My oldest, like me, saw Friday the 13th when she was 6. Unlike me she saw it on the Syfy network; which means she saw a version without topless scenes and there was far less blood. She loved the movie so we continued her horror education, but I was very careful on what movies she watched because of content. She ended up watching a lot of science fiction for the most part so she didn't watch too much horror at her young age. Now my older child loves horror movies along with star trek and star wars, and the younger one is following fast. My neighbors have a huge set up for Halloween including being dressed up as the major horror movie characters. Michael Myers stands on the roof and points at people, Jason Voorhees walks around with a fake machete and slowly stalks people, and another neighbor dressed as Freddy and stood and stared at people as they walked by. Children and adults alike avoid this house because, "...it's way to scary, and they shouldn't do things like that. It scares the kids and they don't understand it's not real..." I hear this complaint every year and it annoys me. Yes, I would not take my 3 year old to that house if they were scared, but the people also don't approach little children if they seem hesitant. They aren't there to be mean, they just set up for Halloween and make it scary the way it used to be. I enjoy and appreciate their passion and effort to make every year to have their house and yard decorated to entertain themselves and everyone else.
My kids go up to these characters and high five them, shake hands, and laugh. I know they like horror movies and they have been exposed to them, but more importantly the know the difference between pretend and real. They understand that the movies and characters are there to scare us, but they aren't real. The like to be scared and laugh at the same time. I wish other people would educate their kids about what is pretend and real. Not just because of movies, but to develop those parts of their minds so they can be creative and enjoy themselves without requiring outside stimulation to do so.
I am fanatical about zombies. I saw Night of the Living Dead when I was 6 years old. As I grew up, the first thing I would think when I walked into a building was, "How can this be defended against zombies?" I never had intense fears or nightmares, they always facinated me. Now, as an adult, I know that the zombie apocalypse is just a medium for the destruction of humanity due to something man made. But that doesn't stop me from quoting the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks or things I have learned from zombie movies. I have a zombie plan for my house, for where to go locally, and even where I am going if I have to leave the state with all cardinal directions covered. My wife laughs and humors me about them, but now my kids have been bitten by the zomibe bug (pun definately intended). Next year my kids want us to shamble as a zombie family for Halloween, my oldest wants to go visit the graveyard near my step-mother's childhood home in Pittsburg, Pa where the filmed part of the original Night of the Living Dead, and she wants to join the zombie walk either here in NJ or in Pa. I am so pround they can enjoy the odd things in life and use their imaginations to understand that the "scary" guys next door to us do it for fun, and not to be scary.
http://www.fridaythe13thfilms.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Living_Dead
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zombie_Survival_Guide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_walk
My kids go up to these characters and high five them, shake hands, and laugh. I know they like horror movies and they have been exposed to them, but more importantly the know the difference between pretend and real. They understand that the movies and characters are there to scare us, but they aren't real. The like to be scared and laugh at the same time. I wish other people would educate their kids about what is pretend and real. Not just because of movies, but to develop those parts of their minds so they can be creative and enjoy themselves without requiring outside stimulation to do so.
I am fanatical about zombies. I saw Night of the Living Dead when I was 6 years old. As I grew up, the first thing I would think when I walked into a building was, "How can this be defended against zombies?" I never had intense fears or nightmares, they always facinated me. Now, as an adult, I know that the zombie apocalypse is just a medium for the destruction of humanity due to something man made. But that doesn't stop me from quoting the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks or things I have learned from zombie movies. I have a zombie plan for my house, for where to go locally, and even where I am going if I have to leave the state with all cardinal directions covered. My wife laughs and humors me about them, but now my kids have been bitten by the zomibe bug (pun definately intended). Next year my kids want us to shamble as a zombie family for Halloween, my oldest wants to go visit the graveyard near my step-mother's childhood home in Pittsburg, Pa where the filmed part of the original Night of the Living Dead, and she wants to join the zombie walk either here in NJ or in Pa. I am so pround they can enjoy the odd things in life and use their imaginations to understand that the "scary" guys next door to us do it for fun, and not to be scary.
http://www.fridaythe13thfilms.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Living_Dead
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zombie_Survival_Guide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_walk
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