#18: Stay Away From Old Refrigerators

There’s an entire generation haunted by one very specific, incredibly niche fear: getting trapped in an abandoned refrigerator. All thanks to that one Punky Brewster episode that turned a clunky PSA into full-blown trauma.

From then on, old fridges weren’t just rusty appliances—they were silent predators, lurking in basements and alleys, waiting to imprison any curious kid. It didn’t matter that most of us had never seen a fridge outside of a kitchen. The fear was installed like software. And even now, as adults, there’s a tiny flicker of panic when we see one on the curb.