Halloween Movies: 120+ Best Picks by Age and Where to Stream

The best Halloween movies for most households are Hocus Pocus (1993), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Beetlejuice (1988), Ghostbusters (1984) and, once the kids are in bed, John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978). That short list covers a family night, a nostalgic night and a properly scary night. Below you will find more than 120 picks sorted by who is watching: little kids, grade-schoolers, tweens, classic film fans, horror fans, people who would rather laugh, and anyone who wants something released in 2025 or 2026.

Every table shows the release year, the U.S. rating, the runtime and the subscription services that carried the title in the United States when we checked on October 13, 2026. Catalogs rotate at the start of each month, so confirm in the app before you promise a movie to a room full of kids. Where a film had no subscription home on that date, we say so rather than guess. Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, October 31, which makes it an unusually good year for a late double feature.

The Best Halloween Movies at a Glance

If you only have time for one movie, pick by audience:

Who is watching	Best pick	Why it works	Backup
Ages 3–5	It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown	25 minutes, zero scares, trick-or-treating and a pumpkin patch	Spookley the Square Pumpkin
Ages 6–8	Hocus Pocus	Funny witches, a talking cat and one or two mild jumps	Hotel Transylvania
Ages 9–12	Coraline	Creepy enough to feel grown-up, still rated PG	Monster House
Teens	Scream (R) or A Quiet Place (PG-13)	Tense, clever and endlessly discussable afterward	Happy Death Day
Mixed-age family	Ghostbusters	Jokes for adults, slime and ghosts for kids	Beetlejuice
Adults who hate gore	The Sixth Sense	A ghost story that runs on dread instead of blood	The Others
Horror fans	Halloween (1978)	The film that set the template for the slasher	The Shining
A party crowd	The Rocky Horror Picture Show	Sing-along, dress-up and audience callbacks	Shaun of the Dead
Date night	Practical Magic	Witches, romance and midnight margaritas	Death Becomes Her

Family Halloween Movies Everyone Can Watch Together

These are the titles that hold a seven-year-old and a forty-year-old at the same time. Most are rated PG. The PG-13 entries (The Addams Family, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the 2023 Haunted Mansion) earn the rating mostly through macabre jokes and a few intense scenes rather than anything graphic, but preview them if your kids are sensitive.

Movie	Year	Rating	Runtime	Where to stream (US, checked Oct. 13, 2026)
Hocus Pocus	1993	PG	96 min	Disney+
Hocus Pocus 2	2022	PG	103 min	Disney+
The Nightmare Before Christmas	1993	PG	76 min	Disney+
Halloweentown	1998	TV-G	84 min	Disney+, Hulu
Coco	2017	PG	105 min	Disney+
Hotel Transylvania	2012	PG	91 min	Hulu, Paramount+
Casper	1995	PG	100 min	Peacock, Hulu
The Addams Family	1991	PG-13	99 min	Paramount+
Addams Family Values	1993	PG-13	94 min	Paramount+
Ghostbusters	1984	PG	105 min	Fubo, Philo, YouTube TV
Beetlejuice	1988	PG	92 min	HBO Max
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice	2024	PG-13	104 min	HBO Max
Haunted Mansion	2023	PG-13	123 min	Disney+
The Haunted Mansion	2003	PG	88 min	Disney+
Goosebumps	2015	PG	103 min	Paramount+, Tubi (free with ads)
The House with a Clock in Its Walls	2018	PG	105 min	Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters	2025	PG	95 min	Netflix
Scooby-Doo	2002	PG	86 min	HBO Max

What to know before you press play:

• Hocus Pocus is gentler than its reputation, but the opening scene (a child’s life force is drained) and the zombie Billy Butcherson bother some kids under six. The sequel is lighter.
• The Nightmare Before Christmas was directed by Henry Selick from a story by Tim Burton, runs barely 76 minutes and works as both a Halloween and a Christmas movie. Oogie Boogie is the scary part.
• Coco is set during Día de los Muertos (November 1–2), not Halloween, yet it has become an October staple. Expect tears from the adults.
• Ghostbusters is PG by 1984 standards, which were looser: there is smoking, innuendo and a frightening library ghost in the first five minutes.
• KPop Demon Hunters became the surprise family hit of 2025; it is a musical about a pop trio who fight demons, and the songs will be requested at any party you host. Our Halloween costume ideas guide covers how to dress as the characters.

Halloween Movies for Kids by Age

The rating on the box is a blunt tool. A PG from 1990 is not a PG from 2020, and a nervous ten-year-old may handle less than a bold six-year-old. Use the age bands below as a starting point and trust what you know about your own child. The Motion Picture Association explains what each rating means; the short version is that G has nothing most parents would object to, PG may include some material parents might not like for young children, and PG-13 may be inappropriate for pre-teens.

Ages 3–6: Not-scary Halloween movies and specials

Short runtimes matter more than anything else at this age. Half of these are specials under 30 minutes, which means you can pair two with a snack break and still make bedtime.

Movie	Year	Rating	Runtime	Where to stream (US, checked Oct. 13, 2026)
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown	1966	TV-G	25 min	Apple TV
Spookley the Square Pumpkin	2004	G	47 min	Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock
Toy Story of Terror!	2013	TV-G	22 min	Disney+
Super Monsters Save Halloween	2018	TV-Y	24 min	Netflix
The Bad Guys: Haunted Heist	2024	TV-Y7	24 min	Netflix
Spooky Buddies	2011	G	88 min	Disney+
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad	1949	G	68 min	Disney+
Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!	2022	TV-PG	72 min	HBO Max

Other safe choices for this age that are on Disney+: Halloweentown High, Return to Halloweentown and Girl vs. Monster are aimed at slightly older kids but contain nothing frightening. Hotel Transylvania 2 (Hulu, Paramount+) is as mild as the first film. Room on the Broom, Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie and Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest are lovely for preschoolers, but none had a subscription home when we checked, so plan to rent them.

Ages 7–9: A little spooky

This is the sweet spot for the big family titles in the table above: Hocus Pocus, Casper, Hotel Transylvania, Halloweentown, Goosebumps, Scooby-Doo and The Haunted Mansion (2003). Add The Addams Family animated film from 2019 and its 2021 sequel (both on Peacock) and Scoob! (HBO Max). Kids this age like to be a little scared as long as the movie is clearly on their side, so pick stories where children outsmart the monster.

Ages 10–13: Creepy but not gory

Tweens want something that feels like a real scary movie. Stop-motion is the secret weapon here: Coraline, ParaNorman and Corpse Bride are unsettling, beautiful and still rated PG.

Movie	Year	Rating	Runtime	Where to stream (US, checked Oct. 13, 2026)
Monster House	2006	PG	91 min	Peacock
Coraline	2009	PG	100 min	HBO Max, Peacock, Hulu
ParaNorman	2012	PG	92 min	HBO Max, Peacock, Hulu
Corpse Bride	2005	PG	77 min	HBO Max
Frankenweenie	2012	PG	87 min	Disney+
The Witches	1990	PG	91 min	Peacock
Nightbooks	2021	TV-PG	103 min	Netflix
A Babysitter’s Guide to Monster Hunting	2020	TV-PG	94 min	Netflix
The Curse of Bridge Hollow	2022	TV-14	91 min	Netflix
Twitches	2005	TV-G	86 min	Disney+
Under Wraps	2021	TV-PG	91 min	Disney+
Don’t Look Under the Bed	1999	TV-PG	92 min	Disney+
The Monster Squad	1987	PG-13	82 min	Prime Video, Paramount+
Wendell & Wild	2022	PG-13	105 min	Netflix
Edward Scissorhands	1990	PG-13	105 min	Hulu

For kids on the older end of this band who are ready for a first true horror movie, the usual stepping stones are Poltergeist (PG, though it would likely be PG-13 today), Gremlins, The Sixth Sense, A Quiet Place and M3GAN. Watch with them the first time.

Classic Halloween Movies

“Classic” covers two things: the black-and-white Universal monster films that invented the look of Halloween (the flat-topped Frankenstein monster, the caped Dracula), and the run of landmark horror from 1960 to 1999 that later films still borrow from. The monster movies are short, bloodless and fine for curious kids of eight or nine; the later ones are for adults and older teens.

Movie	Year	Rating	Runtime	Where to stream (US, checked Oct. 13, 2026)
Frankenstein	1931	Not rated	70 min	Peacock, Prime Video
Dracula	1931	Not rated	75 min	Peacock, Prime Video
Bride of Frankenstein	1935	Not rated	75 min	Peacock, Prime Video
The Wolf Man	1941	Not rated	70 min	Peacock
Arsenic and Old Lace	1944	Not rated	118 min	Fubo
Psycho	1960	R	109 min	Netflix, Peacock
The Birds	1963	PG-13	119 min	Peacock
Night of the Living Dead	1968	Not rated	96 min	Peacock, HBO Max, Shudder
Rosemary’s Baby	1968	R	137 min	Paramount+, AMC+
The Exorcist	1973	R	122 min	HBO Max
Jaws	1975	PG	124 min	Netflix
Carrie	1976	R	98 min	Prime Video, HBO Max
Halloween	1978	R	91 min	Shudder, AMC+
Alien	1979	R	117 min	Netflix
The Shining	1980	R	146 min	HBO Max
Poltergeist	1982	PG	114 min	HBO Max
A Nightmare on Elm Street	1984	R	91 min	HBO Max
The Lost Boys	1987	R	97 min	AMC+, Philo
The Silence of the Lambs	1991	R	118 min	Prime Video, Peacock
Scream	1996	R	111 min	Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock
The Sixth Sense	1999	PG-13	107 min	Netflix, Hulu
The Blair Witch Project	1999	R	81 min	HBO Max

Where to start: if you have never seen the 1978 Halloween, start there. It takes place on October 31 in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois, shows very little blood and runs 91 minutes. Psycho and The Sixth Sense are the best choices for people who dislike gore, and Night of the Living Dead is in the public domain, so it is free on several ad-supported services as well.

Best Scary Halloween Movies: Modern Horror

Horror from the last twenty-five years ranges from quiet ghost stories to films that are hard to sit through. The table runs roughly from least to most intense within each year, and every R rating here is earned.

Movie	Year	Rating	Runtime	Where to stream (US, checked Oct. 13, 2026)
The Others	2001	PG-13	104 min	Shudder, AMC+
Trick ’r Treat	2007	R	82 min	HBO Max
The Cabin in the Woods	2012	R	95 min	HBO Max, AMC+
The Babadook	2014	Not rated	94 min	Shudder, AMC+
It Follows	2015	R	100 min	Paramount+, Peacock
Get Out	2017	R	104 min	Peacock
It	2017	R	135 min	HBO Max
Hereditary	2018	R	127 min	HBO Max, Hulu, Prime Video
A Quiet Place	2018	PG-13	90 min	Paramount+
Halloween	2018	R	106 min	Peacock
Us	2019	R	116 min	HBO Max
Midsommar	2019	R	147 min	HBO Max, Hulu, Prime Video
The Black Phone	2022	R	103 min	Netflix
Barbarian	2022	R	102 min	Hulu
Nope	2022	R	130 min	Netflix
M3GAN	2022	PG-13	102 min	Netflix
Longlegs	2024	R	101 min	Hulu
Nosferatu	2024	R	132 min	Hulu

• Mild (PG-13, low gore): The Others, A Quiet Place, M3GAN.
• Medium (tense, some violence): Get Out, The Black Phone, Nope, It Follows, Trick ’r Treat, which is the most Halloween-soaked film on the list: four stories on one October 31.
• Heavy (disturbing, not for a casual party): Hereditary, Midsommar, Barbarian, Longlegs.

Prefer something episodic? Wednesday and Stranger Things are on Netflix and the 2023 Goosebumps series is on Disney+. October 2026 also brought new series: Mike Flanagan’s Carrie on Prime Video (October 7), Below on Netflix (October 8) and the Friday the 13th prequel Crystal Lake on Peacock (October 15), according to Variety’s monthly horror roundup.

Funny Halloween Movies: Comedies and Horror-Comedies

Not everyone wants nightmares. These are built for laughing with a group, which also makes them the safest choice for a Halloween party where the movie plays in the background.

Movie	Year	Rating	Runtime	Where to stream (US, checked Oct. 13, 2026)
Young Frankenstein	1974	PG	106 min	Fubo
The Rocky Horror Picture Show	1975	R	100 min	Fandango at Home (free with ads)
Clue	1985	PG	94 min	Pluto TV (free with ads)
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark	1988	PG-13	96 min	Prime Video
Ernest Scared Stupid	1991	PG	91 min	Prime Video, Hulu
Death Becomes Her	1992	PG-13	104 min	Prime Video, Peacock
Practical Magic	1998	PG-13	104 min	HBO Max
Scary Movie	2000	R	88 min	Paramount+, Peacock
Shaun of the Dead	2004	R	99 min	Peacock
Zombieland	2009	R	88 min	HBO Max
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil	2010	R	89 min	The Roku Channel (free with ads)
Happy Death Day	2017	PG-13	96 min	HBO Max, Peacock
Ready or Not	2019	R	95 min	Netflix, Tubi (free with ads)
Hubie Halloween	2020	PG-13	103 min	Netflix
Freaky	2020	R	102 min	Peacock
Werewolves Within	2021	R	97 min	Shudder, AMC+
Totally Killer	2023	R	106 min	Prime Video
Renfield	2023	R	93 min	Peacock
Lisa Frankenstein	2024	PG-13	101 min	Peacock

Crowd tips: Young Frankenstein and Clue are the two that work for grandparents and teenagers alike. Rocky Horror is a participation movie: print the callback lines and hand out newspapers and party hats. Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland are funny but bloody, so check the room first.

New Halloween Movies: 2025 and 2026

The last two years have been strong for horror. Sinners and Weapons were the most talked-about original horror films of 2025, Guillermo del Toro finally made his Frankenstein for Netflix, and KPop Demon Hunters gave families a new October favorite. Most 2025 releases and the early-2026 ones have reached streaming:

Movie	Year	Rating	Runtime	Where to stream (US, checked Oct. 13, 2026)
Sinners	2025	R	137 min	HBO Max
Weapons	2025	R	128 min	HBO Max, Prime Video
Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro)	2025	R	149 min	Netflix
KPop Demon Hunters	2025	PG	95 min	Netflix
28 Years Later	2025	R	115 min	Netflix
Final Destination Bloodlines	2025	R	110 min	HBO Max
The Conjuring: Last Rites	2025	R	135 min	HBO Max
Black Phone 2	2025	R	114 min	Netflix
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2	2025	PG-13	104 min	Netflix
The Monkey	2025	R	98 min	Hulu
Companion	2025	R	97 min	HBO Max
Wolf Man	2025	R	103 min	Peacock
Good Boy	2025	PG-13	73 min	Hulu, Shudder
Together	2025	R	102 min	Hulu
Bring Her Back	2025	R	104 min	HBO Max
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple	2026	R	109 min	Netflix
Primate	2026	R	89 min	Prime Video
Send Help	2026	R	113 min	Hulu
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy	2026	R	132 min	HBO Max
Scary Movie (the sixth film)	2026	R	95 min	Paramount+
Ready or Not 2: Here I Come	2026	R	108 min	Hulu
Scream 7	2026	R	114 min	No subscription service when we checked

In theaters for October 2026, per Variety: Other Mommy with Jessica Chastain (Universal, October 9), Whalefall (20th Century Studios, October 16) and Clayface (Warner Bros., October 23). Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil opened in theaters in September. None of these had a streaming date at the time of writing. Disney’s own 2026 list also highlights the thriller SOULM8TE on Hulu.

Where to Stream Halloween Movies in 2026

Every major service builds an October collection. This is what each one is best for this year:

Service	Best for	Halloween highlights (checked Oct. 13, 2026)
Disney+ (with Hulu)	Families	Hocus Pocus 1 and 2, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Halloweentown series, Coco, Frankenweenie, both Haunted Mansion films, Twitches; on the Hulu side Barbarian, Longlegs, The Monkey, Nosferatu
Netflix	New releases and kids’ originals	Frankenstein, KPop Demon Hunters, Wednesday, Hubie Halloween, Nightbooks, The Curse of Bridge Hollow, Black Phone 2, Psycho, Jaws
HBO Max	Warner Bros. classics	Beetlejuice and its sequel, The Exorcist, The Shining, It, Sinners, Weapons, Corpse Bride, Trick ’r Treat, Poltergeist
Peacock	Universal monsters	Frankenstein, Dracula, The Wolf Man, Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills, Get Out, Monster House, Casper, Shaun of the Dead
Paramount+	Franchises	Scream, A Quiet Place, both live-action Addams Family films, Goosebumps, Rosemary’s Baby, the 2026 Scary Movie
Prime Video	Mixed bag included with Prime	Totally Killer, Primate, Hereditary, Carrie (1976), Death Becomes Her, The Silence of the Lambs
Apple TV	Peanuts	It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown; Wolfwalkers
Shudder / AMC+	Horror specialists	Halloween (1978), The Babadook, The Others, Werewolves Within, new originals all month
Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel	Free with ads	Night of the Living Dead, Clue, Goosebumps, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, Ready or Not

Two things to keep in mind. First, cable still matters in October: Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween and AMC’s FearFest run family titles and slashers on a schedule, which is why some films show up on live-TV services such as Fubo, Philo and YouTube TV but not on the big subscription apps. Second, if a movie is not on anything you pay for, a digital rental usually costs about $4, which is cheaper than adding a service for one night.

Halloween Movie Marathon Plans

A marathon works when the order is right: start light, peak in the middle and finish with something people can half-watch. Each plan lists total screen time so you can set a start time and work backward.

Plan 1: Family afternoon (about 4 hours 50 minutes)

1. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (25 min) while everyone settles in.
2. Hotel Transylvania (91 min), then a snack break.
3. Hocus Pocus (96 min) as the main event.
4. The Nightmare Before Christmas (76 min) to wind down before dinner or trick-or-treating.

Plan 2: Tween sleepover (about 5 hours)

1. Monster House (91 min).
2. Coraline (100 min) once it is dark outside.
3. Goosebumps (103 min) to bring the mood back up before lights-out.

Plan 3: Classic monsters in one evening (about 4 hours 50 minutes)

1. Dracula (75 min).
2. Frankenstein (70 min).
3. Bride of Frankenstein (75 min), widely considered the best of the cycle.
4. The Wolf Man (70 min). All four are on Peacock, and none runs longer than a TV drama.

Plan 4: Horror night for adults (about 6 hours 20 minutes)

1. Trick ’r Treat (82 min) to set the Halloween mood.
2. Halloween, 1978 (91 min).
3. Scream (111 min), which comments on everything you just watched.
4. The Cabin in the Woods (95 min) as the wild finale.

Plan 5: Laughing instead of screaming (about 5 hours)

1. Young Frankenstein (106 min).
2. Beetlejuice (92 min).
3. Shaun of the Dead (99 min).

Plan 6: A 13-night countdown (October 19–31)

One movie per night, escalating slowly: Halloweentown, Casper, Hotel Transylvania, The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus, Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, Coraline, Practical Magic, The Sixth Sense, Scream, The Shining and, on Halloween night, Halloween. Swap the last four for Corpse Bride, Goosebumps, Young Frankenstein and The Nightmare Before Christmas if kids are joining.

How to Host a Halloween Movie Night

1. Pick the movie before guests arrive. Scrolling for 40 minutes kills the mood. Offer two options at most and vote.
2. Check the app that afternoon. Titles leave services without warning; have a rental backup.
3. Darken the room. Turn off overhead lights and use orange string lights or battery candles. Our Halloween decorations guide has setups that take ten minutes.
4. Plan snacks you can eat in the dark. Popcorn with candy corn and peanuts, mummy hot dogs and apple slices with caramel dip. More in Halloween food ideas and Halloween candy.
5. Build in an intermission. Ten minutes between films for bathroom, refills and a round of Halloween trivia about the movie you just watched.
6. Give kids an exit. Tell them it is fine to leave the room, and keep a lamp on in the hallway.

Planning a bigger evening? See the full Halloween guide for costumes, pumpkins and party plans, and send the invitation with a free card from our card maker.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the number one Halloween movie?

There is no single official ranking, but two films dominate. For families it is Hocus Pocus (1993), which returns to the streaming charts every October. For horror fans it is John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), the film that is actually set on October 31 and launched a 13-movie franchise.

Where can I watch Hocus Pocus in 2026?

Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 are streaming on Disney+ in the United States as of October 13, 2026. The original also airs repeatedly on Freeform during 31 Nights of Halloween and can be rented digitally for about $4.

What are good Halloween movies that are not scary?

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Halloweentown, Hotel Transylvania, Casper, Coco, Spookley the Square Pumpkin and The Nightmare Before Christmas have Halloween atmosphere without real frights. For adults, try Practical Magic, Clue or Young Frankenstein.

What Halloween movies are good for a 5-year-old?

Stick with G and TV-G titles under an hour and a half: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, Spookley the Square Pumpkin, Toy Story of Terror!, Super Monsters Save Halloween and Spooky Buddies. Hocus Pocus is usually better from age six or seven.

What is the scariest Halloween movie?

Fear is personal, but The Exorcist (1973), The Shining (1980), Hereditary (2018) and the original Halloween (1978) appear on almost every critics’ list. Among recent releases, Weapons and Bring Her Back (both 2025) are the intense ones.

What new Halloween movies came out in 2026?

Streaming now: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (Netflix), Primate (Prime Video), Send Help and Ready or Not 2: Here I Come (Hulu), Lee Cronin’s The Mummy (HBO Max) and the new Scary Movie (Paramount+). In theaters in October 2026: Other Mommy, Whalefall and Clayface.

Is The Nightmare Before Christmas a Halloween or Christmas movie?

Both. The story begins in Halloween Town on the night after Halloween and ends on Christmas Eve, and director Henry Selick has said he considers it a Halloween movie. It runs 76 minutes and is on Disney+, so many families watch it once in October and again in December.

How many movies should a Halloween movie marathon have?

Three feature films is the comfortable limit for one evening, about five hours with breaks. For kids, two features or one feature plus two short specials works better. Start with the lightest movie and save the scariest for the middle so nobody goes to bed on a fright.