My 7 year old is more interested in scary/dark things than happy/good things - anyone else?

[fancyacoffee]

My son has just turned 7 and is and always has been into the 'darker' things in life - i mean, vampires, witches, baddies, guns that kind of thing. Even when he was very young (2ish) his preference was to dress up as a witch, vampire, scary pirate or something similar and these figures are now something he's quite passionate about. I don't know many boys his own age and the handful that I have met seem to be so innocent and sweet - they call their mums 'mummy', smile nicely, willingly hold their mum's hand to cross the road (generally do as they're told!) and are into Harry Potter and superheros - ie not baddies! It's been in the back of mind for a few years now that he is different to most other boys but it's a thought I just can't shake recently and I'm wondering if this is 'out of the ordinary'. Does anybody else have a son like this? Am I right to be a bit worried and make a bigger effort to encourage him away from ghouls, ghosts, dracula, weapons etc..?!!! Thanks everyone, x

[MattDillonsPants]

My DD has just turned 8 and is the same OP. I don't worry about it because I was the same and I still love horror stories and films.

My DD has loved baddies, robbers, witches, ghosts, vampires and monsters since she was old enough to express a preference. She LOVES Halloween and dresses up all year round.

Her games consist of werewolf attacks, witches who sneak about unseen which she then detects and gets to know....she makes up scary songs on her electric keyboard and has a "band" called Electric Bomber...(don't ask)

I think it's fine. We should get them together.

[Hygellig]

At the moment my five-year-old keeps going on about bombs and killer guns , as well as monsters and baddies. I blame Wallace and Gromit, of all things, for starting his interest in bombs (the Cereal Killer episode). DH loves watching violent and gory films, despite being the complete opposite of a violent person.

[stumblymonkey]

I was the same when I was small...things I loved included: the paranormal, mummification and witches. It's just altogether more intriguing and there's the 'not for kids' element of it that appeals to children. I am, I believe, a 100% normal adult!

Don't worry!

[SohowdoIdothis]

Perfectly normal, interesting over mundane, just supply them with lots of horrid history stuff.

[YogaDrone]

My Yr3 son is like this and always has been. He loves the villains - the Joker in Batman, Darth Maul/Darth Vader/Kylo Ren in Star Wars, Saruman in Lord of the Rings, Voldemort in Harry Potter.

WBD this year there were about 5 children dressed as Harry Potter. My son dressed as Voldemort!

What can I say? Takes all sorts and the baddies are usually more interesting/complex characters than the heroes anyway.

[YogaDrone]

oh goodness yes SohowdoIdothis - my son loves horrible histories! And goosebumps books and googling werewolf and vampire folk lore. He loves the greek/norse myths because of all the horrible endings that befall people. He finds the ancient Egyptian mummification process totally enthralling. Little ghoul

[SohowdoIdothis]

Mine are now a little older now, and love all the Mary Beard BBC meet the romans/Pompeii programs.