I’ve come to see that there is often a difference between what is marketed as children’s horror and what they find truly unsettling. Horror is an atmospheric medium, so illustrations and artwork(even those you might not expect) can terrify on their own or interact with language to create a sense of dread. Following R.L. Stine’s philosophy, it can be written to be so fantastical that it’s a thrilling scare, easily separated from the real, with a billboard on it letting kids know “Hey, this is scary!” Or, it can tap into real fears, but in unreal ways (some, I am sure, that the author never imagined), as this article suggests. The comments are surprising (or maybe not). What’s even more interesting is the adult perspective on reading these books not just as children but to them. The Story of Babar, for instance, is mentioned multiple times in the comments as scary and unsettling to both children and adults reading to children because of the scene in which Babar’s mother is killed, but I don’t remember that at all. From looking at the comments, it’s clear that what inspires dread or fear is often very individual… but certain authors and books do stick out. The Velveteen Rabbit, Love You Forever, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Der Struwwelpeter, The Giving Tree, Curious George, The Five Chinese Brothers, and The Runaway Bunny top the list, and it seems that the works of Dr. Seuss, Maurice Sendak, and Hans Christian Andersen should be handled with care.

Here are some of the titles (not specifically listed above) that people mentioned. Did, or do, any of these disturb you or your child?

The Little Match Girl, The Little Mermaid, The Snow Queen, and The Robber Bridegroom by Hans Christian Andersen
Madeleine by Ludwig Bemelmans
The Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Olivia by Ian Falconer
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
The Duel by Eugene Field
Only One Woof by James Herriott
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
I Stink! by Kate McMullan
Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne
Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parrish
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury
The Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Roly Poly Pudding by Beatrix Potter
Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
The Cat in the Hat, I Had Trouble Getting to Solla Sollew, and What Was I Scared Of? from The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, Kenny’s Window and Higgelty, Piggelty, Pop! There Must be More to Life! by Maurice Sendak
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
The Starry Messenger by Peter Sis
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble and The Amazing Bone by William Steig
Goosebumps books by R.L. Stine
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Mama? by Jeanette Winter
The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright

If none of these fit the bill for you or the kids you know, which ones did, and why? Comment below and let me know!