Top Horror Movies for Kids

If you're a horror lover and you have horror loving kids, it can be hard to find a movie that will make appropriate viewing for the little ones. Next movie night, why not try one of the below classic horror movies that will leave the sprogs satisfied and maybe even inspire some nostalgia in any adults in the house!

The Little Vampire (2000)

Tony Thompson (Jonathan Lipnicki) is a 9 year old American boy who has recently moved with his family to a large house in Scotland. As soon as he settles in, he starts having dreams about vampires and a strange gem that shoots a beam of light into the moon. Vocalising these thoughts concerns his parents and teachers, and makes him a popular target for bullies.

One night, by pure chance, a young vampire flies into Tony's bedroom. Initially seeing Tony as prey, he slowly comes to view him as a friend, and the two begin on a quest to find the strange gem in Tony's dreams in order to help the vampires turn human again. Their adventure is complicated by Rookery (Jim Carter,) a vampire hunter who is also after the gem in order to send the vampires straight to hell.

A charming film, with a brilliant cast, though some of the effects haven't aged very well, and there are humorous moments in the film that your children will enjoy.

Goosebumps (2015)

Drawn to his mysterious female neighbour after recently moving house, teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minette) discovers that he is living next to the author R.L. Stine (Jack Black) after he breaks into their home and accidentally opens a book that releases a live version of one of Stine's literary creations out into the world.

After a daring attempt to put the monster back in the books, Zack, Stine, Stine's daughter Hannah (Odeya Rush) and their friend Champ (Ryan Lee) return to Stine's house, only to realise that Slappy the Dummy has escaped from his book, and is going to release all of the Goosbumps monsters from their paper prison, in revenge against Stine for imprisoning him in the first place.

Surprisingly entertaining film that will bring back memories for anybody who grew up with Goosebumps on their bookshelves.

Nightbooks (2021)

Alex Mosher (Winslow Fegley) is a young boy who is distressed after events that are unexplained at the start of the movie. Overhearing his parents concern over his obsession with writing scary stories, Alex runs to the elevator of their apartment building, attempting to burn his stories in the basement furnace. Finding himself on a strange, dark floor, he unintentionally finds himself captured by a beautiful but malicious witch.

The witch (Krysten Ritter) insists that he make himself useful to her, or bad things will happen to him, so he reads her the scary stories he's written, but she demands more. Along with another captor Yasmin (Lidya Jewitt) he begins to plan his escape from the witches magical apartment, with lots of twists and turns along the way.

A unique film with a great plot, Nightbooks is a brilliant film for pre-teen viewers who want to dip their toe even further into horror movies.

Corpse Bride (2005)

Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp) son of a nouvelle rich family, is preparing for his arranged marriage to Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson.) After their less than impressive trial run, Victor runs into the woods to practice, and unintentionally reanimates the corpse of Emily (Helen Bonham Carter) who believes that Victor is now her husband.

Transported now to the land of the dead, Victor is swept up in a world of colour and fun, but desperately tries to make it back to Victoria so they can finally be married. Emily, however, has other ideas, and refuses to let Victor go. Events start to take shape when Victor learns that Victoria is set to marry con man Barkis Bittern (Richard E Grant) who has an agenda of his own.

An original film, beautifully created with enough charm and whimsy to keep a younger audience entertained. From the mind of gothic genius Tim Burton, this film is a brilliant introduction to his work.

The Witches

Pick your version - We are fans of the original 1990 film by Nicholas Roeg. Luke Evisham (Jasen Fisher) is a precocious young boy who live with his grandmother Helda, Luke's grandmother informs him about witches, and arms him with all the tell tale signs of witches, so he knows when to avoid them. While on holiday in Bournemouth, the hotel is hosting a group of women who are claiming to be at a convention for the RSPCC, but the women are actually witches.

After Luke overhears the Grand High Witches (Anjelika Huston) evil plan to turn all the children in the world into mice for them to be consumed as confectionary, Luke and Helga make it their mission to stop the witches and find a way to reverse the potion that turns children into mice.

Roald Dahl's classic is delightfully fun and original, giving us a completely different take on witches while retaining all of the rotten qualities that they are known for.

The Addams Family

The live action films are excellent, but the 2019 film is a worthy injection into the Addams Family canon.

Introduce your children to Gomez and Morticia Addams - The darkly gothic couple who are in love with each other to the point of mindless obsession. They live in their home with their children; Wednesday, darkly comic and temptingly evil, and Pugsley, often a foil for his sister craziness. Other crazy characters can include Grammama and the famous Uncle Fester, relatives of Gomez varying on which iteration you choose.

The Addams Family offer a comic view on the modern American family, and have done since their inception in Charles Addams original comics. Wildly popular, consistently relevant, and full of a dark sarcastic humour, you can't go wrong with any of these films.