Winx - The unexpected horror of season 1
The ogres and trolls need some love, too
Hey, there! The Fort is back, just in time for October. I know this place was out of service for a bit, but I assure you, all the cobwebs placed around are fake. You can come in if you wish. I was just about to hang some pumpkin-shaped fairy lights and pour myself a cup of tea. Feel free to help yourself to some, if you want.
While this isn’t a place to just talk about Winx, I’ll take any excuse to sprinkle some fairy dust into my life. And given the time of the year, naturally I would like to talk about the season which started it all and wasn’t afraid of scaring us half to death while doing it. It’s time to highlight the scariest monsters it hides and the spookiest creatures it features. If that interests you as well, feel free to stay and let’s have a chat!
Spoilers for the first season ahead
Cloud Tower’s monsters
During the sixth episode of the first season, “Mission at Cloudtower” (or “Secret Guardian” in the 4kids dub), the Winx go to the witches’ school in order to take the Ring of Solaria back from the Trix. While the design of the school is creepy by itself, what creeped me out when I was a kid were the monsters appearing once professor Griffin caught them sneaking around.
Despite being on screen for a few seconds, the book Bloom mistakes for one about herself managed to give me a fright when I first saw it. With its red eyes and a wicked smile full of sharp teeth, it perfectly set the tone for what’s to come.
The next few scenes are the reason I would not like to study at Cloud Tower. Once the girls are out of the archive and in a hallway, the space around them fills to the brim with giant spiders. As someone who has never been fond of bugs and spiders, their closeup shots; the sight of their bodies, fangs, and legs, are more than I wanted to see. Coupled with the noises they make? No, thank you. I’ll stick to Alfea or professor Griffin will have to provide me with a 24-hour spider repellent spell.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, once they are squished, the spiders’ remains crawl into a pile, forming a blob monster. While it is not as scary by itself, especially watching the episode as an adult; the way it came together, its flesh-coloured body, and thrown together mouths and eyes lead me to not want to meet this creature face to face – ever. Or should I say faces to face?
The Red Willow Leader
“The Monster and the Willow” (or “Junior League”) is the eleventh episode of the show. In this one, Flora asks her friends to keep some plants in their rooms while she’s preparing for the upcoming exam. The plants end up going through Stella’s clothes and makeup, as well as nearly suffocating Tecna. Honestly, this could have been the start of the horror argument for the episode.
After that, Flora relocates to the swamp. The rest of the Winx end up following her. After a chat with some Undines, they all end up going to what they think is an island with an underwater cave that harbours a giant monster; turns out it’s just a scary turtle. We’re off to a great start.
I have to give a small shoutout to the aforementioned turtle. The scene in which its head pops out of the water is genuinely unsettling. The fact that it takes Musa into its jaws and drags her beneath the surface makes it even more threatening.
As for the monster of the hour; with its yellow eyes, jagged mouth, and hanging branches, the leader of the red willow trees looks creepy enough. Though, what makes it legitimately terrifying to me is not the design. This tree is a parasite who has been living off of the giant turtle for aeons, making it sleep and sleepwalk. Although it is never explained how it feeds, we know it has roots in the turtle’s shell, as Bloom attacks them later on. This could mean the tree has been soaking up nutrients, as well as controlling the creature for a huge part of its life, essentially making it its slave.
The tree also produces a gas, which makes all creatures who inhale it fall asleep. As we see in the episode, it doesn’t take long for it to start affecting the tree’s victims. What makes this fact scary is that we don’t know if and how the sleeping creatures are kept alive. Had Tecna not created a bubble of fresh air in time, would anyone have made it off the turtle’s shell?
The Army of Darkness/Decay
I’m sure this is one of the first associations fans of the early seasons have when it comes to spooky elements of the show. From the scene in which Icy first reaches for the book to call upon the Army, we knew things were gonna get real.
The Army is composed of thousands of creatures, of which there are five types. I cannot be sure if each of them have a name, so I will be listing them according to the Winx Club Wiki. There are the small insect-like scrapers, the crab-clawed Decay Soldiers, the headless Decay fighters, and the stingray-like manta flyers. The fifth, bat-winged creatures are unlisted and thus unnamed.
One subspecies of the creatures from the Army stands out as the most unsettling. Based on their design and sounds, the decay soldiers, with their claws and tentacles protruding out of their mouths, take the cake for the most threatening ones. They also seem to have exoskeletons that are a lighter shade of purple than their actual bodies. This, along with their antennae-like body parts near their heads, makes them look like insects or crustaceans. Since I find these kinds of animals creepy in real life, these monsters are no different.
As seen in the show, most of the creatures in the Army seem to be created when a lot of scrapers pile up on top of each other and morph into one being. The slimy sounds, along with the insect screeches as they do so, make me uneasy. So do the sounds of the scrapers themselves. Truly, whoever was in charge of finding and/or creating the sounds for the creatures deserves praise. They suit them so well, creating exactly the kind of atmosphere that was necessary for them to seem disgusting and vile.
Another thing that’s worth noting is their destructive power. It’s never shown, but the viewers are led to believe that these creatures had turned Red Fountain into a ruin and the city of Magix into a ghost town. The shots of Sky walking the desolate streets of Magix, with debris carried by the wind serving as the only sign of life that used to happen there, will always stay with me. It is this, much more than the stylistic choices made, that makes the Army worth mentioning here. It is the broken windows, the empty buildings, and the people of Magix trapped in cocoons – their faces stuck in silent screams.
The Nightmare Gargoyle
This section contains images which may be disturbing to some viewers
Yes, it’s that episode (episode sixteen of season one) – yes, it’s that monster. A product of the Trix’s own creation, the nightmare gargoyle (as it is named on the Winx Club Wiki), is a creature which haunts the Winx for two nights, infecting them with nightmares born out of their worst fears.
The opening scene in which the Trix create the monster is spooky, but it is the suspense building up once Tecna notices something strange in the air that sets it up as downright creepy.
The atmosphere of this episode is amazing. The fact that most of the plot happens at night naturally makes it more likely to induce fear. The score is haunting, along with the sound effects, especially as the gargoyle pays each of the Winx a visit. The lighting in Stella’s room after the candles have been blown out, the way she and her bed are framed; all of it creates tension that makes her nightmare scarier than its actual visuals. It packs a strong punch and leaves us waiting to see what will happen next.
The monster itself is not featured on screen very much, and when it is, we see it looming over each of the Winx: draining them without them ever knowing. The low screen time adds mystery to the character. Rather than attacking them outright, it lurks in the shadows, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. We don’t know much about the monster, but even that is more than the Winx know. Even that is enough for us to want to tell them to wake up and fight, or run. The fact that we can’t do so makes us even more scared.
After each nightmare it induces, the gargoyle changes its shape. Its initial form is the creepiest to me. It looks like a menacing imp with red glowing eyes and mouth. It doesn’t need to attack or even intimidate the character he is currently haunting with its own appearance, yet its strangely humanoid shape makes it look unsettling. How near it can put his face to the character’s only makes it worse.
During the first night of the episode, the gargoyle changes shape three times, getting bigger each time. Firstly, it changes into a large lizard with porcupine spikes on its head. While not as creepy, it is now larger than any of the Winx and is still able to roam around their dorm without waking them up or letting them see it. The silence with which this monster moves is thus unnatural, adding to the tension.
The second form it takes is one of a centipede creature with one eye and long jaws. Strangely, it is not as creepy to me. Though, Tecna’s nightmare is. We see her being buried by numbers and mathematical symbols, until she is struggling to escape the sheet they have formed over her. Next, she is in a rectangular world where a digitalised version of Timmy has no eyes. Rather, they are drawn onto his glasses. This nightmare is my favourite of the episode. It illustrates Tecna’s fear and it looks unsettling while doing it.
Afterwards, the little guy transforms for the last time. In this lizard-like form it feels like a standard monster to me, so I don’t have much to say about it.
Overall, this shapeshifting ghoul may not be the most flashy or powerful, but it knows how to get around unnoticed. It knows when to strike and when to leave. If it wasn’t for Myrta, who had been turned into an unassuming pumpkin, there’s no telling what would have happened. As to why the gargoyle didn’t target her, I have two theories. Either the Trix didn’t know she was with the Winx or, pumpkins just don’t have dreams.
Well, my tea is all gone. I might go and pour myself another cup. Either way, thank you for coming over and sharing spooky fairy stories. Surprisingly, there are quite a few of them. If you know more, please let me know in the comments. Otherwise, I’ll talk to you again soon!
Dorian
The blog’s header and the drawing featured atop this post were made by @ambybun on Instagram
The DVD cover featured on the drawing was made by me