I've never seen "Monster House", but it was apparently written by Dan Harmon, creator of the NBC show "Community". When a friend of his wrote to him because her daughter was having nightmares after seeing "Monster House", Mr. Harmon wrote a letter to her daughter explaining that a scary movie should be scary but also empowering, giving you the message that you can confront and overcome your fears (like "Jaws"). Most scary movies are worthless and a complete waste of time because they have no message and all they try to do is scare the bejesus out of you by having things leap out at you constantly.
Anyway, I'm interpreting what he said, you should read the original letter and his full response here. It's short and great and very inspiring.
I don't know if he ever meant for the letter to become public because he calls Spielberg a "moron".
To me, Dan Harmon is a genius because "Community" is my favorite show these days, I think it's amazing, and I can't figure out why nobody else is watching it, especially because "The Office" and "30 Rock" seem to have lost their sense of humor this season, but maybe that's just me.