A:Kids love to be scared, but not all kids can handle it. Not all kids can distinguish between fantasy and reality -- even if you tell them "it\'s not real."

For so many parents, figuring out what\'s too scary for their kids is a frighteningly daunting task. Yes, frightening movies can be fun. But for younger and more sensitive viewers, movies with scary images, intense peril, loud noises, and, above all, blood and gore, can create all sorts of disturbances including anxiety, sleep disruption, and fears about certain situations.

So before you rent the latest spookfest thinking they just might be able to handle it, ask yourself if the film is age-appropriate. Our reviews can definitely provide you with some guidance. Getting scared can be fun -- if kids are truly mature enough to handle what\'s scaring them.

Check out a few additional tips below:

Ages 2-4: Nothing scarier than “boo” for this age unless you want nightmares.

Ages 5-7: Spooky cartoon situations with haunted houses and friendly ghosts are fine, but peril involving parents, siblings, or similar-aged kids is not. Kids at this age still can’t easily recognize situations as fantasy, so they will respond as if what they are seeing is real. Be very careful with monsters, skeletons, aliens, and zombies.

Ages 8-10: Some psychological suspense with happy endings is OK, as is physical jeopardy, ghoulish faces, and phantoms, as long as there\'s no blood or gore.

Ages 11-12: Kids can handle some dramatic suspense as long as the resolution is clear and positive. Skeletons, monsters, aliens ... bring it on! (Just not with blood or gore.)

Ages 13-15: Dramatic or psychological suspense and horror are OK (although be careful with the supernatural, and no graphic gore). Think Stephen King, but not The Hills Have Eyes.

Ages 16+: It all depends on your stomach. It can be hard to imagine when a movie like The Omen remake would be appropriate.