I have always enjoyed Halloween. All the decorations, costumes, candy, haunted houses and corn mazes were and still are thrilling. Sometimes though I need a little help to get in that Halloween spirit, or maybe I just want a good scare and that’s where scary movies come in to this. I thought at first that I’d just share a few of my favorites, then I thought there were more great movies out there so perhaps a top ten or fifteen list. I compiled my movies, added in ones I had forgotten and now my ghoulish friends I can tell you that this list has reached FIFTY epic Halloween movies that range over fifty years of cinema making. None of these are remakes unless there was an original made before 1960 or from an television show and I also did not include any sequels. I have ordered them in four categories: Fun, Halloween themed, Classics, and Scary. I guarantee they’ll all make you enjoy All Hallows Eve a little bit more.

Fun Halloween movies. These are in no particular order, but all are not made to be overly scary, but still get you in that spooky Halloween spirit. Of course everyone is different, so before showing these to kids, I hope they are looked into a bit more before viewing.

• Casper – A 90’s movie based on the old comic. It is about a girl and her father who move into an old haunted house and most of the spirits there want them gone, except Casper the friendly ghost.

• Halloweentown – A girl learns she is a witch and then must help her town from being destroyed.

• It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – The 60’s classic that is still shown every year on television. It’s about the Peanuts gang celebrating Halloween and all their shenanigans. I never miss it!

• Beetlejuice – A couple dies and cannot bear to leave their home and enlist the help of the infamous Beetlejuice to teach them to haunt it. They’re kind of terrible at it, but Beetlejuice makes up for it in spades.

• Ghost Busters – A hilarious movie set in 1980’s New York City, where a group of friends start a business catching ghosts. If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it as soon as possible.

• The Nightmare Before Christmas – Sometimes disputed as a Christmas movie, I whole heartedly disagree. It’s a nightmare before Christmas aka Halloween! Beautifully animated, it’s about Jack Skellington finding his way, Sally asserting her independence and of course the boogeyman.

• Frankenweenie – Another animated movie, turning the Frankenstein story on its head. A boy brings his deceased pet back to life just to have others steal the secret of how to terrible consequences.

• ParaNorman – An outcast boy can see and speak to the dead and most of the town thinks he’s a freak. Then he discovers an old witches curse may destroy the town and he tries to save it.

• Hocus Pocus – Kids accidentally release three witches in modern day Salem and must stop them before they become immortal. Great movie starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker.

• Hotel Transylvania – I didn’t think I would enjoy this at first, but it really is great. Animated, it takes us to Dracula’s castle where we learn he is planning his daughter’s birthday party. Then a human boy shows up and everything goes crazy.

• The Addams Family – One of my favorite movies ever. It is a remake of a television show that follows the creep-tastic Addams family. A long lost Uncle Fester is found, but he’s brought along some villains that want to get rid of the other Addams family members. It also has a sequel that is rare in that it’s actually good.

• Coraline – An animated movie about a girl who finds another world that seems so much better than her real one, but it holds dark secrets.

• Edward Scissorhands – This movie is about a woman finding an abandoned Edward who was never finished by his creator. He tries to fit in, but the townspeople quickly turn on him. A great movie visually and morally to think about.

• Corpse Bride – Another animated movie, this time about a man accidentally marrying a girl, who happens to be already dead. He tries to get out of it while also saving his true love in the world of the living.

Halloween centric movies. These movies are all scary in nature, but also actually revolve around the holiday of Halloween. I thought I’d make this list in case people wanted to watch them specifically on Halloween for an extra fright. Some are more scary and gory than others, so make sure to check that out for your own comfort level.

• Halloween – I have to start with the main one. The one where a girl is hunted on Halloween night by her own psychotic brother. It’s suspenseful and scary in the best ways and needs to be watched every Halloween.

• Scream – A newer classic, Scream was made in the 90’s but has aged well. It follows Sydney and her friends and a killer on the loose trying to murder them all. It has the best twist and the characters know how horror movies work and ‘go by the rules.’

• The Exorcist – One of the biggest horror movies ever, this one follows a girl and her mother. The girl becomes ill and soon other strange behavior occurs. The mother not getting help from the medical community, turns to the church and they bring in an exorcist as its believed the girl has been possessed by the devil.

• Pet Cemetery – One of several Stephen King titles that pops up on this list. This one is about a grief stricken father who finds out about a pet cemetery that can bring back the dead, but not in the way the animals and people once were.

• Sleepy Hollow – This is not the cartoon version that is shown on television. This is a live action movie starring a squeamish Ichabod Crane as one of the first medical examiners who goes to a small town to investigate grisly murders happening. It has laughs, mystery, and plenty of blood.

• Poltergeist – Doesn’t everyone know that famous line, ‘they’re heeere…”? A family moves into a new home only to discover it is very haunted, and not just by a ghost, but a poltergeist. They call in a psychic and her team to help, but there may not be any to give.

Next up is classics. These are the horror movies that I hope everyone has watched at least once. If you haven’t, I suggest you do. They are all great movies in their own rights, but are brought together by Halloween.

• The Fall of the House of Usher – This movie may be old (made in 1960) but it still tells a great scary story with a touches of tragedy, as they all should. Based off of a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, you watch as a man tries to break a ‘curse’ of madness that supposedly follows his fiancés family. Her brother knows it cannot be stopped. Who will win?

• Night of the Living Dead – While not the first zombie movie, it is the best known and the one most now are based off of. Night falls and the dead rise up, hungry for brainssssss. Will our heroes make it through the night? The twist ending is definitely worth seeing.

• The Omen – A man adopts a boy and he turns out to maybe be the antichrist. Or at least it seems that way since everyone around him seems to start suddenly dying. The father then has to figure out what to do.

• Carrie – Another Stephen King story. This one is about naïve teenager Carrie. She is terribly bullied not only from others at school, but her fanatical religious mother too. Then she finds out she has powers. What happens? You better watch and see.

• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Probably the goriest movie on this list. It lives up to its name. But unlike so many movies today, gore isn’t the only point of this movie. It has suspense and real terrifying scenes of psychological horror. You’ll never want to take a road trip with friends again.

• Invasion of the Body Snatchers – An oldie but a goodie. A group of people realize their town is being taken over by aliens replacing their friends and family with emotionless clones. Can they stop it?

• Jaws – Yes, the shark movie of all shark movies. The entire reason we are all afraid to swim in the oceans and what every other water themed horror movie has been based on. It doesn’t seem like your typical scary movie with its sunshine and bright, sandy beaches, but I assure you you’ll see it once that shark starts stalking and killing people. The climax of the main characters being stuck on a boat surrounded by only the shark is amazing.

• Rosemary’s Baby – A young couple move to a new apartment and have a baby. Doesn’t seem that scary until you realize how creepy the neighbors are and the secrets they’re keeping. Also what’s wrong with that baby? Better watch and find out.

• Psycho – A young woman on the run stays at a ramshackle motel. She meets an odd owner that loves taxidermy and who has the mother of mommy and women complexes. Horror ensues. The shower scene is iconic.

• Alien – One of the first movies to ruin space for me. This movie has more suspense than any other on this list. Along with a great cast and amazing effects that stand up to even today’s CGI, it is worth watching any time of year.

We are now down to our final category. This is the largest one, but it is full of the scary movies that didn’t fit in anywhere else. Great for any night you want to be scared, but especially on Halloween. Enjoy.

• Friday the 13th – This movie and its many sequels were the height of 80’s scary movies. Not known for its winning story or plots, it is the classic murderer after partying college kids. It’s always good to revisit Jason and summer camp every Halloween though.

• Child’s Play – Are you afraid of dolls? This movie will make sure you are forever on and probably made sure every movie since has a creepy doll in it. It stars Chucky, a doll that had the soul of a dying murderer put into it. He keeps up with his evil ways and only the little boy who owns the doll and his mother know the truth. Can they convince anyone else of it though?

• Children of the Corn – Another one by Stephen King to make you terrified of children and small towns. A couple end up stranded in a rural town where the children are fanatical cultists who kill everyone over the age of eighteen with their creepy powers.

• Hellraiser – A gory, scary story of Frank and his girlfriend. Frank is better known as Pinhead and he is killed by the strange puzzlebox he buys and sucked into hell. His girlfriend accidentally resurrects him, but he needs more blood to be complete. She gets more men to come to her house and the story goes from there. Definitely worth a watch, but it is a very gory movie.

• One Hour Photo – Did you think Robin Williams was going to end up on this list? Well you should have because this story will make sure you never look at acquaintances the same ever again. Williams’ character becomes obsessed with a family that comes into his shop to develop their pictures. When the family turns out to not be as perfect as he imagines, his obsession takes things too far.

• Pan’s Labyrinth – A more fantastical movie, it stars a young girl going to live with her new stepfather along with her pregnant mother. The stepfather is a cruel general that will use any methods necessary to stop a rebellion. Meanwhile the girl retreats in on herself and it is up to the viewer to determine if what she sees is real or only her imagination. It is a tragic and beautiful movie.

• 13 Ghosts – This old movie is a great haunted house movie. A young family moves into a home and find out its haunted by 12 ghosts. The only way to get rid of them is for a thirteenth to be made and then the curse is broken. There is also a killer on the loose though that the family has to watch out for…

• The Craft – A modern day witch story. A teenage girl moves towns and becomes friends with some aspiring witches. She is different though, as she is a natural born witch. When the girls get powers beyond their dreams, will they be able to handle it or will past hurts make them lash out at them and everyone else?

• Misery – Based on a Stephen King novel, this movie is more of a psychological thriller. It follows an author who has come to hate his books and plans to kill off the main character. He gets in a car accident and is badly hurt. He is saved though by a fan. An obsessive fan who does not care for him killing off her favorite character and forces him through terrible abuse and terror to rewrite it to her satisfaction. Will he ever be able to escape her?

• The Silence of the Lambs – Clarice is an FBI agent in training who starts a dangerous game with Dr. Hannibal Lector, a brilliant psychologist who is locked away for murder and cannibalism. She uses herself to draw him out and help her solve another case, but the game goes too far when Lector finds a way out and they close in on the other murderer.

• The Conjuring – A modern movie set in the 1970’s where a family move into an old farmhouse and are soon haunted. A demonologist is called in to help, but the ghostly events soon turn violent. The family discovers the homes history but it may be too late.

• The Shining – The last of the Stephen King stories I will be mention on this list, but one of my favorites. The Torrance family go to the Overlook hotel where Jack, the father, is the winter caretaker. The hotels many ghosts are just as flushed out as the family and it makes for great scares. Danny, a young boy, also has ‘the shining’ a special gift. As the ghosts drive Jack mad, will Danny and his mother be able to escape? RED RUM, RED RUM!

• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber – The only musical on the list, but a great scary movie nonetheless. After Sweeney Todd is falsely accused and sent away he returns a mad man bent on revenge. He slays his patrons and gives the bodies to his accomplice Ms. Lovett who minces them into her popular meat pies. Todd won’t rest though until he gets the man who took everything from him.

• The Cabin in the Woods – A great plot twister of a story. It starts with the generic college students going to an abandoned cabin to party. There are zombies and creepy scientists and even more plot twists than you can count. A great modern day horror movie.

• Insidious – Another modern horror movie. A young family is grief stricken when their son falls into an unexplained coma. Soon though they find out that he is very special and that ghosts and a terrible demon want to use him for their own purposes.

• The Orphanage – A woman buys an old orphanage she grew up in and turns it into a home for sick children with her husband and son. Then her son disappears after she sees a possible ghost. Being ill himself, he is soon presumed dead, but she won’t give up. As she investigates old horrors come out and new ones begin.

• The Exorcism of Emily Rose – Based partially on true events, this story shows what may have happened to college student Emily Rose. It is a constant question of is it possible or is it superstition? It is the main reason it is on this list. It also has some pretty great scary scenes.

• Saw – Probably one of the best new horror movies to come out in the past fifteen years. It is about Jigsaw, a serial killer who kidnaps his victims because they don’t appreciate their lives and puts them in horrible puzzles that will kill them if they don’t solve them. It starts with two men waking up in one of his puzzles and through flashbacks we find out why they’re there and also see if anyone can save them.

• Phantasm – A scary movie with fantastical imagery and storytelling, you can never quite tell what is really happening. Two brothers and their friend find out the people in their town are dying mysteriously and find out its the local mortician, named the Tall Man. They try to defeat him, but will his powers be too much?

• A Nightmare on Elm Street – I had to finish with a real goodie. Freddy Krueger will give you nightmares, literally, and if you die in your dreams you die for real. Why does he kill them? That’s what the teenagers have to figure out before they get too tired and go to sleep.

I hope you have enjoyed this list and that you have added some movies to watch this Halloween or anytime soon. Some of these can be found on Netflix, but others you may have to do a little more searching to find, but I guarantee they are all worth it. Want to name your favorite out of this list, or have any others you want to add in? Please make sure to leave a comment below! If you would like to discuss or rewatch them with me and others, you can always find me at @quietlikeastorm on twitter. I would love to have a fright night with you.

-Erica