Introduction: For today’s episode, we’re diving into something a little spooky. It’s no secret that I love all things spooky, but it turns out I’m not alone. In a survey by Kids Health, scary movies and TV shows top the list of children’s fears, with war and terrorism a distant fourth. Despite this, it’s not uncommon to find kids who are really into horror, even if it’s usually kid-friendly horror. Plenty of kids will beg their parents to watch the good stuff, and that’s what we’re going to explore today.

The Fascination with Horror: Take this post from a parenting subreddit: “My youngest son is fascinated with scary characters. He goes around singing the ‘One, two, Freddy’s coming for you’ song around the house and will ask about the killers when the mood strikes.” This mother’s concern is shared by many parents, as they worry about their children accidentally going too far and having nightmares.

My own experience as a child was filled with nightmares, but I still sought out scary stuff. The first horror-adjacent thing I was into was probably Scooby-Doo. Those old episodes are not going to scare anyone, not just because they have a laugh track, but because the gang always caught the monster. But when I was five, “Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island” dropped, and I remember it vividly because the monsters were actually real.

As I got older, I fell in love with “Courage the Cowardly Dog,” which started airing when I was six years old in 1999. Watching it now, it’s clear the show was more about being funny than scary, but the creepy villains stuck with me. The same goes for the “Goosebumps” books, which were a staple of my childhood. The stories were filled with suspense and fear, but they also had a certain charm that made them approachable for kids.

The Impact of Horror on Children: The first scary thing I remember that kept me up all night was an “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” episode called “The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner.” The episode was about a comic book that, when wet, brought a creepy character to life. The scene where they discover the bus driver has been turned is still pretty creepy to me.

As I grew up, I watched “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and “Poltergeist,” both of which scared me senseless. I remember getting nightmares just from the cover of the “Leprechaun” VHS. But despite the fear, there was a thrill in watching these movies and reading these books.

The Magic of Children’s Horror: “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” is a cultural touchstone, a shared trauma across multiple generations of kids. The illustrations in these books were so impactful that they were listed as the most challenged of the 1990s by the American Library Association. In response to this, the 30th-anniversary edition in 2011 came with new, less frightening illustrations.

Conclusion: As a kid, I was drawn to horror because it felt mature and new. It was outside of my safe zone, and I didn’t know what to expect. Now, as an adult, I still enjoy a good scary movie or book, but I don’t find myself in the mood to binge the genre. The adrenaline rush of being scared is something I enjoyed more when I was a kid.

There’s a quote from a Slash Film article that sums it up perfectly: “Being a kid is a scary thing. You have no control over your life and you’re deeply affected by parental concerns… Scary movies give them a safe place to frame that anxiety, to give it a name and face it through the brave young protagonists fighting monsters or witches or ghosts on screen.”

So, whether it’s a kid-friendly horror show or a more intense movie, the bravery and empowerment that can come from facing these fears can be truly rewarding. And as for Slappy, the mischievous ventriloquist dummy from “Goosebumps,” it seems he’s still causing trouble and keeping the spirit of children’s horror alive.

That’s all for today, guys. Leave a like if you just love Slappy and horror in general. And remember, a little spooky can be a lot of fun!