[Gym Whourlfeld]

Here is my input about whether or nor allowing kids to see nasty, gory movies at home is something that should be allowed to do or not?
The phone calls over the years have run like this:"Oh,MY child won't be afraid in your haunted house, they constantly watch those kinds of movies."
Then they arrive, I open the door,and guess which kid screams and refuses to come in the door?
That Kid who watches all those gory,nasty violent movies!
There might be quite a leap from the safety of the glass tube versus the reality of ab actual big,scary, strange door opening and an odd man comes out from the old spooky looking haunted house.
Maybe those aforementioned movies just open up nasty possible scenarios for the much too young mind?
The next question might be then, is this a good or a bad thing,or terribly bad thing, or possibly damaging experience?

 

[CrypticCuriosity]

I think you answered the question when you said it "opens up their minds" to scarier possibilities, and how they handle that. I believe it's usually a case by case issue for older children, but for the most part no, I don't see any reason to expose young children to horrible violence/gore/scares/etc, because you may think they can handle it, but you don't know that for sure, even as a parent. They do not have the coping and reasoning mechanisms in place to process what they are seeing. And I know some people will surely come in here claiming they watched all matter of horrible content as children, but they should realize they are most likely the exception.

For older children, it's knowing their temperament and what they can handle, and never, ever pushing them (as some parents tend to do). My older sister took me to a haunted attraction when I was around 10 or 11 that I thought I could handle it. Halfway through, I was apprehensive to continue, which my sister noted and had us leave the attraction then and there. It was a good exercise in me getting to know my own limits, and I'm thankful I wasn't made to finish the haunt. I take the same approach with children in my family. If they tell me they can handle it, I'll let them try, but I'm watchful of their reactions. Younger children, it is your job as an adult to make the decision for them until they've had time to figure themselves out a little better.

 

[Gym Whourlfeld]

There is a true story concerning this house which involves an entire family being murdered. The Father shot them all,the wife,the two kids,then himself.
This did not happen in my house but 4 blocks straight down Carroll St. from here.
The odd reason i began mentioning the old murder from 1940 began when a psychic said a 14 yr.old ghost-girl with red hair ran passed him in my front room.
The Family that owned and lived in my house had two daughters who had red hair. The murdered Wife in the garage 4 blocks south of here was the one daughter.
The other reason I began mentioning anything concerning the event was because one October people's GPS'es were taking people" left" instead of" right" to my house"left" took them to the murder scene.
"Turn Left three blocks",my house is turn Right and go one block.
I certainly don't tell this story to any child because some kids pick up and then" run" with some scary story,unbeknownst to the parents often times.
I would be very ill if I made a child wonder if/when? His Father was going to shoot and kill them.
Haven't many of us held some irrational dear from our own childhood?

 

[UnOrthodOx]

I can only go on my own experiences.


I was exposed to a really for real murder-suicide scene as a young child (5-6ish). My best friend's parents. I had to walk through it to get to the phone to call the cops. So, yeah, my brain's probably permanently derranged.

I started watching horror quickly thereafter, and every single one would terrify me to no end. I'd be up for days.
Started building my own haunt at 8, learning theatrical makeup from age 9 (and through about age 20, the gorier the better).
Haunted houses came later, 10 and up. I'd have nightmares of them afterwards.

I've told my kids many times, it's not because I'm NOT afraid that I do this...it's because I'm afraid of EVERYTHING.

My fears never stopped my desires to both visit and build things. If anything, they were the driving factor.

 

[themyst]

I believe it all just depends on the kid and not just the movies they've watched. My son didn't like haunted houses even before he started watching any gory TV or video games, and my nephews are pre-teen now and they've never been exposed to any gory television or video games and they're deathly afraid of haunted houses and anything that goes bump in the night.

But I think it all boils down to the fact that "haunted" or "fun" houses are a trip through the unknown, and the less experience you have with life (being only ten or eleven years old or so) that haunted house may be their first experience dealing with the unknown and most at that age haven't learned yet how to handle it. I guess experiences like this is how they learn though! Some kids will be happy-go-lucky and won't even think about possible perils, others will be super-pragmatic and that can go either way, yet those with no sense of confidence will be unreasonably afraid of everything.

 

[HalloweenKitten]

It's all totally dependent on the child and their disposition and ability to separate reality and fantasy. Myself as a kid watched tons of scary movies because my Dad loved them and so did I. However, my parents were adamant in telling me how it wasn't real and would take the time to tell me or show me how Hollywood effects worked. I was the one kid who loved haunted houses and never could figure out why anyone would be scared of them because I always understood it was props and actors. My hubby on the other hand never really watched anything scary and to this day hates watching them with me or going through a haunted house. And he was an all star football player all through school and is now a firefighter in the Air Force. So I really feel it depends on the child's personality and the parents ability to make sure the child can separate that fantasy and feel safe.