Halloween Movies for People Who Hate Horror

I love Halloween!

I love the decorations, the dressing up and the overall spookiness of it. But when it comes to Halloween movies don’t even think about giving me horror.

I remember talking to a friend once who has the same opinion of horror movies as I do. He said “I’m never sitting there and thinking, you what I’d love right now? To be scared shitless.” I couldn’t have put it better myself.

But just because I’m not a fan of horror, it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a Halloween movie.

It’s just that most of the Halloween movies on my list would also be suitable for children… I’m sharing 9 Halloween appropriate movies for people like me, who are only looking for a wee bit spooky this All Hallows’ Eve.

Hocus Pocus

I’ll admit, this film scared me when I was younger. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy made spooky witches! On Halloween night Max mistakingly brings back the three witches 300 years after they were sentenced to death at the Salem witch trials.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

A perfect movie because you can watch it at either Halloween or Christmas, (or why not both like me)! The Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington, finds Christmas Town and is instantly mesmerised. He becomes obsessed with Christmas and kidnaps Sandy Claws.

Corpse Bride

Another Tim Burton film. The darkness of Burton’s films makes them perfect Halloween movies. An accidental marriage between Victor, who is practising his vows, and corpse bride, Emily, leads to him being taken to the land of the dead.

Practical Magic

Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman play sisters who were raised by their aunts after the death of their parents. They are also witches whose family is cursed so that any man they fall in love will die. Again another film I found a bit scary when I was younger!

Goosebumps

Anyone else my age will remember Goosebumps books, and probably the tv programme that was on in the 90s. The TV show was always a sure-fire way for me to get my wee brother to leave me in peace for a bit because he found it too scary! Well, mix some 90s nostalgia and Jack Black and you’ve got yourself a perfect Halloween movie! Jack Black plays RL Stine (author of the Goosebumps books) who along with his daughter and her friend have to try and get all the ghoulish characters that have escaped from the pages of his books back into them.

Casper

Afterlife therapist Dr Harvey and his daughter Kat move into a haunted mansion in an attempt to rid it of its resident ghosts. Kat befriends Casper, the youngest and friendliest of the ghosts haunting the mansion. The same cannot be said for his three uncles and it proves harder than Dr Harvey expects to get them to move on.

The Witches

Another one that 90s kids will probably remember bringing them nothing but fear! Although looking back on it now, it’s laughable to think those special effects were terrifying, but when the witches took off their masks in the original film I was running to hide behind the sofa! Adapted from a Roald Dahl book, a wee boy is staying at a hotel with his grandmother at the same time as a witches convention is taking place. Witches hate children and have a particularly nasty way of showing this to any that cross their path.

As much as I still love the original movie, (complete with its dated special effects!), I am very much looking forward to the new movie. Stanley Tucci is always a winner for me!

The Little Vampire

Definitely a spooky comedy, but the perfect Halloween movie for the whole family. Tony’s Dad gets a new job building a golf course which results in the family moving to Scotland from America. Tony befriends Rudolph, a vampire who lives in a cemetery nearby with his family.

FUN FACT: Parts of this were filmed at my primary school during the summer holidays. They were looking for kids from the school to be extras but I was on holiday at the time. Some of my friends from primary school did get screen time though!

The Crucible

Adapted from Arthur Miller’s 1953 play this film stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. Set in Salem around the time of the witch trials in the late 1600s, a group of young girls are found dancing in the forest by the town reverend and this results in many of the town accusing others of witchcraft. Partly based on true events during the Salem witch trials, the scariest thing about this film is what human beings are capable of doing to each other.

What are your favourite Halloween movies?