Walking Backwards

I've been trying to post this for days, but I keep forgetting whenever I get home. The call of the couch is strong. As is the call of blog surfing and the love my remote control gives me.

Next month is October and I am so excited. Joe can barely be contained. He has quite lofty plans of decorating the house this year in a spooky and black-lit fashion. I have some reservations, but I'm not worried because our budget will constrain him enough as it is. Halloween costumes are in the early stages of drafting (how am I going to sew a Sonic costume, seriously?), mini pumpkins are bought and being rolled all over the house, and the scary movie screening process has begun.

It is a family tradition that we have to watch a scary movie on Halloween (and eat dark chocolate cupcakes, but that is not so much a tradition as a never ending need). This year I really, REALLY want Nicholas to get in on the action. I am a scary movie fiend and want Nico to feel the joy of wanting to pee in your pants, but what is appropriate? I do not have a great perspective on this because I saw my first horror movie (Nightmare on Elm Street) when I was five and I had nightmares for a month. I do not want to traumatize my child, but I do want him to see some of the stuff that is out there and learn from an early age that there is some fun in being scared.

That is what I am looking for now. Some ideas that have been tossed around:

Alfred Hitchcock Presents
13 ghosts (the original - scared the pants off me when I was N's age. Hmmmm, maybe not)
The Goosebumps series (never seen it, but it is marketed to kids)
The old school monster movies
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (may not hold his interest because it's not a "talkie")

Okay, that's all I have so far, but I've got over a month to figure this out. I am wishing myself luck.

Oh, and I should disclose that Nicholas has already seen a very intense horror movie. When he was around one, he walked in when we were watching Hellraiser. We were informed of his presence by the shrieks of joy he emitted. He thought Pinhead was the funniest thing ever :)