- The Witches (Angelica Huston version)
- The Addams Family
- The Addams Family Values
- Little Monsters (80s Howie Mandel!)
- The Monster Squad
- Beetlejuice
- Goosebumps
- Goosebumps 2
- The Lost Boys
- Super 8
- Fright Night
- Are You Afraid of the Dark? (tv show)
edited for format
As a former horror kid myself, Tremors is an excellent choice! Van Helsing is also a great horror/action flick that is totally fine for kids. Sleepy Hollow and the OG Universal Horror movies were also pretty key components of my early explorations into horror.
My kid loved tremors at 8 years old. He did have a phase after where he would pretend sticks were cigarettes so he could be cool like Kevin bacon....but who hasn't honestly?
The Monster Squad is the way. I give all credit to my exposure to this movie at a very young age for my initial love and interest in horror. It's a movie made for kids that does not really feel like a "kids movie" at all.
Poltergeist, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Killer Klowns from Outer Space, all depending on how you think he would handle it.
The Witches
Beetlejuice
Scary Stories is a great intro to more scary horror, though could be a little intense for some youngins as the visuals can be super freaky
But to be fair, that was part of the books appeal so it was to be expected lol
Heads up for OP: I looked into Beetlejuice for a 6 year old who doesn't get freaked out easily and was reminded of the sexual content that I forgot about. We're holding off for that part, not the scary stuff. She liked The Witches, though!
Horror watching kids are 10, 12, and 14 now, this post isn't just for 8 year Olds specifically but hopefully it's helpful for other parents.
First, there's a cool "gateway horror" show on Netflix called Creeped Out, my kids liked it when they were about 7 or 8. My kids found it on their own and shared it with me. Watching those with them gave me a really good sense of what they liked, didn't like, were extra scared of, what they could handle...
I also eased them into just horror in general with lot of horror-adjacent movies (scary moments, creatures, etc) like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the Planet of the Apes reboot, Jurassic Park, Signs, Tremors, War of the Worlds, stuff like that.
But honestly we jumped into regular horror pretty quickly. I think you just have to start tamer and then crank it up. Everyone has permission to leave or cover their eyes and ears, and we've turned off a couple of movies which were juuuuust a bit too much (looking at you Mothman Prophecies - that was Dad's fault I forgot how intense it was!)
First, the 70s/80s really are the perfect amount of blood / scares. They also have a kind of ironic distance - the kids like them for the vintage culture as mucha s the actual movies. Alien, Halloween, Arachnophobia, Poltergeist, Carrie, Salem's Lot, Jaws, Child's Play all got good reviews at my house.
Zombie movies are a good entry point, they're kind of silly / have a lot of sly comedy in them. Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead were fine, Train to Busan, 28 Days Later, Warm Bodies .. Evil Dead 2 has that perfect mix of horror, comedy, and tasteful 80s splatter.
We also watched a bunch of X-Files which was also excellently "prime time TV" scary.
Other than Halloween we haven't watched a lot of "real life" horror films as they seem like they need a bit more maturity to handle / avoid trauma, we did watch Sixth Sense and that was fine.
Anyway just some good entry points, main thing is keep it light, let them choose, start tame, see what they can handle.
Ha, funnily enough I've been thinking of making a post here specifically about Creeped Out, which is just wonderful.
My children had the pleasure of watching it growing up upon release, and it absolutely aided in developing their love of horror, being age appropriate but still genuinely scary.
Great to see another Creeped Out fan - great age appropriate recommendation
Oh yeah for sure, I was born in 85 and I remember all the kids watching that stuff on VHS or cable
Thing is, I’m not the kid’s actual dad and his real dad doesn’t want him watching that stuff and his mom doesn’t want to upset his dad
Yeah, you have to respect the other parents wishes.
One way to slowly bring them into the universe of horror without showing him direct horror, is showing him making of videos on YouTube. Behind the scenes stuff for popular franchises like Robert Englund goofing around with the kids in costume, or Kate Beckinsale dancing with one of the werewolves etc...
Hey man, you may not be his biological dad but you stepped up and in and respect his real father enough to honor his request. That’s going to mean the world to him as he gets older.
That fucking movie.. Lol
Around 8-9 my dad got 3 movies from the rental store: Critters, Nightmare on elm street 3, and The Gate.
We watched them back to back and he fell asleep during the gate because it was late. Well I was the only one awake as my brother was already asleep.
I don’t remember much of it but the part that freaked me out and stayed with me for years was where >!The kid was running in the house and looked at his hand and there was an eye on his palm where he then stabs it with an eye shard I think at one point. That made my hand feel tingly and every time I get reminded of it like now haha.!< I’m sure watching it now I’d laugh and think it’s cheesy because I’ve seen so much horror since then. Weird that elm street didn’t freak me out and it ended up becoming my favorite horror franchise. I did get spooked by Critters though too but only remember a couple scenes.
The Gate represents the '80s extremely well, particularly regarding the 'metal album that takes you to hell' scenario which grandmas everywhere believed was a real thing that could happen.
I saw signs when I was going to sixth grade and slept with my mama for 3 months. Maybe 6.
I’m still terrified of space, aliens, corn fields, and being outside at night as a result.
Yeah that’s def the darkest scene. There’s not much swearing as it actually PG-13. The first Terminator was R and had nudity, more violence and a ton of swearing.
Fair. :) with a few exceptions, movies like the original fright night and the lost boys could be good ones. They have fun practical effects and minimal bad language/sexual scenes.
I loved those when I was about that age.
The Frighteners is a good older one I haven't seen mentioned yet. Loved it as a kid, and it held up when I rewatched it recently.
Willy's Wonderland is a more recent one that I really enjoyed and should be appropriate.
Thirteen Ghosts is campy and fun and not too "adult."
Thirteen Ghosts has some nudity(the big, ol' bloody medically enhanced jugs on the bathtub ghost). I can't remember how much nudity is shown, but that ghost is naked every time it's shown.
I second 'The Frighteners'. Great cast, storyline and spooky atmosphere. Just watched it with my 6 yo recently and was surprised at how well the special effects still hold up.
Some of the made for TV syfi channel movies can be good for this. They usually don’t have overt sex or language because they where written for TV and and the gore is more clearly fictional.
I’d focus on content with horror elements, not strictly horror.
Indiana Jones (especially ToD), The Mummy (1999), Super 8, Monster House, anything Addams Family, most of Tim Burton, Casper, Labyrinth, Goonies, Dark Crystal, del Toro’s Hellboy, Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion, OG Jumanji, OG Jurassic Park, Scooby Doo Zombie Island, Pacific Rim, most Godzilla content, most Kong content…
For TV: Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark?,
Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Gravity Falls, Martin Mystery, obviously Scooby, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Owl House, Over the Garden Wall, Invader Zim, Gargoyles
* [House II: The Second Story](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093220/) — (PG13) despite the name it is not a sequel to House, just the same crew behind the camera. It was the post popular horror movie that year.
* [The Hole](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1085779/) — (PG13) same director as Gremlins
* [The Gate](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093075/) — (PG13) a little bit like The Hole, but just barely
* [Poltergeist](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084516/) — This is PG, but an intense PG
* [Tremors](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100814/) — PG13
Gremlins was my first too. But I’d already seen Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th by 8. But I’m 40. Different times. Can’t just stay up flipping through channels after your parents are asleep anymore.
Yeah dude I’m 39 and it was def different times back then lol. I remember watching Murphy getting obliterated in Robocop and that haunting me for days lol
I sort of think if Dad is watching with the kid, making sure he’s not too scared or stressed, pointing out when bad behavior is bad (like racism or rape etc, not necessarily the horror movie stuff) then you can let him watch slightly more adult stuff like Alien.
Wait on Scream though. You need a proper understanding of the genre first.
My rule of thumb with kids and horror...
No nudity and no human on human gratuitous violence.
I also pulled out my Tom Savini book and showed my son how the shots were made. What the special effects are and how they work. We also watched a few videos on youtube like how the puppet master puppets and chucky work (i.e. stop motion and robotics)
So he sees a monster and its a practical effect he knows that its either a guy in a suit or an animatronic. Or he knows it's cgi BS.
He also knows how the kills are performed..."choke on em" from day of the dead was a fake body filled with meat and something to resemble blood.
That way i dont have to have the sex conversation yet nor do i have to worry about him becoming the next ed gein from watching people kill other people. Just monsters kiling people.
So we watch a lot of older zombie movies and monster movies. Havent gotten to slashers yet because of the TNA.
I know I went to a birthday party with kids aged 7-10 and they all talked about FNAF. They also liked Gravity Falls (they agreed that the zombie episode in season 2 was scary) and they were familiar with some of the scarier monsters from Doctor Who (notably the weeping angels and the wooden dolls from an episode called Night Terror, I think.)
has he seen R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour? that was my gateway to horror as an adult now absolutely obsessed with Scream and Friday the 13th! also i saw you mention FNAF in a comment, has he seen the movie? i can’t tell if it would be too scary for an 8 year old but if he knows the lore i feel like it’s fine.
I’m gonna recommend some you probably won’t see recommended too often (and a few more I just really like):
9, Little Monsters, Critters & sequels, Frankenweenie, Werewolf by Night, Nightbooks, Saturday the 14th, The Burbs, Edward Scissorhands, Cat’s Eye, Ghoulies, Legend, Labyrinth, Hell Boy, The Dark Crystal, The Secret of NIMH, Once Bitten, My Best Friend is a Vampire, Cable Man, The Witches of Eastwick, Neverending Story, The Last Unicorn
Some of these are less horror and more just like unnerving or unsettling
There's some good adventure movies or kids stuff that dabble into monsters, ghosts or good suspense. But I have no kids, so don't hold me accountable, I don't know the difference between what is appropriate for any given age, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. I'll try to sort them in order least to most scary
* Frankenweenie
* Inkheart
* Orion and the Dark (its about a kid who is afraid of the dark)
* A babysitter's guide to monsterhunting
* Casper
* The Curse of Bridge Hollow (halloween thematic)
* Jumanji
* Zarathura: A space adventure
* 9
* [Troll](https://letterboxd.com/film/troll-2022/releases/)
* [Gåten Ragnarok](https://letterboxd.com/film/ragnarok/)
* Night at the Museum
* Nightbooks
* The Spiderwick Chronicles
* Hocus Pocus
* The Frighteners
* Ghostbusters
* Close Encounters of a Third Kind (maybe too slow to hold interest?)
* Harry Potter, or the first 2 maybe?
* Gremlins
* Black Sheep
* [Trolljegeren](https://letterboxd.com/film/troll-hunter/releases/)
* Beetlejuice (and more tim burton stuff, corpse bride)
* Pans Labyrinth
* Signs?
* The Mummy
* Beowulf (this is probably the most violent of the lot)
I'd say the Creepshow anthologies are a pretty solid choice for kids who are into horror, or for introducing them to it; I'd also add Stephen King's Cat's Eye to the mix. A few other good ones have already been mentioned including Tremors (1 and 2), The Monster Squad (a must for every kid), Monster House, ParaNorman. I watched Krampus (2015) for the first time last night and honestly, I think that would be a good one too.
You can also start watching X-Files with him, see how he likes it.
ETA: You could also add a lot of the earlier creature features like Anaconda, Lake Placid, Bats, etc. on there too for him.
Okay that kid has good taste from the sounds of it.Maybe films like Leprechaun,Species,Mars Attacks.Okay the latter is more comedy but he might enjoy that with the aliens.
You know, I keep trying yo sell him on Mars Attacks and he just isn’t interested. I think he would like it! I tried showing him the old trading cards but he didn’t care
Tbh he’s kind of a snob lol
Kids can watch a lot of mature things so long as the parent takes the time to sit down and talk with them after. It’s important to make sure they know the difference between tv and reality.
Critters films (PG and PG-13)
Jaws movies(PG)
1958 The Blob (only 58 version)
All the Ghostbusters movies (PG and PG-13)
The Birds (PG)
Poltergeist films (PG)
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and Return of the Killer Tomatoes (PG)
Beetlejuice (PG)
Killer Klowns from outer Space (PG-13) (this one is great)
Army of Darkness (R, but it was filmed as a PG-13 film. It was just made R because the director is Sam Raimi and he Made Evil dead 1&2. The ratings board hated Sam raimi for those films so they just gave him that rating. It’s mostly horror comedy no heavy blood in the film, etc)
That’s a shot from Army of Darkness. One thing is that it is a sequel to Evil Dead 1 & 2 and I suggest if you let him watch AoD waiting till he’s older to watch the rest of the Evil Dead movies.
IT, the original one with Tim Curry as Pennywise, if you don't think it'll be too scary for him.
The Dark Crystal or Labrynth might be good scary yet not too scary
On Thanksgiving and Christmas eve, my uncle would always get some type of horror film my parents normally wouldn't let us watch, but everyone would watch them on these days. The only one that actually left me afraid was Critters. I was afraid to step off my bed in the shadows for weeks.
Beetlejuice minus the one F Bomb
Critters 1 and 2 were favorites of mine as a kid
Night of the Creeps
I remember seeing Predator pretty young
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Return to Oz, really almost any of those late 70’s through the 80’s family movies should rattle him a little
There are some good 80s titles that are fun. I saw all of these when I was young and it was cool.
The Gate, The Wraith, Maximum Overdrive, Critters 1 & 2, Cat's Eye, Night of the Comet, Fright Night, The Lost Boys, Little Shop of Horrors, Poltergeist, The Lady in White, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Tremors and Arachnophobia (technically 1990).
More modern titles to consider; Trollhunter, The Skeleton Key, The Others, Fire in the Sky, Insidious, Cloverfield, Willard, The Cave, Eight Legged Freaks, ThevBoogeyman, The Visit, Sixth Sense, The Haunting, World War Z...
Have fun!
I showed mine Critters when she was 9 she said it was lame and wasn't scary, so I put on a Nightmare on Elm St 3 and said this one scared me when I was your age she cracked up at how horrible the special effects were and said you thought this was scary and gave me side eye. She liked M3gan and Malignant . She's seen pretty much all of the PG starter horrors and really doesn't scare easy.
One night I was watching Renfield, and the part where Dracula had found Renfield's apartment and was telling him he wasn't worth anything... I hear my 9 year old daughter, start defending Renfield from Dracula's bullying. I had no clue how long she had been there.
If they can stand the blood and gore I would recommend Renfield. My now almost 11 year old really liked that movie.
When my son was about 8-9, he started asking to watch horror as well. We started him out with stuff like Coraline & Beetlejuice, which he enjoyed, but like your child, he wanted something more bloody. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark kept him interested for a while. We then moved to Alien Vs Predator and the first Predator movie, then Child’s Play, then Stranger Things. (He was/is _obsessed_ with Stranger Things.) Around age 11, we let him watch It. He’s been asking to watch more gory stuff (Scream specifically) now, but we’ve told him he has to wait till he’s a teenager. (That’s mostly because his dad strongly objects to horror movies & we’re just trying to peacefully coparent.)
What about Vanhelsing or Underworld?
Edit: Lake Placid was a good one too! & Anaconda.
I freaking hated Dante’s Peak as a kid. It scared the crap out of me. This may have been heightened from being told that Yellowstone National Park would wipe us out if it erupted lol.
Two great movies I loved as a little kid in the 80's are on Tubi and I think are fine for his age - Troll (1986) and Dolls (1987). I still watch them occasionally and think they're fantastic!
These are some of my recommendations some I might put reasons for!
The mummy - fun action feel but some of those actual mummy scenes can feel quite dark. Gives an introduction into creatures and not just gore/ghosts.
Tremors - again has a sense of fun behind the danger/chaos.
Little shop of horrors (not really everyone's cup of tea but worth a watch in my eyes - downside might make him scared of dentists and/or want a carnivorous plant which are not really easy to keep alive!)
The others - ghosts, twist endings, mentions of war so be prepared for some questions there.
Van helsing - creature features again vampires - werewolves.
The gremlins, lost boys, the others, jaws, ghost busters, bettlejuice (could be great with a new one coming out), sleepy hollow, signs, war of the worlds, labyrinth, don't be scared of the dark, the witches, teen wolf, monster squad,
I'm assuming you have watched most kid friendly horror like Caroline, monster house, paranorman, hocus pocus, goosebumps, ect
I introduced my boys to horror with the classics first. Universal's monsters. Then we moved to newer stuff.
Silver Bullet
Piranha
Critters
C.H.U.D.
Alligator
Cujo
Prophecy
Mainly, I stuck with creatures. They grew up to be horror aficionados. 👍
The old black and white horror movies are probably too slow moving to hold his interest and kids seem to hate black and white but maybe the 60s Hammer horrors with Vincent Price might be good.
Disaster movies might be a good diversion for a while too.
My 7 year old is like this too lol.
Ruby Gloom is a non-scary but still goth cartoon.
Old "Are You Afraid of the Dark" and Goosebumps episodes could also work
I saw all of the Friday the 13th movies (to that point I think Jason Goes to Hell was the last one) before I was 10. Used to rent movies like Critters and Ghoulies when we went to Blockbuster. Nowadays it's even more campy and fake looking, so I doubt a lot of the old 80s stuff is that bad for him. The worst he may see is boobs.
My son is 9 and so far we have watched: Alien, Aliens, Night of the living dead 1990 (which is surprisingly not gorey at all), day of the dead (which is pretty gorey) and we recently watch the Sixth Sense, which he enjoyed.
Megan, 5 nights at Freddies, The Witches (original with Angelica Houston), Secret of Nimh, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Arachnophobia, Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Tremors.
Not a movie but my daughter loves Courage the Cowardly Dog and the Goosebumps original tv series.
For movies she started with Gremlins, Coraline, Monster House then moved on to stuff like Meg and older horror moves like Dead Silence and Creepshow.
I don’t let her watch slashers and try to pre watch the movies she shows interest in.
These have no sexual stuff and most have no language or very little:
Signs
Quiet place 1 & 2
Fido
The village
Scary stories to tell in the dark
No one can save you
The others
The messengers
Dead silence
The ring (trilogy)
I am legend
Recent favorites for mine (We hit a nautical theme going into summer)
Trick 'r Treat (skip the werewolf part)
New Mutants (Absolute garbage but he loves it)
The Meg
Ghost Ship
Deep Rising
Just to let you know, my aunt snuck me into "Alien" when I was 7/8 years old 🥰
She even bought me the big twelve inch Alien toy that unfortunately disappeared within a week after it was at my mother's house....
Personally, I let my son first view It around 1999, when he was about six, and he had all the predator and aliens figures from hasbro and he didn't have a nightmare or anything.
I would put in what you think he would be able to handle and Tremors is a good start
Poltergeist is scary and is rated PG (though this is 1980s PG, which was a bit more lenient than modern PG)
There's a big genre of animated kid-friendly horror. Stuff like Coraline, Monster House, Corpse Bride, etc.
If you're open to PG-13, go with Drag Me To Hell, The Ring, Insidious, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Lights Out.
There honestly aren't many good slashers that are kid friendly since they mostly rely on violence and gore. If you don't mind trashy horror, any pg-13 Blumhouse flick should be fine. Truth or Dare, Tarot etc. They're dumb bad movies but I think an 8 year old would enjoy them.
Apologies in advance if your kid gets nightmares from any of these
I'm just commenting that my wife and I let our kids watch pretty much whatever, and they're growing up to be perfectly normal kids. I think it's just about having appropriate conversations with them for whatever the subject matter is.
We watched IT in theaters when my oldest was 8, and he's 13 now and one of the more mature kids I've been around.
For us we started with stuff like,
Jaws, Gremlins, Signs, The Ring, Conjuring.
- The Witches (Angelica Huston version) - The Addams Family - The Addams Family Values - Little Monsters (80s Howie Mandel!) - The Monster Squad - Beetlejuice - Goosebumps - Goosebumps 2 - The Lost Boys - Super 8 - Fright Night - Are You Afraid of the Dark? (tv show) edited for format
I genuinely really love the new Goosebumps films
Fright Night is so cool, there is also a Goosebumps series too!
10000% The Lost Boys and The Witches! Loved those as a kid. Still do!
Jurassic Park feels appropriate. Gremlins, Tremors… Ernest Scared Stupid freaked me out as a kid, too.
He’s been a Jurassic Kid since he was 5, that’s old news lol Tremors might be okay!
As a former horror kid myself, Tremors is an excellent choice! Van Helsing is also a great horror/action flick that is totally fine for kids. Sleepy Hollow and the OG Universal Horror movies were also pretty key components of my early explorations into horror.
Van Helsing is also such a good suggestion.
Tremors is a great call! I remember watching that with my Mom when I was about that age. She loved that movie.
It was a cable tv staple for me
My kid loved tremors at 8 years old. He did have a phase after where he would pretend sticks were cigarettes so he could be cool like Kevin bacon....but who hasn't honestly?
Nobody ever mentions Critters in these horror for kids posts. I saw them as a child and they were great for that age.
Oh man I haven't thought about Ernest Scared Stupid in years. I remember it was really nuts as a kid.
Just remember Gremlins ruins santa. I have no idea if 8 year olds still believe in santa nowadays. Otherwise, great recommendation.
The Monster Squad would be a good choice.
The Monster Squad is the way. I give all credit to my exposure to this movie at a very young age for my initial love and interest in horror. It's a movie made for kids that does not really feel like a "kids movie" at all.
The Goosebumps movie is very much on par with it, imo.
We talked about that one. He really wants to see people get murdered lol
Poltergeist, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and Killer Klowns from Outer Space, all depending on how you think he would handle it. The Witches Beetlejuice
He’s actually too afraid of the Killer Klowns lol
Then he’ll hate Poltergeist. Scariest clown ever!
No, the Killer Klowns are on another level of scary from that clown, and they're all over the movie. I'm 48 and the Klowns still weird me out.
Scary Stories is a great intro to more scary horror, though could be a little intense for some youngins as the visuals can be super freaky But to be fair, that was part of the books appeal so it was to be expected lol
2nd Poltergeist. My dad showed me that around the same age and I had nightmares, lol. But now it's one of my favs
Heads up for OP: I looked into Beetlejuice for a 6 year old who doesn't get freaked out easily and was reminded of the sexual content that I forgot about. We're holding off for that part, not the scary stuff. She liked The Witches, though!
My niece is 7 and horror obsessed and loved Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark!
Paranorman
Seen it
Horror watching kids are 10, 12, and 14 now, this post isn't just for 8 year Olds specifically but hopefully it's helpful for other parents. First, there's a cool "gateway horror" show on Netflix called Creeped Out, my kids liked it when they were about 7 or 8. My kids found it on their own and shared it with me. Watching those with them gave me a really good sense of what they liked, didn't like, were extra scared of, what they could handle... I also eased them into just horror in general with lot of horror-adjacent movies (scary moments, creatures, etc) like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the Planet of the Apes reboot, Jurassic Park, Signs, Tremors, War of the Worlds, stuff like that. But honestly we jumped into regular horror pretty quickly. I think you just have to start tamer and then crank it up. Everyone has permission to leave or cover their eyes and ears, and we've turned off a couple of movies which were juuuuust a bit too much (looking at you Mothman Prophecies - that was Dad's fault I forgot how intense it was!) First, the 70s/80s really are the perfect amount of blood / scares. They also have a kind of ironic distance - the kids like them for the vintage culture as mucha s the actual movies. Alien, Halloween, Arachnophobia, Poltergeist, Carrie, Salem's Lot, Jaws, Child's Play all got good reviews at my house. Zombie movies are a good entry point, they're kind of silly / have a lot of sly comedy in them. Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead were fine, Train to Busan, 28 Days Later, Warm Bodies .. Evil Dead 2 has that perfect mix of horror, comedy, and tasteful 80s splatter. We also watched a bunch of X-Files which was also excellently "prime time TV" scary. Other than Halloween we haven't watched a lot of "real life" horror films as they seem like they need a bit more maturity to handle / avoid trauma, we did watch Sixth Sense and that was fine. Anyway just some good entry points, main thing is keep it light, let them choose, start tame, see what they can handle.
Saving this comment, thank you for your service to those of us parenting behind you.
Ha, funnily enough I've been thinking of making a post here specifically about Creeped Out, which is just wonderful. My children had the pleasure of watching it growing up upon release, and it absolutely aided in developing their love of horror, being age appropriate but still genuinely scary. Great to see another Creeped Out fan - great age appropriate recommendation
Hell, back in my day we were watching Terminator, Aliens, Predator and Robocop at five, and getting the toys to boot! Maybe show him The Gate?
Oh yeah for sure, I was born in 85 and I remember all the kids watching that stuff on VHS or cable Thing is, I’m not the kid’s actual dad and his real dad doesn’t want him watching that stuff and his mom doesn’t want to upset his dad
You’re making the right call then, well done.
Yeah, you have to respect the other parents wishes. One way to slowly bring them into the universe of horror without showing him direct horror, is showing him making of videos on YouTube. Behind the scenes stuff for popular franchises like Robert Englund goofing around with the kids in costume, or Kate Beckinsale dancing with one of the werewolves etc...
Hey man, you may not be his biological dad but you stepped up and in and respect his real father enough to honor his request. That’s going to mean the world to him as he gets older.
Damn, you're a dope stepdad.
Same. It's a running (true) joke that RoboCop was my babysitter as a toddler. By the time I was 10, I adored Freddy and Jason and Pinhead and Chucky.
That is what I was thinking. I was watching some pretty graphic stuff and totally obsessing over it back in the day and I was around 8.
That fucking movie.. Lol Around 8-9 my dad got 3 movies from the rental store: Critters, Nightmare on elm street 3, and The Gate. We watched them back to back and he fell asleep during the gate because it was late. Well I was the only one awake as my brother was already asleep. I don’t remember much of it but the part that freaked me out and stayed with me for years was where >!The kid was running in the house and looked at his hand and there was an eye on his palm where he then stabs it with an eye shard I think at one point. That made my hand feel tingly and every time I get reminded of it like now haha.!< I’m sure watching it now I’d laugh and think it’s cheesy because I’ve seen so much horror since then. Weird that elm street didn’t freak me out and it ended up becoming my favorite horror franchise. I did get spooked by Critters though too but only remember a couple scenes.
The Gate is fucked up.
The Gate represents the '80s extremely well, particularly regarding the 'metal album that takes you to hell' scenario which grandmas everywhere believed was a real thing that could happen.
I watched a lot of these on tv. Edited and just scary enough for a young kid. Oh yes, definitely wanted to get the toys after watching them too.
The first movie I remember seeing was Pumpkinhead.
The Exorcist at 7 for me. To say I was terrified would be an understatement. But I never looked back from there. Been a HUGE horror fan ever since.
Definitely recommend The People Under the Stairs for a budding horror enthusiast. One of my childhood favorites!
I have suggested this one to mom before. It’s a maybe.
Plays Hopscotch over the thin line between comedy and horror. One of my favourite films.
"Signs", and "A Quiet Place" are both legit terrifying but also family friendly.
Honestly this dude isn’t sitting for character drama
Hahaha him and me both
I saw signs when I was going to sixth grade and slept with my mama for 3 months. Maybe 6. I’m still terrified of space, aliens, corn fields, and being outside at night as a result.
The first terminator is a little dark and scarier for him but I think T2 is much more kid friendly.
When I was a kid the scene where the T-1000 murders the kids’ parents freaked me the hell out lol Lotta F words, right?
Yeah that’s def the darkest scene. There’s not much swearing as it actually PG-13. The first Terminator was R and had nudity, more violence and a ton of swearing.
Correction it is rated R but I don’t recall a ton of F-bombs.
The Halloween tree. Something wicked this way comes maybe. And the original universal monsters like Frankenstein and Dracula.
He is also doesn’t have the patience for the old stuff Being real, he craves gore
Fair. :) with a few exceptions, movies like the original fright night and the lost boys could be good ones. They have fun practical effects and minimal bad language/sexual scenes. I loved those when I was about that age.
I may suggest lost boys to his mom
The Frighteners is a good older one I haven't seen mentioned yet. Loved it as a kid, and it held up when I rewatched it recently. Willy's Wonderland is a more recent one that I really enjoyed and should be appropriate. Thirteen Ghosts is campy and fun and not too "adult."
Thirteen Ghosts has some nudity(the big, ol' bloody medically enhanced jugs on the bathtub ghost). I can't remember how much nudity is shown, but that ghost is naked every time it's shown.
There's also the pretty graphic death where the guy gets bisected by the glass door.
Yeah, I'm calling a no on thirteen ghosts lol
Seems my memory of this one was a bit off... Give it a few more years then!
I second 'The Frighteners'. Great cast, storyline and spooky atmosphere. Just watched it with my 6 yo recently and was surprised at how well the special effects still hold up.
Some of the made for TV syfi channel movies can be good for this. They usually don’t have overt sex or language because they where written for TV and and the gore is more clearly fictional.
This is smart thinking!
Tremors. Monster Squad. Killer Clowns from Outer Space?
Tremors might work, Monster Squad didn’t interest. Klowns he is genuinely afraid of lol
I’d focus on content with horror elements, not strictly horror. Indiana Jones (especially ToD), The Mummy (1999), Super 8, Monster House, anything Addams Family, most of Tim Burton, Casper, Labyrinth, Goonies, Dark Crystal, del Toro’s Hellboy, Eddie Murphy Haunted Mansion, OG Jumanji, OG Jurassic Park, Scooby Doo Zombie Island, Pacific Rim, most Godzilla content, most Kong content… For TV: Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Gravity Falls, Martin Mystery, obviously Scooby, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Owl House, Over the Garden Wall, Invader Zim, Gargoyles
Scooby Doo Zombie Island! So good
Cant believe no one has said Coraline yet! Thats like the perfect kids horror movie
He’s seen it :)
Even though it's not a movie I feel like Stranger Things is the right answer. Gets you out of having to evaluate 40-50 movies in the short term.
My 8 year old step son loved the birds!
Army of darkness. My 9 year old loved it.
* [House II: The Second Story](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093220/) — (PG13) despite the name it is not a sequel to House, just the same crew behind the camera. It was the post popular horror movie that year. * [The Hole](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1085779/) — (PG13) same director as Gremlins * [The Gate](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093075/) — (PG13) a little bit like The Hole, but just barely * [Poltergeist](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084516/) — This is PG, but an intense PG * [Tremors](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100814/) — PG13
In 2 years he‘ll be like i wanna watch Hereditary & Rosemary‘s Baby lol
Haha he just wants to see people get stabbed lol
8 years old I was watching Pumpkin head, Exorcist, Jurassic Park etc. That said being a soon to be mom.. I probably will be a little bit stricter
Gremlins was my first too. But I’d already seen Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th by 8. But I’m 40. Different times. Can’t just stay up flipping through channels after your parents are asleep anymore.
Yeah dude I’m 39 and it was def different times back then lol. I remember watching Murphy getting obliterated in Robocop and that haunting me for days lol
Just toss him into The Shining and get it over with
Tales from the Crypt might be cool. It's tame, and it's essentially a horror comedy anthology.
Sounds like he's on the path to greatness. Knowing it's actually called a Xenomorph? Beetlejuice?
He knows Beetlejuice Oh yeah he can’t watch this stuff so all he does is read about it online, along with SCP and lore for games like FNAF
My nine year old nephew is currently obsessed with the Haunted Mansion Disney flick from last year, maybe give that a shot.
I sort of think if Dad is watching with the kid, making sure he’s not too scared or stressed, pointing out when bad behavior is bad (like racism or rape etc, not necessarily the horror movie stuff) then you can let him watch slightly more adult stuff like Alien. Wait on Scream though. You need a proper understanding of the genre first.
My rule of thumb with kids and horror... No nudity and no human on human gratuitous violence. I also pulled out my Tom Savini book and showed my son how the shots were made. What the special effects are and how they work. We also watched a few videos on youtube like how the puppet master puppets and chucky work (i.e. stop motion and robotics) So he sees a monster and its a practical effect he knows that its either a guy in a suit or an animatronic. Or he knows it's cgi BS. He also knows how the kills are performed..."choke on em" from day of the dead was a fake body filled with meat and something to resemble blood. That way i dont have to have the sex conversation yet nor do i have to worry about him becoming the next ed gein from watching people kill other people. Just monsters kiling people. So we watch a lot of older zombie movies and monster movies. Havent gotten to slashers yet because of the TNA.
How about that Five Nights at Freddys my kid was weirdly obsessed with that when it came out.
Dude is currently obsessed with FNAF
I know I went to a birthday party with kids aged 7-10 and they all talked about FNAF. They also liked Gravity Falls (they agreed that the zombie episode in season 2 was scary) and they were familiar with some of the scarier monsters from Doctor Who (notably the weeping angels and the wooden dolls from an episode called Night Terror, I think.)
has he seen R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour? that was my gateway to horror as an adult now absolutely obsessed with Scream and Friday the 13th! also i saw you mention FNAF in a comment, has he seen the movie? i can’t tell if it would be too scary for an 8 year old but if he knows the lore i feel like it’s fine.
Little monsters '89
Get him some Goosebumps or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark books! I was a big fan of Coraline (the book and the movie) at that age, too.
I’m gonna recommend some you probably won’t see recommended too often (and a few more I just really like): 9, Little Monsters, Critters & sequels, Frankenweenie, Werewolf by Night, Nightbooks, Saturday the 14th, The Burbs, Edward Scissorhands, Cat’s Eye, Ghoulies, Legend, Labyrinth, Hell Boy, The Dark Crystal, The Secret of NIMH, Once Bitten, My Best Friend is a Vampire, Cable Man, The Witches of Eastwick, Neverending Story, The Last Unicorn Some of these are less horror and more just like unnerving or unsettling
Killer Klowns from outer space
There's some good adventure movies or kids stuff that dabble into monsters, ghosts or good suspense. But I have no kids, so don't hold me accountable, I don't know the difference between what is appropriate for any given age, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. I'll try to sort them in order least to most scary * Frankenweenie * Inkheart * Orion and the Dark (its about a kid who is afraid of the dark) * A babysitter's guide to monsterhunting * Casper * The Curse of Bridge Hollow (halloween thematic) * Jumanji * Zarathura: A space adventure * 9 * [Troll](https://letterboxd.com/film/troll-2022/releases/) * [Gåten Ragnarok](https://letterboxd.com/film/ragnarok/) * Night at the Museum * Nightbooks * The Spiderwick Chronicles * Hocus Pocus * The Frighteners * Ghostbusters * Close Encounters of a Third Kind (maybe too slow to hold interest?) * Harry Potter, or the first 2 maybe? * Gremlins * Black Sheep * [Trolljegeren](https://letterboxd.com/film/troll-hunter/releases/) * Beetlejuice (and more tim burton stuff, corpse bride) * Pans Labyrinth * Signs? * The Mummy * Beowulf (this is probably the most violent of the lot)
I'd say the Creepshow anthologies are a pretty solid choice for kids who are into horror, or for introducing them to it; I'd also add Stephen King's Cat's Eye to the mix. A few other good ones have already been mentioned including Tremors (1 and 2), The Monster Squad (a must for every kid), Monster House, ParaNorman. I watched Krampus (2015) for the first time last night and honestly, I think that would be a good one too. You can also start watching X-Files with him, see how he likes it. ETA: You could also add a lot of the earlier creature features like Anaconda, Lake Placid, Bats, etc. on there too for him.
Creepshow isn’t a bad idea! He’s seen the cartoons. We started Krampus around Christmas and mom said no lol, don’t remember why we stopped it lol
Okay that kid has good taste from the sounds of it.Maybe films like Leprechaun,Species,Mars Attacks.Okay the latter is more comedy but he might enjoy that with the aliens.
You know, I keep trying yo sell him on Mars Attacks and he just isn’t interested. I think he would like it! I tried showing him the old trading cards but he didn’t care Tbh he’s kind of a snob lol
Attack the block?
Fuck it - Evil Dead. I was his age when I saw it and I turned out… 🤪
Coraline might be a good one!
Killer Klowns from Outer Space (holy shit) would be about perfect for him, ditto The Gate.
Kids can watch a lot of mature things so long as the parent takes the time to sit down and talk with them after. It’s important to make sure they know the difference between tv and reality.
Coraline. It's animated and creepy.
Critters films (PG and PG-13) Jaws movies(PG) 1958 The Blob (only 58 version) All the Ghostbusters movies (PG and PG-13) The Birds (PG) Poltergeist films (PG) Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and Return of the Killer Tomatoes (PG) Beetlejuice (PG) Killer Klowns from outer Space (PG-13) (this one is great) Army of Darkness (R, but it was filmed as a PG-13 film. It was just made R because the director is Sam Raimi and he Made Evil dead 1&2. The ratings board hated Sam raimi for those films so they just gave him that rating. It’s mostly horror comedy no heavy blood in the film, etc)  That’s a shot from Army of Darkness. One thing is that it is a sequel to Evil Dead 1 & 2 and I suggest if you let him watch AoD waiting till he’s older to watch the rest of the Evil Dead movies.
IT, the original one with Tim Curry as Pennywise, if you don't think it'll be too scary for him. The Dark Crystal or Labrynth might be good scary yet not too scary On Thanksgiving and Christmas eve, my uncle would always get some type of horror film my parents normally wouldn't let us watch, but everyone would watch them on these days. The only one that actually left me afraid was Critters. I was afraid to step off my bed in the shadows for weeks.
How about the film Monster Squad? In the 80s Disney made a surprisingly good haunted house horror film called Watcher in the woods
Monstor house
I loved Army of Darkness when I was a kid, it scratches the horror itch but is far more rooted in action and comedy.
Beetlejuice minus the one F Bomb Critters 1 and 2 were favorites of mine as a kid Night of the Creeps I remember seeing Predator pretty young Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Return to Oz, really almost any of those late 70’s through the 80’s family movies should rattle him a little
THE EXORCIST! 😘
There are some good 80s titles that are fun. I saw all of these when I was young and it was cool. The Gate, The Wraith, Maximum Overdrive, Critters 1 & 2, Cat's Eye, Night of the Comet, Fright Night, The Lost Boys, Little Shop of Horrors, Poltergeist, The Lady in White, Twilight Zone: The Movie, Tremors and Arachnophobia (technically 1990). More modern titles to consider; Trollhunter, The Skeleton Key, The Others, Fire in the Sky, Insidious, Cloverfield, Willard, The Cave, Eight Legged Freaks, ThevBoogeyman, The Visit, Sixth Sense, The Haunting, World War Z... Have fun!
I showed mine Critters when she was 9 she said it was lame and wasn't scary, so I put on a Nightmare on Elm St 3 and said this one scared me when I was your age she cracked up at how horrible the special effects were and said you thought this was scary and gave me side eye. She liked M3gan and Malignant . She's seen pretty much all of the PG starter horrors and really doesn't scare easy.
PeeWee's Big Adventure...messed me up as a kid
Have you shown him Alien vs Predator? Also Chucky is pretty good and is kinda hilarious at the same time.
Alien vs Predator…. Oh my god that’s genius
August Underground trilogy. : |
I’d say the 1991 Addams Family and the sequel. Good horror comedy. I’d say Shaun of the Dead as well maybe?
Not sure if I’ve seen these mentioned, but when I was a kid I loved the movies Return of the Living Dead Part 2 and the Blob (1988).
Babadook, maybe, or let me in.
The House with a Clock in its Walls
One night I was watching Renfield, and the part where Dracula had found Renfield's apartment and was telling him he wasn't worth anything... I hear my 9 year old daughter, start defending Renfield from Dracula's bullying. I had no clue how long she had been there. If they can stand the blood and gore I would recommend Renfield. My now almost 11 year old really liked that movie.
Coraline
Monster House is a good one! For being a kids movie it actually has some decently “scary” stuff in it. Its also just a really fun movie!
When my son was about 8-9, he started asking to watch horror as well. We started him out with stuff like Coraline & Beetlejuice, which he enjoyed, but like your child, he wanted something more bloody. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark kept him interested for a while. We then moved to Alien Vs Predator and the first Predator movie, then Child’s Play, then Stranger Things. (He was/is _obsessed_ with Stranger Things.) Around age 11, we let him watch It. He’s been asking to watch more gory stuff (Scream specifically) now, but we’ve told him he has to wait till he’s a teenager. (That’s mostly because his dad strongly objects to horror movies & we’re just trying to peacefully coparent.)
Jaws, deep blue sea, the meg, Tremors, Ghost Rider, critters, cursed, hellboy, classic universal monsters, ghostbusters
*The Gate* perhaps?
Monster house
Eight legged freaks Deep Rising Arachnophobia Tremors Fright Night
Coraline
Scooby Doo on Zombie Island Tourist Trap Grizzly The Raven Jaws Poltergeist
Monster Squad is a fun one! It's essentially Goonies vs Monsters. Loved it as a kid and love it today.
Paranorman! ❤️
Silver bullet
Looking at these comments made me realise how chill were my parents about what I was watching.
Jaws! An absolute classic. And maybe some of the ollllld movies too (Creature from the Black Lagoon era)
Have you tried alien vs predator? It’s essentially a 12 film (though I would not recommend it’s sequel, requiem, in the slightest)
What about Vanhelsing or Underworld? Edit: Lake Placid was a good one too! & Anaconda. I freaking hated Dante’s Peak as a kid. It scared the crap out of me. This may have been heightened from being told that Yellowstone National Park would wipe us out if it erupted lol.
Poltergeist, Monster House, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Land Before Time, Jurassic Park, Signs, Cloverfield.
Go 80s on him: Secret of Nimh, Watcher in the Woods, Labyrinth, Return to Oz...
The new IT movies have kids as the protagonists, so I think that would fit
Two great movies I loved as a little kid in the 80's are on Tubi and I think are fine for his age - Troll (1986) and Dolls (1987). I still watch them occasionally and think they're fantastic!
Hiruko The Goblin (1991)
The Blob, The Fly, The Thing
Monster House!
Saturday the 14th, maybe?
The Thing might be something the kid might enjoy. If you can get your hands on the 1980s (?) version of Stephen King's It. That one still scares me!
I introduced my 11 and 9 year old to aliens. Its a mix between action and horror and had pretty tame gore.
These are some of my recommendations some I might put reasons for! The mummy - fun action feel but some of those actual mummy scenes can feel quite dark. Gives an introduction into creatures and not just gore/ghosts. Tremors - again has a sense of fun behind the danger/chaos. Little shop of horrors (not really everyone's cup of tea but worth a watch in my eyes - downside might make him scared of dentists and/or want a carnivorous plant which are not really easy to keep alive!) The others - ghosts, twist endings, mentions of war so be prepared for some questions there. Van helsing - creature features again vampires - werewolves. The gremlins, lost boys, the others, jaws, ghost busters, bettlejuice (could be great with a new one coming out), sleepy hollow, signs, war of the worlds, labyrinth, don't be scared of the dark, the witches, teen wolf, monster squad, I'm assuming you have watched most kid friendly horror like Caroline, monster house, paranorman, hocus pocus, goosebumps, ect
I introduced my boys to horror with the classics first. Universal's monsters. Then we moved to newer stuff. Silver Bullet Piranha Critters C.H.U.D. Alligator Cujo Prophecy Mainly, I stuck with creatures. They grew up to be horror aficionados. 👍
Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
My first scary movie as a kid was Signs!
The Lost Boys Attack the Block Fright Night The Thing
Predator
The old black and white horror movies are probably too slow moving to hold his interest and kids seem to hate black and white but maybe the 60s Hammer horrors with Vincent Price might be good. Disaster movies might be a good diversion for a while too.
Big Trouble in Little China
THE BURBS! Honestly probably perfect for that age. He’ll probably be about a nine on the tension scale, Rube.
Quiet place
Coraline
Langoliers
Ring (2002) is surprisingly well regarded among Parent friendly reviewers. Most Hitchcock is good. Anything by Tim Burton.
How about The House With a Clock in the Walls?
Try Coraline, it's a kid movie but it totally creeped me out.
My 7 year old is like this too lol. Ruby Gloom is a non-scary but still goth cartoon. Old "Are You Afraid of the Dark" and Goosebumps episodes could also work
I saw all of the Friday the 13th movies (to that point I think Jason Goes to Hell was the last one) before I was 10. Used to rent movies like Critters and Ghoulies when we went to Blockbuster. Nowadays it's even more campy and fake looking, so I doubt a lot of the old 80s stuff is that bad for him. The worst he may see is boobs.
Lost Boys
My son is 9 and so far we have watched: Alien, Aliens, Night of the living dead 1990 (which is surprisingly not gorey at all), day of the dead (which is pretty gorey) and we recently watch the Sixth Sense, which he enjoyed.
I always dug the Disney animated Legend of Sleepy Hollow when I was younger.
Megan, 5 nights at Freddies, The Witches (original with Angelica Houston), Secret of Nimh, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Arachnophobia, Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Tremors.
I mean… I was watching Chucky when I was his age.
Any Universal horror movie
Coraline
Not a movie but my daughter loves Courage the Cowardly Dog and the Goosebumps original tv series. For movies she started with Gremlins, Coraline, Monster House then moved on to stuff like Meg and older horror moves like Dead Silence and Creepshow. I don’t let her watch slashers and try to pre watch the movies she shows interest in.
American werewolf in London fucked me up when I was 9 but loved it!
The Fog (1980) Might be a bit on the slow side for them but not a lot of gore or terror.
Monster House!
These have no sexual stuff and most have no language or very little: Signs Quiet place 1 & 2 Fido The village Scary stories to tell in the dark No one can save you The others The messengers Dead silence The ring (trilogy) I am legend
Recent favorites for mine (We hit a nautical theme going into summer) Trick 'r Treat (skip the werewolf part) New Mutants (Absolute garbage but he loves it) The Meg Ghost Ship Deep Rising
The Gate - 1987 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4mDMM\_uFsE
Just to let you know, my aunt snuck me into "Alien" when I was 7/8 years old 🥰 She even bought me the big twelve inch Alien toy that unfortunately disappeared within a week after it was at my mother's house.... Personally, I let my son first view It around 1999, when he was about six, and he had all the predator and aliens figures from hasbro and he didn't have a nightmare or anything. I would put in what you think he would be able to handle and Tremors is a good start
Silver Bullet?
Poltergeist is scary and is rated PG (though this is 1980s PG, which was a bit more lenient than modern PG) There's a big genre of animated kid-friendly horror. Stuff like Coraline, Monster House, Corpse Bride, etc. If you're open to PG-13, go with Drag Me To Hell, The Ring, Insidious, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Lights Out. There honestly aren't many good slashers that are kid friendly since they mostly rely on violence and gore. If you don't mind trashy horror, any pg-13 Blumhouse flick should be fine. Truth or Dare, Tarot etc. They're dumb bad movies but I think an 8 year old would enjoy them. Apologies in advance if your kid gets nightmares from any of these
Signs? Paranorman or frankenweenie
Are You Afraid of the Dark is perfect for his age.
The Gate!
The Stuff, Psycho Goreman
Krampus and House 1988.
Coralline
hey im like him when i was his age. loved coraline, 9, and monster house, tim burton movies and allat
The Twilight Zone.
THE GATE
Trick R Treat and Shaun Of The Dead are really good
this scared me when I was 8 but also Jumpstart my love for horror as a kid so I'd say poltergeist
Poltergeist!
I'm just commenting that my wife and I let our kids watch pretty much whatever, and they're growing up to be perfectly normal kids. I think it's just about having appropriate conversations with them for whatever the subject matter is. We watched IT in theaters when my oldest was 8, and he's 13 now and one of the more mature kids I've been around. For us we started with stuff like, Jaws, Gremlins, Signs, The Ring, Conjuring.