Why are otherwise adorable children so scary in horror films?

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My partner and I are pretty big movie buffs in general and within that, we host an appreciation for horror flicks. Tonight, we watched Case 39 which was a film starring a young, adorable ten year old girl who happened to be possessed. She looked as a child looks-but she was horrifying. Why? There is a scene where she is spinning on a rotating chair. I have been around young children and this is not out of the realm of things they would do by any means, but in the context of a horror flick-it's terrifying. Same thing goes for the movie Hide and Seek- we were far more afraid of Dakota Fanning's stare than the fact that she had a psychotic imaginary friend. And finally The Sixth Sense, I don't think people were scared of Cole, per se, but he was still quite eerie. Why? Is it the paleness they often adorn-- no because some children are pale and we all seem to deal with that just fine. Is it makeup, lightening, the music? What is it about these children who would be otherwise adorable that becomes outright creepy in horror films? Is it the context of watching a horror film? I can't imagine that an audience could be so easily manipulated especially since, again, with Hide and Seek, audiences were much more afraid of Dakota Fanning who wasn't really doing much (in terms of violence or evil) than the real threat of a psycho leaving bloody messages around the house. So, what is it about kids that freak us adults out?