Buffy the Vampire Slayer first kicked her way onto screens in 1997 and was based on the movie of the same name that had released a few years prior in 1992. This supernatural TV series was so popular that it ran for seven seasons, and even after it came off the air, it continued in comic-book form. Buffy even spawned a spin-off TV series with Angel.

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During her reign as "The Slayer," Buffy had to face many nasties, strange creatures, and demons, some of which were so unsettling that they have stayed with viewers ever since. Read on to check out ten of the most disturbing monsters that Buffy ever had to slay.

10 Child of Words

Buffy Child of Words

This demon plagued the gang in the episode titled "After Life" in season six, and although it goes unnamed throughout the episode, it is referred to as the "Child of Words" by Willow and Tara during their spell. This demon is the consequence of the Buffy gang bringing the slayer back from the dead, and it causes many strange and creepy occurrences when it possesses Buffy and her friends.

If the things it does while possessing the team weren't bad enough, this demon is incorporeal and so Buffy cannot harm it, making it even scarier. Fortunately, Willow and Tara cast a spell to give the demon a physical form so Buffy can slay it.

9 Hans & Gretta Strauss

Buffy Hans and Gretta Strauss

In season three's "Gingerbread," fans were introduced to a particularly creepy demon. While the name of the demon itself is never revealed, the demon also takes on the form of two dead children called Hans and Gretta Strauss.

Every 50 years, the demon manifests as two dead siblings to cause discord in the community, with the story of Hansel and Gretel apparently being an earlier visit from this creepy guy. It then feeds on the hatred of the community as they persecute those they see as the culprits behind the "murder" of the children. It's always scary when demons take on innocent appearances and disturbing how easily it could divide the Sunnydale community. Additionally, it's true form is also rather creepy too.

8 The Ugly Man

Buffy The Ugly Man

In the first season, the episode titled "Nightmares" sees many characters afflicted by their nightmares seemingly coming true. One of these is The Ugly Man, the manifestation of a little boy's nightmare. It has a rather horrifying appearance with a strange club-like arm that it uses to beat people.

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The creepy thing about this is that The Ugly Man is the manifestation of a very real character — a baseball coach that nearly beat the young boy to death after he lost a game. It's a brutal realization to see that sometimes it's plain human beings that are the real monsters.

7 First Evil

Buffy First Evil

The First is the manifestation of evil itself and predates both humans and demons. It appeared in a number of episodes, but debuted in season three in the episode titled "Amends." Its last appearance was in the episode "Chosen" in season seven.

The creepy thing about The First, other than it essentially being a physical form of all existing evil, is that it can take on the appearance of anyone who has died, including vampires. It uses many guises of dead characters to torment Buffy and her friends, making for more than one disturbing situation where the character's heads are completely messed with.

6 Killer Clown

Buffy Killer Clown

The Killer Clown that appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer was not even a main bad-guy, in fact, it was a small appearance in the previously mentioned "Nightmares" episode. This monster was the manifestation of Xander's fear of clowns.

A lot of people are afraid of clowns and so naturally, this creepy character manages to spook the best of viewers straight away. However, it's also particularly frightening as it feeds into the idea of childhood trauma and fears, as Xander's fear of clowns came from when a clown chased him at his sixth birthday party.

5 Bezoar & its Offspring

Buffy Bezoar and its Offspring

In the second season's "Bad Eggs" episode, viewers first witnessed the Bezoar — a prehistoric parasite that is living beneath Sunnydale High School. While Bezoar itself is pretty disgusting and can ingest human (and vampire) victims, it's more its offspring that rank highly on the creepy scale.

These gross little critters are reminiscent of the face-huggers from the Alien franchise. They drain their hosts while they sleep before taking control of them by attaching themselves to their host's bodies.

4 Queller Demon

Buffy The Queller Demon

The Queller Demon featured in season five, in the episode titled "Listening to Fear." This demon resembles a slug with a creepy humanoid face, many teeth, and it can crawl along walls and ceilings in order to attack its prey. Buffy and the gang discover that these demons come from space and are summoned to earth to target the most fragile members of society — the mentally ill.

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It just so happens that in this episode, Buffy's mother Joyce is mentally unstable due to a brain tumor. One of the most horrifying and emotional parts of this episode is when Buffy and Dawn try to drown out their mother's babbling as they can't bear to hear her that way, only for viewers to realize that Joyce is speaking to the Queller demon on the ceiling above her.

3 Gnarl

Buffy Gnarl

Season seven's "Same Time, Same Place" episode introduced fans to the Gnarl. This creepy critter has many similarities to Gollum from The Lord of the Rings franchise, including both his appearance and personality. This creepy critter paralyzes his victim and then takes his time flaying their skin strip by strip and eating it while they are still alive but immobile.

One of the worst things about this demon is that he feeds on Willow, though she does survive, and this makes the horror all the more real as he affects a well-known character. Any monster that leaves their victim entirely helpless while they are attacked is definitely one to be feared.

2 The Gentlemen

Buffy The Gentlemen

The Gentlemen appeared in season four's "Hush" and have since become one of the most fan-feared demons in the Buffyverse. These creepy demons with unnatural grinning faces steal the voices of everyone in town before killing victims for their hearts with the help of their similarly creepy henchmen in straight jackets.

These guys definitely rank high-up when it comes to the scare factor, their appearance alone is bad enough, plus the fact they float through the air in an unsettling way. However, everyone is afraid of not being able to shout for help when being attacked, so The Gentlemen are even worse as they render their victims mute.

1 Der Kindestod

Season two's episode titled "Killed by Death" introduced viewers to a demon by the name of Der Kindestod, who drained the life out of small children. He targeted sick children in hospitals so it looked as though they simply died from a fever.

There are numerous creepy things about this guy. Firstly, he crouches over his victims while in bed, reminiscent of Old Hag Syndrome. Der Kindestod can also only be seen by kids with high-fever. Lastly, his horrifying blank eyeballs stretch out on stems and open up to do the "life-sucking." Notably, Der Kindestod is linked to Buffy's childhood, which adds to his creepiness and brings a whole other emotional level to this episode.

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