Hey everyone! Fall is here (I don’t care what the haters say!) That means Halloween is right around the corner. One of my favorite Halloween activities is watching movies with my family. I’m sure a lot of you like watching movies to get into the fall spirit too, so this week I’ve put together a list of my favorite Halloween movies for kiddos as well as where to watch them. Here we go! Oh, P.S. feel free to use your own judgment! My two year old watches almost everything from this list, so these age guidelines aren’t set in stone by any means. If you feel any of these movies would be “too much” for your kids, that’s fine!
Halloween Movies For Toddlers and Preschoolers:
The following Halloween movies are all great choices for kiddos ranging from 2-4 years old. These are mostly all animated movies that are less likely to scare the younger bunch.
#1-8
- The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown – Streaming on Apple TV+
- Charlie Brown and the gang celebrate Halloween while Linus and Sally wait for The Great Pumpkin
- Mickey’s House of Villains – Only available for purchase at this time
- I remember getting this for a birthday present one year and it quickly became one of my favorite things to watch at this time of year.
- A collection of short Halloween themed cartoons with Mickey and friends.
- Curious George: A Halloween Boofest – Only available for purchase at this time
- After hearing about a hat stealing scarecrow at the Boo Fest fall festival, George tries to find him learning some valuable lessons along the way.
- Hotel Transylvania (4 movies) – Streaming on Hulu with Starz subscription
- Dracula runs a hotel for monsters but one night, a human finds his way to the hotel. On the night of Dracula’s daughter’s birthday party, the human falls in love with her.
- Scooby Doo (so many movies!) – Streaming on HBO Max
- Join the Mystery Inc. squad as they reunite to help solve the mystery behind paranormal activities happening at a popular Spring break location.
- Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost – Streaming on Amazon Prime with a Boomerang subscription
- This is my all time favorite Scooby Doo special/ movie. It’s the movie we actually bought for my son’s Halloween basket (more on that soon!)
- Horror writer Ben Ravencroft invites Scooby and the gang to Oakhaven to help solve the mystery of the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft who is now haunting the town.
- Monster House – Streaming on Netflix
- A group of kids find out that their old neighbor’s scary house truly has a life of its own as it transforms before their eyes into a monster.
- Monsters, Inc. (2 movies and Monsters at Work series)- Streaming on Disney+
- I remember seeing this one in theaters and absolutely loving it when I was little.
- Take a peek into Mike Wazowski and Sully’s world where Monsters use children’s screams to power their city until one day, a child sneaks into the factory where they work.
Halloween Movies for Elementary Kiddos:
The following fall flicks are great choices for kids who are ready for a bit more Halloween action. These ones range from animated to live action but are still fairly tame as far as scares go.
#9-16
- Hocus Pocus – Streaming on Disney+
- This is my absolute favorite Halloween movie of all time. We actually decorate our house in Hocus Pocus themed décor for fall!
- After 300 years, Max Dennison, his sister Dani, and girlfriend Allison make the mistake of summoning the town witches, the Sanderson sisters who only have until sunrise to become immortal.
- Halloweentown (4 movies) – Streaming on Disney+
- This is another movie I grew up on. I actually just watched this yesterday!
- Marnie, a seemingly average teen, finds out that she is actually part of a family of witches after following her grandma Aggie to Halloweentown. Join Marnie as she joins forces with her family to defeat an evil force while she’s there.
- Addams Family (live action) – Streaming on Amazon Prime with AMC Plus subscription
- Funnily enough, this movie actually reminds me of my grandma. I used to watch this movie over there almost every time I came over. I even remember borrowing the VHS tape multiple times.
- The Addams Family is caught off guard when Uncle Fester shows up on their doorstep for the first time in 25 years after being lost in the Bermuda Triangle. But is it really Uncle Fester?
- Addams Family Values – Streaming on Paramount + and Amazon Prime with AMC Plus subscription
- After Morticia has a new baby, Pubert, she hires a nanny. Fester falls in love with her, but is she really who she says she is?
- Casper – Only available for purchase at this time
- When Kat and her “ghost therapist” father move to a new haunted mansion, Kat becomes friends with the ghost of a young boy.
- The Haunted Mansion – Streaming on Disney+ (and check Disney + for The Muppets Haunted Mansion this October too!)
- Jim Evers, a workaholic realtor, receives a call to sell a large mansion that he thinks will be “the big one.” Dragging his family along for the ride, he suddenly realizes that the mansion isn’t all he thought it was cracked up to be while learning valuable life lessons about family along the way.
- Double Double Toil and Trouble – Only available for purchase at this time
- I remember watching all of the different MK and Ashley movies when I was this age, but this one was one of my absolute favorites out of all of them.
- Kelly and Lynn Farmer come together with some new friends to defeat their aunt Agatha. Agatha is a witch who has trapped her sister, the twin’s other aunt, Sophia under an evil spell.
- Goosebumps (1 and 2) or the Goosebumps tv series – The show is streaming on Netflix. The movie is streaming on FuboTV, FXNow, and DirecTV.
- Movie: A young teen unleashes R.L. Stein’s creepy Goosebumps monsters on the town his family recently moved to.
- Show: Each episode tells a new tale based on the hit book series from child horror writer, R.L. Stein.
#17-25
- The Little Vampire – Streaming on Tubi with ads
- The new kid in town, Tony, is dealing with bullies and is struggling to make friends. That’s when he meets Rudolph, who happens to be a young vampire. Shortly after Tony meets Rudolph, it turns out he’s being hunted by a vampire hunter. This movie takes viewers on an adventure as Tony tries to protect his new friend.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas – Streaming on Disney+
- Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown who stumbles upon Christmastown. Watch as things go awry when Jack tries to bring Christmas to the town.
- Twitches (1 and 2) – Streaming on Disney+
- Two twins who were separated as newborns and adopted into two separate families end up reunited on their 21st birthday. They then develop magical powers and join together to fight “the darkness” in Coventry, the magical realm where they were born.
- Under Wraps – Streaming on Disney+
- A group of teens discover a mummy and accidentally bring him back to life. Now they have to race to get him back to his sarcophagus by midnight so that he doesn’t turn to dust and can be with his long lost love again.
- Don’t Look Under the Bed – Streaming on Disney+
- This was one of my absolute favorite Disney Channel movies growing up!
- Young teen Frances is being blamed for a bunch of strange things going on in her town. But Frances discovers, with the help of her imaginary friend, Larry Houdini, that it’s truly The Boogeyman trying to frame her. Join Frances and Larry as they team up to stop him.
- Ghostbusters – Streaming on Amazon Prime with either an AMC Plus or IMDb TV subscription
- When a group of scientists lose their jobs at the university they worked at, they decide to become “ghostbusters” to help fight off paranormal forces in their city. However, when a gateway to evil is opened, they have to fight the evil forces before the entire city is destroyed.
- Harry Potter series (8 movies) – Streaming on HBO Max
- After his parents are killed, a young infant named Harry Potter is sent to live with his horrible aunt and uncle who despised his parents. One day he learns that he’s actually a wizard and Voldemort, an evil wizard, killed his parents. He goes to live at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry alongside other new students Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Each year, something strange happens at the school and the three team up with other students to defeat Voldemort.
- The Corpse Bride – Streaming on Hulu
- As Victor practices his vows in the forest for his upcoming wedding, a tree comes to life and drags him into the underworld where a corpse thinks he married her. Meanwhile in the land of the living, another suitor tries to take Victor’s bride and now he has to decide which bride to stay with.
- Little Monsters (the old movie with Howie Mandell, not the new one from Hulu) – Streaming on Netflix
- After a series of weird occurrences, Brian discovers that there’s a monster living under his bed. Brian becomes friends with the monster, Maurice, and follows him into the monster world, until he discovers that he’s turning into a monster himself.
Halloween Movies For Older Kiddos:
These films are more likely to hold the interest of older kids, such as those at the end of elementary grades or even those in middle or high school. They may have scenes that are too scary or that you might feel are inappropriate for younger kids.
#26-31
- The Monster Squad – Streaming on Amazon Prime
- This is one of my absolute teen coming-of-age Halloween movies. My sisters and I used to watch this all the time!
- A group of boys pride themselves on knowing all there is to know about classic monsters. Their skills are then put to the test when Dracula, The Wolfman, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Mummy, and Frankenstein come back to life in search of an amulet that will allow them to take over the world.
- Beetlejuice – Streaming on Peacock with ads
- This is one of my “must watch” movies each fall. Some of the jokes may be crude for younger kids but… I still love this one, haha!
- When Barbara and Adam die, they become ghosts stuck in their home. They are forced to sit by and watch as the Deetz family moves in. That’s when they enlist the “help” of Beetlejuice. However, much to Barbara and Adam’s surprise, Beetlejuice ends up being more trouble than he’s worth.
- Coraline – Only available for purchase at this time
- Coraline is a young girl who has recently moved to a new home with her family. While exploring the new house she finds a secret door which leads her to an alternate reality of her world where everything seems to be better, except everyone has buttons for eyes. Coraline quickly discovers that this world is not what it seems and she has to fight her way back home.
- The Black Cauldron – Streaming on Disney+
- Taran is a young pig-herder who has always dreamed about becoming a hero and fighting in the war against the evil Horned King. One morning Taran’s pig Hen Wen has magic visions that the Horned King is coming for the Black Cauldron which has the power to summon the greatest army of evil in order to rule the world. The Horned King’s army captures Hen Wen because of her powers in attempts to force her to reveal the location of the Black Cauldron and Taran must fight to get her back.
- Teen Wolf – The movie is only available for purchase at this time, but the TV show is on Amazon Prime.
- A seemingly average teen, Scott, finds out from his father that being a werewolf runs in the family. Scott then uses this information to his advantage to become the star of his high school basketball team and to win over the most popular girl in school. But his new discovery isn’t all that it first seems to be.
- Teen Witch – Streaming on The Roku Channel with ads or Pluto TV with ads
- This is extremely similar to Teen Wolf, but with witchiness, honestly. Basically the premise is the same, haha. I think it was even originally pitched as the “female version of ‘Teen Wolf’.”
In Conclusion:
That’s all there is, folks! These are my top 31(+) favorite kids’ Halloween movies. You can find many of them on streaming services, as I’ve noted up above, but most are also available on amazon to purchase! These are a great way to introduce spooky season to younger kiddos!
What was your favorite childhood Halloween movie? Do you have another one that I haven’t mentioned? Make sure to let me know in the comments! If you enjoyed this post and want to see more family fun, make sure you subscribe. You can also check out my Fun and More page or any of the posts below. Thanks everyone for reading!
30+ Fall Activities for Toddlers
Toys and Activities for 18-24 Month Development
Some of these movies bring back memories of my childhood. Great list and will definitely try some of these on our family movie night.
I’m so glad I was able to give you ideas for your movie night!
Was Coco on your list and I missed it? I wanted to see what your take on it is. I know a lot of people who love it but I haven’t seen it yet. I hear it might be a tear jerker and my kiddo gets mad at me if I pick movies that make him cry.
Funnily enough, we just watched that today but Coco actually isn’t on my list because it’s not about Halloween! Day of the Dead is actually the two days after Halloween. I definitely cry every time I watch that movie though.