Horror for Kids

Horror is often kept away from children. However, kids love horror -- look at the popularity of creepypasta and Five Nights at Freddy's with kids! I believe horror can also help them: it can help them understand, work through, and symbolically "contain" or "destroy" fears, just like it does for adults that watch horror; it can give anxious kids a space where they can "control" their anxieties by choosing to engage with them; it can strengthen a feeling that their thoughts and fears are worth listening to, even if others don't take them seriously.

That said, a lot of horror out there is not kid-appropriate. Extreme violence and gore are not appropriate for kids, even if it's not shown or described in detail, and some stuff is just too disturbing and scary. How do you choose?

I've started curating a list of kids media I feel is appropriate for most kids. I do encourage you to vet this stuff yourself because each child is different, and some of it still might be too scary for younger kids. (You can also check out some of the other stuff on my recommendation lists for older or braver kids, but be careful and screen those ones, too, before you share with kids!)

Films


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