It’s finally that time of year. The temperature drops, the leaves change color and almost every store imaginable sells Halloween decorations. Forget Christmas; for many people, this is the best time of the year. And if there’s one thing people love to do during the Halloween season, it’s socializing with a hot drink and watching Halloween movies. Most people will aim for the traditional horror movies like Trick or treat, Nightmare in Elm Streetand the cult classic Halloween, but we’ve made a list of some of the best movies to put on for the kids to get them into the haunted spirit. Or if you’re just someone who doesn’t like the gore, gore, and horror of scary movies, this list is for you too.
This list includes movies that are great for the little ones and some that are just scary enough for the older kids, while still being perfect for parents to enjoy (or even remember), with the perfect balance of laughter and scare for the whole family . So gather the kids (or cozy up on your own, we’re not judging), grab your favorite Halloween candies and check out this ranked list of the best Halloween kids movies.
8/8 Hocus Pocus
Take a trip to Salem in the 1993 classic Hocus Pocus. Parents out there may remember this one as a sign of their childhood, and with… Hocus pocus 2 available on Disney+, it’s perfect for a movie marathon and reliving the Halloween nostalgia. For those who have never experienced the magic of the Sanderson sisters, Hocus Pocus is a Disney original film set in the infamous town of Salem, where the witch trials took place. The evil Sanderson sisters are accidentally brought back to life on Halloween night and want to drain the life force of all the children in Salem so they can live forever. And now the teen who brought them back must find a way to stop them. Despite the film not doing well on its initial release (via the cover), it has become a cult classic full of witty comedy that is perfect for kids of all ages.
7/8 Hotel Transylvania
Hotel Transylvania has produced a franchise that lasted a decade and finally concluded with its fourth film, Hotel Transylvania:Transformania, and a two-season TV series that ended in 2020. Adam Sandler stars in the films as Count Dracula, and in the first film, he runs a hotel in Transylvania designed only for monsters after his wife was murdered by an angry mob. mortals. Now he lives his life far away from people and tries to raise and protect his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) from the outside world. Until an absent-minded person, Johnny (Andy Samberg) accidentally goes to the hotel and falls in love with Mavis. The films are quirky and fun while telling an easily digestible story of love and family.
6/8 The Addams family
This is not your typical family. The Addams Family (1991) live action film is based on a comic in The New Yorker in 1934, created by cartoonist Charles Addams as a satirical inversion of the ideal All-American family, which GamesRadar explains it further. The comic ran until 1964 when it was turned into a TV series, eventually becoming a movie in the early 90s with a sequel, Addams Family Values. These movies might be a little too dark for the younger kids, and if so, there’s still an animated version that came out in 2019, plus a live-action spin-off named after the iconic daughter of the Addams Family, Wednesday. , which is expected to appear. release soon. And what makes? The Addams family even better are the cute matching family costumes it can inspire.
5/8 Monster house
Monster house is definitely one for the older kids as it might be a little too scary for the little ones, but the solid storytelling and horror influence have made this one of the best Halloween kids movies. The premise is simple: DJ lives across the street from the house nobody wants to come near and that’s because of creepy old man Nebbercracker. However, when the old man dies in his front yard after trying to yell at DJ and his friends to get off his lawn, DJ begins to suspect that the house has come to life. It is the Home alone from Halloween, with its top-notch script and plot twist that you can only see coming with a second watch. And it might remind the parents of their days of fear of the creepy house down the street.
4/8 corpse bride
It feels like a lot of people don’t talk about corpse bride the way they should. Considered one of the best films of 2005, Tim Burton’s stop-motion film follows a young man, Victor Van Dort (Johnny Depp), who is engaged to Victoria Everglot (Emily Watson) for social and financial reasons. Victoria’s family, once prosperous, has lost all its fortune and in turn decided to give their daughter away to the son of an extremely wealthy family. That’s all fine, because the two really like each other, but when Victor messes up the rehearsals for their vows, he runs into the woods in shame. It is there that, while practicing his vows, he accidentally resurrects a corpse bride, Emily (Helena Bonham Carter), who thinks he is now her husband. Burton has said that the film was inspired by a Jewish folklore, The finger. The film is more emotional than most children’s films are, but the story is loved by many and certainly deserves more appreciation.
3/8 Coraline
Based on Neil Gaiman’s novel of the same name, Coraline has become one of the most beloved children’s animated films, in which the young titular character discovers a strange door in her family’s new home that transports her to an alternate universe where she encounters doppelgängers who care more about her than her real parents. However, she soon finds out that something isn’t right in this other world when her “other mother” offers her the chance to stay with them forever. Despite being animated, the film can be quite hair-raising as it follows a usual horror movie structure that is only toned down a bit for kids to watch. And besides being a well-written children’s horror film, it also carries a heartwarming message of appreciation for the family.
2/8 Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island
Every generation has watched Scooby Doo. It has become a timeless cartoon that only gets better as time goes by, and they have always been iconic and loved by children and adults alike. But it was very easy for kids to get bored with the cartoons and not find them so scary anymore. They were repetitive in animation and followed the exact same formula: the gang goes to a location tormented by a supernatural entity, there are prime suspects, they come up with the idea to capture the supernatural entity, take off its mask, and then “I would have gotten away with it too if you weren’t meddling with kids and your stupid dog!” However, Zombie Island was the first time the gang was exposed to real monsters and faced real danger, while still retaining the charm of the original cartoons. The story is well written and tight, the characters became more than just their original two-dimensional personalities, and it’s Scooby-Doo scarier than it’s ever been. Not to mention the updated version of the original theme song and a new song made for the movie that is probably one of the best songs ever made for a kids cartoon.
1/8 The nightmare Before Christmas
Everyone loves The nightmare Before Christmas, and it is probably the most beloved animated film of all time. While it could be argued that the movie is more of a Christmas movie than a Halloween movie, Disney likes to take advantage of the movie’s versatility and air it around both holidays. And why wouldn’t you? The great soundtrack filled with songs that many people still listen to beyond the holiday season, a beautifully fleshed out story about Jack, the pumpkin king of Halloween, tired and unfulfilled of the same old thing, wants to try his hand at Christmas, and the talented work on stop -motion animation. The film has won the hearts of many people, young and old, and will probably remain one of the best movies to play around Halloween (or Christmas) for anyone of any age.