouette!
 * The slaps and screams could be heard from Peter's house!
 * When Quagmire plans to kill Jeff, Joe said not to, since it would be murder. But when he hears the abuse at Quagmire's house, he changes his mind and decides to finish him off once and for all!
 * Brenda's black eye. It's not a black-and-blue mark, it bulges out like a sore thumb.

""You should see how soft Jeff hits me when we're alone"."
 * Much of Brenda's denial about her abuse, which is sadly Truth in Television.

"Brian: Her fists are so dangerous, she's not allowed to be a lesbian!"
 * This episode was actually accused of making fun of the victim more than the attacker. True, there was attempts at making Brenda's denial seem humorous, but in Jeff's case there wasn't ANY humor.
 * Jeff's death is very satisfying and well-deserved, but it involves Quagmire squashing Jeff with his car against a tree into a bloody mess. In fact, the end results are partially obscured, unlike the other brutal deaths we've seen before.
 * It doesn't help that the episode aired the day before Halloween.
 * A minor one, but Jeff wanted kill Quagmire before their scuffle in the woods, telling him "that baby's growing up without an uncle."
 * The ending of the episode is very bittersweet. Sure, Jeff is dead, but Brenda doesn't know that. Instead, she is told in a rather grim forged letter that Jeff has left her, and has to live in fear of him coming back to kill her and her unborn child if she ever says he was with Peter and the guys (ironically it wasn't written by Peter, but by JOE). and the episode ends with her bursting into tears...and Peter saying he wants to kill Mort.
 * Also some Fridge Horror in that some people who were abused before tend to fall back into abusive relationships.
 * Back to the Pilot, anyone? The CG sequence in particular. Surreal animation and froggy Quagmire getting blown apart by Terminator Joe, in particular...
 * "What the HELL happened?!"
 * Plus the alternate Brian with the slit throat.
 * "This is life for some reason!"
 * A bit of Fridge Horror as to how that happened.
 * Is that the universe where Brian and Stewie are infused with what look like barber poles? Because that was indeed horrifying.
 * Plus they throw up in them, filling the poles with vomit.
 * Also the Fridge Horror that . Crapsack World, much?
 * Think about this; Lois's opponent in "Baby, You Knock Me Out", murdered three of her opponents in the ring and planned to make Lois her fourth victim. Let that sink in for a minute; I'm pretty sure some boxers have murdered some of their opponents in the ring in real life, and somehow went on their lives knowing they can take a life with just a few, skilled punches.

"Peter: THROW THIS PHONE AWAY, LOIS!!!"
 * The guys' night out with The Devil from Legend.
 * Only Family Guy can have a pimple wield a revolver!
 * In "Trading Places", Peter is prepared to go to high school armed with a gun for a parody of Columbine-style shootings. When Lois tells him to go to school as a regular kid, Peter calls a guy to tell him the shooting's off. But then we heard guns going off and people screaming on the other end!

"Brian!Robin: Hey Peter, can you pass the coffee? Peter: (disturbingly calm) Sure, Brian the Dog. Anything for my family."
 * Also from "Trading Places", Chris screaming in pain from the pain in his stomach (in reality he was experiencing the signs of a heart attack), its just unnerving to hear someone like Chris scream in that type of pain.
 * The explanation of James Woods' return in "Tom Tucker: The Man And His Dream", where doctors drain the life force out of a 17 year old girl into his body.
 * And apparently, Chris doesn't take bad news very well.
 * "The Splendid Source", since it was based off a short story, is pretty dark and unusual. One moment that stands out is when the gang is caught by The Men in Black and have burlap sacks put over their heads while The Men in Black whack them unconscious with their guns.
 * Also, when Peter stabs Cleveland with a pencil (and Cleveland returning the favor a bit later).
 * "Killer Queen" has Chris being strangled to near death.
 * Plus the flashback shots of Patrick strangling fat people and his entrance to Lois and the others.
 * Not to mention that those who were strangled at the fat camp have discolored skin, veins popping out of their necks, and their are mouths wide open (probably with looks of horror). The thing is they all had similar features like Chris, mainly blond hair.
 * Stewie notices the Uncanny Valley that is Queen's News of The World's Robot.
 * Watch it here.
 * The worst part is probably
 * That goddamn Jump Scare with the scratch-off card.
 * Then the robot's appearance near the end (think of the ending to Fun and Fancy Free).
 * Stewie nightmare about being kidnapped by Santa in the first Christmas Episode.
 * James Woods unstable Crazy Jealous Guy side which shows up in "Peters Got Woods".
 * The scene where Peter and Brian come home and see Woods waiting like a stood-up date.
 * Meg's increasing and obvious Sanity Slippage. For example, she wishes she had softer voices in her head.
 * Or when she dated a corpse and pretended that it was still alive.
 * Or when she went Yandere (disambiguation) on Brian a la Fatal Attraction.
 * Peter getting mauled by a puma.
 * Saggy Naggy
 * Peter accidentally blowing all his fingers off.
 * "Tony Robbins hungry!"
 * "Leggo My Meg-O". It's not suprising if you're familiar with the film it's based on.
 * Some parts of the climactic fight between Stewie and Penelope, including where Stewie stabs Penelope right through the arm.
 * Penelope giving a kid a cyanide pill.
 * The ending of the "Fatman and Robin" sketch in Family Guy Viewer Mail #2.
 * Peter getting high on crystal meth and ripping out his eyeball.
 * Much of the Meg-bashing. Face it, it sucks to be her!
 * Some episodes depict her as being emotionally fragile and disturbed, even dabbling into Self -Harm, probably as a result of all of the abuse.
 * One episode has Peter doing the really old cartoon gag where the steam coming off a freshly baked pie forms beckoning fingers and tries to go up Peter's nose, which is supposed to draw Peter into eating the pie. When Peter refuses, the steam somehow starts ripping off Peter's clothes so it can rape him. We then see the steam is also holding Quagmire's eyes open, forcing him to watch.
 * A bull raping Peter.
 * Peter's gotten raped a lot of times actually. It's quite disturbing.
 * From Fatman and Robin, we have a twist on the classic Midas Touch story. After made angry by a Robin Williams roast, he shouts to God that he wishes everyone was Robin Williams. He's struck by lightning, and when he wakes up in the hospital, discovers he has the power to turn whoever he touches nto Robin Williams. He starts out having fun, turning his kids, Tom Tucker, various patrons at the Drunken Clam, Joe's legs, and several others into Robin Williams. Then he wakes up, and discovers that Lois has been turned into Robin Williams. He comes down to Brian for help, shaking him in panic, turning him into Robin Williams. A tea kettle he picks up gets the face of Robin Williams.. He tries to blow his brains out, the revolver turns into Robin Williams. He runs out the door (which turns into Robin Williams) running with all the Robin Williams' around, jumps in front of a car to kill himself, the car turns into Robin Williams and he's fine. He's chased by a mob of Robin Williams' to a cliff, and they're all telling jokes. He jumps and notices the large rock below him, closing his eyes and smiling, as he'll be released from this nightmare. The rock turns into Mrs. Doubtfire and he's unscathed. After convincing all but 5 Robins to leave Quahog, we cut to the Griffin's kitchen, with the Robin's dressed as Peter's family members (Stewie actually wasn't turned since he disguised himself, but Peter didn't know that) with Peter, who's hair and clothes are a mess, with a disturbed looking grin on his face.. Brian!Robin asks for coffee, which Peter passes him, revealing that HE CHOPPED OFF HIS OWN HANDS, LEAVING STILL BLEEDING STUMPS. Now THAT's messed up.


 * Three words: No. Paper. Towels.
 * The episode "Deep Throats" had Cleveland wrecking Brian's cab with a baseball bat, then turning into a black panther.
 * Lois getting drenched in sclading hot cooking oil.
 * "I love you, Glenn." (insert Slasher Smile).