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Evil Muppets


Creepy_Steve

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This 1994 story, written by journalist Brian Bethel, recounts an odd and terrifying encounter with the most ordinary of living room objects -- the television. Bethel grew up in and attended journalism school in Texas. Bethel has his own site at Ghosts: The Page that Goes Bump in the Night.

By Brian Bethel

Long ago when I was about four or five, I stayed over at my grandparents' house for the night. My Mom stayed over with me, because Dad was out of town on business.

Granny and Granddad quite enjoyed their television programs, and had a set in each of the two bedrooms in the house, as well as in the living room. I was still stupid enough to believe TV's flickering, mind-sucking images were pretty neat, so I was in heaven.

Night came on softly, as it only can when you feel safety and warmth around you. With one of Granny's home-cooked meals in my stomach, I had begun to feel the need for slumber. So, we all piled in the monstrous king-sized bed in Granny and Granddad's mas ter bedroom, and soon we were all snoring blissfully.

I woke up in the night and sat upright, looking around. Something had disturbed my slumber. Granddad was still snoring rhythmically, and Granny looked like she hadn't budged an inch, so I sat back and prepared to visit the realm of dream once more.

Then the television turned itself on.

Now, I'm only 22 years old [1994], but this was in the days when remote controls were the providence of the wealthy and debased. Granny and Grandad did not fit into any of those two categories.

To see a television turn itself on was an interesting thing. I sat up again to see what would come on.

At that time, the TV in my grandparents' bedroom was a black and white. I watched the white dot that had formed in the middle expand to full screen, but only the static of a dead channel appeared.

Then, images began to appear.

I couldn't really describe them. They were sort of shadowy things at first, but they seemed to be -- for lack of a better term -- "scoping me out." Slowly, an actual image began to appear.

Muppets! The Muppets were on! I was exalted, elated. I wanted to wake my grandparents up, but I then started to feel a bit uncomfortable about what was happening on the television.

Muppets did not usually have fangs as I recall. At least, not ones that looked so ... real and out of place in an otherwise standard Muppet-style mouth.

I realize this is sounding goofy. You were warned. :)

Well, uncertain about what to do, I decided to keep a close watch on the television. Herry Monster, as a refrigerator magnet

The "Muppets" looked at me. It was common of course on Sesame Street and the Muppet Show for them to acknowledge the audience, so I wasn't alarmed so much by that.

I describe these things as Muppets because that's primarily what they looked like. Other than the rows and rows of unusual teeth, one looked vaguely Groveresque and the other sort of reminded me of Herry the Monster (don't know if he's even ON Sesame Street anymore). [Ed. note: Herry is still a supporting player on Sesame Street.] The Real Grover

The Groveresque Muppet leaned over and pointed at me, while whispering something to his companion. They looked at me in unison, whispering all the while in a strange, unusually guttural tongue. It sounded completely random, although it did somehow seem t o follow the meter and pattern of a language.

I noticed when the Groveresque Muppet pointed, he had very long, distinct talons on his furry hands. This, too, was quite disturbing.

The Muppets began to dance, sing and cavort about in that strange language of theirs. It was sort of amusing, I recall. I began to feel a bit more at ease.

The Muppets motioned for me to come forward.

I shook my head.

The Muppets tried again.

I shook my head. I was beginning to feel frightened. If there ever was a way Muppets could look p***ed, these guys were doing it. With all those rows of fangs, it wasn't pretty.

I should mention that all of this singing, dancing, cavorting horror that was going on seemed to in no way disturb my grandparents. This disturbed me as well, because these guys were LOUD.

I got out of bed and crept into the living room, being careful to avoid approaching the screen. The Muppet-things wore visages of absolute anger now, motioning violently for me to approach the screen. My attempts rouse my grandmother and grandfather were in vain; they would not stir.

I ran into the living room, crying. I collapsed in my Granddad's chair, buried my face into the fabric, and began to weep, certain doom had come for me.

I looked over at the television in the corner of the living room. It had already begun to turn itself on, the shadow-forms that had dissolved into the Henson-styled horrors already beginning to flicker across its surface.

I screamed, rooted to the spot. But as the scream left my lungs and two grinning, fanged faces burst into being on the television screen, faintly and then with increasing tempo I heard footsteps.

The things in the television looked worried, swirled into their shadow-forms and were gone.

The television winked out just as my Mother ran into the room.

After consoling me, we went to check on Granny and Granddad. They were both awake, and had heard me scream.

We all sat up for a while talking, and eventually the warmth and love returned to fill the chill in my soul.

I went to bed and nothing more happened that night. Or any other night I stayed with my grandparents.

A waking dream? Probably so. But one that still fills me with terror.

I was awake of course, Mom will still assert, when I was in the chair. So, I did move somehow from the bed to the chair.

Still, it gives one pause. What better way to snare a young boy than to show him something he loves, then pull him in unawares?

Whatever those two things were, I'm sure the Muppet-forms were not their natural shape. I'm sure the fangs and talons were part of it, though.

If they're still out there, I hope they haven't had much time to practice those forms. If they could get them just right ...

I still wonder what would have happened -- dream or not -- if I had put my then-small hands up to the screen there in my grandparents' bedroom.

Perhaps nothing.

And then again, perhaps it's better not to know.

Next time, I'll post some real ghost stories. But the TV thread made remember this.

In case you're wondering, I don't watch much television anymore. It all seems so ... diabolical. ;) Return to Stories Page

No Muppets or Sesamestreet for my kids...as soon as I get some.

PS: Can somebody move this topic to what ever forum it belongs, made a mistake posting it.

Edited by Creepy_Steve
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No Muppets or Sesamestreet for my kids...as soon as I get some.

PS: Can somebody move this topic to what ever forum it belongs, made a mistake posting it.

I'm interested to read more by this Brian guy, since I am now beginning to doubt how much truth there is in his stories...

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I'm interested to read more by this Brian guy, since I am now beginning to doubt how much truth there is in his stories...

Well can't help ya there, just copy pasted this from a site I sometimes visit, no info about how to contact the authors etc.

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Well can't help ya there, just copy pasted this from a site I sometimes visit, no info about how to contact the authors etc.

That's ok. I've found a couple other of his stories to read, and an email address -- but I don't have anything very constructive to offer, so I don't think I will be contacting him.

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No creepy muppet tales for you. :P

The muppets were creepy to begin with. But I don't buy "the tv turned itself on and tried to eat me", unless it was a metaphor, a kind of cautionary tale...

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"The Groveresque Muppet leaned over and pointed at me, while whispering something to his companion. They looked at me in unison, whispering all the while in a strange, unusually guttural tongue. It sounded completely random, although it did somehow seem t o follow the meter and pattern of a language. "

I knew it! I knew it! There was always something creepy about those Groveresque muppets.

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What's the source for this story?

(am interested in this author now that i know about the "evil muppets")

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If he was four or five it could of quite simply of been a dream. :hmm:

You're quite right, it could have been. But for a dream that happened so long ago, the author is curiously detailed. Unfortunately, I'm leaning more towards saying it was a good story -- but I don't believe it happened.

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this is what i think:

He was REALLY asleep even tho he tohught he was a wak CAUSE

he woke up, but his gramps were sleeping , so he went back to dream IN that instant he could of fell to sleep , and woke up in his dream but he was realyl dreaming

if the tv turned on, sometimes some tvs have like an "alarm" and turn on in a spot once a year like mine :)

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i just wish that the two old muppets in the balcony who make fun of everyone would have popped out of the closet and heckled this guy.

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Wow. Alright before i begin, this is probably going to discount my credibility for future posts in any subject, but it is too important to me than i can ignore. The following story is one i have repressed for many years, however this topic has awakened it somewhat in my mind. for as little as we all know that is worth, I swear to you all, this really happened...

I was a little kid, somewhere around 4-6, (which one exactly i most likely will never remember). i was still very small. me and my family, which consisted of only my mom, my brother (8 years older than me), and of course me (my father passed away a few months before i was born). we were all in our old house. (just typing this brings tears to my eyes.) we had taken out the bed in my mothers room because i think we were remodeling her room (my mother's.) we had all been in there the entire night until we were all so tired we just picked a spot in the room and passed out, my brother on top of a desk but with a cushion of some sort, covers, and a pillow (again i remind you that we were remodeling) my mother with a bunch of covers and pillows, with me right next to her. I awoke because either a noise woke me up or it happened naturally, but either way i woke up. and the thing that kept me from sleeping was that outside my mother's room (the living room), the lights were accidently left on. being the young fearless kid, i decided to hurry up and turn them off, leaving the safety of the room, after turning off the lights in the living room(oh how i wish i would have just locked the door and went back to sleep ignoring everything), i peered into my brothers room, somewhat further away from the living room, and even further away from my mom's room. it was a lamp that he had left on which got my attention, so i decided i would just turn it out. well, (and i swear to you, this is all real, i am not lying) i looked out the window before turning it out, and i saw the window being around 1/4 of the way open, and there was a muppet looking thing trying to climb through, at this point in time i was just very curious as to see a Living Moving creature that looked so, so, weird . i don't quite remember the exact conversation, but i asked it what was it doing and i don't remember exactly what he replied but then i remember him asking me to come closer and help him climb through and i said no (by then knowing how dangerous it is to let strangers in the house.) and i don't really remember exactly how one thing led to another but soon after i denied him help repeatedly, i remember he got enraged, like VERY enraged, and being so life like and such a strange creature, it really FRIGHTENED me until i was crying (so frightening that it still strikes fear into me now, a 17 year old man. and i can tell you that i am not easily frightened) and calling for my brother or even mom to wake up and come here, (none of whom woke up) and after further telling the muppet looking creature i didn't want him coming in he started struggling even more to get into the house. i am not sure why he wasn't able to, (OR EVEN HOW HE WAS ABLE TO GET UP TO THE WINDOW, the room was on the second story of the house) but it was happening and i didn't really have time to figure out all the damn questions that would normally arise in a situation like this, so after he got so scary and mad that i couldn't take it anymore i remember just leaving the lamp in my brother's room on and running as fast as i could back into my mom's room and locking the door (all the while the creature was screaming how he was gonna get me and etc. etc. all very terrifying stuff, still stuck in the window THANK GOD.), and curling up next to my mom as fast as i could and tried to fall asleep after none of my family would wake up (they were pretty deep sleepers back in the day, and would just mutter out something like, 'it's nothing, go back to sleep') so i just tried as hard as i can to fall back asleep, anticipating the daylight, and more importantly my family being awake and the monster being gone. and well, that was it. the next morning i woke up, and it was all over as if it had never happened. BUT i do slightly remember my brothers lamp being on STILL, furthering my belief that it Was real, the window however, was closed or not open as much anymore or enough to stir up any suspicious ideas for my brother. I also remember trying to convince them what happened, but they barely even paid attention to me, reassuring me it was a dream. BUT I KNOW DAMN ****ing WELL it was NOT. god, HOW I DO HOPE IT WAS A DREAM, OH HOW I DO, but past experience tends me to believe otherwise, in which case, leaves me with an infinite amount of questions regarding evil. AND i am sorry for waiting so long to describe what the muppet looked like but here it goes, he was just regular looking i guess, for a muppet anyway. the most distinguishing features about him was just his fur, or whatever u want to call it, depending on if u see this story as real or fake. it was a dingy whiteish color. he had a rough, deep voice, but not deep to the point of exaggeration. i do not remember talons or anything like that, but i am not discounting it neither. for years, i looked back on the event as a dream the more further time past, but hearing this story, really ****ing scares me. i know this post is getting long, but for one moment, whether you believe this story or not, SAY THAT WHAT I SAID HAPPENED TO ME REALLY DID JUST FOR ONE SINGLE SECOND, what does that say about the universe we live in, not so much concentrating on the possibilities of evil muppet manifestations but the possibilities of evil and fear? I KNOW u guys will just pass this off as another guy on the internet with more time on his hands than he should have, but just for ONE moment think of the previous notion i asked you, and pray with me that it isn't real. alright im done making myself look like a f'ing idiot, but thanks for listening. bye.

edit: COME TO THINK OF IT, i think in the living room the TV was on!!! and i turned it off. BUT THE FACT REMAINS (to me at least) that this thing was not SIMPLY in the TV, it was in our dimension... The TV turning on wasn't really something that caught my attention, it was already on in a staticy channel when i got in the living room, and i just turned it off, i dont know whether it turned back on or not, because the next time i would see it, i would be running as fast as i could in fear of my life back to my mother's room.)

Edited by Incubus420
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While I don't doubt that people think these Muppets are evil and trying to get to them, I must point out that when I was about 6 or 7 I woke up one night to find the Tooth Fairy in my bedroom. She was beautiful, but friendly ( not evil), yada yada yada.

I am now 35 and will swear on a stack of bibles she was really there. There's a part of my brain that knows she was but I think the 98% of my logical thinking brain knows that just can't happen.

My point is.... notice this stuff happens to kids....are there any reports of adults being peeping-tommed by Elmo or Big Bird or the Tooth Fairy? Not likely.

We believe we see this stuff because kids have the most active imaginations of anyone..so active, in fact that the memories of our experiences stay with us our whole lives and we are convinced of what happened.

P.S. I love the Muppets and Sesame Street so this is all a bit disheartening for me.

:hmm:

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I have always HATED muppets, but I always thought I was the only one. They have always freaked me out, I can't stand them.

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this reminds me of a dream i had when i was little. yes i know it was a dream, not real, just funny as hell now.

it's kinda of vague, but i remember i was playing in my backyard when eliot and e.t. came flying in on eliots bike. then e.t's eyes began glowing yellow and he smiled, showing all these razor sharp teeth. he lit up his little finger and it killed eliot. then he looked at me. that's all i remember about the dream.

sorry if no one else thinks it's funny, but i can still remember the way he looked in my dream and it just cracks me up now.

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Guest Mr.vort

When I was little my mom's tv was on but she was still sleeping and when I went to tell her a white bunny thing jumped out and punched me until my parents came into the hall!

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When I was little I'm sure I saw E.T in a nurses hat. But I know it was all in my head most likely But I'm still scared of E.T :unsure2:

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stranger things have happened....muppets with fangs sounds similar to gorms (if im right and no spelling mistake)

still makes one heck of interesting story. :ph34r:

Edited by darkknight
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Ok, first off, One muppet from Seasame Street has fangs, he's orange, has yellow horns, pink nose, yellow eyes, four fangs, claws, red tounge, black eyebrows, and swirly pupils.

For the Muppet show how ever... Most of the Muppet Monsters have Claws, Beaks, Talons, Fangs, and sometimes ate other muppets.

Sweetums, Uncle Deadly, Boppity, Gloat, Flower Eater, HunchBack frackle, Droop, Purple heap, Green Heap, Blue and Green Scroff, Lenny the Lizard, The sea Serpent, Lunch on counter, BeutifulDay, Shakey Shanches, ANIMAL, DogLion, Gorgon Heap, Timmy Monster, Thog, Thig, Snerbs, Mutations, Silver Fin, ChoppedLiver, Zombie Robert, DollCrab, ThreeLegged Screaming thing, MissKitty, Male Female Baby Koozbainians, Snowths, The four Fazoobs, Grudge, Splurge, Big V, Yorick, Koozbainian Spooble, The Koozbainian Foob, BeaHemouth, BigMama, Giant Man Eating Chicken, and many more, the Muppet Show was famous for monsters, explosions, pigs, chickens, penguins, and crazy acts.

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