The purpose of this study was to examine scary stories that young American adults recalled being told about physical education as they transferred from elementary school to secondary school. Participants were 70 undergraduate students. They were required to write about any scary stories concerning (a) secondary schooling in general, and (b) physical education in particular, that they could recall being told when they were about to move from elementary to secondary school. Standard interpretive techniques were used to analyze the data. A number of different scary story themes were identified. These themes were similar to those unearthed by British researchers, in that they were often concerned with the body, indicated that the transition to secondary school paralleled the transition to adulthood, and illustrated differences and similarities in expectations for boys and girls. (Contains 6 tables.)