Makinghorrorstories for kids is a tricky balancing act, but many modern TV series have become more and more adept at it. Many of thescariest TV shows for kidsare the products of the late 80s and early 90s, in which spooky content for younger audiences was slightly more commonplace. After a brief lull, more modern series of the late 2010s and early 2020s have dared to venture back into the children’s horror space, providing thrills and chills to younger viewers.
Scary kids' shows typically come in one of two flavors. Some are simply standard animated series that aren’t afraid to get a little more adult or mature with their themes, frequently delving into horror or mystery territory in between more lighthearted comedy. The more common variety of kids' horror shows is thehorror anthology series, already a proven format for adults thanks to series likeBlack MirrorandThe Twilight Zone.
A time-honored name ever since thescariestGoosebumpsbookswere released in the 90s, R.L. Stine’s famous series of children’s horror stories has seen many film and TV adaptations.The latest series to bear theGoosebumpsmoniker is Disney+’s streaming show of the same name, rebooting the original 90s series with a modern makeover.
The Banana Splits Movie Proves Classic Kids Shows Are Terrifying
The Banana Splits Movie takes a classic kids show and turns it into a horror movie, which it’s easy to do, since the source material is so weird.
Unlike the originalGoosebumpsshow, each season tells a continuous story rather than each episode or two being its own self-contained horror short. Not long after its release,2023’sGoosebumpsbecame insanely popular on streaming,clearly indicating a desire for scarier narratives still appropriate for children.
While the content of the show never broaches too far into flat-out horror territory, each season weaves an unsettling mystery for its likable teen protagonists to sift through.Acting as a sort ofStranger Things-lite,Goosebumpsis a solid supernatural thriller with a surprising amount of gore that toes the line of children’s programming.
In just a single short season,Over the Garden Wallbecame not only one of the most venerated horror stories for kids ever made, but one of Cartoon Network’s all-time greatest masterpieces. Starring siblings Wirt and Greg, the oddly-dressed stepbrothers attempt to find their way home after being lost in some mysterious woods. To make matters worse, they are soon trailed by a mysterious beast, whose sinister ambitions may be more subtle than they realize.
Over the Garden Wallhas become mandatory Fall viewing every year for many animation fans, presenting a perfect blend of endearing comedy and a timeless cozy atmosphere.But make no mistake, the series can get quite macabre when it needs to be, with the brief reveal of the Beast’s true form being a truly shocking moment. The psychological horror inflicted by the supernatural influences present in the show also keeps even returning viewers on their toes.
Breaking the mold of what a horror series for kids can be,The Secret of Sulphur Springsis a drama andteen mystery serieswith more than a few unsettling elements.Set in the fictitious town of Sulphur Springs, Louisiana, the show follows a pair of friends who find a portal to the past in an old, decrepit house.
From there, the kid protagonists travel back in time to uncover a potent mystery suffusing their present-day lives.
The Secret of Sulphur Springsis able to expertly explore some delicate topics in a kid-friendly way, touching on themes of death and trauma.The show is also able to present one of the best time-travel rule sets in TV history, being remarkably consistent with an elaborate plot spanning two different decades that would easily be fumbled by a lesser show. Sadly,The Secret of Sulphur Springswas canceled after three seasons, but deserves more credit for being one of the best serialized kids' shows not afraid to get scary.
Another potent mystery series,Gravity Fallsquickly became a new classic hit cartoon for Disney, being well-remembered even over ten years later.Taking place in the titular sleepy Oregon town,Gravity Fallstakes place over the course of one summer as siblings Dipper and Mable Pines spend the season with their great uncle, the shifty con man Grunkle Stan. While Grunkle Stan’s “Mystery Shack” is fake in every way, the brother sister duo soon discover that Gravity Falls is home to a lot of very real supernatural phenomena.
The wayGravity Fallsslowly shifts from episodic, lighthearted adventures to a masterfully-crafted overarching narrative full of well-planned mysteries needs to be studied.While comedy is the show’s bread and butter, certain episodes could get quite horrific, with imagery that toes the line of appropriate for any kids' cartoon, let alone one airing on the Disney Channel. Maintaining a fiercely loyal fanbase to this day,Gravity Fallsis a great choice to reach towards for burgeoning horror fans.
One of the earliest horror anthology series aimed at kids was the originalAre You Afraid of the Dark?.The series has kept up with audiences over the ages, rebooting once in 1999 and once more in 2019, making for one of the best modern children’s shows to delve into terrifying themes and subject matter. The episodic series uses a framing device of a group of kids called “The Midnight Society” coming around a campfire to swap scary stories, thusly presenting them to the viewer, as well.
The 2019 revival weaves a serialized narrative across the lives of the Midnight Society themselves, often linking their stories to the events of the season unfolding outside of them. LikeAmerican Horror Story,the seasons ofAre You Afraid of the Dark?each follow a distinct theme and bear their own cadre of kids forming the Midnight Society, usually naming them after famous horror writers and directors.ThescariestAre You Afraid of the Dark?episodesprove the show’s worth as a frighteningly great series, even if it is primarily aimed at younger viewers.
A British-Canadian joint venture,Creeped Outis a relative newcomer to the horror anthology series scene that has quickly made a name for itself as a wonderful source of child-appropriate scares. Like the infamous Crypt Keeper ofTales from the Crypt,Creeped Outhas its own ghoulish figure that ties every story it presents together, the mysterious masked figure known as “The Curious.“Each episode features The Curious appearing at the beginning and end of its spooky story, which typically incorporates some kind of moral or lesson.
Creeped Outremains remarkably consistent in crafting modern horror stories Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids can relate better to than the 90s relics of old.
Even ifCreeped Outnever gets overtly gory or jumpscare heavy, it manages to instill a deep sense of dread in many of its greatest hits. Like any anthology series, some episodes are better than others, butCreeped Outremains remarkably consistent in crafting modern horror stories Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids can relate better to than the 90s relics of old. Compared to the likes ofGoosebumps, Creed Outisn’t afraid to get remarkably bleak, with many episodes ending on dour, bleak finales.
Still considered to be one of thebestScooby-Doo!seriesever made,Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporatedis perhaps the only one among them that manages to be genuinely frightening at times.Taking place in the earliest days of the gang’s mystery-solving years,Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporatedbrings Shaggy, Scooby, Daphne, Velma, and Fred back together again in their hometown of Crystal Cove. Thriving on tourism from strange monster sightings, the gang joins together to determine just how many of the supposed cryptids and ghouls inhabiting the area are real.
Unlike mostScooby-Doo!media,Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporatedactually does incorporate supernatural elements at times, whether its fantastic technology or genuinely paranormal entities.It’s also one of the few shows featuring Scooby-Doo to be serialized, presenting an over-arching mystery that slowly simmers in the background before coming to a boiling point.With a much darker tone and several genuinely life-threatening villains,Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporatedhas a deserved reputation as the onlyScooby-Doo!series that could actually be considered scary.
A rare straightforward drama aimed at kids and pre-teens similar toThe Secret of Sulphur Springs,House of Anubiswas a mystery series on Nickelodeon following the adventures of a young girl who moves from the U.S. to the U.K. to attend the Anubis House boarding school.It isn’t long before Nina is accused of having a part in the disappearance of another girl, who vanished around the time of her own appearance. This leads Nina to quickly becoming embroiled in a maddening search for answers.
House of Anubiswas a refreshingly intense and heavily serialized thriller styled as a telenovela for kids.The truth behind the inciting disappearance of Joy Mercer is quickly found out to be stranger and more supernatural than anyone could have ever anticipated, leading to many memorable, thrilling sequences. An emotional roller coaster with plenty of genuinely shocking moments,House of Anubisdeserves more praise as a gripping horror-adjacent show aimed at kids.
Are You Afraid of the Dark?wasn’t the only legacy horror series for kids to be rebooted for modern audiences in 2019.EnterGhostwriter,a revival of the original series from 1992 that was brought back on Apple TV+. Just like the first show, the series centers around a group of kids chosen by the titular Ghostwriter, a mysterious supernatural being who can only communicate through cryptic messages, to solve various mysteries.
To make matters even weirder, the new series expands upon the Ghostwriter’s abilities, giving it the power to manifest real-life versions of fictional characters to harass (and teach a lesson) to its chosen coterie of kids.While the first two seasons follow the same cast, the third and final season presents a new Ghostwriter team.The newGhostwritermay focus less on horror and more on literacy compared to its predecessor, but still presents plenty of spooky and creepy moments as the mysterious specter attempts to communicate from beyond the grave.
Goosebumpswasn’t the only seriesbased on the works of R.L. Stineto make a name for itself in the TV arena.The Haunting Hour: The Seriesis a thrilling adaptation of Stine’s anthology books,The Haunting Hour: Chills in the Dead of NightandNightmare Hour.Telling a new horror story every episode,The Haunting Hour: The Seriespresented four seasons worth of ghoulish encounters with supernatural forces, just likeGoosebumps.
What setsThe Haunting Hour: The Seriesapart fromGoosebumpsis its decidedly darker tone and more terrifying scares, becoming much more serious than its more famous sister series ever did. While still child appropriate,The Haunting Hour: The Seriesdoesn’t pull its punches in the same wayGoosebumpsoften did, and doesn’t bother with multiple-episode overarching stories. This makes it one of the most earnestly scaryhorrorshows ever aimed at children, with ghosts, aliens, and witches galore.
