31 Days of Halloween - Day 24: Children's Horror Movies/Television

I never had much use for kiddie horror. I was already allowed to watch the real thing, so why even bother with those crap "scary" movies Disney channel puts out every year for Halloween? Well, come to find out there were a few decent things for kids. Nickelodeon had a show called Are You Afraid of the Dark that I used to LOVE. I still look back on it fondly. I remember being ten and watching SNICK (if you remember that, then you're definitely a child of the early 90s) and Are You Afraid of the Dark was the last show to come on that 2 hour block. Some episodes were just plain corny while others were pretty terrifying. My favorite was, and still is, the Nosferatu episode where the monster comes out of the film to terrorize these teenagers working at an old theater. Also, who could forget Dr. Vink with a "va-va-va!" That show was awesome with good and wholesome scares for kids. It's a shame it doesn't come on anymore because kids are getting shafted with horror movies and television geared towards them.

That seems to be the problem these days. There's nothing acceptable and appropriate for kids in terms of horror. Without getting into a discussion over how young is too young to expose children to horror, everyone remembers when they saw their first horror film as a child. It's a rite of passage to say "yeah, I saw that movie about the guy in a ski mask that slaughters cheerleaders when I was in elementary school!" Everything these days is either too gory or too "wholesome." I would never show a ten year old films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre (even though I was younger than that when I saw it) but I also wouldn't subject a 14 year old to the crap-fest that is Disney's Halloweentown. So what's the answer to this dilemma?

When it comes to horror for the young, you must maintain an age-appropriate happy medium. In other words, utilize the rating system or just good common sense. If your child has nightmares about clowns, don't show them Stephen King's It. In fact, if you have a hyper-sensitive punk for a child, stay away from horror in general! 

Below is a brief list of kid-friendly programs you can enjoy with your children this Halloween. Yes, they're a bit dated because these were things I enjoyed as a kid. Have fun!

Hocus Pocus

The Addams Family (both movies)

Casper

Sleepy Hollow (the animated film and the Johnny Depp film)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie ("excuse much, rude or anything?!")

Gremlins (it used to scare me, but kids love this movie for some reason)

Are You Afraid of the Dark

Goosebumps