Jack-o-lanterns, unwieldy costumes, wholesale candies, and large inflatable skeletons surprisingly all have something in common: They are all signs that Halloween is on the way! (*insert-maniacal-laughter-here*). With origins dating back to more than 2 millennia, Halloween is a staple holiday in many different religions, cultures, and traditions. Marking the end of the summer and harvest season, Halloween has been celebrated by millions of people all over the world in a variety of ways. These celebrations include wearing costumes and scary regalia to scare off ghosts and ghouls from your crops; setting up large family feasts to celebrate the end of the harvest season; and most recently, allowing young children to take part in tradition as they make the treacherous journey across their respective culs-de sac to gather sweet confections and, in return, guarantee the safety of the neighbors from their mischievous plans (aka. Trick or treating). No matter how you see it, October 31st is a day that people can celebrate Halloween in their own unique ways, whether scary or sweet.
Of course, trick or treating is still a timeless way to partake in Halloween yearly, but if you’d like to start celebrating the fun October festivities with your family and friends a bit earlier, look no further than an October Movie-thon. Movie-thons are great ways to stay in the holiday spirit without having to wait until the end of the month, and an October movie-thon could be the perfect answer to your Halloween hankering.
To get you started, here’s a list of staple *scaredy-cat proof* Halloween Movies/Shows to watch throughout October:
- Hocus Pocus (1993)
- Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)
- The Haunted Mansion (2003)
- Haunted Mansion (2023)
- Twitches (2005)
- Twitches Too (2007)
- The Corpse Bride (2005)
- Edward Scissorhands (1990)
- Beetlejuice (1988)
- Paranorman (2012) (Editor’s Pick)
- Creeped Out (2017)
- Sweeney Todd (2007)
- Monster House (2006)
- Ghostbusters (1984)
- The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
- The Twilight Zone (1959)
- Frankenweenie (2012)
- Scooby Doo (2002)
- Coraline (2009) (Editor’s Pick)
- The Adams Family (1991)
- Maleficent (2014)
- Boxtrolls (2014)
- Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire (2000)
- Into the Woods (2014)
- Gravity Falls (2012)
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
- Casper (1995)
- Goosebumps (1995)
- Goosebumps (2015)
- Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (2018)
- Halloween Town I (1998)
- Halloween Town II (2001)
- Halloween Town III (2004)
- Halloween Town IV (2006)
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017)
- The Witches (1990)
- Spirited Away (2001)
- Don’t Look Under the Bed (1999)
- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
- The School for Good and Evil (2022)
- Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
- Hotel Transylvania (2012)
- Hotel Transylvania 2 (2014)
- Hotel Transylvania 3 (2018)
- Hotel Transylvania 4 (2022)
- Over the Garden Wall (2014) (Editor’s Pick)
- It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966)
- **Any Halloween Specials from Episodes of your favorite shows
**If you like a challenge (and don’t need the sleep), try adding more scary movies to your watchlist, and let the October fun begin.
Here are some scarier movie recommendations:
- The Purge (2013)
- It (2017)
- Oujia; Origin of Evil (2016)
- The Blair Witch Project (1999)
- Fear Street I: 1994 (2021)
- The Conjuring (2013)
- The Conjuring 2 (2016)
- Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023)
- Killer Klowns From Outer Space (1988)
- Ready or Not (2019)
- Annabelle (2014)
- Annabelle: Creation (2017)
- 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
- Train to Busan (2016)
- A Quiet Place (2018)
- Insidious (2010)
- Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
- When a Stranger Calls (2006)
