Kids & HAUNT

My 7yo son and I always enjoy HalloWeekends during the day. When night falls we have always steered clear of the haunted houses & scare zones. Last year he saw the bus in front of Zombie High and wanted to check it out, I said not a good idea... But he keeps asking me about it. Last year they sold "no-scare" lanyards, just a lit up pumpkin that told Screamsters to go easy. Does anyone know if this is just for out & about on the midways, or is it in effect in the houses & scare zones too? I think the boy would be fine with the seeing the Screamsters so long as they aren't jumping out at him or getting all in his face.

Every kid is different and I'm sure you know yours better than anonymous Internet people. That said, this is my family's experience.

I think my now 11YO was 7 the first time I took her to Halloweekends (so...before the No Boo necklaces). I explained that the screamsters aren't real and I reinforced CP's rule about if you don't touch them, they won't touch you. That eased her mind tremendously. Last year, she still held my hand and cowered behind me as we walked through the haunts. But, she enjoys them. Her brother is 7 this year and I think he wants to try the haunts, so we'll see how that goes.

Well,... Here's a question for you. Why are you staying away? I know he's only 7 and I know you're his parent, but if he shows an interest maybe explore that with him?
Haunts aren't for everyone, but there are plenty who totally groove on it from an early age. Maybe he's sensitive by nature, and I understand that some of the gorier depictions may be saved for a later age. But there are a few milder scare zones that you might try him out on, and if it starts to go south there's an easy and quick way out.

But if my 7yo child wanted to check out a display at a family amusement park, I can't imagine me deciding for him that it's a bad idea. I'd think no permanent harm can come from that kind of safe, chaperoned curiosity. Just sayin, you do what you want...

As for the no scare things, I understand they don't work that well, especially for the money.

RCMAC- My son tends to be very bold going into things. Last year certain things gave him nightmares that were geared towards kids. I think would be ok this year minus the "jump scares"... Last year, no way.

I'm not a haunt person at all, I avoid anything like that. Jump scares and monsters aren't for me. (And I'm an immediate target...)

So I get it. I think Altor's advice is good, best to approach it on a need to experience basis, and make sure everyone knows to separate the activity from reality. Part of the fun, as Altor's daughter can surely attest, is to get the life scared out of you, have a big laugh, then go back next time for more. She'll probably do fine with haunts for life.

Nightmares are another thing. But then again, I had a nightmare about my vacuum cleaner the other night, proving we never know where our deep-seated fears are lurking, right?

Me? I love Halloween. Personally I find haunted houses hysterical. I jump out of my skin when they come out of nowhere then laugh hysterically!

Our 8/9 year old is very easily frightened at Halloweekends and she is definitely NOT one of those who enjoys a good scare. She is more likely to burst into tears and freak out. We got her the "No Boo" necklace last year and it worked fairly well as we walked through the scare zones -- provided the batteries aren't 85% dead when you buy it (we had to buy a second one when she forgot hers the following week and it only lasted for 20 minutes after we opened the package!)

I can't say how it would be inside one of the actual haunted houses, but I would still steer clear of those if it might still be an issue. Those usually involve a group of people going along together and nobody wants to wait X minutes in line to walk through a haunted house, only to have someone else's child in the same group/area and the screamsters taking the tour off or toning it down because someone doesn't want to be frightened. That really isn't fair to the other people who want to be scared.