History Main / KidsShouldntWatchHorrorFilms

* One episode of the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' reboot has both Dexter and [[BumblingDad his dad]] sneak downstairs after bed time to watch the late night b-movie horror flick, ''The Parasite Within''. This results in the two of them getting increasingly freaked out when searching the dark house after the movie is over, and the next morning has both of them frozen in a catatonic state in the hallway.

* ''ComicStrip/KidPaddle'': Kid keeps trying to get into gorefest horror movies (using countless variations on ThreeKidsInATrenchcoat) but never makes it past the cashier.

If this trope pops up in a kids' sitcom, it will almost always overlap with CantGetAwayWithNuthin and/or FearIsNormal. In many cases, [[ItWasADarkAndStormyNight a thunderstorm]] will occur for atmospheric effect, often when the kids are terrified after watching the movie, complete with DramaticThunder. See also ScareEmStraight. When something like this happens in RealLife, see WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids. It can sometimes be {{inverted|Trope}} when adults are terrified of the movie but kids love it (for example, Creator/NeilGaiman noticed this reaction with regards to ''Literature/{{Coraline}}''). See also FridgeHorror for that case; perhaps the kids ''[[InnocentInaccurate don't understand]]'' why the events of the movie are something to be afraid of. It can also be prone to DoNotDoThisCoolThing, if the ''audience'' thinks the in-universe movie looks fun, but the characters watching it are scared.

** He also gets pretty traumatized after reading [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks a superhero comic]] where [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath the superhero gets his spine blown to pieces]]. He tries to cope by watching TV, but his mom responds "[[ComicallyMissingThePoint There's too much violence on TV. Why don't you go read something]]?"

* In the early 1950s, the dominant genre of comic book was horror, with Creator/ECComics at the forefront with titles like ''The Vault of Horror'', ''The Haunt of Fear'', and, of course, ''Tales from the Crypt''. This lead to an entire moral panic about the comics being too scary and/or politically subversive for children (their primary audience) to read, and the US Senate even held hearings on the subject. Eventually, to prevent the government from stepping in and censoring the entire comic book industry, the publishers promised to self-regulate and passed UsefulNotes/TheComicsCode, effectively killing the horror comic for decades.

* Back when Disney Studios didn't put so many of their films on video, the 1983 theatrical re-release of ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'' had ''Music/MichaelJacksonsThriller'' air before it (maybe as some kind of deal for ''Film/CaptainEo''?) Hilarity did ''not'' ensue for most of the young audience members.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'', Jeremy watches ''Film/{{Scream|1996}}'', ''Film/TheExorcist,'' and ''Film/TheBlairWitchProject'' when he's home alone, and every little sound in the house starts terrifying him. He ends up not sleeping because of it. And killing the water heater with a baseball hat when it gurgles. Connie actually predicted this might happen before she and Walt left.

* ''Fanfic/LucysSecret'': Discussed -- Maggie is leery about playing ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead'' at the sleepover, because some of the girls there are quite young (the youngest, Lucy, is only eight). However, due to most of the partygoers being goths, the only one who gets scared is Luan, a teen.

%%* The basic plot of "Home [=UnAlone=]" (from ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'') is this, though it takes an interesting twist...%% What twist?%%
* [[DoubleSubversion Double Subverted]] with the Cerise children in the ''[[Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomverse Blossomverse]]''. Despite Chloe and Parker being 10 and 5 respectively, they regularly indulge in horror content like ''Franchise/SilentHill'' and aren't particularly traumatized by it...problem is, the fact that ''they'' can handle it gives them an unrealistic idea of how well everyone else can handle it. This becomes a serious problem when [[spoiler: Parker gets the ability to make his scary stories a reality, and thinks re-enacting his favorite Cryptkeeper episodes on everyone else is the fastest way to fix everything]].