Bloody, sadistic, nightmare-inducing Halloween

costumes are being made and marketed for kids…and

no one seems to scare.

Whereas precautions exist to protect children from

violent movies, TV shows, music, and video games, top

Halloween costume makers and sellers do the opposite,

encouraging children under 12 -- in some cases under 6

-- to dress up as sadistic, deranged murderers from R-

Rated cinema including:

* "Mike Myers" from Halloween

* "Leatherface" from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

* "Pinhead" from Hellraiser

* "Jason" from Friday the 13th

* "Freddy Krueger" from A Nightmare on Elm Street

* "Hannibal Lecter" from Silence of the Lambs

Children can "accessorize" their costumes with bloody

machetes, long knives, axes, chainsaws, and other

torture and murder toys. One "zombie doctor" costume

with "PVC rotting chest, pants with rotted knee, surgical

mask and cap, and latex gloves" comes in size 4-6.

It isn’t all about gore, either. Kids well under 12 are

encouraged to purchase costumes for a wide range of

popular movies the Motion Picture Association has

already deemed inappropriate for their age, including

Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Trek,

Spider-Man, Iron Man, Star Wars III, Thor, Captain

America and over half of the Harry Potter movies.

How are parents supposed to steer their kids away from

inappropriate movies and images when those same

movies and images are being aggressively marketed to

them every Halloween?

Joel Schwartzberg, an award-winning parenting essayist,

author, and father of three school-age children, has

written on this topic for The New York Daily News, The

Huffington Post, The Star Ledger, AOL Parent Dish, and

iVillage. It’s also the focus of a chapter in his award-

winning collection of essays: "The 40-Year Old Version"

A big fan of the horror film genre ever since his mother

took him to see The Shining at the all-too-young age of

12, Schwartzberg has also written two horror

screenplays, both of which were finalists at the Los

Angeles Shriekfest Film Festival.