Not all Hollywood A-listers who started out as child actresses got their break by being cute and sweet. In fact, some of them were downright terrifying!

Christina Ricci and Kirsten Dunst are among the famous faces who started out as scary kids on the big screen, and now Madison Davenport looks poised to join their footsteps in the upcoming film The Possession, which comes out this Friday. 

The Possession centers around a haunted Dybbuk box and supernatural forces behind it, resulting in some of the most bizarre and violent behavior ever seen on film. And Madison's performance looks downright terrifying. We have no doubt this movie will prove her chops as a movie star. In honor of the movie's release, check out our rundown of the top 8 child horror stars turned big time actresses!

Related Article: Top 15 Horror Movies of the '80s!

1. Mischa Barton (The Sixth Sense - Kyra Collins)

Related Article: Top 10 Horror Movies of the '00s!

Talk about a heavy role for someone who just became a teenager! Mischa might be known for her model looks these days, but she first became recognized by the public as a ghost who hides under a table and vomits. The Sixth Sense grossed a whopping $672 million at the box office and catapulted Mischa in superstardom. She scored big that same year with the film Notting Hill and gained acting cred as an adult when she played Marissa Cooper in the first three seasons of The O.C. from 2003-2006.

2. Chloe Moretz (Let Me In - Abby)

Let Me In is a remake of the Swedish film Let The Right One In. And While Chloe had been acting steadily before, the flick was her first starring movie role as a child vampire who befriends a young boy. The film was nominated and won for several national awards, marking Chloe as one of the top child actresses in Hollywood. She went on to star in the critically acclaimed 2011 film Hugo and has three new movie projects confirmed for release next year.

3. Christina Ricci (The Addams Family - Wednesday Addams)

At the tender age of 11, Christina became an instant celebrity playing the creepy and kooky daughter of the Addams Family. The film earned over $191 million at the box office and sparked a sequel in 1993. Since then, she has acted in over 40 movies including The Opposite of Sex, Sleepy Hollow and Monster. Most recently, she made her TV debut in a starring role as flight attendant Maggie Ryan on ABC show Pan Am in 2011.

4. Kirsten Dunst (Interview With the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles - Claudia)

Long before Kirsten was taking part in upside down kisses in the Spiderman franchise, she was nominated for a Golden Globe at age 12 for her role as a vampire "daughter" that preys on humans. Based on the book of the same name by Anne Rice, the flick raked in over $223 million in sales and was one of the biggest releases of 1994. Since then, Kirsten has become a bonafide A-lister who has received critical acclaim for other movies such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in 2004 and Melancholia in 2011

5. Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan - Esther)

Esther turned heads in this 2009 thriller, where she played the role of a mentally unstable Russian girl. The film cleared nearly $77 million at the box office and Esther has been steadily working ever since, most noticeably as Clove in The Hunger Games.

6. Daveigh Chase (The Ring - Samara)

Daveigh nabbed her first major role in this 2002 flick as a reclusive, otherworldly girl who is capable of burning images onto surfaces and other people's minds. Since The Ring was released, Daveigh has found her niche in Hollywood on the small screen. She played the voice of Lilo on Lilo and Stitch: The Series from 2003-2007 and immediately followed that with the role of Rhonda Volmer on the critically acclaimed HBO series Big Love from 2006-2011, allowing her to officially break the child actress curse.

7. Linda Blair (The Exorcist - Regan)

Linda beat out 600 other child actresses for the role of possessed child Regan and the rest is history. The Exorcist is one of the most successful movies of all time, raking in $441 million in sales and counting from continued midnight screenings, while many still consider it to be the best horror movie of all time. Linda won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for the movie, but issues with drugs and subsequent arrests at the end of the '70s halted her path to A-list stardom. She managed to get clean and has continued to work steadily over the years, appearing in a Broadway revival of Grease in 1997 and hosting Fox Family's Scariest Places on Earth from 2000-2006.

8. Danielle Harris (Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers - Jamie Lloyd)

Danielle scored her first big screen accolade at the tender age of 11, playing the role of niece to infamous serial killer Michael Myers in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. She became best known as a scream queen by starring in three more Halloween movies and numerous other horror flicks, but Danielle also enjoyed plenty of success as an adult on TV with her voice role as Debbie on The Wild Thornberrys from 1998-2004 and starring on CBS show That's Life from 2000-2002.

Who is your favorite child actress from horror flicks?

Photos courtesy of Getty Images, Ghost House Pictures, Trancas Film, Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks, Warner Bros., Overture Films, Hollywood Pictures