A definitive ranking of the most nightmare-inducing moments from Round the Twist.

When it comes to children’s television shows, there is one thing I am certain of: Round the Twist is undoubtedly the most horrifying ever made.

In fact, as a child, 90 per cent of the nightmares I ever had can be attributed to Round the Twist.

The fantasy series, which ran for four seasons between 1989 and 2001, followed widowed father Tony Twist and his three children – Pete, Linda and Bronson – who moved to an old lighthouse.

Mamamia’s This Glorious Mess host Andrew Daddo once appeared on Round The Twist as a friendly ghost. Post continues below.

Once the family moved in, they soon learned that the secluded lighthouse and its outhouse were haunted.

Along the way, the Twist children encountered everything from terrifying scarecrows to actual ghosts to a strange human-bird hybrid monster.

It was… a lot. And frankly, the entire series was basically nightmare fuel.

So, in memory of the show that terrified us all, here’s our definitive ranking of the scariest moments from Round the Twist.

(We apologise in advance for getting the theme song stuck in your head.)

5. The ice cream man.

In one episode of the series, an ice cream machine magically turned into a human male, who could eject ice cream from his nose after eating.

Look, I can't exactly put my finger on why, but seeing soft serve ice cream descend out of a man's nose still sends a shiver down my spine.

Weirdly enough, Linda actually fell in love with the snotty ice cream man.

And when the man turned back into an ice cream machine... Linda was still in love with him/it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

4. The creepy scarecrow.

After finding a chest of clothing that had washed ashore, the Twist children dress up in the clothes that were – like most things in Round the Twist – very much haunted.

After discovering that the weird outfits allowed them to suddenly do circus tricks, the gang put the clothes on a scarecrow... which doesn't end well.

As expected, the terrifying scarecrow comes to life and proceeds to stalk Linda.

And for some strange reason, he happens to have an extremely long tongue.

No. Just... no.

3. The human bird man.

I blame Round the Twist entirely for my weird, enduring fear of birds.

Not only is there an episode of the show where birds can't stop sh*tting, there's also an episode where this terrifying human-bird hybrid monster follows Bronson around.

At one point, the bird even LANDS ON BRONSON'S HEAD.

Despite being absolutely nightmare-inducing, Bronson later befriends the bird, who becomes a bit of a local celebrity due to his singing abilities.

2. The skeleton on the dunny.

Skeleton on the Dunny was the very first Round the Twist episode.

And somehow, it was one of the most terrifying of all.

After moving into their lighthouse, the Twist family quickly learn that the outside dunny is haunted.

So what do they decide to do? They decide to confront the terrifying ghost, who then tore down the outhouse around them before flying off into the night sky.

1. Linda's terrifying toy.

While Toy Story made us feel excited about the possibility of our favourite toys coming to life, Round the Twist did the exact opposite.

In the episode Toy Love, Linda's old Veronique doll comes back to haunt her after she abandons the doll while cleaning out the lighthouse.

I was hearing "Cuddle me... cuddle me... CUDDLE ME" in my nightmares for months afterwards.

Feature Image: IMDb/YouTube.

All four seasons of Round the Twist are available to watch on YouTube.

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