As the leaves begin to turn a shade of deep red-orange and pumpkins line the edges of Broad Street, Colgate students find the Halloween season upon them once more. There is perhaps no better way to celebrate the changing of seasons than with a Halloween movie marathon. Make sure to grab some popcorn, candy corn, and a pumpkin spice latte; it’s time to get into the spirit with some childhood favorites and classic horror films.
1. Hocus Pocus (1993) After moving to Salem, Massachusetts, teenager Max Dennison accidentally frees the Sanderson sisters, a coven of evil witches executed three-hundred years ago. With the help of his new girlfriend, little sister, and an immortal black cat, Max must stop the sisters before they secure their immortality and steal the lives of children.
2. Ghostbusters (1984) Three scientists studying the occult decide to wage a technological war against the paranormal — for a price. After naming themselves the ‘Ghostbusters,’ they catch low-level ghosts, ghouls, and poltergeists before discovering a portal to another dimension containing the ancient demon Gozzer.
3. The Sixth Sense (1999) Child Psychologist Malcolm Crowe is visited by an ex-patient who shoots him in the stomach and then kills himself. Troubled by the encounter months later, Crowe tasks himself with curing a young boy who claims he can see dead people.
4. Sleepy Hollow (1999) In 1799, the New York City Police Department sends Detective Ichabod Crane to investigate a string of murders in the small town of Sleepy Hollow. After his arrival, the town council informs him of the legend of the Headless Horseman. Unconvinced by their tales, Crane finds himself deeper in the woods as he tracks the spirit of a soldier from the Revolutionary War seeking revenge against his beheaders.
5. Halloweentown (1998) On her 13th birthday, Marnie discovers that her grandmother is a witch living in Halloweentown, a community of supernatural creatures. With trouble brewing in Halloweentown, it is up to Marnie and her family to save the town from impending doom.
6. Silence of the Lambs (1991) Eager to work under the leadership of Jack Crawford, F.B.I. trainee Clarice Starling works with imprisoned psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter to solve the serial murder case of “Buffalo Bill.” Clarice believes that speaking to Lecter, a serial killer who ate his victims, may lead her to the killer. The stakes are raised when Buffalo Bill targets the daughter of a senator.
7. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) The world is shocked when reclusive candy maker Willy Wonka announces that five people will get to tour his factory if they can find golden tickets hidden in candy bars. After Charlie, a poor boy from a hard-working family, discovers the final golden ticket, he finds himself immersed in a fantastical candyland. The catch? Only one participant can win the grand prize at the end of the tour.
8. Warm Bodies (2013) After a deadly disease divides the population into the living and the living dead, young zombie R eats the brains of a boyfriend tasked with finding food outside their compound walls. Receiving many of his memories, R begins to fall in love with Julie, the daughter of a military leader and girlfriend to a now-dead Perry. Forming a curious friendship, the two begin to see the war between the living and the living dead is not so clear-cut.
9. The Conjuring (2013) In 1971, the Perrons move into an old farmhouse in Rhode Island with their five daughters. After discovering that spirits haunt the house, they call two paranormal investigators to save them from an evil force targeting them. The investigators must act fast, collecting evidence to convince the Church that an exorcism must be performed before it is too late.
10. Casper (1995) After her late father entrusts her with an old mansion, Carrigan Crittenden is scared away by ghosts haunting the estate. Determined to collect the treasure hidden within the house, Crittenden hires afterlife therapist Dr. James Harvey to move in with his daughter, Kat. Upon moving in, Kat meets Casper, the ghost of a young boy, who develops a crush and wishes more than anything to be human again.
11. The Addams Family (1991) The Addams are an eccentric, wealthy family. After a man arrives on their doorstep claiming to be Gomez Addams’ long-lost brother, the family must determine if he is a fraud trying to swindle their fortune.
12. Mother! (2017) A young woman works hard to restore a Victorian mansion once burned down. After a stranger knocks on the door, the woman struggles to understand why her partner has become increasingly cruel as chaos ensues.
13. It (2017) In the summer of 1989, a demon who can shape-shift into a child’s worst fears returns after 27 years of dormancy. As the local children continue to disappear, a band of kids called “the Losers club” decide it is time to kill the spirit Pennywise.
14. Twitches (2005) Two twin sisters who were separated at birth and adopted by different families reunite on their twenty-first birthday. Learning of their past, they realize they must return to the magic realm of Coventry to save their mother from the darkness overtaking the land.
15. Carrie (1976) Lonely seventeen-year-old Carrie White is shy after years of her mother’s zealous religious practices. When her peers bully Carrie, she discovers deadly powers that she uses for revenge.
16. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) Buffy Summers has it all: she is a cheerleader dating the co-captain of the basketball team. After the mysterious figure, Merrick, tells Buffy that she is the new vampire slayer, she must ditch the shopping sprees to fight against the vampire Lothos and save the world.
17. Practical Magic (1998) Sisters Sally and Gillian Owens come from a long line of witches. Cursed by the fate that any man they fall in love with will meet an untimely death, the Owens must use their powers to fight the curse. Their lives are further complicated by the arrival of Tuscan Police Detective Gary Hallet, who suspects their involvement in their spouses’ deaths.
18. Coraline (2009) Eleven-year-old Coraline moves into an old house and discovers a hidden door with a bricked up passage that allows entrance at night. Crawling through the passageway, she finds herself in a parallel universe where her life is better. When her alternate mother insists that she can stay forever if she is allowed to sew on button eyes, Coraline begins to suspect that her reality is not as it seems.
19. The Blair Witch Project (1999) Three young film students disappear after filming a documentary about the rumored Blair Witch in Maryland. One year after their disappearance, authorities can only recover their video footage, compiled into the movie audiences are currently watching.
20. It Follows (2014) After Jay Heights engages in a sexual encounter, she finds herself plagued by the curse of a walker who can change into any form. Her partner informs her that the only way to escape the walker is to have intercourse with another person; until then, the walker will hunt her down as his next victim.