Halloween is just a few weeks away, and it’s officially the spookiest time of the year.
Parents who want to share their love for horror with their children don’t always have a lot of options.
For example, Weapons features children, but it’s probably a bad idea to take small kids to see Weapons in theaters.
It’s a much better idea to follow Watch With Us‘ selections for the five must-watch horror movies and shows for kids. Everything we’ve chosen probably won’t be terrifying enough to keep your kids up at night.
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‘Goosebumps’ (2023 – 2025)
If your kid is a reader, then the biggest name in children’s horror is R. L. Stine. The Goosebumps novels and TV series walk a fine line between scary and too scary for kids. While the original television show adapted Stine’s novels as one-off stories, the modern series embraced season-long stories.
The first season is particularly heavy with references and items from the Goosebumps novels, as a group of kids unravel a decades-long mystery that has mysterious ties to their families. The novels’ most iconic villain, Slappy the Dummy (Chris Geere), also makes his presence known, and he’s always fun to watch.
Goosebumps is streaming on Disney+.
‘Coraline’ (2009)
Director Henry Selick‘s The Nightmare Before Christmas is his most beloved film, but it’s not really a scary movie. Selick’s Coraline, on the other hand, might scare a few adults. Dakota Fanning voices Coraline Jones, a young girl whose parents, Mel (Teri Hatcher) and Charlie (John Hodgman), don’t give her the attention she needs. When the family moves into their new home, Coraline discovers a door that leads to another world.
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In the other world, Mel and Charlie dote on Coraline and spoil her. But the other world is hiding a dark secret, and Coraline’s life and her soul are on the line. If she can’t escape the grasp of the other world and the creature that controls it, then she and her family may be lost forever.
Coraline is streaming on Tubi.
‘Gremlins’ (1984)
Gremlins may technically be PG, but you have to remember that standards were different before the PG-13 rating came along. The title creatures in this film get away with some gruesome murders that may not fly as well in 2025. But the gremlins sure made a little old lady fly!
The primary gremlin, Gizmo (Howie Mandel), is about sweet as can be. But his new owner, Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan), unintentionally broke two of the cardinal rules. He allowed Gizmo to get wet and multiply, and the duplicates were transformed into dangerous creatures because they ate after midnight. Now, Billy and his girlfriend, Kate Beringer (Phoebe Cates), have to save their town before the evil gremlins before it’s too late.
Gremlins is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
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‘Return To Oz’ (1985)
Disney Pictures would probably shy away from describing Return To Oz as a horror film, but this movie is absolutely terrifying for any young viewer who saw the original Wizard of Oz. Everything that made Oz so delightful and enchanting has been transformed into a twisted reflection that’s actually closer to L. Frank Baum‘s novels than the first movie was.
Fairuza Balk plays Dorothy Gale, the young girl who returned home from Oz six months before the start of the movie. After returning to Oz, Dorothy is horrified to discover that her friends have been turned to stone and the Yellow Brick Road has been shattered. To save Oz, Dorothy has to make some new friends and survive her encounters with the witch Mombi (Jean Marsh) and Oz’s conqueror, the Nome King (Nicol Williamson).
Return To Oz is streaming on Disney+.
‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ (2019)
The original incarnation of Are You Afraid of the Dark? gave tweens a dose of terror they could endure with scary stories told around a campfire by the Midnight Society, a group of kids who regularly met in the woods to swap these scary tales. The 2019 revival retains the Midnight Society’s late-night gatherings, but eschews the anthology format for a season-long story.
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Each of the three seasons places a new group of Midnight Society kids in the middle of a very real supernatural story that they may not escape. Evil carnivals and the secrets of Shadow Bay are explored, and it’s scarier than the original show. Fortunately, it’s not scary enough to send your kids into therapy.
Are You Afraid of the Dark is available to rent or buy on Prime Video.
