We have a somewhat unusual tradition at our house during the summer. We love campfires and telling scary stories around them, but often, due to work, weather, or frankly, budget constraints, we find ourselves unable to head out on a camping trip. So, we created Scary Movie Saturdays, where we turn out the lights, turn on the electric fireplace under our TV, and watch a scary movie. There’s no s’mores, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Since taking on this tradition, we’ve run through a ton of scary movies for kids. As they’ve grown older and transitioned from G-rated spookiness to PG-13 scares, we’ve spent a lot of time searching for enjoyable movies that are age-appropriate. The goal isn’t to give our children nightmares, so what constitutes “scary” on this list is dictated by each movie’s rating from G to PG-13.
Having maintained our family tradition for many years, and throughout many age groups, I’ve included scary movies ranging from TV movie specials perfect for children with shorter attention spans to full-length films that may help your children develop a growing love for scary movies.
Scared Shrekless (2010)
Let’s begin with a quick scary TV movie short for the younger viewers, Scared Shrekless. This made-for-TV special is a paltry 26 minutes and features most of the main cast. Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and Antonio Banderas all reprise their roles, with Donkey being played by the excellent Dean Cameron in place of Eddie Murphy.
Scared Shrekless features three stories that parody classic horror movies. Bride of Gingy takes on Bride of Frankenstein, Boots Motel sends up Psycho, and The Shreksorcist is an obvious homage to The Exorcist. It’s light comedy with a somewhat scary bend, and it’s a great, age-appropriate way to introduce classic scary stories to kids.
Rated: n/a
Run Time: 26min
The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist (2024)
The Bad Guys is a terrific book and big-screen movie series for all ages. Netflix put together this short streaming movie special, which takes place before the first movie, when the Bad Guys were, well, bad guys. There is a heist afoot for the crew, and they must find a hidden treasure in a haunted house.
Like all good Bad Guy movies or books, the plot for The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist moves quickly and is filled with lots of twists. The creepy haunted house is sure to play for as many laughs as it does shrieks for your kids, and it does what Bad Guys always set out to do: show that Bad Guys can be good people in the right set of circumstances.
Rated: N/A
Run Time: 24min
The Addams Family (2019)
I was tempted to add the Raul Julia-led 1991 live-action Addams Family to this list, but for kids, I think the 2019 animated outing is a much better choice for a scary movie. The film stars heavy hitters like Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, and even Snoop Dogg as everyone’s favorite creepy, kooky family.
The main thrust of the movie is The Addams Family trying to co-exist with the normal world, which might be scary in itself. The macabre and gloomy family refuses to be anything other than themselves, which is a pretty good lesson for kids. It’s also very, very funny with Nick Kroll’s Uncle Fester being a highlight.
Rated: PG
Run Time: 86min
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
Hotel Transylvania and its many sequels, series, and video games might not seem all that scary, but what it does accomplish is introduce kids to a myriad of scary characters. The Adam Sandler-led movie is about a hotel where monsters go to let loose and “get away from it all.”
Sandler plays Dracula, the owner and operator of Hotel Transylvania, whose daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), falls for a human, played by Andy Samberg, who accidentally stumbles into the hotel. It’s a scary story about characters navigating friendship and family, and it’s pretty amusing. The sequels are also worth watching, offering plenty of options for spooky viewing.
Rated: PG
Run Time: 91min
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Any list of must-see scary movies for kids should include the wicked machinations of the Sanderson Sisters in Hocus Pocus. Along with Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy chewing the scenery, there is a scary story about what happens when you mess with dark magic.
Hocus Pocus has a lot of fun effects as well, and Doug Jones as a 300-year-old zombie is an absolute standout. It’s spooky enough to frighten your kids, but not so much that they will be up all night worrying about witches. At least, not any more so than usual. Hocus Pocus does have a sequel, but it loses some of the charm of the original. This movie has become so iconic that it would be unthinkable to leave it off our list of the best scary movies for kids.
Rated: PG
Run Time: 96min
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004)
On rare occasions, a sequel is much better than the original movie. This is the case with Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. This flick finds the Scooby Gang called to a mysterious island where monsters and ghostly villains are taking control of the youth.
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed does what a lot of PG scary movies do in that it aptly balances the scares with the laughs. The team does their best to unravel the mystery, and in typical Scooby fashion, it turns out to be someone you’d least expect pulling the strings. Come for the spooky monsters and stay for Matthew Lillard in the role he was born to play, Shaggy.
Rated: PG
Run Time: 92min
Wallace & Grommet: Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (2005)
For kids, Wallace & Gromit are a stop-motion mainstay. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is a scarier outing, but one that can be taken with Wallace & Gromit’s usual dose of wholesome heart.
Wallace & Gromit attempt to rid their town of veggie-stealing bunnies, but inadvertently create a monster rabbit that does twice the damage! The twist as to the real identity of the Were-rabbit and where the scary parts come into play. This movie effectively amplifies the creepiness, which makes the reveals of wholesome, fun intentions that much more satisfying for kids of all ages.
Rated: G
Run Time: 85min
Orion And The Dark (2024)
Orion and The Dark deal with the thing near the top of every kid’s scary list: The Dark. Orion is a timid kid who’s scared of everything, and one night, The Dark manifests itself in Orion’s room and asks him to stop screaming, as The Dark is tired of people being afraid of him.
Orion and the Dark isn’t a traditional scary movie in that it becomes more of a buddy-comedy and carries the message of embracing your fears instead of running from them. That said, the spooky way The Dark and his friends all work and manifest their powers provides a healthy dose of creepy and a bigger dose of fun.
Rated: PG
Run Time: 95min
Coraline (2009)
Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Coraline pretty much defines scary movies for kids, though I’d put it as more “creepy” than “scary.” The story follows young Coraline as she explores the “Other World,” a creepy alternate dimension that features ghostly kids, button eyes, and an eerie art style.
Coraline can be a bit intense for younger kids and may be hard to follow, but ultimately, it balances frights and fantasy with family and understanding. I often thought that this movie might be too much for my kids, but they both loved it, even the creepy parts.
Rated: PG
Run Time: 100min
Goosebumps (2015)
Growing up, I devoured the Goosebumps books and the subsequent TV series. I wasn’t a huge scary movie fan, but creepy books were definitely on my nightstand. The 2015 Goosebumps movie, starring Jack Black, is not an anthology film, but rather a movie about the Goosebumps stories themselves.
Black plays RL Stine, the real-life writer of the Goosebumps books, and the movie delves into the best of the best of the stories with creepy doll villains and Stine’s trademark cliffhangers. It’s a weird and fun meta ride through a scary series that might prompt one of your kids to pick up a book or two.
Rated: PG
Run Time: 103minutes
The Haunted Mansion (2003)
The Haunted Mansion is a legendarily scary ride at Disneyland, and the movie adaptation is full of the same ghoulish fun that the ride features. The movie, unsurprisingly, is about a haunted mansion in Louisiana. A workaholic father takes his family on vacation, but a flood forces them to spend the night in a creepy house.
The Haunted Mansion is chock-full of ghosts. Ghostly psychics, ghostly caretakers, and even ghostly hitchhikers. The family at the center of it must uncover a long-standing mystery to release the ghosts from the mansion and set them to rest. The Haunted Mansion also features enough early 2000s-style slapstick and wit to make it a fun ride through a ghost town.
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 87min
Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003)
Why would a pirate movie be on a list of scary movies for kids? Well, it fits when you remember that most of the Pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean are largely undead ghouls! They are cursed to remain undead zombies until the return of the last piece of treasure to the Isla de Muerta.
Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow is a child’s delight in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but his skeletal former crew are where the scares come in. The sequels lean heavily into the magic and mystery of it all, but they are debatable movies in terms of their stories. They continue to have great, ugly, and fantastic creatures, though, with Davy Jones coming to mind.
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 2h 23min
The Mummy (1999)
The Mummy might skew more towards an action-adventure movie than a scary movie. Still, with plenty of mummified priests, flesh-eating scarab beetles, and killer sandstorms, The Mummy gets pretty frightening at times.
Imhotep, the titular Mummy, is trying to resurrect his love and will release all the Biblical Plagues of Egypt if he has to do it. Rachel Weisz stars as a budding Egyptologist, and Brendan Fraser as the heroic Rick, who takes her deep into the desert to find mysterious treasure. It was considered more mature at the time, but kids today will find it a lot less intense and a lot more fun.
Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 125min
Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)
Now, this is one from my childhood that I had to convince my kids to watch, but it is easily one of the best scary movies for kids of all time. Ernest Scared Stupid stars the late Jim Varney (who you can tell your kids was Slinky in Toy Story) in his most classic role, the dimwitted but big-hearted Ernest P. Worrell.
Ernest Scared Stupid pits Earnest and a couple of middle school friends against an army of trolls when they unwittingly unleash them on the town while building a treehouse. It’s got lots of gross, slimy moments with the trolls that my kids loved, as well as a good chunk of spooky and scary moments that were worth the effort it took to convince them to watch it.
Rated: PG
Run Time: 89min
