October is here, meaning that it’s finally time to take out your spooky movies! For me, any free time I have is an excuse to watch a horror movie, even if it’s during the festive holiday seasons. However, October is the prime time to start binge watching every horror movie you can think of. In the spirit of spookiness, I’ve put together a list of Halloween family-friendly movies and some scary ones to keep you in the spooky mood all October long!
1. Hocus Pocus (1993), dir. Kenny Ortega
After 300 years of slumber, three sister witches are accidentally resurrected in Salem on Halloween night and it is up to three kids and their newfound feline friend to put an end to the witches’ reign of terror once and for all.
2. It (2017), dir. Andy Muschetti
In a small town in Maine, seven children known as The Losers Club come face to face with life problems, bullies, and a monster that takes the shape of a clown called Pennywise.
3. It: Chapter Two (2019), dir. Andy Muschetti
27 years after overcoming the malevolent supernatural entity Pennywise, the former members of the Losers’ Club, who have grown up and moved away from Derry, are brought back together by a devastating phone call.
4. The Addams Family (1991), dir. Barry Sonnenfield
When an evil doctor finds out Uncle Fester has been missing for 25 years, he introduces a fake Fester in an attempt to get the Addams family’s money. Wednesday has some doubts about the new uncle Fester, but the fake uncle adapts very well to the strange family.
5. Addams Family Values (1993), dir. Barry Sonnenfield
Siblings Wednesday and Pugsley Addams will stop at nothing to get rid of Pubert, the new baby boy adored by parents Gomez and Morticia. Things go from bad to worse when the new “black widow” nanny, Debbie Jellinsky, launches her plan to add Fester to her collection of dead husbands.
6. Halloween (1978), dir. John Carpenter
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween Night in 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
7. What We Do in the Shadows (2014), dir. Taika Waititi
Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.
8. Beetlejuice (1988), dir. Tim Burton
Thanks to an untimely demise via drowning, a young couple end up as poltergeists in their New England farmhouse, where they fail to meet the challenge of scaring away the insufferable new owners, who want to make drastic changes. In desperation, the undead newlyweds turn to an expert fright meister, but he’s got a diabolical agenda of his own.
9. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), dir. Henry Selick
Tired of scaring humans every October 31 with the same old bag of tricks, Jack Skellington, the spindly king of Halloween Town, kidnaps Santa Claus, and plans to deliver shrunken heads and other ghoulish gifts to children on Christmas morning. But as Christmas approaches, Jack’s rag-doll girlfriend, Sally, tries to foil his misguided plans.
10. Us (2019), dir. Jordan Peele
Husband and wife Gabe and Adelaide Wilson take their kids to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends, but as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited.
11. Get Out (2018), dir. Jordan Peele
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family’s overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter’s interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
12. Edward Scissorhands (1990), dir. Tim Burton
A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.
13. Psycho (1960), dir. Alfred Hitchcock
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother. The place seems quirky, but fine… until Marion decides to take a shower.
14. Casper (1995), dir. Brad Silberling
Furious that her late father only willed her his gloomy-looking mansion rather than his millions, Carrigan Crittenden is ready to burn the place to the ground when she discovers a map to a treasure hidden in the house. But when she enters the rickety mansion to seek her claim, she is frightened away by a wicked wave of ghosts. Determined to get her hands on this hidden fortune, she hires afterlife therapist Dr. James Harvey to exorcise the ghosts from the mansion.
15. The Shining (1980), dir. Stanley Kubrick
Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter… but they aren’t prepared for the madness that lurks within.
16. Carrie (1976), dir. Brian de Palma
Carrie White, a shy and troubled teenage girl who is tormented by her high school peers and her fanatically religious mother, begins to use her powers of telekinesis to exact revenge upon them.
17. The Witch (2015), dir. Robert Eggers
In 1630s New England, William and Katherine lead a devout Christian life with five children, homesteading on the edge of an impassable wilderness, exiled from their settlement when William defies the local church. When their newborn son vanishes and crops mysteriously fail, the family turns on one another.
18. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), dir. Jim Sharman
Sweethearts Brad and Janet, stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a transvestite scientist. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker and a creepy butler. Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named ‘Rocky’.
19. Halloweentown (1998), dir. Duwayne Duham
On her 13th birthday, Marnie learns she’s a witch, discovers a secret portal, and is transported to Halloweentown — a magical place where ghosts and ghouls, witches and werewolves live apart from the human world. But she soon finds herself battling wicked warlocks, evil curses, and endless surprises.
20. Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge (2001), dir. Mary Lambert
The son of the Cromwells’ old enemy Kalabar has a plan to use the grandmother’s book to turn Halloweentown into a grey dreary version of the real world, while transforming the denizens of the real world into monsters.
21. Corpse Bride (2005), dir. Tim Burton
Set in a 19th-century european village, this stop-motion animation feature follows the story of Victor, a young man whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious corpse bride, while his real bride Victoria waits bereft in the land of the living.
22. Twitches (2005), dir. Stuart Gillard
Twins separated at birth, Camryn and Alex meet by chance for the first time on their 21st birthday and discover they’re witches with the power to save their homeland of Coventry from the evil that threatens it.
23. The Conjuring (2013), dir. James Wan
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives.
24. Ghostbusters (1984), dir. Ivan Reitman
After losing their academic posts at a prestigious university, a team of parapsychologists goes into business as proton-pack-toting “ghostbusters” who exterminate ghouls, hobgoblins and supernatural pests.
25. The Evil Dead (1981), dir. Sam Raimi
When a group of college students finds a mysterious book and recording in the old wilderness cabin they’ve rented for the weekend, they unwittingly unleash a demonic force from the surrounding forest.
26. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), dir. Wes Craven
Teenagers in a small town are dropping like flies, apparently in the grip of mass hysteria causing their suicides. A cop’s daughter, Nancy Thompson, traces the cause to child molester Fred Krueger, who was burned alive by angry parents many years before. Krueger has now come back in the dreams of his killers’ children, claiming their lives as his revenge.
27. Scream (1996), dir. Wes Craven
A killer known as Ghostface begins killing off teenagers, and as the body count begins rising, one girl and her friends find themselves contemplating the ‘rules’ of horror films as they find themselves living in a real-life one.
28. A Quiet Place (2018), dir. John Krasinski
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.
29. Insidious (2010), dir. James Wan
A family discovers that dark spirits have invaded their home after their son inexplicably falls into an endless sleep. When they reach out to a professional for help, they learn things are a lot more personal than they thought.
30. Coraline (2009), dir. Henry Selick
When Coraline moves to an old house, she feels bored and neglected by her parents. She finds a hidden door with a bricked up passage. During the night, she crosses the passage and finds a parallel world where everybody has buttons instead of eyes, with caring parents and all her dreams coming true.
31. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), dir. Bill Melendez
This classic “Peanuts” tale focuses on the thumb-sucking, blanket-holding Linus, and his touching faith in the “Great Pumpkin.” When Linus discovers that no one else believes in the creature, he sets out to prove that the Pumpkin’s no myth—by spending the night alone in a pumpkin patch.