Thrills and Chills in October

Mindie's been intrigued by scary movies for a couple of years now but we've been careful about what she watches because she's easily scared. Not that we tell her "You can't watch this" but when she wants to watch something we think is beyond her we let her know exactly that and why we think it might be too upsetting for her. She usually agrees and that's that. But I've been wanting to help her find more scary movies that she can enjoy. It's October now, we have Netflix, and it seems a good time. The hubs and I usually go on horror binges in October anyway so this year I'm gearing it to movies Mindie can enjoy.

Shan doesn't do scary movies, which is fine. She has a whole host of movies that she enjoys watching alone so that's what she's doing while Mindie and I explore the darker parts of our psyches.

We kicked off Terror Fest 2011 today with "Scream." Mindie's never seen a slasher flick and I was somewhat concerned that the gore might put her off. She wasn't particularly bothered by it, though, and even pointed out some of the tricks and techniques she imagined they used after the film. I think we'll probably still avoid particularly brutal slayings for a while (sorry, Saw) but it's good to know that we can up the "ick" factor in her life a little.

If I had it to do over again I probably would have kicked us off with "A Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Halloween" since both are heavily referenced and homaged in the movie. Even more sad was the fact that she had no idea what I was talking about when the principal comes on screen and I yelled, "It's the Fonz!" She did recognize Drew, Neve, Skeet, and Matthew Lillard.

Tomorrow: Halloween (my all-time favorite slasher flick)