History Main / DefangedHorrors

* ''Series/{{Wishbone}}'s'' adaptation of ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities'' made the guillotine a menacing specter using only cabbages.

* ''WesternAnimation/WendellAndWild'', directed by Henry Selick (who also did the above-mentioned ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', is about a preteen girl who moves into a haunted boarding school, while fending off DemonicPossession attempts from a pair of [[MinionWithAnFInEvil incompetent low-level demons]] played by Creator/KeeganMichaelKey and Creator/JordanPeele. There's plenty of spooky imagery but the tone is consistently lighthearted and funny. Peele also co-wrote the film, and in many ways it feels like a child-oriented counterpart to the horror movies he directs.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

Related to TheTamingOfTheGrue, which may be an eventual byproduct of this. Often, but not always, a part of SpookyKidsMedia. A lot, though not all, of MascotHorror games feature this kind of horror, often to emphasize their SubvertedKidsShow elements they frequently have. Can overlap with NothingIsScarier, where being unable to ''see'' anything scary is what makes it frightening. Can also overlap with ComedyHorror. A HalloweenEpisode of a children's series often falls into this category. Also see {{Badbutt}}, for another genre being toned down for children.

Related to TheTamingOfTheGrue, which may be an eventual byproduct of this. Often, but not always, a part of SpookyKidsMedia. Can overlap with NothingIsScarier, where being unable to ''see'' anything scary is what makes it frightening. Can also overlap with ComedyHorror. A HalloweenEpisode of a children's series often falls into this category. Also see {{Badbutt}}, for another genre being toned down for children.

Instead Defanged Horror will rely on turning the children's imaginations against them. The monster will be [[TakeOurWordForIt vaguely described]]. The consequences of venturing into a forbidden area will only be hinted at. Victims of the threat will simply disappear rather than having a KidHero stumble across their mutilated corpses. And as scary as things get, things will just about always [[HappyEnding turn out okay]].

* The ''Series/{{Goosebumps}}'' TV adaptation.

* The ''Literature/DeGriezelbus'' series by the Dutch author Paul van Loon are a perfect example of this. Almost every installment deals with a group of kids who are forced to listen to the stories of the [[spoiler:werewolf, and later vampire/undead]] writer P. Onnoval, with a climax at the end of each book. The stories are a combination of horror clichés like vampires, werewolves, etc. and a great deal of suspense and most stories leave the end open, leaving you to wonder what happened. Overall, the tone of ''De Griezelbus'' is about on par with ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}''.

Related to TheTamingOfTheGrue, which may be an eventual byproduct of this. Often, but not always, a part of SpookyKidsMedia. Can overlap with NothingIsScarier, where being unable to ''see'' anything scary is what makes it frightening. A HalloweenEpisode of a children's series often falls into this category. Also see {{Badbutt}}, for another genre being toned down for children.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Erma}}'': This comic plays a lot of common horror movie themes for laughs.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' did this on occasion, such as when Raven pulled Dr. Light into some sort of dark vortex within her cloak, and when he came out he was curled up in the fetal position muttering, "S-so cold. Make it stop. Please make it stop." The episode "Haunted" also ranks up there as one of the creepiest pieces of WesternAnimation targeted towards kids. They took Slade, a villain who's already creepy in his own right, and left the audience constantly unsure whether he was BackFromTheDead and torturing Robin, or whether Robin had gone insane and was mutilating ''himself''. [[spoiler:The truth is somewhere in between.]]

*** Shaggy’s evil mirror clone is definitely NOT de-fanged. Especially when he traps the real Shaggy in the mirror and the girls had been hypnotized by Revolta, with Elsa revealing Revolta’s plan to turn the girls evil permanently at midnight. It’s up to Scrappy to save Shaggy (in a rather comical way).
%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack''.%%
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' is a paranormal mystery show mainly aimed at older kids, mixing a heartfelt ComingOfAgeStory with all the ''Series/TwinPeaks''-inspired SurrealHorror the creators could get away with.
* ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'', which often turned the SurrealHorror up a bit too much, and we all learned the hard way that you can't unsee this stuff...
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E16TwentyEightPranksLater 28 Pranks Later]]" takes the concept of a ZombieApocalypse and tones it down to be as kid-friendly as it could possibly be. Rather than actual undead creatures with decaying flesh, the "zombies" here are simply ponies with rainbow frosting on their faces partaking in an elaborate prank.
* While ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' was generally more of a wacky BlackComedy than an actual horror show, it was never afraid to go for genuine scares, particularly in the ''Grim & Evil'' era. For example, "Son of Nergal" is an atmospheric ''Film/TheThing1982'' homage where most of the child characters are slowly killed off, with their frozen corpses shown prominently.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangface}}'' is a children's cartoon full of monsters and spooky imagery, but the emphasis is kept on the visual gags and the adventure. The title character, for example, is an [[WonderfulWerewolf extremely silly and harmless werewolf]].

* The "Gamer" minigame from ''[[VideoGame/WarioWare Game and Wario]]'' is ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' for kids. You play as 9-Volt as he tries to game past his bedtime, but he has to watch for his mother, who you must watch on the TV by paying attention to various cues and not being faked out by false cues. Said mother becomes a creepy gray shadow with flashlight eyes, much of the cues involve suspenseful PsychoStrings, and she can invade 9-Volt's room with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H-UutzUg9I this]] playing.

* The earlier ''Literature/HarryPotter'' books, as per the page quote. The later ones [[DarkerAndEdgier dispense with the "defanged" aspect altogether.]]

** ''Film/HocusPocus2'', when it eventually got made, carried on as another fun Halloween bit of spookery, but for the millennial crowd who had grown up with the first one and for newer generation of children.

* ''Film/PodPeople'' was a peculiar and not-entirely-intentional example of this trope. Director Juan Piquer Simon originally intended to make a straightforward ScifiHorror movie, but partway into production, the studio got wind of the success of a little film called ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', and [[ExecutiveMeddling insisted]] that Simon rework what he had to be more kid-friendly and [[FollowTheLeader include a subplot about a little boy befriending one of the aliens]]. The end result is a cute (if derivative) family film awkwardly grafted onto an exploitation horror film; to say that there is a [[MoodWhiplash tone problem]] would be an understatement. Nevertheless, it does have fans, mostly via ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'', who consider the tone problem the very thing that makes the movie SoBadItsGood.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', though like ''Courage'' (mentioned below) it will often take its SurrealHorror elements much further than desired.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Fangface}}'' is a children's cartoon full of monsters and spooky imagery, but the emphasis is kept on the visual gags and the adventure. The title character, for example, is an [[TheTamingOfTheGrue extremely silly and harmless]] werewolf.

* Creator/{{Laika}} are known for making stop-motion animated movies that tend to push the envelope on how scary a kids' movie can get. Their first two movies, ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'' are the most overt examples, being effectively child-appropriate horror movies. Their third and fourth films, ''WesternAnimation/TheBoxTrolls'' and ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'', are more DarkFantasy. Averted with their fifth feature, ''WesternAnimation/MissingLink'', which is a BuddyPicture RoadMovie.

** To a lesser extent, the earlier sequence set to Igor Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" features a ferocious battle between a stegosaurus and a UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex, and then a sequence of all the dinosaurs dying out in an arid desert. Not quite horror movie imagery, but still a lot more intense than most kids are used to, and at the time, it was considered to have some of the most spectacular and lifelike dinosaurs ever put on screen.

** ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'' was originally envisioned as a straightforward haunted house movie, but gradually has adapted into a more-or-less kid-friendly comedy horror movie (there is a [[PrecisionFStrike single F bomb]] which feels genuinely out of place), and eventually spawned a more overtly child-oriented animated spinoff.

When this shows up in a video game, it will usually be in a BigBoosHaunt type area.

* Another one based on a ride at Ride/DisneyThemeParks, ''Film/TheHauntedMansion'' (starring Creator/EddieMurphy) has a backstory involving murder and even suicide, but it's still a pretty light-hearted family adventure movie.

* ''WesternAnimation/WendellAndWild'', directed by Henry Selick (who also did the above-mentioned ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', is about a preteen girl who moves into a haunted boarding school, while fending off DemonicPossession attempts from a pair of [[MinionWithAnFInEvil incompetent low-level demons]] played by Creator/KeeganMichaelKey and Creator/JordanPeele. There's plenty of spooky imagery but the tone is consistently lighthearted and funny.

* ''Film/TheWatcherInTheWoods'' is essentially Baby's First Gothic Melodrama. No real gore, the fear is in [[NothingIsScarier what we don't see]]. Nonetheless, it has an unambiguously happy ending.

* ''WesternAnimation/WendellAndWild'', directed by Henry Selick (who also did the above-mentioned ''WesternAnimation/ANightmareBeforeChristmas'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', is about a preteen girl who moves into a haunted boarding school, while fending off DemonicPossession attempts from a pair of [[MinionWithAnFInEvil incompetent low-level demons]] played by Creator/KeeganMichaelKey and Creator/JordanPeele. There's plenty of spooky imagery but the tone is consistently lighthearted and funny.

Because this subgenre is targeted at children, it will typically ground itself in child-specific fears and anxieties, such as [[YouHaveToBelieveMe not being believed]] or [[NotNowKiddo listened to]] about important things, grown-ups being [[AdultsAreUseless unable to protect you]] if they don't [[ParentalAbandonment disappear outright]], and figures of authority - such as [[EvilTeacher teachers]] or [[TheBadGuysAreCops the police]] - abusing their power. [[KidsAreCruel Other kids]] may also be the source of fear - being [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer low on the pecking order]], getting [[TheFreelanceShameSquad laughed at]] or [[TheBully bullied]]. Fortunately, all of these are fears that can be tapped into without needing to get too gruesome or violent.

* ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'', by Creator/NeilGaiman, and the film adaptation also by Henry Selick. [[WordOfGod According to Gaiman]], at least, adults find it much scarier than children do, because children tend not to pick up on the implied horrors.
** From the same author, ''Literature/TheGraveyardBook'' is essentially a retelling of ''Literature/TheJungleBook'', except set in a graveyard, with a little boy raised by ghosts instead of RaisedByWolves. Therefore, while it's full of eerie, Halloweeny imagery, most of the ghosts and monsters are good-natured and familiar rather than scary, and even the [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghouls]] - the only nominally evil monsters in the book - are LaughablyEvil {{Harmless Villain}}s, being clear stand-ins for ''The Jungle Book'''s monkeys. The few truly scary moments in the book mostly comes from [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters the worst of humanity]].

** ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'' was originally envisioned as a straightforward haunted house movie, but gradually has adapted into a more-or-less kid-friendly comedy horror movie (there is a [[PrecisionStrikeFBomb single F bomb]] which feels genuinely out of place), and eventually spawned a more overtly child-oriented animated spinoff.

* The ''Watcher in the Woods'' film. No real gore, the fear is in [[NothingIsScarier what we don't see]].
* Creator/TimBurton owes quite a bit of his career to this trope, especially during his early years as a director (mid-1980s to early '90s) when he was commonly thought of as a ''slightly'' unconventional children's filmmaker. This blew up in his face a little when ''Film/BatmanReturns'' flopped: Burton tried to be "funny-scary" and [[YouWereTryingTooHard overshot the mark]], becoming too grim and unpleasant for general audiences, though the movie's tone is weird and specific enough that it's become a bit of a CultClassic today.
* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'''s Wicked Witch of the West managed to be remembered as one of the scariest - and most iconic - villains in cinematic history, even while appearing in a very family-friendly fantasy musical. She never really does anything particularly violent (aside from trying to burn the Scarecrow and [[AndYourLittleDogToo threatening to drown Toto]]), and she has the rather petty goal of trying to reclaim her dead sister's ruby-encrusted shoes. But with Margaret Hamilton's gleefully psychotic performance, combined with some [[UncannyValleyMakeup deeply unsettling makeup and prosthetics]], well... There's a damn good reason so many kids are terrified of her. Often being the first "scary" villain that kids see in a movie helps too.

[[quoteright:269:[[WesternAnimation/{{Paranorman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/750492_b.jpg]]]]

Related to TheTamingOfTheGrue, which may be an eventual byproduct of this. Often, but not always, a part of SpookyKidsMedia. Can overlap with NothingIsScarier, where being unable to ''see'' anything scary is what makes it frightening. Also see {{Badbutt}}, for another genre being toned down for children.