Goosebumps was not the only kids horror series I encountered during my youth. There was a series that actually gave me nightmares. Oh my Great Britain really do not like their children.
Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids was written by Jamie Rix and was originally published in 1990. In 1999 the books were made into a TV series for British Television channel ITV and in 2010 the series was re invented and picked up by Nickelodeon UK and Nicktoons UK.
While I only remembered a few stories from Goosebumps, I remember every single story from GTFGK, they will forever been burned into my mind. Remember above when I said ‘ Oh my Great Britain really do not like their children’? GTFGK is proof of that. Its theme is that of cautionary or morality tales executed, in some ways,as horror stories. The books, and tv series, mainly focuses on naughty or horrible children who display traits such as lying, stealing, cheating, vanity, untidiness, and not listening to their parents. Unlike Goosebumps, the parents in these stories do not have ‘Dumb Parent Syndrome’ and are active in their children’s lives, often warning them of the dangers they will face if they do not change their ways or listen to them.
I began reading GTFGK when I was 12 and while they were scary, I don’t remember having any nightmares with the books. However this changed the first time I heard Nigel Planer speak. Nigel Planer, for those who don’t know, is an English actor who voices the character of Uncle Grizzly in the Grizzly Tales For Gruesome Kids TV show and he is the reason I had so many nightmares as a child. His voice added to the already Gruesome stories of Rix means that if R.L.Stine was the Kids Spook King, Nigel Planer and Jamie Rix are Give Kids Nightmares Gods. Planer’s voice feels as if you are being transported into a world and it is a world that you really do not want to be a part of. When he speaks you listen and when you listen you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck beginning to stand on end. When you hear the grizzly and gruesome consequences for these kids, a chill runs down your spine like never before and when he laughs, you are frozen with the fear. That is way I love Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids and that is why I had so many nightmares. The stories alone were painfully scary but with the voice of Planer they are completely horrifying. The nightmares I had that were related to Grizzly Tales always had the Planer voice over in them.
Don’t believe me? Well listen to the Tale Of The Pie Men:
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