Horror Film Countdown Day 4 – Movies Anxious Parents Should Avoid

Welcome to our countdown to the most anxiety-inducing horror films for parents!  Today we are on day four and today, I admit.. I kind of cheated.

Each day, we are covering the films I both love and hate because they’re awesome and they give me panic attacks now that I’m a mom, but today – I had to group a few together.

Today, it’s all about one subject that cannot be avoided by most parents.  A subject that no matter what you do, from the moment you see any of these films until your children are completely out of school entirely will be a part of your lives…

Disclaimer: Trigger warnings are a given when you talk about horror, but I’m going to say it anyway.  Many subjects covered by horror films are disturbing to parents in ways we can’t possibly understand and each is unique to the parent and his/her experiences. Tread carefully and know your limits.  If this begins to be too much, there’s no shame in closing the window.  Also, this post contains some spoilers throughout. 

28. ANY horror movie with buses

Trick r’Treat, Jeepers Creepers, Riaru Onigokko and as mentioned before; The Sweet Hereafter- not to mention the various television shows that have covered this, heck, even Man of Steel covered this!  The simple fact is- if the movie has a school bus, someone is going to die inside it, under it or because of it.  It’s just the way things are.

They either get in a wreck and everyone is killed, they fall off cliffs, into bodies of water drowning all inside or invaded by aliens, zombies or monsters leaving no trace of survivors…  at least none in one piece.

These movies made me glad I live in a city that doesn’t use buses very often, but I worry one day I’ll need to put my kid on a bus and I’ll have to wonder if this is gonna be that ONE TIME something terrible happens.  I mean, really – they’re like rolling death traps.  No seat belts, terrible breaks, apathetic drivers who only got the job because they needed money and not because they actually WANT to do it… the list of reasons why school buses are a terrible, dangerous idea is a mile wide but most parents just blink away those truths because they are a necessary evil.  Evil is right.

Another aspect of horror films with buses is the inevitable bullying moment that just makes my stomach turn.  Do I really want to put my kid on a moving mousetrap with a giant rat waiting to steal his lunch or ruin his homework or make him the laughing stock of the school that day?  Isn’t that just inviting my kid to use his psychic powers to destroy everyone?  In all seriousness, if horror has taught me any one lesson in parenting, it’s this : DO NOT RAISE A BULLY.  The bullies are always the ones that get murdered by the vengeful spirits.  The bullies are the first to die because everyone hates them too much to help them when Death comes for them dressed like adorable Halloween scarecrow children.  Every parent who sees these kinds of movies should be HIGHLY motivated to ensure they are not raising a bully.

So, today our glasses are lifted to toast all the movies where kids loose their heads, hearts, and other parts to the deadly school bus.  I dare you not to think about any of these movies the next time you wave goodbye to your kids as it rolls off into the distance…. hopefully you don’t live anywhere near icy roads.

Tomorrow, we’ll be covering a much more subtle and possibly far more terrifying kind of evil.  The one you never suspect….