At the turn of the century, before DC's superheroes made up the majority of the CW schedule, before Stranger Things ruled over Netflix, and even before the world had the adventures of the Winchester Brothers on Supernatural, the world counted on one young woman to bring them a weekly fix of crazy action, great jokes, and terrifying monsters. That woman was Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. Joss Whedon's most famous creation has been off the air since 2003, but new fans are introduced to it every year thanks to streaming services and comics.
And while all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are well worth watching, it can be hard to fit them all in, and sometimes viewers just want a good scare without having to first sit through an episode like season one's "I, Robot... You, Jane." Finding the freakiest of the freaky, the scariest of the scary, can be rough. These 10 episodes are the ones that will creep viewers out the most.
10 Nightmares
The first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer can be rough, but it also has some great episodes, like "Nightmares." In this episode, students at Sunnydale High are suddenly finding their greatest nightmares are coming to life, and only Buffy can save them. Buffy and the Scooby Gang learn that the waking nightmares are being created by a boy named Billy, who was beaten into a coma and is now being chased by a monster. To save the school and Billy, Buffy will have to find the sadly too real monster who put Billy in a coma.
9 Fear Itself
When Buffy and the gang head off to a college Halloween party, they soon discover that their greatest fears are coming true. Oz loses turns into a werewolf even though it isn't a full moon, Xander, who feels like he doesn't have a place in the gang anymore, becomes invisible, Willow loses control of her magic powers, and Buffy is attacked by all the people she has failed to save.
Lucky for the gang, Giles and Anya - wearing an adorable bunny costume - show up to save the day, but the gang still must come to terms with their insecurities if they want to continue to work together and save the world from whatever demons will show up in the future.
8 Helpless
In the 12th episode of season three, "Helpless," it's Buffy's 18th birthday, but instead of spending it eating cake and partying with her pals, the Chosen One finds herself locked in an abandoned home with a bloodthirsty vampire. Making matters worse, the vampire has Buffy's mom and Buffy has lost her vampire slayer powers thanks to a serum she was given by her mentor Giles.
As Buffy learns, the whole scenario was a test created by the Watchers to see how well Buffy would do without her powers, but things got out of hand when the vampire Kralik killed his captors and took Joyce. Buffy is able to save her mother even without her powers, but her trust in the Watchers is broken.
7 Killed By Death
In this season 2 episode, Buffy finds herself in the hospital when she comes down with the flu and collapses at school. That night, Buffy sees a young boy being followed by a very creepy looking man and learns that there is a monster killing the children at the hospital.
The monster, a Kindestod, is a demon that absorbs the life force of sickly children, making it appear that their illness is what ended their life. Along with looking creepy, the Kinderstod's methods are one of the scariest things to ever happen on the show.
6 Forever
Following the death of Buffy and Dawn's mom Joyce, the Scooby Gang all mourn in their own ways. For Buffy's younger sister Dawn, the pain of losing her mother is too much, and she steals a spellbook from Tara and Willow to use a resurrection spell and bring her mother back.
The majority of this season five episode isn't so much scary as it is touching, but the final moments, as Dawn has completes the spell and the two sisters argue while waiting for their resurrected mother to come home. As the sisters argue, the mother's silhouette can be seen coming towards the house, and the way it is moving makes it clear that whatever Joyce is now, it isn't the loving mother they knew before.
5 Passion
In this season two episode, Buffy's good vampire boyfriend turned evil vampire stalker, Angel, ups his vile plans by sending messages to Buffy and all her friends. Buffy wakes to find a sketch of herself sleeping on her pillow. Angel had come into her room in the night and drawn it. Willow finds that Angel came to her home as well and killed her fish. Angel's most evil plan was saved for Giles and Jenny Calendar.
Late at night, Angel attacks and kills Jenny at the school, snapping her neck. He then takes her body and brings it to Giles's home, laying it in his bed for the Watcher to find. Filled with rage, Giles goes after Angel alone and is nearly killed before Buffy shows up to save him.
4 After Life
In the third episode of the sixth season, the Scooby Gang is happy to see that their plan to bring Buffy back from the dead has worked, but when the consequences of their actions become clear, things get scary. An unintended side-effect of the spell Willow and Tara used to bring Buffy back from the dead also called a demon to Earth, and without a body, the demon is haunting and possessing the members of the Scooby Gang. "After Life" is a spooky episode that plays with the ideas of demonic possession in ways that the show never could before.
3 Conversations With Dead People
In the seventh episode of the seventh season, "Conversations With Dead People," each member of the Scooby Gang is visited by a ghost from their past. On patrol, Buffy meets Holden Webster, an old high school classmate who is now a vampire. Meanwhile, at home alone, Dawn believes that her mother's spirit is trying to contact her.
The heart of the story lies with Willow, who finds herself in conversation with the ghost of Cassie, a girl Buffy once tried to help but couldn't. Cassie claims to have been sent by Willow's now dead girlfriend, Tara, with a message; if Willow ever uses magic again, she will kill all her friends.
2 Hush
Season four's "Hush" sees Buffy and the gang dealing with a group of demons who have stolen the voices of everyone in Sunnydale and are now going around and taking people's hearts. What makes this episode so powerful is how the vast majority of it is in silence, including the horrific scenes when the demons, called The Gentlemen, find their victims and cut them open. Watching the faces of the victims as they silently scream out in pain is completely unnerving.
"Hush" is the only episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer to ever be nominated for an Emmy. In fact, it was nominated for two Emmy's but sadly did not win either one. Still, the episode lives on as one of the most frightening hours not only for the series but for all of TV.
1 The Body
Sometimes, the scariest thing is the most real thing. While Buffy the Vampire Slayer is filled with creepy monsters and demons, the season five episode, "The Body" is the scariest of them all because it deals with a very real version of death. In the episode, Buffy comes home to find her mother Joyce lying motionless on the couch, her eyes open. Sadly, Joyce has died, suffering from a brain aneurysm.
The episode shows each member of the Scooby Gang being informed of Joyce's passing and how they handle it. It is an incredibly touching episode that still manages to leave every viewer feeling a little afraid because losing a loved one is a reality that hits close to home.