Post by Mark T. Locker.

Happy Halloween season, folks! Time to get out the fake skeletons, wrap everything in spooky black gauze and bust out the scary movies! But if you have a kid who is sensitive to scary things, you may have to dial down the eek factor by a significant margin. There are a number of kind of scary movies you can choose from and then a lot of not scary but Halloween-themed.

We decided to try out Disney’s Haunted Mansion, starring Eddie Murphy. If they can make a movie based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, why not a movie based on the Haunted House at Disneyland?

The premise is pretty out-of-the-box: Jim Evers (Murphy) is a realtor with his wife and business partner Sara. But he can’t stop working and lets his job get in the way of his personal life, his wife and two kids. SO in an effort to mend things, they take a family vacation with one caveat: they stop and check out this crazy mansion that they’ve been asked to sell.

Oh, one other caveat: the place is crazy haunted and the lord of the manor is a ghost and he wants Sara to join him in the Eternal. Oops! But nobody is really that scary; the maid and the servant are funny and kind to the children. They’re just a bit translucent. You can imagine that a lot of hi jinks take place. And perhaps along the way Jim Evers will learn that there are things that are more important than making the sale. In a word: family.

Despite its total un-scariness, my seven-year-old found it a bit too much to handle. No nightmares, but he demanded we turn it off. I guess we will stick to The Worst Witch for now. But if you child is made of tougher stuff, it’s a fun spooky Halloweeny good time!