Episode 47: I’m Sorry Jon and Monsters in The Playground

Skip to 6:10 to jump right into the episode.

Have you ever wondered what lay behind the chipper eyes of everyone’s favorite deep sea pineapple inhabitant? Why children make an appearance as harbingers of terror in so many horror movies? What makes someone take a look at a cat obsessed with lasagna and think ‘This cat is an eldritch god intent on the destruction of humanity’? Why are we so turned off by sluggish cartoons like Teletubbies and Moon and Me? What makes clowns and rabbits and dolls so scary when we grow up?

What makes clowns Welcome BACK, children, to another crow episode. This episode is full of experimental psychology theories and also a few of our own. We’re going to be looking into r/imsorryjon and the weird world of horror set in…children’s T.V shows? This isn’t your average nostalgic horror. This is the dark side of Spongebob that creepypastas insist exists. This is the terrifying ‘what ifs’ that explore corrupted innocence. And when works that explore lost innocence like Hereditary and Skinamarink do exist, you’ve got to wonder…why pick at 1990’s comics and cartoons meant to entertain children? What do we see as adults that we were so blind to as 8 year olds? Well, you’ll just have to listen to find out…

Intro music: Beeckmans: Hymne for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet and Piano (2018) - The Alba Septet (Listen to the whole thing on youtube, you'll thank us later).

Outro music: Magic Hour by Three Chain Links

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References:

Vsauce: Why are Things Creepy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEikGKDVsCc

What’s so fascinating about weird children’s TV shows? By Linda Geddes. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191206-why-children-find-weird-television-so-mesmerising

Science Daily: Children and adults see the world differently, research finds https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100913153630.htm

On The Nature of Creepiness https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0732118X16300320

The Uncanny Valley: A Possible Explanation for Creepiness https://medium.com/@lutian_71494/the-uncanny-valley-a-possible-explanation-for-creepiness-5ce7361d777e

Children’s perception of uncanny human-like virtual characters https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563214002015