20 Great Family-Friendly Horror Movies

Loaded with atmosphere and nostalgia, The Lady in White is part Wonder Years, part ghost story and part murder mystery, as a nine-year-old boy (Lukas Haas) in 1962 investigates the murder of a young girl whose ghost he's seen in his school. However, the killer is still around and will do anything to avoid exposure. Dark and intense for smaller kids, but very well made, tapping into children's fantasies about solving crimes.

Rating: PG-13
Potential Negative Side Effect: Fear of killers (justifiably so).

A bit like The Goonies with a horror twist, this film throws classic horror icons Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the Mummy, the Wolfman and the Creature from the Black Lagoon into a modern (well, 1980s) setting, where a group of "tween" boys must figure out how to get rid of them all. Fun and smartly written by Ted Dekker (House, Night of the Creeps) and Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), it has become something of a cult favorite.

Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guide)
Potential Negative Side Effect: Fear of movie monsters.

This haunted house tale has a mind-bending plot -- about a World War II-era British family dealing with spooky events in their mansion -- that might get a bit confusing for children, but older kids will find its ending twist "super keen" (that's what kids say today, right?). The scares are genuine but not overly extreme or explicit, taking full advantage of the classic, creepy haunted mansion setting.

Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guide)
Potential Negative Side Effect: Fear of ghosts.

The opposite of The Others, Poltergeist features a modern setting and a normal, everyday family who confront an in-your-face malevolent presence. The scares are potentially nightmare-inducing, feeding off of childhood fears of monsters under the bed and in the closet, but co-writer and producer Steven Spielberg ensures a level of playfulness, family friendliness and overall quality unusual for a genre film.

Rating: PG (Parental Guide)
Potential Negative Side Effect: More fear of ghosts. And clowns. And trees. And Indian burial grounds.

This mega-hit about a nine-year-old boy (Haley Joel Osment) who can see ghosts sustains intense suspense throughout, capped off by an ingenious -- and oft-copied -- twist ending. It's a bit much for smaller kids, but older ones should be able to relate to the child-in-peril plot.

Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guide)
Potential Negative Side Effect: Fear of (whispering) dead people.

This adaptation of the Ray Bradbury book of the same name captures the lyrical beauty of the story of a devilish carnival owner who grants wishes at a price -- largely because Bradbury himself wrote the screenplay. Kids should find the two 13-year-old main characters appealing and their adventures intriguing but not too scary -- it's a Disney movie, after all. Older kids will appreciate that the dark, mystical tale doesn't speak down to children, delving into psychological thrills and the depth of familial love. Fans of the Cirque du Freak books in particular might find its supernatural carnival theme entertaining.

Rating: PG
Potential Negative Side Effect: Fear of carnivals.

This breezy, fun monster movie hearkens back to the creature features of the '50s, as a small desert town finds itself under siege from man-eating worm-like creatures that burrow beneath the ground, creating an ongoing "be careful where you walk" tension. From the writers of family fare like Short Circuit and Ghost Dad, the story is more exciting than scary and rarely gets explicit, its gore reserved for exploding worms -- which should delight gross young boys.

Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guide)
Potential Negative Side Effect: Fear of giant underground worms eating Kevin Bacon.

Directors John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), Joe Dante, George Miller (The Witches of Eastwick, the Mad Max movies) and Steven Spielberg adapt the classic TV show for the big screen with four short stories -- two of them horror-themed -- that actually teach lessons about tolerance and selflessness. Kids with short attention spans won't have to stick with the stories for very long and should find the quick-moving supernatural tales involving. None of the scares are especially intense, and one of the two horror tales is told in a joking, cartoonish fashion.

Rating: PG (Parental Guide)
Potential Negative Side Effect: Fear of airplane gremlins.

The tale of two young sisters who experience otherworldly encounters after their family moves into a secluded country home, The Watcher in the Woods represented Disney's attempt to go towards more mature material in the early '80s (see also Something Wicked This Way Comes). However, despite initial desires to create an Exorcist-type phenomenon, studio execs diluted the film's content to remove overly dark content -- including a completely overhauled ending. Still, though the finale is a bit nonsensical, the journey is atmospheric and presents a not-too-scary mystery that should intrigue children -- particularly girls who identify with the young heroines.

Rating: PG (Parental Guide)
Potential Negative Side Effect: Fear of Disney.

Like Disturbia, this engrossing ghost story mines Hitchcockian roots to tell the tale of a housewife who suspects that her neighbor's ghost is haunting her house. The movie has genuine scares and a story involving sex and murder, but family-friendly director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) never allows it to become explicit or gratuitous. Older kids should find the plot's twists and turns thrilling to follow.

Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guide)
Potential Negative Side Effect: Fear of red herrings.