Why Are Kids So Creepy?

The weird horror trope of making kids totally spooky

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It’s no secret that horror movies utilize children to make us feel utterly disturbed. Maybe that’s because it’s just so damn easy to do so. When we think of children, we usually think of the innocence that comes with childhood and the lack of understanding of the real world.

The only important things a child needs to worry about are their toys, their grades (depending on their age), and what’s on the menu for dinner. There’s no bills, no jobs, no need to worry.

So it’s no surprise that when we see children in horror films, we get a little uneasy. How are they going to be victimized? Are they going to be okay? Will they survive? It’s a whirlwind of concern, tugging at our little heartstrings.

“I see dead people.”

One of the more popular type of children in horror are those with the ability to see beyond. For me, I think it’s because children are so open-minded. Kids don’t see the world the same way we adults do, and therefore are more open to seeing “otherworldly” things.

Even outside of horror, how many videos have you seen of families telling stories about their child freaking them out because they “saw someone”? Sure, it could be an overly active imagination, or it could be a totally creepy ghost. Or a phrogger¹, which is arguably worse, but still.

In the horror space, though, children are always out here talking about how they see ghosts and demons and talk to their lovely friend from beyond the grave.

One of the most famous of these medium children is Cole Sear of The Sixth Sense. I mean, he literally coined the term for seeing dead people, afterall. And, sure, The Sixth Sense is more of a drama with horror elements than anything, but let’s not act like Cole constantly talking about entities isn’t creepy.

Then, we have characters like Carol Anne of Poltergeist, with her famous line…

And, well, we all know how that turns out.

But I think one of my favorite examples of this trope has to come from Sinister, in which the entire film’s concept is based on children’s ability to see the paranormal.

Here, we have the youngest daughter, Ashley, who is victimized by the entity of the film.

Ashley can see the spirits of the past victims, who lead her down the same path that resulted in their own demise. Bughuul, the “boogieman” of Sinister, is the puppet master behind it all. He’s always watching, always in the background…

Bughuul and Ashley | Sinister (2012)

And, in the end, Ashley murders her family just as the others did before her, with Bughuul taking her in his arms and disappearing. It’s a tragic story, but it makes for an extremely terrifying one as well.

Sinister was able to take the classic trope of “child who can see things” and expand upon it by using the acceptability of children. Kids lack experience, and that creates naivety and an easier time of building trust. Unfortunately, for the children in Sinister, it also ended in the deaths of their entire families.

But damn, are those kids scary af in those home movies.

Something Seems… Off

On the other hand, there’s the children who are just… well, weird.

That in itself isn’t scary. There’s plenty of weird kids. That’s just how kids are.

But in some cases, this weird behavior isn’t just that of a typical child developing a sense of self, but rather something much more sinister.

The more innocent of this type would be Danny Torrance of The Shining, who has psychic powers that are referred to as “shining.” While Danny does some creepy stuff (let’s not forget the whole REDRUM thing), he’s not dangerous. Rather, he’s a victim throughout everything, being forced to face dead twins and a psycho father lost to the Overlook. In the end, you feel for Danny and want him to stay safe.

Let’s head over to another Stephen King property then: The Children of the Corn. This film certainly takes the whole “man, these kids are weird” to a whole new level.

Not only do these kids worship a freaky false god, but they also have managed to murder all the adults in town as sacrifices. Oh, cool! Total “there’s no adults around” energy. Let’s all have a party!

The difference here is pretty drastic, but it highlights an issue pretty similar to that of Sinister: kids are impressionable. They’re willing to believe a lot of things—some innocent, some not so innocent. One kid might believe in the Easter Bunny, another might believe in a demonic deity. Po-ta-toe, po-tah-toe, ya know?

But that’s really what the scariest part of this is, isn’t? I think especially in considering real world cases, such as the tragic Slenderman stabbing. For those of you unaware, two 12-year-old girls lured their friend into the woods and stabbed her 19 times as a sacrifice for Slenderman.

Slenderman is a creepypasta character. Fake. There was nothing to sacrifice to. Luckily, the victim survived, but it’s still an awful case nonetheless.

Usually, I try not to bring up real life cases here. True crime is not something that interest me. I try to stay clear of covering it or consuming it, for my own sanity but also for the victims’ sakes. However, I think it’s important to point out that these things happen. Kids are impressionable, often times consuming content online that they shouldn’t be.

Seriously, as a Gen Z myself I remember going online seeing those horrible things. The internet was still new, people didn’t really know the horrors that lurked behind the code, and fetish/gore content of popular children characters were out in the open. Something as simple as “My Little Pony” on Google images could result in some horrendous shit that a kid shouldn’t be seeing.

In modern day, Gen Alpha is experiencing this too, but much worse. From Elsagate² to the disgusting trends on TikTok, Gen Alpha is being fed some of the most deplorable content under the guise of cute cartoon characters. And it’s not just a “oh, they’ll be fine” thing—it’s dangerous. There’s been children who have died from TikTok challenges and accounts of those who grew up on Elsagate now being hypersexual and ashamed of who they are.

So stay vigilant. That’s all I’m trying to say.

On the topic of horror and real cases, however, the last film I want to bring up in this category is The Orphan. The Orphan is loosely based on the Barbora Skrlová case. What makes Esther such an interesting character is the twist of a grown woman posing a child. Not only is she able to fool everybody, but she can get away with her crimes because of it.

Esther | The Orphan (2009)

She can easily manipulate people and play coy just with how she looks, seemingly innocent just because she’s a “child.” It’s the perfect disguise, one would think, but also one that makes you think twice…

Let’s Play With Demons

Alright, let’s get into the guts here.

Demon and ghost kids are probably the first thing you think about when playing the game of word association. After all, dead kids in horror films are practically a staple at this point.

Recently, we’ve seen this trope emerge again with Late Night With the Devil. The film follows a late night talk show host who interviews a multitude of guests. One of these guests—Lily—is possessed by a demon, who we later get to see in full glory as the movie progresses.

But before Lily, we had what I would refer to as the most recognizable creepy kid of all time: Regan.

The Exorcist, deemed the scariest film ever made, came out in 1973 to much fanfare and controversy. The most important aspect of the film, however, is Linda Blair’s performance as Regan MacNeil.

Not only does she do an excellent job at being downright freaky, but her ability to reach the audience is uncanny.

From the spinning head, the infamous Crucifix, and the later restored spider walk scene, the movie is chopped full of crazy effects and terrifying scenarios.

Regan scared audiences even outside of the film itself. Remember back in the 2000s when we had shock sites? Remember that crazy thing called the “Scary Maze Game”? Yeah. She managed to traumatize and entirely different generation through that one.

And, second to Regan would be none other than Damien Thorn. I mean… he’s literally the Antichrist. Not much to delve into with that one, although Harvey Spencer Stephens did a pretty damn good job at creeping out audiences for decades. Seriously.

Outside of demons, we have the classic ghost kid. There’s a lot of these, obviously, but I think one of my favorites has to be Samara of The Ring. She is the definition of the classic creepy crawly ghost, stringy hair in her face and all.

She struggles to move her body, jerking around due to the broken bones she got from falling into the well. Perhaps it’s mostly the visuals that make her so eerie, although her backstory of torturing people doesn’t help much.

I think what we can all learn from this is that, you know… children can be creepy.

They see things we don’t. They have crazy imaginations. They sometimes just stare at things for no reason.

But… that’s part of the charm sometimes, right? Oh, what little bundles of joy.

1. Phrogging is the act of secretly living in another person’s home without their knowledge or permission.

2. Elsagate is a controversy surrounding videos on YouTube and YouTube Kids that were categorized as "child-friendly", but contained themes inappropriate for children.