Skip to main content
Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
More On:
halloween movies
-
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Abigail’ on VOD, a Delightfully Gory Vampire Horror-Comedy
-
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ on VOD, an Exhumation of Past Franchise Glories
-
Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ on Prime Video, a Video Game Adaptation About Animatronic Creatures Gone Rogue
-
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Evil Dead Rise' on Prime Video, a Splatter-Happy Continuation of a Classic Franchise
Ahh, October, the month when we all collectively decide to watch horror movies to ready ourselves for the best night of the year, Halloween. While we adults have plenty of scary shows and movies to choose from, there comes a time when we start to train the next generation to get in the spirit with age-appropriate spooky fare, too.
Fortunately, every streaming service has family-friendly Halloween movies that are a great way to celebrate the holiday. Looking for a vast library of Tim Burton movies? Check out Disney+… but try not to get distracted by the fact that Hocus Pocus 2 is also available there, too. Want to show the kids some classics, like Young Frankenstein? Head to Max (formerly HBO Max) for that. And if it’s innovative new original movies you might never have seen before, Netflix is the platform to head to; they have great films for young viewers, including the Krysten Ritter-starring Nightbooks, and a film adaptation of the YA novel A Babysitter’s Guide To Monster Hunting. (And if you need your annual fix of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, the beloved Peanuts special is available of Apple TV+.)
If you’re wondering what Halloween movies to watch with the family, look no further, we’ve narrowed down some of the best options available on all the major streaming platforms, including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+ and more.
RELATED: 11 Best Family Halloween Movies on Netflix
Disney+
HOCUS POCUS 2
Unless you’ve been asleep for the last 300 years, you’ve probably heard that the sequel to Hocus Pocus came out last year. In the new film, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy reunite as the Sanderson sisters, three witches who are revived when the magical Black Flame candle is lit to terrorize the good people of Salem, MA. Though several of the film’s original cast members, including Omri Katz, Vinessa Shaw, and Thora Birch, don’t appear in the sequel, this film does feature memorable performances from Hanna Waddingham, Sam Richardson and Tony Hale.
Stream Hocus Pocus 2 on Disney+
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Is it a Christmas movie? A Halloween movie? Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas might be the only movie that can lay claim to both holidays. Currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, the plot goes as follows: When the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, Jack Skellington, discovers Christmas Town and everyone in it, he realizes that he’d like to take over Christmas duties from Santa Claus (also known as Sandy Claws). Unfortunately, instead of delivering toys and joy, Jack terrifies the people of the real world and nearly ruins the holiday, until he partners with Sandy Claws to make things right.
Tim Burton doesn’t always make movies specifically with Halloween in mind (though this film is the exception), it’s just that his aesthetic lends itself to the holiday perfectly.
Stream The Nightmare Before Christmas on Disney+
OTHER SPOOKY SELECTIONS: Edward Scissorhands (PG-13, 1990), Frankenweenie (PG, 2012), Halloweentown (TV-PG, 1998), Hocus Pocus (PG, 1993), Muppets Haunted Mansion (TV-PG, 2021)
Netflix
NIGHTBOOKS
Nightbooks, based on the book by J.A. White, is a Netflix original film that was released in 2021. The film stars Krysten Ritter as a witch named Natacha who lives in a Brooklyn apartment building, as many witches do. When one of her neighbors, a boy named Alex (Winslow Fegley) who keeps a collection of scary stories he writes which he calls “Nightbooks,” grows disillusioned and plans to burn his stories in the building’s furnace room, Natacha lures him into her apartment and tells him the only way he’ll stay alive is if he tells her a scary story each night.
A BABYSITTER’S GUIDE TO MONSTER HUNTING
A Babysitter’s Guide To Monster Hunting is, at it’s core, about the one thing any babysitter fears the most – that the kid in their care will get snatched. This Netflix original, based on the YA book trilogy of the same name, features a teenage girl named Kelly (Tamara Smart) whose babysitting charge Jacob is kidnapped one night (Halloween night, in fact), by three creatures called Toadies whose big bad boss is called the Grand Guignol (played by Tom Felton, swapping his Harry Potter villainy for low-wage childcare worker villainy). Thankfully, a group of vigilante babysitters come to help Kelly rescue her charge, thanks to a secret tome called, you guessed it, The Babysitter’s Guide To Monster Hunting.
OTHER SPOOKY SELECTIONS: Hotel Transylvania 2 (PG, 2016), I Woke Up A Vampire (TV-G, 2023), Hubie Halloween (PG-13, 2020), Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (PG-13, 2019)
Hulu
BLIPPI’S SPOOKY SPELLS HALLOWEEN
Blippi is one of those characters who is polarizing for sure. Like Caillou, Barney, and Max and Ruby before him, he’s someone that sometimes parents can’t stand, but his popularity is inescapable and kids just love him. If your family is a Blippi family, his 2021 Halloween special, Blippi’s Spooky Spells Halloween features everything you love about Blippi and his raucous personality, plus a book of magic spells to make it seasonal.
Stream Blippi’s Spooky Spells Halloween on Hulu
OTHER SPOOKY SELECTIONS: Hotel Transylvania (PG, 2012), Goosebumps (TV-PG, 2023), Monster House (TV-14, 2019)
RELATED: Family Halloween Movies on Hulu Kids (And Parents!) Will Love
Prime Video
THE ADDAMS FAMILY
Netflix’s upcoming series Wednesday, about the life of everyone’s favorite morbid kid Wednesday Addams, is set to drop on November 23. That series stars Jenna Ortega in the title role, but also features Christina Ricci, the actress who portrayed Wednesday in the original film version, as part of the cast as well. Before the Netflix series premieres, do yourself a favor and watch Ricci in the role that I’d say is one of her finest in the 1991 Addams Family movie which co-stars Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, and Christopher Lloyd.
Stream The Addams Family on Prime Video
HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: TRANSFORMANIA
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is the fourth and final movie in the Hotel Transylvania franchise and an Amazon Prime Video original. In the new movie which was released this year, original cast member Adam Sandler’s Drac is replaced by Brian Hull, and in a twist, he and his human son-in-law, Johnny (Andy Samberg) somehow manage to… whatever the monster version of Freaky Friday is. Drac becomes human and Johnny becomes a monster, and then they have to go full Jungle Cruise to find a special gem in South America that can change them back to their regular selves.
Stream Hotel Transylvania: Transformania on Prime Video
OTHER SPOOKY SELECTIONS: Happy Halloween, Scooby Doo! (All ages, 2020), The Addams Family 2 (PG, 2021), Monster Family (PG, 2018)
Max (Formerly HBO Max)
KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE
It’s debatable whether or now Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki’s Delivery Service is a Halloween film, but it is a story of a young witch and her trusty black cat, so I say sure, of course it counts. The English-language version of the 1989 film features the voice talents of Kirsten Dunst as Kiki, a 13-year-old witch who leaves her hometown to embark on a year-long witch training, alongside her loyal black cat, Jiji (voiced by the late Phil Hartman). While in her new hometown, Kiki starts a “witch delivery service” which is successful until she has a crisis of confidence and loses her broom-flying powers. Less spooky than feel-good, it’s a great film for any season, honestly.
Stream Kiki’s Delivery Service on HBO Max
OTHER SPOOKY SELECTIONS: Scoob! (PG, 2020), Little Shop Of Horrors (PG-13, 1986)
Paramount+
MONSTER HIGH: THE MOVIE
Monster High is already an established animated franchise based on the wildly successful Mattel dolls, but this October on Nickelodeon and Paramount+, we’re getting a live-action movie musical based on the popular show. The brand new film which premieres on October 6th stars Miia Harris as 15-year-old Clawdeen Wolf, a half-human, half-werewolf. When she enrolls at Monster High, she’s finally able to let her wolf side loose… but she has to keep her human side a secret. With a a kid-friendly, not-so-scary plot and more than a few big song and dance numbers (longtime composer Marc Shaiman co-produced the film), it’s sure to please the kids. (And if they love this, good news! Monster High 2 was released in October of 2023!)
Stream Monster High: The Movie on Paramount+
PAW PATROL: “PUPS SAVE THE TRICK OR TREATERS”
Owing to the fact that Paramount+ hosts a vast library of Nickelodeon content, there are quite a few kids TV shows that offer Halloween specials. Among them are Paw Patrol‘s “Pups Save The Trick Or Treaters” episode, but there’s also a Big Nate Halloween episode called “Ghostly Coven of Man Witches” (Season 1, Episode 13), an episode of The Fairly OddParents called “Scary Godparents” (Season 2, Episode 13), and the Rugrats classic “The Werewoof Hunter” (Season 1, Episode 13) that are perfect for your tiny goblins.
OTHER SPOOKY SELECTIONS: The Addams Family (PG-13, 1991), The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (TV-PG, 2010), Liar, Liar Vampire (TV-PG, 2015)
Peacock
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE
Despite the fact that Harry Potter and his wizarding world have nothing to do with Halloween and these witches and wizards don’t even deign to acknowledge our Muggle holiday, there’s something distinctly Halloweeny about the Potter films. Why not celebrate October by heading to Hogwarts and bingeing all eight films, starting with the 2001 film that kicked it all off and introduced us to future stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone?
Stream Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on Peacock
GHOSTBUSTERS
There comes a time in the life of every child (who was born after 1984, I suppose) where they must watch Ghostbusters. It’s just a fact of modern life. There are just too many pop culture references buried in the film, too many quotable lines, to not pass it on to the next generation. Not to mention, it’s the perfect gateway horror film for kids. I mean, sure, Sigourney Weaver gets possessed by the demonic Zuul, but also, they turned Slimer into a juice box mascot.
Stream Ghostbusters on Peacock
OTHER SPOOKY SELECTIONS: Casper (PG, 1995), The Mummy (TV-PG, 1932), The Last Unicorn (G, 1982)
