Horror is not often associated with children's media. The leading genre behind the comics code authority, horror, has been the subject of censorship in fear of "corrupting the youth." This is a story recreated throughout the media, inspiring films like "Scream."
Horror serves more of a purpose than entertaining brave viewers, it often serves deeper psychological purposes. Horror is described as a cathartic experience that allows for controlled stress and release.
This gratification process releases dopamine and prepares our responses for similar situations. In this way, it can be a healthy exercise in fright. Though bound to moralistic intentions, folktales play with the idea that being scared is fun.
Tastes change with time, as shown in the "The Simpsons" retelling of "The Raven," which Bart chides for not being scary. In this way, horror is a relative experience; it's equal parts what the viewer brings and what they take away.
Lists often tow a fine line between "adult" oriented features and "family" horror features. Though the real key is fleshed-out characters and nowhere is this more apparent than in horror-centric coming-of-age stories.
Often, horror films centered around kids have the dual role of having a character grow as well as confront a threat, like in the film "Night of the Hunter." The story follows two children as they attempt to escape the clutches of an evil preacher who married their mother for her money.
By the end, the children have changed. In the face of the horrors of life, they have grown into adults. This is the core theme of the bildungsroman: narratives focused on the personal trials of children. These trials are reinterpreted through the lens of fear in films like "Coraline" and "The Black Phone," reflecting a subset of horror featuring the young protagonist.
This has been recreated on television with shows like "Goosebumps," an anthology series adaptation of the R.L. Stein book series of the same name. Each episode finds new ways to place children at the forefront of the action from monster librarians to evil sponges, while each episode tackles a new moral like telling the truth.
Animation has given us "Over the Garden Wall," which blends folklore and frights into something wonderful, embodying a certain ambiance from "Frog and Toad" with gothic imagery. At the same time, it explores Wirt's experience of finding his identity.
"Stranger Things" places elements of gothicism in the '80s as it explores the trope further with the absent parents given their own plots to explore. In the first season, the plots are divided up according to age group—adults investigating a child's disappearance, teens fighting a monster and children helping a mysterious girl.
The experiences of the kids help their own personal growth. In a call back to "Night of the Hunter," it's up to the children to make rational decisions in the face of a threat, and through this trial, they grow.
The latest in kid-oriented horror films comes with "Wendell & Wild," a clay-animation feature by the creator of "Coraline" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" featuring the comedy duo Key and Peele. The film promises to bring some scary imagery and a unique narrative to children's films, as trauma and horror are placed in conversation.
Horror centered around young protagonists contains a unique collection of films that not only scare us but show the growth of characters. These horror features become a new lens to look at life, as we are scared and eventually grow with the protagonists.
Benjamin Ervin is a senior studying English literature and writing at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to talk more about it? Let Benjamin know by emailing him be425014@ohio.edu.
