The Top 10 Scary Movies I Want to Share with My Kids
I’m a big fan of scary movies and I don’t hide my love, even when I’m writing about kids books and movies. There’s a very good reason that our list of the best scary picture books for kids is my favorite book list we’ve made. And a lot of that definitely has to do with nostalgia and my love for all things scary growing up.
And, as silly as it might sound, one of the things I very much hope to share with my two children (or I’ll settle for just one scary-movie buddy!) is this love of being scared. I recently celebrated the fact that my son, now 9 years old, has fallen in love with watching old episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark on Paramount Plus with me. And sharing that fun with him was a more meaningful experience than it probably had any right to be!
When I was young, it was probably scary picture books that first introduced me to the love of being a little scared, followed up quickly by a dedication to reading and collecting every Goosebumps book R. L. Stine wrote. Then it was the new episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark that I looked forward to all week long. And not too long after that I was begging my parents to let me rent scary movies at Blockbuster that I was probably too young for.
Which brings me to the very heart of this article right here - the scary movies I most want to share with my kids. For the record, this is ever-so-slightly different than my list of my favorite scary movies, because this list leans very heavy on nostalgia and probably doesn’t do proper justice to anything made in the last 10 years. When I ask myself internally which scary movies I want to share with my kids, I probably instinctively think of the movies that made me fall in love with scary movies.
I probably saw most of these movies before I was 11, which brings to light the predicament and conundrum I now find myself in. As a dad, I now understand why my own parents put up so much of a fight when I wanted to rent some of these movies. But, on the flip side, I have solid first-hand, empirical evidence that watching these movies at the right age - somewhere just a tiny bit earlier than you probably should - can leave a very exciting, fun impression, and lead to a lifetime of scary movie fun.
So what is the right age? Of course that’s up for every parent to decide. Our oldest is 9 and we haven’t watched any of these movies yet. But I think we might actually watch a couple of them as early as this year, while others are still most certainly years away.
But that’s the entire point of this list. It’s not just a nostalgia trip down memory lane for me (okay it mostly is), it’s also a handy dandy checklist for me to work with for years to come. These truly are the 10 scary movies I’m most excited to share with my kids. And now I just have to cross my fingers that I do end up with at least one scary movie buddy! And perhaps it will serve you and your own little scary movie buddy just as well!
10. Paranormal Activity
Paranormal Activity is the one movie on this list that came close to capturing the lightning-in-a-bottle magic experience that was The Blair Witch Project. There was about a decade between the two releases too, so even though I wasn’t a kid anymore, it really clearly left a lasting impression on me. Other than the obvious found-footage similarities, it marked the first time in about 10 years that I saw a terrifying, original movie in a movie theater and felt that rare electricity of a large, engaged crowd scared out of their minds.
Also like The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity benefited from abnormal marketing practices. If I recall correctly, trailers were very heavy on footage of audience members jumping and talking about how terrifying the movie was. It built itself almost a mythical status of being a terrifying movie before anyone knew what it was about. Luckily, they weren’t exaggerating their status. Some of the clever reveals in this movie are legitimately terrifying without making you jump. One year I’m going to put this one on a big screen at night on Halloween and try to recreate the magic for the kids.
9. It Follows
Since it’s the only entry on this nostalgia-heavy list released within the last 10 years, I think it’s safe to say that it’s obvious It Follows left quite an impression on me. I watch a lot of scary movies, and this is the only recent one that really shocked me with it’s originality and ability to tap into a brand new beautifully-designed fear. And it’s the kind of originality that makes me know I need to share this with my kids one day.
It Follows is a monster movie about a curse. Much like The Ring, this monster is going to get you after you do something and get cursed. In The Ring it was watching a video tape, but in It Follows it’s a sexually-transmitted curse. But that’s not the original part. Unlike The Ring, there’s no countdown. You don’t know when you’re going to be attacked, because the monster is always after you - very slowly walking towards you wherever you are. And it can look like anyone. You can run away - you can even leave the country, but it will always be moving slowly towards you, and you’ll never know when it will arrive. Absolutely genius.
8. The Lost Boys
One of those classic horror films that feels inevitable - like how everyone my age says The Princess Bride and The Neverending Story are the best (because they’re right of course). The Lost Boys is the horror version of that, and it’s one of the very first movies that pops into my head for a list like this. Lots of nostalgia tied up with this one, and it’s easily one of the best vampire movies ever made.
Perhaps you remember The Lost Boys most for having the Coreys - Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. It has the perfect blend of humor, horror, and adventure. At times it even feels like an 80s buddy movie like Stand By Me or The Goonies. This is especially true during my favorite part of the movie - preparing the house for the vampires to attack much like Kevin McCallister in Home Alone. It also features one of the most memorable uses of any song opening a movie ever - at least in my mind - People are Strange by The Doors.
7. Tremors
Hey I warned you this wasn’t a list of the best horror movies ever made. No, wait, I take that back. Please forgive me, Tremors. You are one of the best horror movies ever made, and I’m prepared to die on that hill. This creature feature was a big part of my young love affair with scary movies. There’s no telling how many times I watched it. The concept was original, they used great practical effects, and it features Kevin Bacon in his best movie role ever.
In case you’re unfamiliar, Tremors is about a small desert town being attacked by giant sand worms that they end up calling graboids. It’s funny and terrifying and very exciting - and they came up with so many memorable scenes with the simple concept of trying to stay off the ground. I think they did a wonderful job casting the movie and writing the characters. It’s hilarious how many Tremors movies they ended up making, and it’s a shame it went down the cheesy, special-effects-heavy path of Sharknado. But I am prepared to defend the original until my dying breath! And I can’t wait to show it to my kids.
6. Halloween
Of course I love all the classics, and all the slasher movies of the 70s and 80s, but Halloween stands out above all the rest. You may even notice that Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street don’t even make this list, and that’s because they simply don’t bring up the same nostalgia that Halloween does. When I honestly reflect on it, I don’t look forward to showing my kids Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees. It’s Michael Myers that means something to me.
It was actually Halloween 6 that I saw first - The Curse of Michael Myers. I was about 9 when that one came out. And the older kids were watching it during a lock-in at my Taekwondo school. I wasn’t even supposed to be in the same room as the older kids, but they let me in and I watched a scary movie I probably shouldn’t have through my fingers. And I loved it! It didn’t take me too long after that to catch up with the series, and it’s been a big part of my love for scary things ever since.
5. The Ring
The Ring came out while I was in high school, and it very quickly sky-rocketed right up to my very best movie experiences of all time - right up there with The Blair Witch Project. The concept itself was just terrifying, and it was so well executed. It’s also one of those movies - kind of like Scream - that absolutely delivers in the first 10 minutes of the movie. The opening sequence of The Ring is just spectacular.
When I think of scary movies that I want to share with my kids, there are 2 things that keep standing out to me - nostalgia and originality. And The Ring most certainly has an original concept - watch a cursed movie and you will immediately get a phone call. A voice on the call will then inform you that you will die in 7 days. The concept is brilliant - a simple idea that could scare you as a 5 second horror story. But what’s truly impressive is what the movie builds to, and the payoff is insane the first time you see it. And since I can’t experience it for the first time ever again, I can’t wait to see my kids’ faces while they do!
4. The Blair Witch Project
I was probably at the very perfect age when The Blair Witch Project released - 13 years old. I vividly remember seeing the preview on TV while at a friend’s house during a sleepover. The preview directed you to a website that we spent hours looking at. And it perfectly set the stage for the best found footage movie ever made. The website went very deep into the lore about the Blair Witch, including stories about the man who was possessed and brought children back to his cabin in the woods - details that brought more terror and meaning to certain scenes of the movie.
I’ve certainly never had that level of synergy between previous fictional research and a movie ever before or since. But, most importantly, the website made very little or no mention that this was a work of fiction, and really doubled down on the impression that this was legitimate found footage in a way that obviously made the film much scarier as a kid. It will be hard to recreate the magic of the theatrical release of that movie for my kids - but I suppose I’ll just have to do my best!
3. Jurassic Park
I received Jurassic Park on VHS for a Christmas present at my grandparents’ house and I suppose the fact that I vividly remember this means that I was very happy and excited about that gift. And let’s address the elephant in the room quickly - Jurassic Park is definitely a horror movie and obviously belongs in the company of the other movies on this list. The debate about Jurassic Park is strange to me, especially considering people are quick to name Jaws horror but not Jurassic Park.
And this is a great time to point out that Jurassic Park has stood the test of time because of an important decision - lots of practical effects and animatronic dinosaurs. Much like the giant Tremors puppet on this list, this is the reason kids won’t laugh the movie out of the room today, and we should all be eternally grateful for that decision. It’s what makes it one of the best ever.
It’s also the one movie on this list that we’ll probably watch the soonest - perhaps as soon as this year. It’s scary without a doubt - particularly the raptor scenes and when the cars first break down in the rain. But it’s scary in an entirely different and distant way than something like slasher movies. But it will be the first time the kids see anything like someone being bitten in half or a severed arm on screen - so we still need to be sure we’re ready for that!
2. Gremlins
I so badly want to show my son Gremlins, and it will probably be the second movie we’ll watch after Jurassic Park. But there’s one scene that’s stopping me, and it makes me really grumpy. It’s the completely unnecessary scene where Kate describes how her dad died in the chimney pretending to be Santa, and that’s how she found out that there’s no Santa. Keep in mind, this is a PG movie (of course PG-13 didn’t exist yet), and I have to imagine that scene pissed off parents as much as the unexpected scares.
That being said, this is still one of my favorite movies ever made. The combination of horror and comedy and adventure and romance and Christmas - it feels like it has it all. And I don’t want to wait too long to share it, because it truly is the type of movie everyone is going to enjoy more as a kid - when they can daydream afterwards about having their own Gizmo as a friend. Absolutely everything about this movie would appeal to my son - especially the rules about taking care of your Mogwai. It if weren’t for that pesky Santa conversation we probably would have watched it already years ago.
1. Scream
For scary movie fans of a certain age, I think that Scream will always be held up as something incredibly special. It brought the slasher film into the modern age and did so with a lot of humor and style. The meta structure - often referring to the conventions of horror films during the movie - was pure genius. And of course it has what I consider to be the most insane, mind-blowing opening to a horror movie ever. Most horror movies try to open with a scare, but basically opens with a work of art short film that kills off the person many people thought would be the main character.
The music, the cinematography, the casting, the acting - it’s all perfect. And I don’t care if I’m wearing rose-tinted nostalgia glasses. This is as close to a feel-good movie as you can get in the slasher genre, in large part because of the epic performances of actors like Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Matthew Lillard. They’re perfect in their roles and feel like old friends.
This is also the movie I most vividly recall begging my dad to rent from Blockbuster. I was probably 11 years old. He really didn’t understand why I would ever want to watch a slasher movie, and I understand that resistance now as a dad. I’m not sure how many trips to Blockbuster it took to finally get a yes, but what I do remember quite well is the adrenaline rush of sitting down in a dark living room and experiencing this all-time great.
For even more movies to share with the kids one day, make sure to check out The 25 Movies I’m Most Excited to Share with My Kids
Are you a fan of scary movies too? Have you shared any of these movies with your kids yet? What other movies do you look forward to watching with the family? Let us know in the comments!
