Greetings, Horror Addicts, and parents of future spooky fanatics! I’m Ro, and after being an educator for twenty-seven years and raising two kids (who are now nearly 20 and 24), I’ve spent looooots of time watching kid-friendly films, so I thought I’d share my favorites for you and yours! I’ll be using a skull warning scoring system in case you are concerned:
One Skull – some mention of out-of-this-world topics, but no scary images
Two Skulls – mention of death without specifics, ghostly images, some intense moments
Three Skulls – Mention of death, perhaps explicit, ghostly images, monsters that are not scary, intense moments, and screams
Four Skulls – Explicit death, children in harm’s way, monsters who are scary, potential for swearing/adult topics, intense moments throughout, screams, and tears.
Five Skulls – Not meant for kids under 13, some adult content and swearing, heavier description of occult and spiritual world.
Are you ready, kids? Let’s do this!
FRIGHT KREWE – I recently found this animated series on Hulu, which follows a group of young teens who are tasked with cleaning up a cemetery and accidentally unleash a vengeful spirit. I really appreciated the historical information and descriptions of true Vodou practices. There is a lot of humor, the kids in the show are early high school I believe, and the imagery is definitely intense, but it’s not done in a graphic or jump-scare way. The diversity in the show is much appreciated as well, and it deals well with understanding the importance of respecting other people’s cultures. FOUR SKULLS
CORPSE BRIDE – Everyone seems to have their favorite Tim Burton films, and for me, it’s a tie between Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie, which I’ll talk about next. The Corpse Bride presents as an adult topic: a young man is betrothed to a woman he doesn’t know, and he’s not quite sure he’s ready to take this step (beside the fact his parents are pushing him to… for class/economic reasons). Once he meets his betrothed, Victoria, they find common ground, and he’s practicing his vows in the forest when he accidentally places the ring on the bony finger of a deceased bride, who rises from the underworld to claim her husband. What I love about this film is the empathy the characters have for each other, not to mention the phenomenal performance by Danny Elfman (a favorite since my preteen years) and the drearily beautiful animation. Definitely, I’d say FOUR SKULLS because of the discussions of death and implied violence.
FRANKENWEENIE – Man, this film gets me every time with its frank (haha) discussion of science. The town fears what they don’t understand, and it’s up to a brave teacher to convince them that science is real and vital to our survival. There’s also the question of whether or not having the power to do something means you should do it. There are some monsters featured in the film that are creepy but not scary, but the loss of a pet could be too difficult for young children. THREE POINT FIVE TO FOUR SKULLS. If you think your child is okay with the topic of losing a pet, I’d say go for it.
MONSTER HOUSE – For every kid who ever had a neighbor who’d shout, “Get off my lawn,” this film is a must. There is some adult content where the teenagers are concerned, but it’s a really sweet movie about friendship and helping someone because it’s the right thing to do. It’s a funny film, and the ending is quite touching. THREE TO FOUR SKULLS.
PARANORMAN – This one goes out to anyone who ever felt like they didn’t belong, or felt like the weirdo. Guess what? Weirdos are awesome, especially when they dig history and uncover the truth about their town! This film gives us another look at how fear leads to hatred, and in this case, a woman curses the townsfolk who were awful to her. I think it’s high time we end the sensationalism around the burning of witches and dispel the myths surrounding what was really an early form of ridding the world of women who knew things. I absolutely believe witchcraft is real, but I also know that hundreds of thousands of women have been persecuted because they were healers, midwives, or didn’t bow down to the wishes of men in their communities. But I digress. This movie has some intensity, and though it’s animated, there are depictions of causes of death which could be disturbing to kids. I’ll say a firm FOUR SKULLS.
HONORABLE MENTION for the littles: HALLOWEENTOWN and it’s sequel (when the kids go to high school) are fun films in the Disney realm that deal with family expectations and relationships with a little magic. THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991) is hilarious and beautifully filmed. Yes, I wish I could live in their home. It’s totally my aesthetic. There is mention of some spooky topics, and of course, the Addams Family deals with monsters as beloved members of the family, but the intensity level is probably a two or three on the skull scale. COCO and THE BOOK OF LIFE are beautiful films that delve into traditional Mexican beliefs around Dia De Los Muertos. If your children are capable of understanding death and dying and are okay with it (I know this is tough, my youngest struggled with any films from Disney as a kid because she said “they always kill the moms and dads” Yikes! It took until they were about fifteen for her to be able to watch them), then I strongly recommend these films.
If you are a fellow horror addict/fanatic, then you, too, may be anxiously awaiting the day your kids are ready to watch the classics with you. Where to start is a whole other post. Thankfully, my eldest daughter and I LOVE to watch horror films together, and my youngest can appreciate them now that she’s older. She was once the most convincing Jason Vorhees I’d ever seen for Halloween, but she would only watch YouTube clips from the films, not the entire movies. At least she and I bond over music together. That, too, is another post. Enjoy the rest of your spooky season and Stay Tuned for More…