While some kids have parents who let them watch literally anything from a young age, most people first encounter scary movies through more light-hearted fare aimed at school-aged kids and tweens. These films, when done well, can provide thrills for the whole family without unnecessarily traumatizing children whose brains are still developing.
Almost instantly iconic, director Ivan Reitman's exuberant and frequently hilarious adventure is centered around three recently fired New York City professors of ‘parapsychology,’ including Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), who form a specter-liquidating outfit that they called Ghostbusters. They soon get a service call from Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver), setting into motion a chain of events that threatens the whole city, perhaps most memorably when a demon manifests itself as a giant marshmallow man stomping through Manhattan. “Rarely has a movie this expensive provided so many quotable lines,” said Roger Ebert, possibly because “everybody talks to each other like smart graduate students who are in on the joke.” (Peacock)
‘Gremlins’ (1984)
Gremlins (1984) Official Trailer #1 - Horror Comedy - YouTube
Director Joe Dante's beloved creature feature is named after the seemingly harmless creatures who turn into monsters if you feed them after midnight or expose them to water. Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is desperate for a Christmas present for his son, Billy (Zach Galligan), when he stumbles into an antique store and talks the owner’s grandson into selling him a “mogwai.”
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The elaborate rules of caring for the mogwais are predictably violated, spawning more creatures and turning them homicidal with a mix of horror and comedy. The film “rouses nihilistic glee with the demonic antics of the title critters, who rip its greeting-card façade apart” even as it “elicits nostalgia for the idealized small town created on Hollywood back-lots,” said Michael Sragow at Film Comment. Parents beware: This is probably the scariest move on our list. (HBO Max)
‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) Official Trailer #1 - Animated Movie - YouTube
One of the most popular films to use stop-motion animation, this musical horror-comedy follows Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon, with Danny Elfman singing), the Pumpkin King of an occult-themed world called Halloween Town. When Jack stumbles into an alternate universe devoted instead to Christmas, he decides he needs to liven things up by adopting some of the universe’s rituals, including abducting Santa Claus (Edward Ivory). Based on a poem written by Tim Burton (who produced but did not direct), the movie “draws inspiration from everyone’s favorite yearly holiday television specials” and amassed a “large cult following” with its “reinvention of classical holiday iconography,” said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. (Disney+)
Borrowing the “lightly supervised tweens in jeopardy” scheme from “The Goonies,” writer-director J.J. Abrams' thriller is about a group of small-town friends, including Alice (Elle Fanning) and Joe (Joel Courtney), who witness a train derailment while filming an amateur zombie movie. As strange events envelop the town following the derailment, the friends are caught up in a government conspiracy involving aliens and have to fight to save themselves from an extra-terrestrial menace. Like the “Spielberg movies this film lovingly plunders,” the movie makes for a “rollicking afternoon at the multiplex for kids around Joe’s age,” said Dana Stevens at Slate. (Paramount+)
‘Frankenweenie’ (2012)
Frankenweenie Official Trailer #2 (2012) Tim Burton Movie HD - YouTube
It's almost impossible to choose between Tim Burton's films, any of which could be on this list, including "Corpse Bride" (2005), but "Frankenweenie" might be the one that speaks most directly to children about the death of a pet. When Sparky, the beloved bull terrier of young teenager Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan), is killed chasing a foul ball, Victor takes the advice of his science teacher, Mr. Rzykruski (Martin Landau), and reanimates his best friend in a makeshift attic laboratory.
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Unfortunately, Victor’s secret gets out, sparking other efforts at reanimating the dead and a furor when other townspeople catch wind. The animated retelling of “Frankenstein” is a “great introduction to the horror genre for older kids and tweens who are ready for some scares,” said Sandie Angulo Chen at Common Sense Media. (Disney+)
David Faris is a professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of "It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics." He's a frequent contributor to Newsweek and Slate, and his work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic and The Nation, among others.
