Is this trend going to end soon? Because it's not scary, it's annoying and predictable.

I'm now 37 years old and yes I was terrified by Regan's transformation in "The exorcist" when I saw it as a kid and was affected by the "Come play with us Danny" twins in Kubrick's "The Shining" but lately the "evil kid" thing just seems stale.

Not that the kid is evil, he's a "channel" for the evil emerging, thus drawing black holes or (OMG!) stick figures with their heads chopped off! Not to mention the adults in charge who think "Hmm that's peculiar!" And proceed to go in the cellar without a flashlight to their deaths...

I need help from you experts in finding where the "drawing kid" came from. He's different than the "evil kid" ( Damien) but I just had my fill when I rented "Hide and Seek"...

My memories:

-"Hide and Seek"
-"Darkness" (I think?)
-"The Ring"

Yeah, it is becoming old hat. I see this all the time now and I'm like... ughhh...
Kids are just not scary, Please make some real horror movies without all the tired trends.

well most of the nightmare on elm street movies had those kids drawing with chalk on the ground, singing and jumping rope. i think in started in part 3, but maybe it was in part 1?

It started in part one.

Poltergeist 2 has a part where Carol Anne's mother finds her coloring a picture of that scary old mofo Kane. No giggling though.

I actually didn't mind the way the drawing was used in that movie or the Elm Street films, and the little girls in white dresses jumping rope and singing the Freddy rhyme was always kinda creepy to me. I have gotten annoyed with the kiddie drawing in horror films being used ad nauseum of late, along with the other tired cliche of the pasty/ghostly looking kid whispering things. Ooooohhh, scaaaaaary.

Yeah, I hate how Hollywood releases a new cliched horror flick just about every other week. It's sad sad.

The Innocents (1962) - Screeching chalk on a blackboard.......and of course it's raining outside. Brilliant movie.

Paperhouse, great film.

the young girl in "the others" drew pictures of one of the others.

The Bad Seed & the original Village of the Damned had some cool rugrats.