Scary Movies for Kids: 7 to Watch This Week

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Welcome to Halloweentown! This spooky season, we’re bringing you a new selection of scary movies every week – one for each day of the scariest month of the year. This week we’re focusing on kid-friendly films.

Not all of these films are available for free – but some of them are! – but all are available to either rent or stream. We have classics, cult favorites, newer films and familiar screams alike.

And come back next week for a new selection of scares! Next time we’ll focus on scary movies for adults again and this time we’ll focus on films from the last few years.

Read on – if you dare.

ParaNorman (2012) – stream for free on Tubi

In the summer of 2012, Laika Studios’ “ParaNorman” burst out of the gate with ghostly power. Directors Sam Fell and Chris Butler’s original, family-friendly horror-comedy family film is a passionate ode to ’80s horror legends like Stephen King and John Carpenter. But it’s more than a nostalgic homage: it also found room for a compelling theme of tolerance unlike anything else for children at the time. Read the rest of film journalist Rendy Jones’ retrospective. Rated PG. 92 minutes. Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell. Featuring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Tucker Albrizzi, Casey Affleck, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, John Goodman.

“Paranorman” is streaming for free on Tubi.

Teen Wolf (1985) – Stream on The Roku Channel, rent on Prime Video

The indescribable Michael J. Fox charms (and howls) in this endearing ’80s comedy, in which a teenager discovers that his family has an unusual little genetic streak – one that he may be able to use to his advantage. He’s a teenager! He’s a werewolf! He plays basketball! Who could ask for more? Rated PG. 91 minutes. Director: Rod Daniel. Featuring: James Hampton, Scott Paulin, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine.

The Secret of NIMH (1982) – stream for free on Tubi

Animal testing, a brutal battle between rival rat factions, a widowed mother with a sick child and a potentially fatal housing crisis, and an extremely creepy owl voiced by legendary character actor John Carradine, all in a film that was inexplicably rated “G.” It’s difficult to know what children accustomed to the fast-paced digital animation of the 21st century will think of the hand-drawn “NIMH” – although anyone with a soft spot for the classic Disney cartoons might recognize it fits right next to the Disney canon. In some ways, the films Don Bluth made in the 1980s, including “NIMH,” “An American Tail,” and “The Land Before Time,” seem like an alternate history of Disney: Here’s what those animators did would have if they had not faltered for most of the decade. Read the rest of film critic Jesse Hassenger’s retrospective. Rated G. 82 minutes. Director: Don Bluth. Starring: Elizabeth Hartman, Dom DeLuise, Peter Strauss, Arthur Malet, Derek Jacobi, Paul Shenar, John Carradine, Hermine Baddeley, Shannen Doherty, Wil Wheaton, Ina Fried.

“The Secret of NIMH” is available to stream for free on Tubi.

Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021) – Stream on Disney+

This should be a no-brainer: Imagine Gonzo the Great and Pepe the Shrimp doing a scare challenge in a haunted house that’s basically a Muppet version of the popular Disney Parks attraction of the same name, honoring a famous wizard, who disappeared from the same mansion 100 years ago. Now imagine that their mysterious “ghost host” is played by Will Arnett. It’s one of the best Muppet projects of the century so far. Have fun! Rated PG. 49 minutes. Directed by Kirk Thatcher. Featuring: The Muppets, Will Arnett, Yvette Nicole Brown, Darren Criss, Taraji P. Henson, John Stamos, Ed Asner.

The Boxtrolls (2014) – stream for free on Tubi

At one point in The Boxtrolls, the second film from stop-motion animation studio Laika to appear on this list, 10-year-old Winnie (voiced by Elle Fanning) asks her new suitor Eggs (Isaac Hempstead Wright) about his friends , the Boxtrolls. According to legend, these sewer-dwelling trolls are quite fearsome. In reality, they wear cardboard boxes for clothing, steal scraps at night, and are actually quite friendly, even cheerful. But Winnie doesn’t know that yet and her hopes are high. “Did they eat your family and let you watch?” she asks eagerly. Eggs expresses her confusion and she hastily corrects herself: “I mean, let you watch.” She tries to put back her mask of ladylike propriety, but it’s clear where her obsessions lie. Winnie’s fascination with the macabre – she’s heard about rivers of blood and piles of bones from all the babies the box trolls supposedly eat – becomes both a funny running gag and deft characterization in this refreshing, underrated film. Read the rest of film critic Jesse Hassenger’s retrospective. Rated PG. 96 minutes. Directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi. Also with Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, Richard Ayoade, Steve Blum, Dee Bradley Baker, Max Mitchell, Tracy Morgan, Nika Futterman, Toni Collette and Simon Pegg.

“The Boxtrolls” is streaming for free on Tubi.

The Neverending Story (1984) – Rent on Prime Video and Apple TV

It’s a feeling all book lovers know well: You’re so engrossed in a story that you lose track of time, and before you know it, you’re hiding in the elementary school attic reading about a hero named Atreyu (Noah Hathaway ), who really wants to get his horse Artax through the swamp, you know? And then suddenly you’re somehow part of the story and have to help save Fantasia from the clutches of nothingness. We’ve all been there! The NeverEnding Story is clearly in the fantasy genre, but look at the world the characters encounter through the eyes of a child and you’ll see what makes a great (albeit family-friendly) horror film. Damn, we’re adults and it scares us a little just writing about it. Rated PG. 94 minutes. Director: Wolfgang Petersen. Also with Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Moses Gunn, Gerald McRaney and Alan Oppenheimer.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) – stream on Max, rent on Apple TV

Like “The Neverending Story,” “The Wizard of Oz” is definitely not a horror film. But it belongs on any list of scary children’s films, just when you consider the number of adults today who remember how many scenes or images in this classic Technicolor masterpiece were deeply unsettling. For some it’s the flying monkeys. For others, it’s Miss Gulch kidnapping Toto, or Miss Gulch riding her bike through a tornado, or anything actually related to Miss Gulch. Some are freaked out by the wizard, some by the poppies, some by the sentient and extremely grumpy trees. Don’t be fooled by the beautiful colors, the happy ending, or the heartbreakingly beautiful song stylings of Judy Garland. “The Wizard of Oz” is the fuel for nightmares – and an immortal children’s classic. Not rated. 102 minutes: Directed by Victor Fleming. Featuring: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Frank Morgan.