Recalling the Scooby Doo of my childhood, I could only recall vague images of a goofy dog and his fearless (sometimes) foursome of friends riding around in a really hippy dippy van “solving” mysteries—which usually meant pulling masks off of people after they followed really obvious clues. Revisiting the show with my child now, I’m realizing that it’s sort of scary—at least in some ways—and misdirection is a pretty common theme.

What CSI does for criminals, I think Scooby Doo does for kids—it can teach you how to not just get away with something, but also how to blame it on someone else! Kids, of course, rarely have access to the equipment, holographic imagery, or costumes that the Scooby Doo criminals do.

Most episodes are pretty generic, but some are also fairly creepy. My daughter loves to watch them and I watch them with her, and I can’t believe some of the characters on the show. The other day, I saw an evil clown and thought now that’s why my best friend hated clowns growing up! The guy certainly looked his part.

So far, my kiddo hasn’t gotten very scared of Scooby Doo villains—she’s actually been more scared while watching scenes from Shrek and The Princess and the Frog, though not the ones people might think!—and I’m okay with her watching the cartoons she chooses in moderation. Her favorite characters are Shaggy and Scooby Doo, which I naturally find endearing. (I grew up loving Velma myself, making “Jinkies!” one of my personal catchphrases during pretend play.)

Scooby Doo also teaches about a few things, if you think about it—like following your instincts and facing your fears. It also introduces lots of icons from classic TV and pop culture, which are fun to talk about and could lead to other interests later on. I don’t have to worry about a lot of violence in Scooby Doo films, either.

After watching some newer episodes with her, however, I do continue to wonder. The newer scenes offer even scarier creatures—in fact, one movie we watched had real monsters rather than the fake ones we’ve come to expect, which was quite an unwelcome surprise. I think as long as we stick with the classic Scooby Doo episodes, we’ll keep a good compromise going until she’s a little older and, in my opinion, ready for the spookier shows.