by Dave Umbricht

We are just a week away from the big day.

My kids picked out their costumes a few weeks ago.  My five year old daughter – Batgirl (she liked the black leather boots), my two year old son – Nemo (not really current, but the kid loves Finding Nemo.  Actually, who am I kidding, it is a hand me down.  It’s tough to be the third kid).  My oldest, a boy, decided he wanted to be the scariest thing possible.  He’s eight, so there are limits.  So he will be a werewolf.

It got me thinking about when is it appropriate to start showing horror movies to my kids.  My wife would probably answer, “never.”  However, it seems like eight-year-olds want to be scared.  So, not only will he be the werewolf, but we will also watch the original The Wolfman before Halloween.

This will mark the third year we watch a “scary” movie together.

We started two years ago with Monster House, a more morbid than I imagined animated film.  Last year we half-assed it, watching one of the lamer Godzilla movies.  This year, we start the classics.  I tell this story because I am looking to you, dear readers, for advice.

When have you, or plan to, let your kids watch horror movies?  What are good ones to watch with them?  And for those of you without children, and with ample memory, what was your first horror movie?  And how traumatized were you?

And now, on to today’s game.

How about a little round of Movie Frankenstein – the horror edition.  The idea of the game, is to assemble as many different parts as you can to create the best movie (they can be from different eras – for example, Julia Roberts and Cary Grant could star opposite of each other).  This includes plot elements, actors, directors, etc.  Write it out as if you were reading the back of a VHS box at your favorite video store.

So please assemble:

The PERFECT SLASHER FILM

Add your answers to the comments below.