A fall breeze has swept through Tallahassee, and my morning walks to class no longer leave me a sweaty mess at 8 a.m. This can only mean one thing: spooky season is upon us. Halloween gel clings have been stuck around my apartment with care, and now it’s socially acceptable to exclusively listen to my Halloween playlist, although I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t dabble in a little off-season “Monster Mash.”
For me, however, the beauty of the Halloween season lies in its movies. As a Disney Channel kid through and through, evident by the five Jonas Brothers concerts I’ve been to in my life, there’s no Halloween movie like a Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM). For the perfect wave of nostalgia, holiday spirit, and only a charming level of cringe — it’s a Disney Channel badge of honor — include these picks in your next movie marathon.
Girl vs. Monster
As a girl who loved Kickin’ It so much that she signed up for karate classes just to be like Olivia Holt, it’s no surprise that Girl vs. Monster is a staple in my Halloween movie rotation. In this DCOM classic, Holt plays Skylar, a teen who makes a Halloween eve discovery that she and her parents are, you guessed it, monster hunters.
When Skylar’s parents make her stay home from the Halloween Bash, she attempts to sneak out of her house and unleashes a monster named Deimata, who was trapped in her parents’ monster containment unit. Nothing says “you’re grounded” like releasing the family monster!
Throughout the movie, Skylar and her friends work together to capture Deimata, set against the backdrop of a classic Disney Channel original soundtrack. Girl vs. Monster is responsible for songs like “Fearless” and “Had Me @ Hello” (and hello to you, too, Luke Benward). The music is ultimately what makes this movie for me, with earworms that are sure to be stuck in your head well past spooky season.
Zombies
If you’ve been on TikTok lately, or maybe I’m just exposing my For You Page, you may have seen people rave about the recently completed Descendants-ZOMBIES: Worlds Collide Tour.
The tour quickly went viral on social media for its flashy dance numbers, impressive vocal performances, and nostalgic nod to the legacy of two popular Disney movie franchises. I felt seen by the twentysomethings on my TikTok posting about their undercover obsession with this tour, which inspired this movie’s addition to my DCOM Halloween Mount Rushmore.
Zombies comes to us from the fictional town of Seabrook, a place divided after a zombie apocalypse decades ago. In the present day, zombie students from their isolated land of Zombietown transfer into Seabrook High, which introduces us to the central couple of Addison and Zed. Addison and Zed nail the cheerleader star and quarterback relationship stereotype with one twist: Zed is a zombie.
The movie follows this duo as they navigate high school in a human-zombie relationship, all set to catchy music and over-the-top cheer routines. The pairing of Meg Donelly and Milo Manheim is the perfect, swoon-worthy movie couple, and this movie offers a nice balance between spooky themes and classic rom-com charm.
We also owe the popular song “Someday” to this movie, which has become a DCOM classic with over 100 million streams and has arguably positioned itself as the new “Breaking Free” for younger members of Gen Z.
Hocus Pocus
To round out my top three DCOM Halloween staples, we’re throwing it back to the Halloween cult classic Hocus Pocus. This movie follows the antics of a witch trio in Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night. Despite the wiles of the witches and their efforts to ruin Halloween for a local brother-sister duo, these three are so charming, funny, and musically talented that you somehow just want to be their friend.
This film provides all the perfect, sentimental Halloween feels; it’s my go-to for a festive get-together with my friends, a cozy movie night on the couch with my roommates, or simply some elevated white noise that helps me soak in the spooky season.
If you’re looking for a festive watch to absorb the final few weeks of spooky season, although I firmly believe that spooky season is a state of mind, or you’re looking for some Halloween night activities to escape the frights of Tallyween, consider these picks for your next movie marathon.
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