My kids love Halloween (especially our middlest child) and I love holidays! However, we are not a family who loves gore or super scary movies (my kids are also not super sensitive). I have a fun list of “Halloween-y” movies that fit our family just right that I love to pull out each fall. Some of these are more scary than others, but all of them have been fun family movies to watch together.
These are our favorite movies to watch each year!
Room on the Broom
Room on the Broom is an adorable movie based on a (equally adorable) children’s book. It follows a witch who keeps losing her stuff. As different animals help her find her things, they ask if there is room for them on her broom. In the end, those she makes room for get to help her out as well! It’s only about 30 minutes long and I love everything about it–the animation, the story telling, the message.
We own this one on Google Play.
Coco
Coco is such a fun movie for Halloween time! I love the message of family and geneology that it gives and I think the storyline is very well done, as well as the music. It’s also a fun one if you are learning about other cultures and their traditions and holidays this time of year.
We watch this one on Disney Plus.
Monsters, Inc.
Monsters Inc is not a Halloween movie, but it’s a fun one to watch this time of year because … Monsters! It’s also perfect for kids who don’t like scary things as much.
We watch Monsters Inc on Disney Plus.
Pooh’s Heffalump Movie
Pooh’s Heffalump Movie is such a great Halloween-y movie for younger kids. It has more of a “scary” feel to it without actually being scary. It’s a fun adventure with just the right feel to it and honestly, who doesn’t love Winnie the Pooh?
We watch this on Disney Plus.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
It’s a Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown–such a classic. I have watched this every year at Halloween for as long as I can remember, and now so have my kids! I love Charlie Brown, especially the holiday shows. It’s a shorter movie without any scary parts, but is actually a Halloween movie as well.
We own the DVD (we don’t have Apple TV and it is impossible to buy/stream it anywhere else online).
Scooby Doo Where Are You!
I grew up watching the older (Scooby Doo Show and Where Are You) Scooby Doo episodes and I love sharing them with my kids now. My 4-year-old son particularly likes them right now (my oldest also went through a stage where she loved them). We watch them year round, but I love pulling them out in the fall, especially if it’s been awhile since we watched them.
We also love the Scooby Doo and Scrappy Too, and my son loves the Scooby Meets Batman collection. I don’t love any of the newer Scooby Doo shows, so we avoid those.
We own these on Prime Video and some DVD’s.
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is such a funny movie! I mean, who doesn’t love Don Knotts? It’s not a movie geared to particularly young kids, but my kids have enjoyed watching it as a family starting at fairly young ages (4-5) and it’s one of my favorites to revisit each year. I love having some “grown up” movies my kids can love!
It’s not a “Halloween” movie, but it deals with haunted houses, ghosts, and a mystery, which makes it perfect for this time of year.
We own this on Google Play.
Blackbeard’s Ghost
Blackbeard’s Ghost is not a Halloween movie, but because of the atmosphere of the movie and the fact that it has a ghost, we watch this every fall. While this technically has a ghost, it’s not a scary movie at all–it’s a fun and silly one. My kids always laugh so hard. Blackbeard’s Ghost gets up to all sorts of mischeif and it has a feel good ending. This is a good one for slightly older kids who still don’t want to watch scary movies.
We watch this on Disney Plus.
Nancy Drew
This Nancy Drew movie is one of my favorites! I love the message of Nancy Drew being confident in being herself and the mystery is really well done. My girls have all loved it as well. It’s a better movie for slightly older kids, both in terms of what will hold their interest as well as the fact there are a couple more intense scenes and a few mild swear words. My four year old son had very little interest in it this year, but my daughter loved it starting when she was five or six.
We own this on Google Play.
Toy Story of Terror!
Toy Story of Terror is such a fun, short Halloween-ish movie! The very beginning can be scary for more sensitive kids, but there’s a cute character arc, we get to revisit characters we know and love, and the ending is very fun. It has the feel of “horror” but in a wholesome way.
We watch this on Disney Plus.
Scooby Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost
Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost is probably my favorite Scooby Doo movie! I love the plotline and I think they did a really good job sticking true to the original Scooby Doo feel. It has a real ghost in it at the end, like the movies tend to do, but it isn’t too scary. We also love Scooby Doo and the Alien Invasion, which also isn’t too scary, and Scooby Doo and Zombie Island, which is scarier for younger kids. My kids love watching all three at Halloween time.
We own all three movies on Google Play.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
I grew up watching the short film about Ichabod Crane. I think this movie could definitely be scarier for a sensitive child, but my kids haven’t ever had any issues with it. I like that it’s shorter but still has that “Halloween” feel to it, but if you want to have a longer movie night with it, you can watch Mr. Toad as well. I don’t know why Disney connected them into one movie, but Mr. Toad and the atmosphere of that movie makes it a good one to watch this time of year as well.
We watch this on Disney Plus.
Halloweentown
Halloweentown is not my favorite Halloween movie (I didn’t grow up watching it, so I don’t have any nostalgia around it; the first time I saw it, I was already in my late 20’s). My kids, however, love it, so they watch it every year while I go do something else.
We watch this on Disney Plus.
James and the Giant Peach
James and the Giant Peach has such an atmosphere, that is perfect for fall and Halloween time. I have always loved the music in the movie, even though the movie itself is a little weird (true to the book). We don’t watch this every year, but when we are needing an extra movie in the fall, this is a fun one we can pick.
We watch this on Disney Plus.
Abbott and Costello
I grew up watching Abbott and Costello and just love them. Their Monsters Collection is just perfect for Halloween. My older kids are just getting old enough to really appreciate Abbott and Costello. My favorite of their movies to watch at Halloween is actually Hold that Ghost (it has a “haunted” house and ghost and a mystery, so perfect for this time of year, and it’s hilarious), but that one is actually really hard to find. I am going to see if I can hunt it down on DVD this year.
We own the DVD of the Monsters Collection.
Harry Potter
I save Harry Potter for the end because we waited until our kids were older to have them watch this, though I know every family is different. We now watch the first two with all our kids, so our younger kids have seen it at younger ages. Our oldest is turning eleven this month and has seen the third, and after watching Lord of the Rings and doing well with it, we decided she can watch the rest of the movies with us this year (she is very excited!). The first two have some scary parts, but overall, I don’t think it’s too bad for even younger kids. The third one has a definite shift in atmosphere and obviously the fourth on (minus the sixth) are pg-13. They are such fun ones for Halloween time though!
We own the DVDs.
Those are some of our favorite Halloween movies and we watch many of them every year in the fall! What are some of your family favorites? Are you a “fun and light” Halloween family or more of a “horror and scary” Halloween family? I’d love to hear about your traditions and favorites in the comments below!
