The kids are all fright: The scariest children in horror movie history

Rhoda Penmark is arguably the genesis for all the evil little kids who came in horror movies after her. The Bad Seed came out in 1956 when the Production Code was still a thing. They even had to add a little credits scene where actress Nancy Kelly, who played Rhoda's mom, playfully spanks Patty McCormack, who played Rhoda. That's how disturbing a movie like this was at the time. They had to assure everybody that it was all just a movie.

Again, here we have an entire town of spooky kids — this time, with bleached-blonde hair and creepy eyes. If you've ever seen The Simpsons episode where all the children of Springfield see The Bloodening, this is the movie it's based on. David is the son of the main characters, so he gets special billing among his creepy cohorts.

You may not have heard of Spider Baby, but the film has achieved cult classic status over the years. Virginia is known as spider baby because she loves spiders. Also, she is regressing mentally and emotionally, which is disconcerting in and of itself. If you are looking for a new horror movie to watch featuring spooky kids, add Spider Baby to your list.

There are a lot of zombies in George Romero's classic horror movie, although he never called them zombies. Most of them are adults. Karen is a child. Beyond that, she is the daughter of a couple holed up in the safe house, which means when she turns into a zombie, she's already in there, looking for brains.

OK, so Regan isn't as scary as the demon possessing her. However, we don't see that demon. We do see a little girl spin her head around, vomit soup, and look terrifying. So, Regan still makes the list because The Exorcist is one of the scariest movies of all time.

Much like Rosemary's kid, Damien was born evil. He's actually the Antichrist, which doesn't bode well for his parents or anybody. He grows up in a series of sequels less well-received than the original The Omen.

Don't forget where Michael Myers started. As a kid, he ended up institutionalized because he stabbed his sister to death on the titular holiday. Michael was only six then and had already perfected the whole scary-clown act. Then, he threw on a weird white mask; the rest is history.

Danny Torrance is not exactly free of creepiness, but he can't hold a candle to these twins. They are barely in the movie, but they have made a massive impact on pop culture. Even if you haven't seen The Shining, you've seen these two girls in matching dresses, beckoning you to play with them forever and ever.

What is it with kids who have supernatural powers? Can't they use them for good? Anthony certainly doesn't. He's basically a little god, but he demands the world to bend to his whim, and there are repercussions if you don't. 

Frankly, all the kids in Children of the Corn are creepy little murderers, but Isaac is the worst. He's the one who starts the cult in Gatlin, Nebraska, that demands blood for He Who Walks Behind the Rows. Admittedly, that's impressive for a 12-year-old, but it would have been nice if he had used his persuasive powers better.

Most kids might pout or throw a tantrum. Charlie tends to start fires with her mind. Given how unpredictable a kid can be, you'd have to walk on eggshells around her, hoping not to get caught in a fire. Charlie is scarier than Gertie in E.T., another famous child character played by Drew Barrymore.

There are a lot of young vampires in The Lost Boys, and they all belong here. Bloodthirsty vampires are certainly scary. David, played by Kiefer Sutherland, is on the older side, but he takes on a leading role among the vampires in town, making him all the more menacing.

Could nobody in Ludlow, Maine, learn a lesson? Animals got buried at a Micmac burial ground and came back mutilated and evil. One guy buried his son there, and he came back as a violent zombie. Despite that, Louis decided to bury his dead son Gage there. You can guess what happened. Gage didn't start scary, but he certainly was by the end.

Honestly, Macaulay Culkin's character in Home Alone is pretty scary in his own right. He's awfully happy to light Joe Pesci's head on fire. Still, Kevin McAllister isn't quite as evil or scary as Henry from The Good Son. He takes violence to a new level.

The Ring is the American version of Japan's Ringu, but Sadako/Samara is creepy either way. With her long, stringy hair and penchant for crawling out of wells before killing you, Samara is nightmare fuel, even if you aren't likely to watch a VHS anymore.

Here's another scary kid you've probably seen, even if you didn't watch The Grudge. Toshio is pale white with scary eyes, and he was all over the ads. Sans the context of the film, he's a ghost boy and still creepy. That's powerful horror movie imagery.

Eli is nice to her neighbor Oskar, and she seems like a friendly enough little girl on the surface. The only hitch is that she is a vampire who is more than willing to kill somebody to feed. She may have held off on killing Oskar, but most people weren’t so lucky.

You know you've made a successful little horror film when people are worried it will stigmatize orphans. Esther was the exact wrong kid for Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard to adopt on account of the fact she's pure evil. Not in a supernatural way, either. She's just an awful little kid, which arguably makes her even scarier...or is she?

Consider Case 39 as a reverse Orphan. Instead of a family adopting an evil girl, a social worker takes a girl, Lillith, away from her family and lets Lillith stay at her house. It turns out that this seemingly innocent 10-year-old girl is a Succubus that feeds on emotion. That'll cause you some problems.

The Unborn features two things: a movie poster that shows the lead actress in her underwear in the most gratuitous fashion possible and the main character's long-dead twin brother, who died in the womb but has returned thanks to a dybbuk. It's all a little convoluted, but we're talking demons and dogs with upside-down heads, so it's still unnerving.

"Mama" is a film about two young girls who disappear after their parents die, seemingly raising themselves in the woods. However, Victoria and Lily were actually raised by a supernatural being, "Mama," who is not happy when the girls' uncles finds them and takes them in. Lily was raised by Mama since she was a baby, so she is more feral, more attached to her supernatural parental figure, and decidedly spookier as a result.