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Parents' Guide to

R.L. Stine's Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It

By Heather Boerner, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Tween-friendly, ad-happy Halloween fright fest.

Movie PG 2007 87 minutes
R.L. Stine's Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 7+

Based on 7 parent reviews

hope1111111111111
hope1111111111111 Adult
August 16, 2018
age 2+

it’s literally fine, stop overprotecting your child

the movie isn’t award-winning, but it’s interesting enough to entertain you and your kids. whether you’re watching this to make fun of it, or you genuinely like the movie, i’d recommend it. there is little to no gore and no advertising. people keep saying how there is a papa johns part in this movie, and there is, but it’s no big deal. they just have a delivery boy get attacked, and it happens to be a papa johns guy. anyways, some characters are stereotypical and the story line is pretty basic, but it’s a fun movie to watch if you’re bored or you need to watch a cheesy “scary” movie in october (or july when you’re wishing for spooky season to come back). so yeah.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
emira18@gmail.com
[email protected] Adult
June 30, 2018
age 7+

My favorite childhood movie

I was about 10/11 when it came out in 2007 and I loved it I’ve watched it about 10 times and most recently I bought it and watched it two days ago and still very entertaining I like it but it could me scary for kids under 7
See all 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Cassie (Hannah Montana's Emily Osment) is new to town and fascinated by the occult; Halloween is her favorite holiday. At a mysterious Halloween store, a stranger (Saw's Tobin Bell) insists on selling her an old book called The Evil Thing. Stuck babysitting brother Max (Alex Winzenread) on Halloween night, she reads the book to him just before bed, despite the book's warnings not to read it out loud or think about its monster. Now she must save her brother and defeat this other-worldly creature before Mom and Dad get back from their Halloween party.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7 ):
Kids say (21 ):

This campfire-style horror story is predictable to adults, but kids who've never seen any of those other movies may enjoy it and be on the edge of their seats for most of it. All good scary movies depend on the active imagination of the viewer. Just consider the power of suggestion in The Blair Witch Project to terrorize people. R.L. STINE'S HAUNTING HOUR: DON'T THINK ABOUT IT makes good use of this technique. The whole story is based around one simple and irresistible order: If you don't want the boogeyman to get you, don't think about him.

What's great about Don't Think About It is that it's straightforward. The bickering between Cassie and Max is totally relatable to anyone with siblings, which makes the plot seem plausible and that much more scary. It's a more kid-friendly version of It, combined with a less evil version of The Craft.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why scaring siblings is fun and how to better express their feelings. How does Cassie get punished for terrorizing her brother? Do you think her punishment is fair?

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