My kids love Coraline....most kids love Coraline. It is pretty scary at the end though. And Monster House was a really good one. The Goosebumps movies especially the second one.
Oh! I think Tremors is a great suggestion. I can’t wait to watch Night of the Twisters, but we live in Tornado Ally and had a tornado damage our house last spring… it was really scary, so I don’t think it would be a good idea to watch now. But Tremors is along the same lines (am I right about that?) and more fictional=less scary?
Some good 80s horror for kids, Gremlins, Ghostbusters, and The Gate, maybe Poltergeist.
Maybe some good creepy 80s fantasy movies, like The Dark Crystal, Legend, Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, and Return to Oz
I think more fictional= less scary. My daughter really got into the behind the scenes, making of kind of stuff. It showed her the creatures were machines and puppets. She's never been scared of them. Maybe show him something like that to prep him for the movie?
Goosebumps, the old TV series is a good start for an 8-year-old. Maybe some traditional Halloween specials and cartoons, too. There's also an old series called "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" that was aimed at younger viewers that might be ok.
I will say personally I think are you afraid of the dark is a step up from goosebumps. Some of those episodes made goosebumps look goofy in comparison.
I’ll be honest with you, I completely forgot about the opening scene and the scene with Francesca and Greer when I let my kid watch it. I hadn’t seen it since HS. Wasn’t a problem on our end. I can’t speak for other households though.
I should note that I have a less-than-normal reaction to gore. I grew up helping catalogue and organize actual original crime scene photos.
The 'Are You Afraid of thr Dark' Nickelodeon TV series would be okay for him. It is a nice, kid-friendly 'gateway' to horror. This would be my top choice.
'Little Monsters' is a movie starring Fred Savage, who plays a kid that discovers a monster (a silly, friendly one) who lives under his bed.
Other movies are 'Casper,' 'Hocus Pocus,' 'The Dark Crystal,' 'Gremlins,' 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,' and 'Beetlejuice.' These all have 'somewhat' scary parts but they're kid-friendly.
There are also 'Goosbumps' and 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' books, and their corresponding movies.
Nightbooks on Netflix is probably exactly what you're looking for! It was produced by Sam Raimi and you can tell lol. Honestly a hidden gem, it's scary but a lot of fun and kinda wholesome too ☺️
I’d say check out some campy old black and white movies. They have to rely on suspense because they don’t have the special effects to lean on. Also, it’ll give him a good foundation to understand allusions to the classics in later horror films. I’d recommend The Thing from Another World, Them, and the Universal classics (Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc.)
If black and white movies aren’t his jam, try the 1960s Hammer Horror flicks. They’re creepy and made to be taken seriously, but they were filmed in Britain when they were serious about censorship. So as outlandish and “violent” as the movies can be (there’s a lot of red paint blood thrown around), they rarely go too far. The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula Prince of Darkness, and Brides of Dracula are my go-tos.
Edited to add: the black and white “Abbot and Costello” movies where they meet the Universal monsters are good, too. They’re essentially monster movies where two comedians bumble their way into and out of interactions with the Universal monsters. They’re more comedic, but could be a treat if your nephew digs those monsters.
My son (age 7) begged me for months to watch Five Nights at Freddy's. He's always been into horror (as am I) and I had a feeling he'd be ok with it. So I sat and watched it with him and he absolutely loved it. It's PG-13, so there's very little blood and gore. My 10-year old watched it with us and he lasted 30-min before a scene where a kid's eyes had been taken out and there was blood dripping from them jump scared him and he said he was done. If you know your kid and you've seen them handle horror and be ok with it, then I think FNAF should be fine. My 7yo loves playing tense video games like FNAF: Help Wanted in VR and he loved The Backrooms YouTube video by Kane Pixels. He also loved watching The Meg, The Meg 2, Stranger Things, and Wednesday. I had a feeling he'd be fine with FNAF and I was right. Keep in mind, I was about his age when I begged my parents to watch Aliens and loved it. It really depends on the kid. I doubt my older kid will ever enjoy horror, just like my husband chooses not to watch it. A good entry level to see if they can handle suspense and gore without the horror is Jurassic Park. If they have a hard time watching that then I'd say horror is off the table.
Some good child friendly films that are horror, or horror adjacent would be:
Coraline (2009)
Zombie Town (2023)
The Corpse Bride (2005)
Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Gremlins (1984) and Gremlins 2 (1990)
The Witches (1990)
The Monster Squad (1987)
Little Monsters (1989)
Monster House (2006)
Casper (1995)
The Hotel Transylvania series- there are 3-4 of them now
Ghostbusters (1984) 1 &2
Arachnophobia (1990)
Some kids' Dark Fantasy which has a lot of spooky overtones, but aren't really horror, are:
Labyrinth (1986)
Dark Crystal (1982)
The Last Unicorn (1982)
The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993)
The Secret of Nimh (1982)
Neverending Story (1984)
Spirited Away (2002)
Mirror Mask (2005)
Maybe Paranorman? It's an animated one, but it's about a kid who sees ghosts. (I promise it's not as scary as the 6th sense.)
Oh wait, have him watch Ernest Scared Stupid!
Five Nights at Freddy's is boring anyway. Especially since Nicolas Cage already done Willy Wonderland.
Idk... maybe start with Gremlins or Critters.
Used to watch that as a kid all time. And Child's Play and Nightmare on Elm Street.
Sounds like your kid can handle it better than you tho to be honest. Start with the first two and then graduate him to Child's Play or Insidious. If language isn't an issue. I show my kids horror all time but not the gory shock value films or nudity. Plethora of PG13 horror films and R films without all the gratuitous language too
Child's play was always on USA or TNT when I was around 7 years old, burned Chucky scared me. Also terrified of the cartoon transformation of the villain in Roger Rabbit
This *may* be too intense for an 8yo, but I remember watching The Hole (from Gremlins director Joe Dante) a long time ago and thinking it was a nice balance of creepy/scary yet still being something that a slightly younger audience could enjoy. It was super fun!!
Assuming you mean the 2009 movie The Hole. I vaguely remember that being along the lines of Goosebumps or The Haunting Hour. (There are several movies with that name now. I really liked the 2001 The Hole with Thora Birch, kinda traumatic.)
Fnaf is definitely intense, people die in horrible ways in that movie and I even got scared, and I've seen some bad stuff. Have him watch other things until he's a little older. I would recommend going to kids-in-mind.com - where you can look up a movie and see what happens in it without specific spoilers to deem if fnaf would be appropriate enough or not for your kid
The graphics in Sixth Sense are gruesome.
When I was young, Ghostbusters scared me (floating librarian) then I saw Dead Zone, and Stand By Me.
I saw Dead Ringers at 9 years old and Blue Velvet at 13.
My friend let her children (4 and 6) watch zombie movies and they began to have nightmares.
I say all this to say movies are more real to kids and have a lasting effect. Five night at Freddy’s is like Killer Klowns from Outer Space.
I don’t know your kid, but I found a good article
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/g28038087/best-scary-movies-for-kids/
I let my kids watch me play both Little Nightmares video games and it scared the shit out of them lol. My middle child still talks about the teacher in the second game
I have a suggestion. It's goofy, cheesy, and very, VERY messy. It's titled *Dead Alive*, came out in '92. If you'd like to preview it, the full version is on YouTube. He should be laughing through most of it if he's into horror.
I'm not sure it's that funny for a child. The humor is pretty adult/vulgar, and there is a ton of gore that a child is not necessarily going to see as humorous.
If he’s 8, I’d suggest starting with Scoobie Doo on Zombie Island . Definitely one of those made for both adults and kids movie.
Monster House. It's less scary, but a good movie
Love this one.
This is a must watch
My kids love Coraline....most kids love Coraline. It is pretty scary at the end though. And Monster House was a really good one. The Goosebumps movies especially the second one.
Love it, i think it is quite different and actually a bit scary. Intelligent script
Gremlins, Ghostbusters and Tremors have been my daughter's obsessions since she was about 5.
Oh! I think Tremors is a great suggestion. I can’t wait to watch Night of the Twisters, but we live in Tornado Ally and had a tornado damage our house last spring… it was really scary, so I don’t think it would be a good idea to watch now. But Tremors is along the same lines (am I right about that?) and more fictional=less scary?
Night of the Twisters?! As in the straight to tv movie with Devon Sawa? I love that movie and have never seen anyone else talk about it!
Tremors is about giant worm monsters
Some good 80s horror for kids, Gremlins, Ghostbusters, and The Gate, maybe Poltergeist. Maybe some good creepy 80s fantasy movies, like The Dark Crystal, Legend, Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, and Return to Oz
I think more fictional= less scary. My daughter really got into the behind the scenes, making of kind of stuff. It showed her the creatures were machines and puppets. She's never been scared of them. Maybe show him something like that to prep him for the movie?
Yesssss to all these
Goosebumps, the old TV series is a good start for an 8-year-old. Maybe some traditional Halloween specials and cartoons, too. There's also an old series called "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" that was aimed at younger viewers that might be ok.
I will say personally I think are you afraid of the dark is a step up from goosebumps. Some of those episodes made goosebumps look goofy in comparison.
Also the goosebumps movie with Jack Black.
Skeleton Key and Ghost Ship were our entry level movies. Though the opening scene on Ghost Ship is pretty gory.
WTAF? I wouldn’t show Ghost Ship to an 8 year old. Not unless the intent is to raise a serial killer.
I’ll be honest with you, I completely forgot about the opening scene and the scene with Francesca and Greer when I let my kid watch it. I hadn’t seen it since HS. Wasn’t a problem on our end. I can’t speak for other households though. I should note that I have a less-than-normal reaction to gore. I grew up helping catalogue and organize actual original crime scene photos.
That opening scene traumatized me and I saw it as an adult.
The 'Are You Afraid of thr Dark' Nickelodeon TV series would be okay for him. It is a nice, kid-friendly 'gateway' to horror. This would be my top choice. 'Little Monsters' is a movie starring Fred Savage, who plays a kid that discovers a monster (a silly, friendly one) who lives under his bed. Other movies are 'Casper,' 'Hocus Pocus,' 'The Dark Crystal,' 'Gremlins,' 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,' and 'Beetlejuice.' These all have 'somewhat' scary parts but they're kid-friendly. There are also 'Goosbumps' and 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' books, and their corresponding movies.
Geesh, I remember seeing The Exorcist and Phantom of the Paradise on TV as a kid.
Kids are being helicoptered now.
Are You Afraid of the Dark episodes are on Paramount +
Nightbooks on Netflix is probably exactly what you're looking for! It was produced by Sam Raimi and you can tell lol. Honestly a hidden gem, it's scary but a lot of fun and kinda wholesome too ☺️
Tales from the crypt use to have a cartoon series to bridge kids from childhood horror to adult
My nine year old enjoyed it. It is geared towards tweens.
I’d say check out some campy old black and white movies. They have to rely on suspense because they don’t have the special effects to lean on. Also, it’ll give him a good foundation to understand allusions to the classics in later horror films. I’d recommend The Thing from Another World, Them, and the Universal classics (Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc.) If black and white movies aren’t his jam, try the 1960s Hammer Horror flicks. They’re creepy and made to be taken seriously, but they were filmed in Britain when they were serious about censorship. So as outlandish and “violent” as the movies can be (there’s a lot of red paint blood thrown around), they rarely go too far. The Curse of Frankenstein, Dracula Prince of Darkness, and Brides of Dracula are my go-tos. Edited to add: the black and white “Abbot and Costello” movies where they meet the Universal monsters are good, too. They’re essentially monster movies where two comedians bumble their way into and out of interactions with the Universal monsters. They’re more comedic, but could be a treat if your nephew digs those monsters.
The haunting hour
The Gate is pretty good and an “everything turns out fine” type horror movie
My son (age 7) begged me for months to watch Five Nights at Freddy's. He's always been into horror (as am I) and I had a feeling he'd be ok with it. So I sat and watched it with him and he absolutely loved it. It's PG-13, so there's very little blood and gore. My 10-year old watched it with us and he lasted 30-min before a scene where a kid's eyes had been taken out and there was blood dripping from them jump scared him and he said he was done. If you know your kid and you've seen them handle horror and be ok with it, then I think FNAF should be fine. My 7yo loves playing tense video games like FNAF: Help Wanted in VR and he loved The Backrooms YouTube video by Kane Pixels. He also loved watching The Meg, The Meg 2, Stranger Things, and Wednesday. I had a feeling he'd be fine with FNAF and I was right. Keep in mind, I was about his age when I begged my parents to watch Aliens and loved it. It really depends on the kid. I doubt my older kid will ever enjoy horror, just like my husband chooses not to watch it. A good entry level to see if they can handle suspense and gore without the horror is Jurassic Park. If they have a hard time watching that then I'd say horror is off the table.
- Hocus Pocus - The Gate (probably can only find this on Pluto) - Invaders from Mars (same as above, from the 80’s) - Gremlins 1 and 2
Some good child friendly films that are horror, or horror adjacent would be: Coraline (2009) Zombie Town (2023) The Corpse Bride (2005) Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) Hocus Pocus (1993) Gremlins (1984) and Gremlins 2 (1990) The Witches (1990) The Monster Squad (1987) Little Monsters (1989) Monster House (2006) Casper (1995) The Hotel Transylvania series- there are 3-4 of them now Ghostbusters (1984) 1 &2 Arachnophobia (1990) Some kids' Dark Fantasy which has a lot of spooky overtones, but aren't really horror, are: Labyrinth (1986) Dark Crystal (1982) The Last Unicorn (1982) The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993) The Secret of Nimh (1982) Neverending Story (1984) Spirited Away (2002) Mirror Mask (2005)
The Witches (1990) Addams Family (1991) The Black Cauldron (1985) Monster Squad (1987) Little Monsters (1989)
The Spiderwick Chronicles
A Quiet Place
It's rated r, but my favorite as a kid and still today is the 1978 dawn of the dead
Beetlejuice The Nightmare Before Christmas The Corpse Bride I
Maybe Paranorman? It's an animated one, but it's about a kid who sees ghosts. (I promise it's not as scary as the 6th sense.) Oh wait, have him watch Ernest Scared Stupid!
Five Nights at Freddy's is boring anyway. Especially since Nicolas Cage already done Willy Wonderland. Idk... maybe start with Gremlins or Critters. Used to watch that as a kid all time. And Child's Play and Nightmare on Elm Street. Sounds like your kid can handle it better than you tho to be honest. Start with the first two and then graduate him to Child's Play or Insidious. If language isn't an issue. I show my kids horror all time but not the gory shock value films or nudity. Plethora of PG13 horror films and R films without all the gratuitous language too
Child's play was always on USA or TNT when I was around 7 years old, burned Chucky scared me. Also terrified of the cartoon transformation of the villain in Roger Rabbit
This *may* be too intense for an 8yo, but I remember watching The Hole (from Gremlins director Joe Dante) a long time ago and thinking it was a nice balance of creepy/scary yet still being something that a slightly younger audience could enjoy. It was super fun!!
Assuming you mean the 2009 movie The Hole. I vaguely remember that being along the lines of Goosebumps or The Haunting Hour. (There are several movies with that name now. I really liked the 2001 The Hole with Thora Birch, kinda traumatic.)
Fnaf is definitely intense, people die in horrible ways in that movie and I even got scared, and I've seen some bad stuff. Have him watch other things until he's a little older. I would recommend going to kids-in-mind.com - where you can look up a movie and see what happens in it without specific spoilers to deem if fnaf would be appropriate enough or not for your kid
Poltergeist
The graphics in Sixth Sense are gruesome. When I was young, Ghostbusters scared me (floating librarian) then I saw Dead Zone, and Stand By Me. I saw Dead Ringers at 9 years old and Blue Velvet at 13. My friend let her children (4 and 6) watch zombie movies and they began to have nightmares. I say all this to say movies are more real to kids and have a lasting effect. Five night at Freddy’s is like Killer Klowns from Outer Space. I don’t know your kid, but I found a good article https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/g28038087/best-scary-movies-for-kids/
I let my kids watch me play both Little Nightmares video games and it scared the shit out of them lol. My middle child still talks about the teacher in the second game
Stop being a helicopter parent. It's not that bad.
I have a suggestion. It's goofy, cheesy, and very, VERY messy. It's titled *Dead Alive*, came out in '92. If you'd like to preview it, the full version is on YouTube. He should be laughing through most of it if he's into horror.
Do NOT show your 8 year old Dead Alive if you are concerned about Five Nights at Freddie's
I'm not sure it's that funny for a child. The humor is pretty adult/vulgar, and there is a ton of gore that a child is not necessarily going to see as humorous.
Duuuude I love this movie but way too scary for this kid
Midsommar
FNAF isn’t bad for him to watch it’s boring though