Many horror movies feature familiar nightmare fodder: ghouls, goblins, and every imaginable kind of monster. However, not every horror movie relies on creatures to terrify audiences. Sometimes, everyday human beings can provide an undeniable fear factor that surpasses that of any imaginary monster. Adults are scary enough, but some of the most memorable films rely on something even more horrifying: evil children.
By perverting the innocence of childhood, these horror movies take the familiar and kind and twist it into something sinister. Whether they have psychic powers, are possessed by demons, or simply have a strange connection to the supernatural, the scariest children in horror movies remind audiences that even the most innocent among us can be an instrument of darkness.
10 The Grady Twins Are A Scary Pair
The Shining
In Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, audiences briefly meet two ghostly twin girls named Alexa and Alexie Grady. The girls are not major characters in the Stephen King novel, but Danny Torrance sees the girls on multiple occasions at The Overlook Hotel in the film. Of all the sightings, his final encounter with them is the scariest.
Danny first sees the girls as they would have been in life, asking him to come to play with them. However, he soon sees them as they were at the end of their life: corpses in a blood-spattered hallway. In both forms, the twins are an eerie vision of innocence lost.
9 Carol Anne Connects With Spirits
Poltergeist
Not every horror movie kid is evil - some are scary simply because of their ability to sense evil in others. A great example of this is Carol Anne Freeling, the innocent young girl at the center of the 1982 movie Poltergeist.
Carol Anne senses the presence of diabolical spirits that begin to plague her home, famously uttering "They're here!" while sitting in front of the family television set. Although she never becomes an evil character in her own right, Carol Anne's strange calmness surrounding many of the events that unfold in the film is undeniably creepy.
8 Issac Chroner Is A Deadly Cult Leader
Children Of The Corn
Children Of The Corn features a whole cult of scary kids, but the most terrifying is their leader, Issac Chroner. The young boy originated in a Stephen King short story, which received a film adaptation in 1984. Issac is ruthless and fanatical, which is a deadly combination for anyone who crosses his path.
The scariest thing about Issac is his ability to influence others, especially the blindly loyal members of his death cult. He will stop at nothing to fulfill the deadly prophecies of He Who Walks Behind The Rows, and no one over the age of eighteen is safe.
7 Dark Alessa Is A Creepy Alter-Ego
Silent Hill
All the Silent Hill film adaptations of the video game series feature plenty of grotesque monsters, but one of the creepiest characters actually takes the form of a little girl. In the first film, audiences meet Dark Alessa, the demonic alter-ego of a little girl victimized by town residents. Her voice is particularly creepy, but her intense powers are also nothing to take for granted.
Dark Alessa's evil influence over Alessa makes her a very dangerous entity. Understated horror characters are sometimes much more memorable than over-the-top ones, and that is definitely the case for Dark Alessa.
6 Claudia Is Eerily Childlike For Her Age
Interview With The Vampire
Vampires are already known for being scary characters in most movies, but child vampires are even more terrifying. Despite seeming like an innocent young girl, Claudia is a surprisingly talented predator in Interview With The Vampire.
Claudia is too childlike to choose victims in a discrete way, but this quality actually makes her even more dangerous than Louis and Lestat in some ways. Her doll-like looks make it much easier for her to lure her prey into a sense of calm, which she uses to her advantage time and time again.
5 Young Michael Meyers Is Chilling
Halloween (2007)
Michael Meyers has appeared in several films since the John Carpenter and Debra Hill created him for 1978's Halloween, but the vicious killer is especially creepy as a child. In the Rob Zombie remake of Halloween, audiences see Meyers as a ten-year-old child who already has all the makings of the serial killer he will become.
Halloween 2007 is a disturbing horror movie all around, but the scenes with young Michael are the hardest to watch. This version of Michael needs no special effects or makeup to make him creepy; child actor Daeg Faerch does an expert job of bringing the souless young character to life.
4 Samara Stepped Out Of The TV And Into The Audience's Nightmares
The Ring
An American remake of Ringu, The Ring is the first movie in a successful film franchise that centers around Samara Morgan. This long-haired child has an eerie voice and long hair that covers a terrifying face. However, the real fear factor comes in the strange ways that Samara moves, especially if she is crawling across the floor.
Real-life contortionist Bonnie Morgan starred as the disturbed young girl in two of the films, which accounts for how realistic Samara's movements look. If that wasn't enough, her super-strong psychic powers make her a formidable foe despite her young age.
3 Esther Is Not What She Seems
Orphan
In the 2006 film, Orphan, a young couple named Kate and John decide to adopt a child after tragically losing their own. However, the child they bring home turns out to be a choice they quickly regret. Orphaned little girl Esther Coleman, is truly creepy, but the scariest thing about her is that she isn't actually a child at all.
Esther suffers from a rare disorder that makes her look like a child, and she uses her seemingly innocent appearance to hide the fact that she is a ruthless killer. Unfortunately for John, he pays for this knowledge with his life.
2 Damien Was Evil Incarnate
The Omen
When it comes to evil children, it doesn't get much worse than being the literal Antichrist. In the 1976 film, Omen, little Damien Thorn initially seems like a normal child. However, his parents, Kathy and Robert, soon realize that something is very wrong with their son.
Unbeknownst to his mother, Damien's father actually adopted Damien in secret after their biological son died shortly after birth. This turns out to be a fatal mistake, as the evil little boy, whose real mother was a jackal, first kills Kathy, and then Robert. The film ends with a particularly creepy scene in which Damien smiles at the camera during his parents' funeral.
1 Regan MacNeil Shocked Moviegoers
The Exorcist
When William Friedkin's The Exorcist hit theaters in 1973, it stirred up controversy for its disturbing, blasphemous content. It is almost exactly like the book of the same name because the author, William Peter Blatty, also wrote the movie's script. The most unsettling aspect of the film is twelve-year-old Regan MacNeil.
In The Exorcist, the demon Pazuzu takes possession of Regan's body, resulting in gruesome horror beyond what audiences were accustomed to seeing. Today, The Exorcist is still one of the most influential horror movies of all time, and Regan is among the most memorable creepy kids to ever grace the big screen.