Remembering Michelle Trachtenberg’s Forgotten Kids Show That Gave Millennials Nightmares

As the world mourns the death of Michelle Trachtenberg, millennials are finding it particularly hard due to all the projects she’s been in over the last 30 years. Before Ice Princess and Gossip Girl, and in the midst of starring on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Trachtenberg was still making it as a child star in the early 2000s. At that point, she had appeared in a few Nickelodeon projects like Harriet the Spy and The Adventures of Pete & Pete. But it was her turn on a forgotten kids show that gave people nightmares.

From 2001 to 2003, Trachtenberg hosted the Discovery Kids series Truth or Scare. In each episode, the actress told stories of famous hauntings and paranormal phenomena in a spooky goth subculture. It ran for just one season, consisting of 22 episodes, but it was enough to keep people on the edge of their seats. Episodes included myths and legends of ghosts in England, Dracula, the legend of the werewolf, a curse, UFOs, Bigfoot, witches, and much, much more.

The series aired on Discovery Kids as part of the network’s Scary Saturday Night Sleepover lineup alongside Mystery Hunters. After Truth or Scare ended, reruns aired on The Hub (now known as Discovery Family) until October 2012. Although the series is not officially streaming anywhere, all episodes are on YouTube, regardless of how terrible the quality is. The show did air in the early 2000s, so it’s not surprising that the quality isn’t as good, but it’s definitely better than nothing and yet another project of Trachtenberg that fans can add to their list.

Truth or Scare is just another piece of proof of just how much Michelle Trachtenberg meant to people, especially millennials. She really did grow up with them, and people watched her grow up before their very eyes as her projects went from innocent fun to scary fun to sexy fun and everything in between. It would be nice if Discovery Family were to re-air Truth or Scare in honor of Trachtenberg or, at the very least, add it to a streaming service so fans can properly watch it. But YouTube will have to do for now, and it would be enough for those who grew up watching the show to remember the good old days. No matter how many nightmares they got from it.