“You took your four year old to WHAT?”

This is the typical reaction I receive when I tell people that my husband and I took my son to Knott’s Scary Farm this year. The next reaction is usually a dumbfounded look when I reveal that the first time he passed through the gates was when he was just a few months old.

It’s not typical but then again, it’s not unusual. People all over the globe who grew up loving horror or like me, have fallen prey to it’s fantastical and shrill shrieking grip later on in life have a large decision to make when they become parents.

When do we expose our kids to scary stuff?

Our two children (ages 2 and 4) have been surrounded by the haunt world since day one. They have been around “monsters”, aka scare talent, during off hours. Our kids call them by nicknames and seldom know the real names our friends were given at birth. We have a few horror movie posters around the house. They’ve both had interesting toddler conversations with Frankenstein and Dracula busts. They ask to watch Frankenweenie, Nightmare Before Christmas and Goosebumps more often than not over other typical cartoons or kid’s shows.
Each year my husband does an at home haunt. My son was only 3 months old when he was indoctrinated into the world of screams and fog.

Our kids have already had a leg up on scary stuff. Every September through October they see daddy getting ready, putting on ripped and tattered costumes, the eye black, the mask and the cowboy hat. Each year it takes a few times of them seeing the transformation before they get comfortable with it.

This year, after much discussion, we decided that it was time to take my son to Knott’s Scary Farm. I asked him multiple times if he was sure. The last thing I wanted to do was traumatize him (it’s the last thing any parent wants to do) but I also wanted him to feel scared. I wanted him to enjoy that rush of the unknown, the eerie quiet of the fog, wait…what was that? Did I just hear something move in that corner? And then BAM! A slider passes right beneath your feet while another ghoul hisses in your ear.

Mommy Fearist’s son, sitting at Ghost Town Grill having a spooky good time.

I wanted that for him. I wanted him to be as excited as he was scared and all for fun. I never wanted him to be terrified. I wanted him to have fun and know that the monsters would never hurt him. He was always safe.

He knew they were just people in masks. But as I took his little hand in mine I noticed that he was nervous. Once more both my husband and I kneeled down to reassure him that if he was ever too scared that he just had to say so and we would go home.
Not once did he want to go home. He loved almost every minute of it! It was a bit of a rough start as we took him on a ride with talent in it. The noise was a bit too much for him. After we exited the attraction we took it nice and slow. The three of us stopped for a nice dinner on a porch and watched as monsters did their job scaring other guests. Every once in awhile one monster would make his/her presence known which brought us into their world. My son laughed as he watched other guests scream and collapse in fear. He also was annoyed when some guests peacocked and played macho man/ tough girl.
After a bit he was ready to take it on.
My husband and I agreed that we would not take him through mazes. The stimulus was too much, in my opinion, and I wanted to steer clear of blood and gore for now. I will say that the street talent did go easy on him. They were respectful about boundaries, even though this is marketed as an “adult” event. But it didn’t take too long for my son to notice that they weren’t trying to scare him. He was becoming disappointed.

And then it happened. In a dark alley with a haunting gobo twirling on the blacktop I let my husband and my son take the lead. I spotted the monster sneaking up behind my husband but when he saw my tiny 4 year old he backed away. I looked at him, I raised an eyebrow and whispered, “Go ahead. Nail him”

And he did. With a tremendous squawk he lurched from the shadows. It was a terrific end to our night. My little boy nearly jumped out of his skin but then had a great fit of laughter. He will always remember his “chicken monster” as the first real scare of his life.

He never had nightmares. He never cried about it. In fact, he is disappointed when he visits the park during the rest of the year. When we took the kids for Christmas time my son was upset that monsters weren’t out and about.

So yes, I took my four year old to a haunted event. He was a little nervous. He got scared a few times and he loved it.