Why Kids Should Read Horror
Vložit
- čas přidán 10. 01. 2024
- Use code “talefoundry” at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: incogni.com/talefoundry
-
Kids are sensitive, aren't they? So why do they seem to seek out horror, of all things? Do they just like being scared, or is there something deeper going on here?
▬▬▬▬ Tale Foundry Community▬▬▬▬
Support us on Patreon! / talefoundry
Come join our community! thetalefoundry.com/discord
▬▬▬▬ Tale Foundry Team ▬▬▬▬
• Talebot - The Talent
• The Taleoids - The Talent's Helpers
• Benjamin Cook - Writer, Director, & Voice Actor
• Abbie Norton - Art Director & Asset Artist ( www.behance.net/AbbieNorton)
• Alexander Cuenin - Animator & Editor (www.alextheanimator.com/)
• Bazz Bartlett - Audio Engineer (www.bartlettaudio.com.au/)
• Kathryn Healy - Researcher & Writer
• Rachel Doud - Packaging & Asset Artist ( / jae.sketch )
Additional Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com
Use code “talefoundry” at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan: incogni.com/talefoundry
See with kids horror like Coraline we appreciate because, like you said, it taps into the imagination of the kid and also can push the boundaries for what can be considered “for kids”
But the way horror franchises like Five Nights at Freddy’s has become so sanitised with its horror doesn’t have that same charm. I’m not asking it to be a gore fest, I’m just saying don’t hold back when it’s a story that is meant to be disturbing.
The human equivalent of getting disassembled would be having your organs harvested
I got so excited when you said Scary stories to tell in the dark. I bought all 3 books at scholastic when I was a kid, still have them in sort of mint condition on my shelf.
@insectostrich4407 many film series quickly become formulaic, they have nothing new to offer.
The pied piper has been going for a long time, but what if all the children in a town vanished except one? I am absolutely sure the relatives would go nuts.
@@seriousmaran9414 Sorry, what? I’m not sure what you’re trying to say. Could you elaborate?
I think young people enjoy horror due to it being "more mature". Knowingly or not, every child wants to become an adult, and horror is certainly a way to feel more like one. Even if said horror is specifically designed for children.
I agree, seeing a pretty creepy artwork for an otherwise mediocre movie and having a parental figure saying “you can’t watch that” or “that’s too much for you,” just made you THAT much more curious to check it out. We want what we can’t have.
@@MrMetalforever5 I choose to believe that morbid curiosity is necessary for emotional and mental growth. You have to be willing to be scared so that you can choose to be brave.
I remember when I was an edgy teenager drawing creepypasta characters.
You are right
As a 14yo myself I think it’s more because our life is too easy and there’s no real threat you can be scared of so a horror story like slenderman for example is great for making you feel like there’s a bigger evil closer power to your soul
As a child, EVERYTHING was magical. Everything was superstitious. And having an extreme fear of the dark as a kid, horror intrigued me. Scooby Doo, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Goosebumps, even Disneys sing along of the Haunted Mansion on that VHS tape. And this video just gave me another layer of realization to understand my spooky childhood. Thank you Talefoundry.
I remember reading about someone who needed glasses as a kid, so she thought streetlights were just floating lights in the air and she didn't question it one bit lol
I think the reason Lovecraftian horror is so appealing to some people is that it lets them try to recapture that magic world view. We like to think we know everything and that the supernatural has been relegated to fairy-tales. Lovecraftian horror takes away that safety net and reminds us that in the grand scheme of things, we know nothing.
Oh man, you just unlocked a core memory I forgot I had! I was in love with horror as a kid, especially all the things you mentioned, even vhs hits differently, if you know you know.
I remember thinking that Life After People was a documentary and that during some period in history,all humans just disappeared and then came back,and that all world landmarks were reproductions
As an adult or even teen everything is existential instead
A little girl, when I did internship at a school summer 2020, was sort of avoided by the teachers, because she loved Five Nights at Freddy, SCP monsters and other "weird" stuff like that, which basically all other kids didn't like, nor the teachers, mostly because they didn't know what the things was. Or thought her drawings of those beings was just terrifying.
When I saw the drawings, I mentioned their names of the things she was drawing from different franchises, and she was happy, and showed me them. I loved seeing a child being interested in things outside the norm, even drew some of them with her, and she was always so happy. Having an adult that saw with her, either joining in on the drawing in general, or just simply not judging her drawings.
I feel many adults and teachers avoid what kids find interesting, and do nowadays, especially when games are involved. Teachers was shocked how much I could reference from the gaming sphere, seeing how the kids at the school gravitated towards me for simply knowing what the subject of their discussions was about. More adults need to expand their knowledge of what kids like, teachers and parents especially, because if you deal with kids, should know what they're into
children i work with are always excited when i show hem my snorlax mug or bulbusaur’s socks! Loving anime also helped me with older kids who are into naruto, bleach or dragon ball!
We need a lot more people like you, most of my teachers were like 50/60 yo and had no clue about anything
How do I repost this comment on other platforms? This is so crucially important, but I find that the "education industry," taken as a whole, doesn't care.
@@Vinemaple
The education system of course doesn't care.
Seen it up close and it doesn't help you think outside of the box to solve problems. It reinforce that way of thinking as much as it can, and punish you for going outside it.
Many people who become teachers have in their mind that their only task as a teacher is to teach a subject a certain way.
And rarely, if ever, to adapt their ways of teaching a subject, because the educational system doesn't give them hints or ideas.
But worst of all, they don't become teachers to help kids have a better experience at school, and guide them to the best of their abilities on how to find their own way in life.
Of course there are limits to it, but helping kids and seeing each individual is crucial to being a teacher, not just blindly follow the educational training/guidelines
having at least one thing in common with your child can help! me and my dad watched Doctor Who together and we bond alot over it!
You mentioned that most kids stories don't talk about stuff like home invasions or terminal illness, because those things are too real and traumatising. Well, considering how people react to Bridge to Terabithia, I think you're spot on - kids WERE traumatised by that movie because it specifically covered a realistic death. And why Artax dying hit us so much - we've all lost a beloved pet.
This and My Girl cut deep as a kid.
EXACTLY what I was thinking. I read and watched Bridge to Terabithia when I was younger and the message flew right over my head. It didn't make sense to me because all I was used to was stuff that was unrealistic. It wasn't really traumatic to me though, it was more confusing to my younger brain. Death to me wasn't real yet.
I hated Bridge to Terebethia SO MUCH when I read it as a kid. It was like the moment in Princess Bride when the boy interrupts to yell at his grandfather that he's "messing up the story, now get it right!"
Oh my god the movie made me cry so hard when I was a kid, HATED IT!! I knew about death but I wasnt really exposed to it ever in a realistic context, god that movie..
I must’ve been the weird one then lmao. My dad got me hooked on slasher films by the time I was 8. Though to be fair, it’s probably much easier for a kid to digest Freddy Krueger killing people in their sleep or Chucky chasing down children when you have an adult right next to you, assuring you that it’s just a movie. As an adult I’m thankful for it, I don’t think I’d have such a connection to the horror movies and such if my dad didn’t make it a bonding ritual for us.
Being scared and being _intentionally_ scared are two wildly different things
Ah! This is another part of the Halloween Whimsy puzzle! Benji does briefly mention that children's horror is traditionally a social thing, like Bloody Mary and stuff. But it needs to be explored more deeply. And with adults, too, they get "intentionally scared" for different reasons...
I like being intentionally scared, not scared because I'm expecting it and it gives me a good laugh😂
I think kids horror is a very good genre, as it can show them to face their fears at an early age and fuel imagination whilst developing. It’s perfect for showing them a different kind of media instead of whimsy.
The reverse can also be the same as adults, not all adults like edgy, horror content.
For me a good Mix of the two is the best Option!
I Love dark Media with whimsy and cute parts!
Things Like little nightmares.
Wich is Just such a blast!
Honestly, it’s easier to find child horror scarier because I feel like adult horror mostly knows how to double down on the edgey stuff
Yeah I remember I hated scary stories because they were( sounds of drums) obviously scary but at the same I loved them? It just the tone and mystery what I loved. Hearing some stories from my country like "La llorona" or "El Sombreron" was dark but at the same time amazing.
Anything but Poppy Playtime and Skibidi Toilet
@@Angninjin22first time I heard of “la llorona” was at camp and I was so scared to sleep at night even when having other kids around lol.
When I was younger, I always were terrified by the FNaF animatronics, but when I decide to see what the story was really about, I stop being afraid and start to enjoy everything about the franchise
It seems we've opposite stories, my friend
Same
My niece was terrified of FNaF. Hinestly I think she was terrified of robots period. I used FNaF to get her used to horror, but the musical to bring her in without the trauma that went with it. Now she isn't scared of the animatronics. Horror is our tool to face an uncaring world and I wanted to give that to her without pushing her into too much.
Bro same, my earliest memories of FNAF was peering over and back at kids playing it on their tablet in the fourth grade and feeling a little creeped out after one of my friends showed me a Minecraft animation of Survive The Night yet I also know I caught this one kid who didn`t like me watching a FNAF animation that made me wanna search it up, which I did at home but also kinda got freaked out by it, after that I never looked up FNAF again.....
Til summer 2018, I was watching gameplays, hearing the fan songs, and seeing sfm animations plus theories.
@@djamtz the Theories, the SFM animations and the fan songs were what make me start to love this game, and I don't regret a second of it
When i was an infant, I often woke up crying in the night. My mom could do nothing to get me to go to bed.
My dad put me on the couch and watched public domain black and white horror movies with me. it always worked. Dunno what that says about me, but I do love horror still
That sounds counter progressive. Shocked it worked
is it weird that zombie movies/shows actually me fall asleep?
Lmao my parents would do that with the first Cars movie, the opening scene always got me to sleep. I guess subconsciously I will always find some sort of comfort in cars and especially motorsport because the opening scene is heavily based off a NASCAR Cup Series race. Horror helps you sleep, the violent roars of race car engines helps me sleep lol.
i mean for mee, i remember being afraid of scp foundation and especially scp 096, but now i love scp now.
I choose to believe that morbid curiosity is necessary for emotional and mental growth. You have to be willing to be scared so that you can choose to be brave
when i was around 12 i had an overwhelming anxiety regarding the internet creepypasta Jeff the Killer. it was so bad that i ended up forever changing my sleeping habits because of how i "protected" myself from being one of his victims, as he would invade homes and kill families. very much a good example of a child being forever traumatized by a scary story that tackles realistic horrors (home invasion and murder).
Tell ya what, as kid I did not like horror, even goosebumps freaked me out and gave me nightmares...
However now I know the true horror... Adulting
I found horror kind of boring. I also didn't like not being able to see/do stuff. Really, I just like colorful games with lots of freedom. I won't call a horror game bad, but I might say it's less entertaining then Super Mario Bros.
The truly scary things aren't werewolves or headless horsemen, it's healthcare and rent, huh...
The first Goosebumps book creeped me out when I first read it as a kid. I read a bunch of Goosebumps after that, loved them, but they never really freaked me out.
That’s the beauty of it though. Everyone’s different.
@@simonwillover4175 I always had a vivid imagination and would see books like a movie as I read or listened, but that's also a double edged sword. Once I got a Wii books sorta went to the side as I played Mario Bros and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games
@@burnttacoconspiracy5786 Or even worse... TAXES DUN DUN DUN
As a 14 year old fan of horror things (less the Goosebumps way, but more like FNaF) I am shocked at how much I felt connected to this. So, thank you.
I feel the same as you, man
As a fellow closely aged fnaf fan I agree
Nice! Go forth and conquer fear!
I was one of those Slenderman kids
Ha! I`m both FNAF and Goosebumps, plus remember
Those Fazbear Frights and Tales From The PizzaPlex is the FNAF version of Goosebumps
It's weird. When I was little, I was a complete crybaby who couldn't handle anything scary. Now nothing seems to scare me even if it should. It's like I ran out of fear or something.
Same, I wonder why that is.
We've overcome it all because we can process it now that we've had horrors that we can control.
Same. I’m much braver than I used to be when I was a kid.
Hah this is me too
Just like the Sandman story we shouldn't forget that the Germans were really good at writing haunting stories.
It was Ghostbusters for me. 4 year old me was convinced ghosts were real so it was nice to see a movie with grownups who not only believed in ghosts but could get rid of them with awesome laser backpacks.
As a kid I genuinely sought to understand the supernatural. Because as a kid, it was always around me. I investigated horror in hopes to understand my own life.
I was one of those kids obsessed with horror; I ready Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Goosebumps all the time. I never really thought about why I enjoyed it so much, but this makes sense. I still like the more fantastical and supernatural kind of horror. Real horror just feels kind of depressing.
I bought the 3 book compilation last year. Reminds me of my childhood so much
aye they were great! and some issues of goosebumps as an adult STILL get under my skin.
Those weren't around when I was a kid. While my mom was at work, I would watch "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" & "The Twilight Zone," then moved up to "Tales From the Crypt." By the time Goosebumps & Are You Afraid of the Dark came out, I was already accustomed to R rated body horror & gore.
Feel the same way about supernatural vs realistic horror. Just makes me sad and not to mention being able to logic away your monster because it's actually human is probably not good for the scares
There was one series of books that caught my eye at the Scholastic book fairs as a kid, and while they were technically a form of horror, they weren't a typically horror either: the Killer Species books
In this series, a boy who recently moved to Florida with his father uncovers plot after plot by a mysterious ecoterrorist to use genetically modified creatures to overcorrect imbalances in the local wildlife, whether that be creating giant flying alligators to stabilize the Everglades or creating super barracudas to wipe out invasive lionfish populations in the ocean
It was his father, his mother was dead
@@KingofAllThatIsMostlyBlue sorry, been a while
I really like this series! Granted, I first came across it at the library, not at the Book Fair, but the point still stands. I have recently got the entire series a few months back, and I still find it enjoyable
id also suggest animorphs, while not horror focused there were MANY MANY MANY Times those stories kept me up at night due to the horror and not just the war crimes, the idea of being a puppet in my own body, of feeling the pain of my body splintering into an animal, being trapped in a creature's body with my mind mostly intact. the idea that even a close friend could become my own worst enemy, knowing all my hiding spots, all my favorite places and even how I think and said "friend" potentially deceiving me into a similiar fate cause I DIDNT know something was wrong. still gives me a shudder thinking on it.
This is why Pan’s Labyrinth remains one of my all time favorite movies. It perfectly encapsulates all of this, except is meant specifically for an older audience. Basically Coraline for grown-ups
I know the reason many kids I knew growing up "liked" horror was because it made them look cool. It was forbidden. It was like some flex to be say "oh yeah I i watched this very scary adult thing"
I don't think that's the reason
@@ZaneLikesCheese Well, i think it is. Or at least, ONE of the main reasons.
@@ZaneLikesCheese well, think again
@talesofacrookedmouth I was one of those kids, and no other kids my age acted like they liked it just because it made them look cool
@talesofacrookedmouth plus children are humans too and like things that adult humans like, it's not always about looking more grown up
I hunted for a Goosebumps book, a Ripley’s, and those fruity smelling erasers. So nostalgic.
Ah, Goosebumps and Ripley`s
Nice preferences of fiction and non-fiction
When I was a kid, scary books weren’t stories. They were these, haunted artifacts. Each book felt like a forbidden relic, and whatever I read within felt as though I had peeked into the hidden world, seemingly hidden, but always there.
A child’s imagination and gullibility is what made me never read this one booked called Ouija. While I read it, it felt as though I were being cursed the more I read. Knowledge and information, so easy to access, with the only hurdle, being fear.
The horror genre, when I was a kid, was like an interactive book. Where your goal is to overcome your fear, for the sake of knowing how the story goes. It’s eldritch really.
I remember how I first introduced horror by this eerie movie called The Puppet Master. I watched this movie as young as 6 years old and it used to terrified me so much and yet fascinated me as well. Now I'm those dark people this narrator is talking about 😂
I don't know that I've ever heard of anyone being introduced to horror through the Puppet Master series but I think that's pretty neat.
Wait, that`s an 80`s movie right?
With a puppet that has a blade, hook, and black coat
Another with a raincoat and blows fire
and one with six arms holding six guns as a cowboy right?
@@djamtzyes that puppet master a wonderful movie series.
Thanks for this video! I feel like a lot of adults forget that kids enjoy horror too and are horrified at the concept of children's horror existing, but I vividly remember getting interested in horror via shitty creepypastas at age 10
I attended elementary school way back in the early 1960s. We didn’t have the scholastic book FAIRS, but we did have the scholastic book club. They sent out the catalogs at intervals, and when the books arrived, it was like a little taste of Christmas in the middle of the year. Marvelous! I didn’t read much horror, but there was plenty of science fiction for younger readers.
I didn’t like horror for most of my childhood. When I was in high school, FNAF released and was a major subject of conversation. The videos of people playing the game terrified me to the point I couldn’t sleep at night, so I started watching more and more of them hoping the constant exposure to Freddy and his friends would stop being shocking. It worked and I also found the lore interesting. I slowly became fascinated with horror, to the point that the last month of my life has been filled with a Resident Evil hyperfixation, and not for the first time
Horror has always gotten me through the hardest times. Being terrified of a zombie apocalypse keeps me from fretting about real problems beyond any practical way of responding to them. In my darkest pits of despair I can only sleep by listening to audio books by the likes of Stephen King. In self-comforting tactics, one size does not fit all.✌🖖
I wanted to create a company mascot that is based on the concept of horror. It is great knowing kids love the horror genre. There is even a trope called, “defanged horror,” in which Ghoosebumps embodies to be decently scary.
Do you know about a horror comedy webcomic named, “Erma”? According to Brando, the author of the series, the Erma series “is kids’ introduction to horror”. I am a big fan of the webcomic series, so I am sure would enjoy in some way as well.
As a child I watched the animated series "tales from the crypt" and I loved it. I took really well to horror so my mum allowed me to watch some if I asked, she knew the content and such. She made sure it was something I could take and that I knew I could talk about it, but she never just forbid me from watching horror movies or shows. I really appreciated that.
I feel like a reason kids have an interest in horror-related stuff, such as horror movies and books, is because they have an age rating, and some parents don’t allow them. It makes it all the more exciting. People are curious about what’s forbidden, especially kids. So kids, while reading horror books or watching horror movies, feel another dose of excitement because it’s not allowed and trying not to get caught.
But this is just speculation from me. I was allowed to do pretty much whatever I wanted. But my friends with strict parents always described the experience of doing something that’s not allowed as “exciting” and “thrilling”.
The whole "magical thinking" idea really does a good job explaining why kids fear the things they do. In a world were anything seems possible, even the most terrifying concepts can't be ruled out!
I remember being really afraid of Bigfoot and shape-shifters when I was a kid. From my limited point of reference, their existence wasn't just possible, it was probable! Even some adults believed in them!
It's really interesting to learn what people were afraid of when they were kids. My brother was afraid of evil scuba-divers that lived in the plumbing, and my grandpa was afraid that Hitler was living under his bed.
I remember having to go to the Scholastic Book Fair every year during Elementary school. Even though I wasn’t really into reading, it was quite the sight to see, especially with all of the racks of colorful books of all different kinds.
I bought pointers from book fairs
Sometimes, one does occasionally see kids who enjoy horror works made for adults. My best friend from school was really into horror movies like Alien, Predator, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street since at least the 3rd grade. He didn’t make me watch them, thankfully, but he loved to talk about them about as much as I loved talking about Star Wars.
Same with me, my best friend has been a big Resident Evil fan since childhood and also had a lot of horror movies at home. Made me a fan as well😄
@@lightborn9071my dad always played horror movies like nightmare on elm street (that said movie multiple times) when I was 5 or 6, I found it very not scary and still don’t
Now he plays things like thanksgiving so I don’t watch the movies he puts on
It was one of the Herbie movies (I think it was Herbie Rides Again) that horrified me as a child. The antagonist of the movie had a nightmare that turned Herbie into a monster with giant (and rather ridiculous) shark teeth around the hood. That scared me so bad that I couldn't sleep that night. The funky thing was, when my mom offered me some dental floss to "pull the teeth out," I was able to rationalize that it wouldn't work. I think it was because I couldn't take the floss into the dream with me.
I remember as a kid being utterly terrified of COD Zombies, the sounds the zombies made, the ambience, it used to all be really overwhelming. Now its one of my favorite things to play in call of duty, I conquered that fear and now its genuine fun to me.
Conquering your fears is rewarding, at any age.
THE WARRIOR CATS ON THE PLAYGROUND-
Back when I was 9, I remember that there was only one specific horror game that truely gave me nightmares. A game that didn't go for violence and gore, but for genuine nightmare fuel with it's monsters.
That game was Little Nightmares.
I'd say a monster with a scary appearance succeeds more in horror than a monster with a scary lore.
God... the mention of goosebumps and the book fair brings me back. To this day I think I still love the horror genre because of those books along with the show Are you afraid of the dark.
I can't get over how much I love this opening. The sound of the gears turning when the book opened. It's just chef's kiss.
my 5 year old little brother, sits on his tablet watching clips of chucky on youtube, and one time we were watching zombie land, he got on his little bike in the living room (he's a premature, so the bike is quit small) and he got his little nerf gun, pretending to be driving around and shooting all the zombies! (he's deaf, so his favorite thing to do is mimick things he sees, especially in his favorite movies like paw patrol, and he can't talk so it's also one of his only forms of communication, he LOVES to copy EVERYTHING!)
Scholastic book fairs were how I got into Shonen Jump way back. Shaped my whole life from that moment
I HATED Goosebumps as a kid. I was super susceptible to the power of suggestion as a kid and found it difficult to distinguish fantasy from reality at times. Even though I knew on an intellectual level that it wasn't real, I felt much different about it emotionally. Watching this video made me recognize my first introduction to the world of horror: a Mary Downing Hahn book called Deep and Dark and Dangerous. I feel like that one didn't scare me as much as the fantastical world of Goosebumps *because* it was more rooted in reality. It made it easier for me to distinguish the world of the book from my own.
When you said there's nothing geared towards children about home invasion, I instantly thought of something that is. You should watch the "Home Alone" movies, from the 90s. It's about home invasion, & it's geared towards children, & is about a child that accidentally gets left Home Alone for the holidays, hence the name. It's potentially scary for kids, but also funny, & has a triumphant payoff for the main character's hard work in preventing the robbers from getting what they want. A lot of the personal relationships he has between different family members is also very relatable for many kids, so they sympathize with the main character.
Also, I've never been to any kind of book fair, but there is the Schoolastic magazine, that allows kids to order currently available books that are geared towards kids (with their parents' permission, ofcourse). Idk if they do that in school anymore, but that was the way things worked in my area, in the 90s.
The only thing that i have to say is:
Maaaaaaaaan, that intro was amazing. It gave me goosebumps.
I love how you put effort in every little detail.
Keep it up, you are awesome!!!
Gave you *goosebumps*, you say?
I enjoyed goosebumps as a kid, but wasn't really scared by it. So when I was given access to the Internet I loved creepypastas. But reading to intro to the Jeff the Killer felt so real, so plausible, that it freaked me out for years
The accessibility of children’s horror is one aspect of the internet that I actually feel really optimistic about. As a society, I think we tend to shelter kids far more than is really necessary, and end up stunting their growth in the process. How to be scared, and how to have fun flirting with such dark emotions in a controlled environment is an incredibly fun, useful, and healthy practice. However, it’s not really one parents are likely to teach their kids, if it even is possible to teach something like that. Children having the means to learn it for themselves is honestly the best way I can think of for them to discover the magic of playing with fear.
I'm older than the books mentioned, but still loved the book fair, and before that, the Weekly Reader, where you could also order books periodically. If I was lucky, I got to order two books a year. Got in trouble one year for buying a book about the Salem witches.
And now, today's iPad generation can't read. 🥺
I love how very in character Tale Bot always manages to be. Commit to the bit.
I remember how I like to read creepypastas as a child, even the ones where the grammar is questionable and the plot holes are obvious.
Also, FNAF fan vids ironically conquered my fears. By giving the animatronic their own lives and story (which the ghost children DO have, but the fanvids outright make the ANIMATRONIC characters have human lives), I was able to "befriend" what would normally be the horror villains.
I remember feeling bad for Mangle for being a broken mess that they became a comfort character (and she is still one to this day).
When I was a kid my family woukd always watch these crime shows
In one of them a surgeon was inviting people to this forest?? for a vacation and then some college girl found out that he steals their organs to sell it and it terrified me so badly that they changed the show right away
So i always thought that the girl was dead which made me so scared of surgeons 💀
Book fairs were something you WAITED for all year... You will never experience the same level of serotonin as you did with those things. I would straight up not eat and saved lunch money for MONTHS. And can confirm - I went right for the goosebumps books. Horror was always more vivid when I would read it - you did not always know what would happen and it was magical. Still is - Horror is still one of my favorite genres to read and watch. The darker and more in depth the better.
Book fairs to me as a kid were always fun because it was like walking into a room full of portals to other places/universes. Each book was a gateway, and they were all there in the same room. Depending on what you picked - you opened a door to something new. I am always sad that they removed those from schools, or don't have versions of them for adults.
those book fairs where awesome, even if I couldn't afford anything
Every Elementary kid nowadays has their huggy wuggy plushie and I hate it.
I bet half of them don’t even know what teh game is about, I saw those plushies in a kids store for literally no reason
as a youth horror artist, horror is an escape for me personally; I use it to vent and to make me scared as it makes me happy, and gives me a safe kind of fear, y’know?
I never enjoyed horror as a kid. I gave it a chance, of course, I was an enthusiastic bookworm, to the point I won an award in my elementary school for most books read in a year. But after reading goodbumps book 1 I had a nightmare and swore off horror altogether. The White Witch, Tash, and the Nazgul were scary enough characters for me as a kid. (I read Narnia before age 10, and Lord of the Rings at 12.)
I was also terrified of the ROUSs in the Princess Bride when I saw that scene at age 9.
3:35 when you said Warrior Cats I got so happy!
My friends in school lunchtimes we will always role play Warrior cat’s deaths because it was either the most stupidest death or the most gruesome like Tigerstar, a villain, getting ripped open from head to tail. Us doing horrific deaths roleplay was fun and everyone questioned us, and we’ll always say that Horror was our friend and we will never give it up.
So yeah, it was a last fun and we are still doing it to this day. There is nothing horror can’t do. I never liked romance or anything like that, it always made me grossed out and easily boring. But horror-like romance made me more interested.
Horror was my friend and I’ll always like the genre like it.
Fnaf
Warrior Cats ( Warrior cats was never for kids, if you read it you will understand why. )
Coraline
Horror stories etc
I’m very glad that my parents let me and my siblings be exposed to things at appropriate levels. They let us play scary games and tell them scary stories and they always made sure that we knew they weren’t real. They took us to a lot of different places too to meet all kinds of people because they wanted us to have those experiences when we were young so that we can use it when we’re older to be good people. I’m very grateful for that
my mom used to never let me watch horror, but never stopped me from reading it, not that she really could anyway. And i read all the goosebumps books, i read those ghost girl stories, all of the above so much to the point that at 12 i could already read at a college type level. once i turned 9 my mom finally let me access the wonders of horror movies and i immediately went to things like 'the conjuring' or 'Annabelle' those of the supernatural. And ever since i've loved them. As a kid they were my escape, they were my world, they made me who i was. and knowing so many other kids felt this when i was getting bullied and made fun of for it, makes me so happy. i just hope no other kids were made fun of because of their interest in horror
My biggest excitement with my near six month old son is to tell him stories and see him grow and explore his own imagination. I can't wait for my wife and I to really learn who our son is and what he wants to do. I'll keep working on my stories while he still can't move on his own.
One of the things I and my friends did as kids was watch horror movies together. We chose whos house we will gather at and what kind of horror movie we want to watch. When it was ready, we brought as many pillows and blankets to cover ourselves when the jump scare happened.
I experienced firsthand the fine line between "children's horror" and genuine existential dread when I was a kid. The FNaF games first started coming out when I was about 6, and I remember that those games, while they did scare me, also captivated and excited me much like any other children's media, and gave me early, and importantly non-traumatizing, exposure to the idea of death. Meanwhile, I also had unrestricted internet access way earlier than I should've, and one day came across the fact that the sun will expand and sterilize the Earth billions of years from now. While being a trivial thought to me nowadays, that fact caused genuine harm to younger me. I remember laying awake at night absolutely petrified by the existential horror of everything I knew and ever would know being engulfed in inferno. It wasn't a "fun" horror like FNaF was; to my mind, it was just cruel.
Oh my god I love the thumbnail for this. Madman literally combined Freddy with that one picture of the Ghost Woman from Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark. Absolutely beautiful, 10/10 Thumbnail.
I think being in the transition stage between a “magical” and “realistic” thinker (around age 16-20) is why I’m so terrified of more realistic horror, be it visually or contextually realistic, but why I don’t find much entertainment in most mascot horror or kids horror that either give a normal thing unexplainable rows of teeth or just make it gooey. Which just makes those few games or stories that also fit that middle ground so much more enjoyable (particularly a fan of Spooky’s Jumpscare Mansion and more creepy myths such as skinwalkers and the such). They look and feel real enough to be engaging but still often have a touch of magic that makes you realize that it probably isn’t a threat to your real self.
By far one of my favourite videos! Definitely explains that love for kids horror. Also the book fair is a gold mine.
Getting the high and trying to understand how odd the situation safely is so underestimated. Was so into horror, lore and fairy tales. It expands your curiosity and seeing the horror (as unrealistic as it is) is like having that imaginary friend. One day, you understand why it was there and just appreciate it.
i remember having a book of short scary stories, and I loved it. I remember that one story with the girl who had a ribbon around her neck. That one always terrified me, but I always looked at it every time.
I was never a fan of horror as a child. However, I loved dark tales telling tales of the dead or truely alien beasts. Cartoon mice fighting mounds of corrupted ink, twins fending off a monster found only in dreams, and even a dictator turning friends into robots. I didn’t like being scared, but I loved learning of worlds that were far from bright.
I get that first reference! Applause!
I get that second reference! Applause!
People act as if that was new or abnormal. I think it has been a constant for centuries and what is the real problem are unscrupulous companies exploiting the trend in ways that are detrimental to the genre and people who instead of polishing their creativity make derivative works of dubious quality.
Mary Downing Hahn was definetly my favorite author for some time. I loved the dark stories the ghosts always had. Like the girl from The Doll in The Garden, who had died of TB as a child and had gotten her doll stolen previously before she died from her friend. It's very dark and sad, but I still loved how the book touched on subjects like that.
Back when I was a kindergartener, horror stuff was fascinating and cool because it wasn't even remotely as scary as the real life horrors like violent racists, rapists, and so on, but let me experience fear in a safe and fake environment. (I was hyperlexic and liked to read newspapers). I was bad at handling my emotions (AuDHD), so I was attracted to anything that let me practice all emotions in a safe environment.
Another thing i think adds to why kids love horror is the mystique of it being an "adult thing", and so they get into it as a form of rebellion. That's how i got into stuff like fnaf, creepypastas, and old horror movies after all.
Horror as a whole is just such an interesting concept to me. It's intriguing knowing that people will enjoy something so dark, even as adults who completely understand the things going on.
FINALLY! A VIDEO THAT GETS Me! As a child I would come up with these scary stories to tell, getting my banned from most of my friends houses, and I even made friends with my self inflicted sleep paralysis demon.🎉
Scholastic Book Fair, Goosebumps, SSTTIND…you ticked all the boxes! I remember it all well! I’m 37 and I’ve been collecting the Goosebumps series after selling my completed collection to a neighborhood kid. Also bought all three volumes of the Scary Stories collection again. Nostalgia…
I freaking loved scary stories to tell in the dark as a child. I also read illustrated versions of Edgar Allen Poe's stories. Now, I write enough horror stories for my family to be slightly concerned.
I'm really happy I found your channel a few months ago. Such a cozy character you've made, so mature and real that, as an adult, I wish I got to watch you as a child. I'd definitely understand things better lol
As a kid growing up I always did enjoy horror Just the imagination of a creepy monster in the closet a animatronic come to life and reading a creepy story of a ghost stuck in Majora's mask I missed that part of being a kid just letting the imagination run wild as a adult it's not as wild as it used to be it's creative but that kid wonder does die down I wish a lot of us can keep our Kid imagination while mixing with our adult creativity I think It can create some wonderful and dumb things depending on the person of course
I never interested myself in horror as a child, but as I’ve grown older I’ve found it more and more intriguing. Most horror I’ve seen doesn’t scare me, I’m more scared of the possibilities, though reality is often tame in comparison. I wonder how many people partake in horror just so they can feel something other than empty.
Fear can be fun if your in Safe seroundings it stops being fun if you are unfamiliar with your seroundings cause then it gets "to real"
As a child, I could never watch a horrorr movie, because the movies my family would watch were all slashers and etc. I never could stay on the couch. So I would hide inside of counters, because they would block the sounds. I was really afraid of these stuff and I don't enjoy being scared. Im very sensitive.
I was unable to take the trash out in the evening for a week back in the fall of 3rd grade after being introduced to Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
Specifically, I was terrified the giant head sprouting from the ground on the cover would somehow show up in my front yard.
I miss when that was my biggest dilemma in life.
I remember being 8 when the silver eyes came out and I was fnaf fan so I had to look at it. I got to the one part where Carlton was in the spring lock suit and having afton explaining how they work haunted me because that’s how gusome his death was in the games! Nice video TheTaleFoundry
This video reminded me of a scene from Anne of Green Gables, where Anne and her friend Diana created ghosts in the forest as a game. But later Anne was afraid to go to the forest because it's now filled with ghosts.
My first taste of existential dread came when I was watching the iron giant, specifically the scene where the government launches a nuke in an attempt to destroy it.
It's made clear the nuke is going to level the town and everyone in the town as well, and there's nothing they can do to stop it, they just stand there and watch because running only means they die tired
I knew this, and it was the first time I was faced with the idea that not only could I die, and not only could there be nothing I could do about it, but it could be entirely someone else's fault it happened.
Did he really have to call us out on the toy soap operas when we were younger?- XD
10:21 that is actually a really good quote.
I thought I was a different breed in my adolescence, being obsessed with FNAF and Creepypastas and such. The state of mascot horror nowadays makes me bristle, but I hope it’s at least giving kids the spooky fun they need.
Im 17 and this is exactly the kind of horror i love. Horror that is very unrealistic but still scary. But most of the time its not scary its just rlly cool creepy visuals
The closest thing to this for me, as a kid who hated horror, was Scooby Doo, because it had horror themes but the monsters always turned out to be someone in a costume, which was reassuring to a young kid afraid of monsters.
For anyone interested in children's horror, and especially if you're looking for an author who might not be that well known in your country, I highly recommend looking up Paul Jennings. He's an Australian author, has quite a few books that are anthologies of children's horror, many of his short stories got adapted into a TV series called " 'Round The Twist", and his Wicked! series (co-written with Morris Gleitzman) was something my Dad and I read together when it was coming out. His work feels similar to the Goosebumps books, but definitely uniquely Australian in flavour.
The classic Tim Burton films are a great example of why horror appeals to kids. He is known for his work being dark and disturbing, but it is also whimsical and exposes children to things like isolation and death which helps them later when it actually occurs.
Throughout this whole video, I am surprised Little Nightmares games did not get bring up at all. After all, they are literally the games about the kids experienced the horrors for real.
Perfect video to stoke my childhood nostalgia.
The thumbnail being a fusion of FNAF and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is genius.
I'm almost done with middle school and my school has never done a book fair
My 5 year old is obsessed woth horror, and even as someone that loves horror themselves, it has always worried me.
I cant explain how informative, helpful, and most of all relaxing this video has been.
I recommend The Monster Squad from the 1987 kids vs the classic monsters.
watch it yourself 1st. you would have the best Idea when he could handle
My go to books during the Scholastic Book Fair was Geronimo Stilton and School of Fear. Despite the name, School of Fear wasn't a horror series, it had a story about a bunch of kids that all had crippling phobias, and so they had to go to this distant house on the top of a massive plateau to learn to face their fears from this crazy old woman who lived there.
I appreciate the part about exposing kids to horror media in a controlled environment to overcome fears. I find that watching the 'How to beat' channel videos covering horror movies, particularly to be an equivalent for me.
Dude, scary stories to tell in the dark was one of my favorite things *on earth* as a kid. The other thing we did was tell jump scare stories around the camp fire. My poor brother, man…I always used to torment him when it was my turn. Spin some tall tale about a ghostly woman *walking* across the lake, running to my room as she slowly approached the cabin, hiding under the covers as I begin to perceive a light getting brighter in my window…silence…………..
BLHAAWHHHHHH!
The look on his face was always one of betrayal and anger…but you know what? He always came back for more…we all did 🤷♂️
I actually love this guy. He just made three videos in a row about my favorite things ever.