Derek Faraci at Blumhouse.com has written an article titled “We Need More Kid Horror“He claims that today’s generation of kids will be the first to grow up “without nightmares caused by authors, artists, and filmmakers”. The world, he says, has decided it’s not okay to scare kids anymore. Kids would rather watch Minecraft videos on YouTube than horror movies these days.
While it’s very possible that some kids would rather watch Minecraft videos on YouTube, that doesn’t mean they aren’t exposed to horror in its various guises. I have a 10 year old son who is obsessed with Minecraft, and that’s where he learned about slasher movies and horror video games. It’s where he learned about Slenderman. (thanks a bunch, Mojang, for enshrining a fictional character that inspired two girls to stab a friend multiple times into a children’s video game). If you want to learn about any kind of monster or cryptid, he’s your go-to guy. There’s no lack of resources to feed his nightmares. Visit the library and you’ll see.
According to Faraci, “horror is more than fun. It’s more than entertainment.” Parents should be using it to teach their kids lessons.
Gee, way to drain all the enjoyment out of the genre. You may have noticed that horror, as a genre, doesn’t get a lot of respect. A lot of kids who do read it are doing it under the radar, and they like it that way. In some of the research, they’re called “underground readers”. They don’t want horror to teach them a lesson. They get lessons at school. They want to read (or watch) something they actually enjoy. If, as a parent, you have a genuine love of the genre that you want to share, great. That’s what will engage kids. If, as a parent, you have grave reservations about sharing your love of the genre, you should probably know that eventually your kids will get into your stuff and decide whether they want to read or watch horror anyway.
I do agree with Faraci that horror gives us a way to experience fear in a controlled way– you can always close the book or turn off the television if things get too intense– but how many of us are thinking about that when we read? If it’s not fun, if it’s not entertaining, if there’s no suspense, why waste your time?
Do we need more kid horror? There’s definitely a place for it! A children’s horror novel, Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, even won the Newbery Award a few years back. Is there a gap where kid horror used to be? I don’t think so. But there’s certainly room for more!
Looking for titles? Here are our reviews of scary (and not so scary) books for kids