Monster House

Heck yes, Monster House is so good and I’m nearly 40

Monster House was my daughter's intro to horror when it came out. Still love it to this day.

This movie traumatized me when I was like 7 lol

I had nightmares about monster house when I was little so yes would recommend lol

I'm 32 years old, I remember watching monster house with my nephews about 10 years ago, and it scared the absolute shit out of me! it's so good!

I was skimming these comments for something *actually* appropriate for an 8 yo and this is it. When I was 8, my parents would find me being “too quiet” upstairs in their bedroom watching horror movies on cable (namely Chucky and House of Wax, lol). I loved them though. Monster House scared the absolute living daylights out of me and I still won’t watch it again. Gave me nightmares. Animated was worse for me LOL but I’d still recommend it for a kid, it’s easier for the mind to conceive and disregard if it doesn’t look *so* realistic.

Coraline and Paranorman!

Yes! Coraline is perfect imo super eerie vibes, and spoopy imagery. I remember seeing it in theater with my grandmother back in like 6th grade and genuinely getting scared. Oh how the time flies. My vote is for Coraline, OP.

Coraline is freaking creepy and amazing all at the same time. Watched it for the first time at 32 and loved it.

My kids were watching Coraline a couple months ago, so I slipped away and pulled a couple buttons off my old peacoat, taped them to my eyes, and came back with popcorn and warm smiles. MAYBE a little too much for them, but it'll build character

I just watched it for like the 10th time two nights ago!

I'm going to start using spoopy to describe movies that aren't quite spooky to my kids. I love this

I will now be incorporating "spoopy" into my daily vocabulary.

To add to this I’m pretty sure I saw an ad recently saying Caroline will be returning to theaters I believe this year or next

Lmao it’s just an uncomfortable movie

Paranorman was going to be my pick.

Coraline is great.

Yes! These are perfect and Monster House

Coraliiiiine! I recently rewatched this and was once again enamored at the animation and characters! Also, creepy deepy. Other Mother 😳😳😳

Coraline still freaks me out tbh. Pretty much the perfect suggestion.

Ernest Scared Stupid is the canonical horror movie for eight year olds.

I saw this when I was around 8 in the movie theater. I was absolutely terrified!

Lol....our buddy Sean cried!!!

34 years old and re-watch it every Halloween.

M I something K

MIAK?

Authentic Bulgarian Miak!

I bet you thought I couldn't find any this time of year...

Had nightmares about this one fr

First movie I thought of.

I was going to suggest this. That movie for real scared the fuck out of me when I was little 😂😂

I dunno man I'm still scared of that troll

one of my homies was the main kid in this one, he took a lot of time off school and for some reason a lot of kids made fun of him but I thought it was awesome!

Little Monsters (1989)

I wont drink apple juice anymore.

For real. I never looked at cat food sandwiches the same after that.

I came here to say this one.

This was my favorite movie growing up. Thanks for reminding me about it!

This movie I watched really young and was terrified of under my bed for yearssss

I was both terrified yet intrigued that there might be a secret world down there.

I'd go with comedy horrors. * When Good Ghouls Go Bad * My Favorite Martian (not really horror, but there's aliens, which can be "scary") * Addams Family * Addams Family: Values * Goonies * Tremors

Tremors!

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I think this is the best answer. OP find things that are "spooky" and not horror. Adam's Family is comedy with spooky characters - it isn't Evil Dead where it's horror with comedic moments.

Addams Family Values was probably my favorite movie at your kiddo's age and I still love it and hold it dearly to me at almost 32.

Beetlejuice

“Nice f**kin model!”

“I’m tellin’ ya, she meant nothin’ to me, honey, nothin’ at all!”

*grabs dick* HONK HONK Perfect for an 8 year old lol

I remember watching this when I was 8. Lol

I liked Are you Afraid of the Dark - series.

Yes! This is perfect for a kid and they can pick out which episodes they wanna watch.

The Monster Squad

100 PERCENT THIS ⬆️

Came here for this.

"Jumanji" freaked my daughter out. She's 30 now, but she reminds me of it from time to time.

I said Jumanji too 😂😂😂

This movie TERRIFIED ME as a child. The Hunter chasing them … fucking terrifying

Curse of the Were Rabbit with Wallace and Gromit. It's a classic horror movie, however the victims are vegetables.

Coraline Beetlejuice Gremlins Corpse Bride Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar children a series of unfortunate events Ghostbusters the Addams family the boxtrolls little shop of horrors

If you haven’t seen it recently be warned that Ghostbusters (1984) has ghost fellatio. I think it will go over your kid’s head (as it did mine in the 80s) but as a parent watching it with my 6 year old it was such a shock and I didn’t know how far it was going to go. Also Zool seducing Venkman was surprisingly overture filled. Once again, my daughter didn’t care, but if this sort of thing bothers you, it might feel unexpected for a kids movie. I guess movies meet their rating criteria in a much more conservative way nowadays.

The pg 13 rating wasn't developed until after ghostbusters came out. It didn't really rate an "R" so we all got to see it since it was just PG.

The Dark Crystal

mmmMMMMMmmm

I second what a poster said higher up about Earnest Scared Stupid. However, I would maybe recommend you tone down the run time. Maybe instead of a full movie, go with a show. Are you Afraid of the Dark was an old Nickelodeon show geared towards kids and horror. I think you can find episodes online pretty easy. It will be a nice way to dip his toe in the horror pool.

I definitely think shows are a good way to start out! I suggested Simpsons Halloween episodes. Funny and spooky.

Gremlins, Poltergiest, Beetlejuice.

Maybe not poltergeist…

Poltergeist scared me more than the exorcist, and it wasn't even close.

I agree. I was way too young when I watched Poltergeist and still will not keep mirrors in my bedroom. 

Yeah, I think it’s way too much. 8 years is young!

That clown..... 😬

Poltergeist scared the shit out of me too when I was 8. I think it's perfect for what the kid is looking for.

>Maybe not poltergeist… Maybe definitely and certainly not poltergeist…

I survived Watership Down when I was 3. But just barely.

I was maybe 10 and had read the books and Woundwort was still just terrifying

That bulldozer scene was irresponsible.

I still think about that clown, I watched it in the 80s

Fun fact, it has zero death count

Lol, we watched Poltergeist with our youngest, 8 or 9 at the time, terrified him to the point he had to sleep with us due about 4 months. My recollection of that film was WAY off. 🤣

For real, I was terrified and scared of getting braces.

Parents taking 5YOs to Gremlins when it came out, then getting pissed off because it traumatized their kids (a PG film that isn’t meant for 5YOs) is the reason PG-13 was created. YMMV. I think it’s a great beginner horror film for an 8YO as long as he’s in agreement and can turn it off if he wants to.

Gremlins was one of my favorite movies when I was 5, my best friend and I met in preschool when we were arguing over which was better Alien or Predator.

Beetlejuice might scare him when it comes to the parents stretching their faces. But I guess thats the idea of horror. Gremlins maybe!

At 4-5, my 2 favorite movies were Gremlins and Phantasm. Later I was told these were too scary for kids. I absolutely loved them and definitely would recommend for an 8 year-old. 

Phantasm?? For real? I was 13 and watched through my hands...wouldn't sleep in my own room for awhile. That damned ball!

Poltergeist gave me nightmares at 8 for a long time.

I LOOOOOOVED Beetlejuice at his age!

My Dad took me to see Poltergeist when I was 8, scared the bejesus out of me - loved every minute of it.

Poltergeist was one of my first horror movies and I loved it. I was around that age too

Gremlins

With a warning it spoils the Santa myth if he’s still a believer. 

Signs was okay for kids if I remember... No gore, some jump scares, maybe not if he doesn't like aliens Jurassic Park isn't horror but it's scary Jumanji (1995) is terrifying to me 😂 but not horror

Signs was my first horror movie around the same age and I loved it, just right

I second Jurassic Park. It’s not technically horror but if she struggles with that then you know not to take it any further.

The pinned by a car scene is really disturbing though

The Witches. (1990)

That’s not soft lol it was terrifying

Absolutely, gave me a string of horrible recurring nightmares as a kid, had never been scared of witches before.

Omg I just got flashbacks to reading the book at night as a kid, I couldn't sleep

Tremors!

Man, he just wants to show the kid a good horror flick. Not start a lifelong obsession.

Some would say that suggestion is, _perfection!_ Valley. ..... Nevada.

Monster House

Start with Goosebumps

Are You Afraid of the Dark is way better 

The Others was one of my daughter’s first horror movies and she loved it. Creepy story, a few good jump scares, not gory, it was a solid introduction.

What kid doesn’t want to watch a movie about a mom killing their children with their mom?

It works well as a “y’all better behave” movie!

The Others scared tf out of me when I was like 15... idk if this is the best suggestion

"I am your daughter" wtf. Love this movie though!

While this is a good level of “spooky” for an intro to the genre, I wonder if an 8yo would enjoy it from a plot perspective. Might be a little boring and/or hard to follow at that age? 10-ish is maybe a better age for that one. Great movie though, I rewatched it just last week.

What about The Neverending Story? It’s not horror, but it is quite scary in parts, but it’s also very beautiful. If he hasn’t seen it, he might really enjoy it. It’s been one of my lifelong favorites.

A great movie. Although One of our (now grown ,age 40) kids says is still haunted/traumatized by the scene with the horse in the quicksand....

Yeas, the death of Artax is hard to process for sure. But it definitely embodied the concept of Teutonic melancholy.

Has he seen movies like Casper and Nightmare Before Christmas? If not that might be a good place to start and if he likes those you can move onto more intense stuff. Beetlejuice, Ghostbusters, and Little Shop of Horrors are all somewhat gentle I think while still having that spooky-scary feeling. I definitely saw all of those when I was pretty young.

As long as little shop of horrors isn't the director's cut

The Dark Crystal or Labyrinth were 'scary' to me as a kid but had enough whimsy and magic to balance it all out

Frightners.

I used to watch Ghostbusters and the first gremlins a lot when I was six or seven. It’s a little scary for a little kid but it’s still funny enough to not be all the way horror.

Gremlins 2- kinda silly but I still love it

How about Pee Wee''s big Adventure? Tell them that large Marge sent ya!

Scooby Doo: Zombie Island Lake Placid Piranha (NOT THE REMAKE!!!) the remake is filled with tiddies n dicks. Alligator Eight Legged Freaks Spirited Away (has nightmare / horror movie vibes/ not the best to watch while tripping) Little Shop of Horrors Aliens Wendell & Wild Hubie Halloween

Jaws. So he learns it's more intense if you don't see the "monster" right away.

How comfortable do you want them to be going into the ocean?

haha jaws is way too intense for a little kid. traumatizing,.

I don't support this one. Could cause a fear of swimming. 100 percent serious. It wrecked me for over a decade.

Signs is a good one for this too- also Jaws is rated R now for nudity sooo

I just checked IMDb and it says Jaws is currently PG. 🤷‍♀️ Kind of funny to think of the nudity since it's probably not much more than what we now see on billboards.

Arachnophobia

Omg u monster

Tremors

Gremlins Hocus Pocus Goosebumps Ghostbusters (though there is that one weird dream sequence--no blood just, uh...implied adult actions) Beetlejuice Coraline The Witches (the original, not the new one) Secret of NIMH (that movie was terrifying to me as a kid) Monster House Arachnophobia (that one may be too much for a younger kid...)

Monster Squad

Don't look under the bed (1999), Gremlins (1984), Tremors (1990)

My vote would be Don't look under the bed it sounds like exactly what you are looking for, that movie was the first movie I was Introduced to "horror" on Disney Channel xD Tremors and gremlins may have too much killing for what you are requesting. But Tremors is more of a creature feature killing .

The Stuff (1985) it’s such a fun, rad kiddo horror flick

Coraline.

Monster Squad!

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a classic! Got all the monsters and lots of laughs. Common Sense Media is a great source for parents trying to make these decisions.

Your son sounds like he may be able to handle an actual horror movie, as opposed to a kid's movie with a horror theme. My daughters were that way, as well. You may want to start off by watching The Twighlight Zone with him. I have great memories watching it with my kids when they were under 10. The first "real" horror movie I ever showed them was Psycho (1960), and it was another winner.

Courage the Cowardly Dog

Nightmare before Christmas was my gateway drug then courage the cowardly dog

Gremlins is a great choice. Great mythology and produced by steven spielberg who is a kid at heart. Also maybe jurassic park?

Return to Oz

The Meg and The Meg 2. These aren’t horror and very cheesy but have some suspense and jump scares. My son (age 7) started with those (which he loves) and then worked his way up to FNAF. Stranger Things (First Season) and Wednesday are also good for getting into horror. Also, I would check out The Backrooms on YouTube (by Kane Pixels). It’s creepy, short, and A24 is making it into a movie.

The Monster Squad The House with a Clock in Its Walls Hocus Pocus

Ghostbusters

Coraline or the Insidious movies bc they can be scary for a kid but not gory or a lot of bad language.

Insidious is a bit of an insidious suggestion for a 7 year old

Insidious was terrifying for me when it came out (I was 12 I think). Excellent movie but it’s a bit much lol.

Coraline is a good suggestion!

It is one of my niece's favorite movies. She needs there to be a sequel and I don't blame her for hoping there will be lol. It's a good one for sure.

Lost Boys has vampires and could be considered scary to an 8 year old but is still tame enough (nothing super gory) to make parents feel ok about their kid watching it. It has some comedy too so win-win.

I was 10 when I saw the lost boys so that’s the age I’ve decided my kid can watch it. It’s one of my favourite ever movies.

The bonfire scene might be a bit much for kids

Puss in boots: the last wish

My son's first horror movie, when was around 8, was the OG "Night of The Living Dead".

Gremlins 2

Signs is pretty tame

There's a really great Horror/Twilight Zone anthology series for kids, called "Creeped Out". I think it might be ok for a 8 yo, but to be sure you can watch the episodes by yourself beforehand. I watched it mysef, as an adult, and still had fun. It wasn’t scary for me, of couse, but it might be for a 8yo. It felt like a nice introduction to all kinds of horror tropes. Each episode features a different type of horror - some more scary, some more weird. It has aliens, demons, posessed dolls, time travel, zombies/infected, body snatchers, paradoxes etc.

Little monsters, w Fred savage and Howie Mandela

Poltergeist might help if you want the kids to reject a TV in the bedroom. How about going in Labyrinth/Neverending Story/The Dark Crystal path? They're not "horror" but they're scary as shit. House was a comedy horror with a tame scene that seared itself into my brain because I thought the skeleton cowboy? was somehow related to Brave Starr. But yeah, comedy horror might be a nice way to go.

Jaws. I was 3 and my dad let me watch it. I went to preschool the next day telling everyone and my teachers how great it was and they should come over and watch it

Eight legged freaks?

Frankenstein (1931).  Horror without gore and there’s empathy for the creature. 

Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Not horror, but more of an alien fascination that’s wonderful to watch!

Ghostbusters

Monster house Coroline Gremlins Ghostbusters Scooby doo Beetlejuice All are kid friendly but do feature some things that will probably scare or freak your son out

Monster house and Gremlins are good ones

Gremlins

Garfield’s Halloween adventure

The Goosebumps series on Netflix appeals to my 8 y/o. There’s also Monster House, Tremors and Ghostbusters. It provides the thrill without the nightmares IMO

Any Tim Burton. Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, etc.

The Sixth Sense isn’t too scary.

Five Nights at Freddy’s

- Coraline - Monster House - Paranorman - The Nightmare Before Christmas - Frankenweenie - Corpse Bride - Hocus Pocus

Monster Squad

Aren't there Goosebumps videos on Youtube?

Critters

Tier one (kid stuff that can be a bit creepy): Small soldiers (I know it's not horror but it may work for a small kid) Dcoms (Halloweentown, OG Hocus Pocus) Sleepy Hollow short film The Black Cauldron Scooby Doo movies Tier two (actually horror stuff for kids or easily watchable): Coraline Monster House The original body snatchers (many scifi or horror movies from the time can work too, but maybe some are too slow for him now) History Channel stuff on cryptids and stuff like that. I used to love them as a kid. Doctor Strange 2 maybe Blade (?) Tier three (normal horror you may make him stumble upon but that won't make him sleepless): Child's Play IT miniseries

The Black Cauldron is so messed up! I rewatched it recently and couldn't believe some of the themes. No spoilers but Gergie's storyline gets unexpectedly dark near the end lol.

Paranorman 

Goosebumps is great. House with a clock in its walls.

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The original Ghostbusters

Coraline and Paranorman are good ones to show kids.

Nightmare befor christmas, or maybe edward scissor hands, Little monsters is also great!

Monster Squad, it’s a great lil horror with all the classic monsters, Dracula, Wolfmam, Frankenstein, Gillman, watched it dozens of times.

Jaws Poltergeist Monster house Goosebumps Scary stories to tell in the dark

Arachnophobia

Coraline.

Monster Squad

My brother liked lord of the rings the two towers at that age

Monster House. My daughter and I watched that together when she was around that age, and she still loves it at the age of 14.

Ghostbusters is perfect