Horror films for kids, from mildly spooky to downright scary

You're going to see a lot of lists like this at Halloween, but many of them are frankly all over the shop.

There’s several articles suggesting that this Halloween your child could pick between Hocus Pocus or the very bloody and intense Jaws. They’re not really the same vibe.

Also, Jaws is great but it’s just too summery for Halloween viewing.

Another reoccurring issue in these lists that just won’t do is the tendency to place horror adjacent films into the horror category but just because a film has witches and vampires or vaguely supernatural tropes it doesn’t make it a horror film. No Addams Families or Hotel Transylvanias here. They don’t even attempt to scare the audience. By all means show your little one a film where Dracula is best mates with the Wolfman and dealing with his daughter’s new boyfriend. It’s not horror.

Here, the films go up in on a scale of intensity. And while the films higher on the list might scare the wee one a bit (that’s kind of the point) they won’t psychologically scar them or subject them to anything too graphic.

So here we go - let’s start it off nice and easy…

Paranorman

Zombies are great starter monsters, they’re slow and kind of funny but they still want to eat your brains, so there’s still peril. That’s the case with Paranorman, a gorgeously animated stop-motion horror comedy about an 11-year-old boy who speaks with the dead, meaning he’s constantly surrounded by the town’s ghosts. This particular town is under a witch’s curse causing the dead to rise - and Norman is the only one who can stop it.

Funny and fun with some light scares and plenty of horror film references you can pause and explain to nobody’s delight (except your own).

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island

The Mystery Inc. gang reunite years after breaking up and find themselves facing off against hordes of zombies. "Who cares?" I hear you say, "the monsters are always an old guy in a rubber mask trying to avoid inheritance tax or some nonsense". Not this time, as Fred discovers when he accidently pulls the head off a real zombie thinking it’s going to be Old Man Smithers in a disguise. It’s all real. There’s some actual peril and threat with some genuinely scary moments in this straight to video Scooby-Doo adventure that has no right being as good as it is.

Monster House

In the 2000s there was a rake of motion captured animated films with varying degrees of quality, Happy Feet, A Christmas Carol, Beowulf and The Polar Express. A highlight is this little kids' horror film. When their cranky old neighbour seemingly dies three local children believe his ghost has possessed his house in a very unsubtle manner. There’s scares to be had in this Halloween set horror but what’s really works is how the motion captured child stars really sell the believability of the lead trio. Charming and fun.

Coraline

Another stunning stop-motion feature here from the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas - no, not Tim Burton. Henry Selick’s Coraline tells the story of an 11-year-old girl who discovers a door to an "Other World". There she finds another version of her parents who lavish her with treats and attention, they also strangely have buttons for eyes. All is not as perfect as it seems. A deceptively dark and unsettling tale for children.

Goosebumps

Kids of the 90s will remember the Goosebumps YA book series and accompanying TV series fondly - a fitting tribute is made here. Jack Black portrays a fictionalised version of R.L Stine, the author of the books. When his scary creations enter the real world, Stine must team up with his daughter and teenage neighbour to fight vampires, werewolves and Slappy the ventriloquist dummy. Compared to Coraline this is lot milder, but it's the first live-action film on our list, which can make the horror feel a little bit more "real" for children. The scares are fun and mild.

The Hole

If Goosebumps didn’t give them too many goosebumps, it’s time to step it up a notch and introduce them to this Joe Dante gem. In 2009, the Gremlins director released what looked like a fun Jumanji-style film aimed at a family audience. It flopped, possibly because it was more of a horror than people expected. Albeit a family-friendly horror. Two brothers discover a seemingly bottomless hole under a trap door in their basement. The hole knows their fears and manifests them, with some pretty scary results. Nothing too graphic or inappropriate, but The Hole is an excellent gateway film into real horror cinema. Also, if they enjoyed this check out The Burbs, also by Dante.

Poltergeist

And if they can handle The Hole... then it’s time for a bona fide classic of the genre.Written and produced by Steven Spielberg, the "king of the family friendly film" and directed by Tobe Hooper… erm, he made The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (don’t worry, no cannibals here). Poltergeist is pure Americana horror. A family move into a new house on a planned estate, malevolent ghosts soon make themselves known who target and abduct the youngest daughter. The roadmap for the modern haunted house horror film is laid down here, full of thrills and scares that are still effective over 40 years later. Needless to say, the plot of a young girl being abducted by ghosts can be quite intense for some children, so don’t start here.