THE BEST HALLOWEEN MOVIES FOR KIDS

It’s spooky season again – one of our favourite times of the year! Whether you’re out trick or treating, or staying in, you’ll need a Halloween movie to get you in the mood. There’s no shortage of good Halloween movies for kids, you just need to pick the scare level according to their appetite for thrills. From cute animations to all-out terror, you can put together a kid friendly Halloween movie marathon. So grab your popcorn, pop a candle into a carved pumpkin for atmospheric lighting and prepare… to be scared!

Here's our pick of the best fun family Halloween movies.

The Best Halloween Movies for Kids

• Coco
• Beetlejuice
• Ghostbusters
• Casper
• Goosebumps
• The Muppets Haunted Mansion
• The Addams Family

Coco (2017)

Although this Pixar hit is actually about the Mexican Day of the Dead, it’s a great kid-friendly Halloween movie. The touching story follows Miguel, an aspiring young musician who wants to play guitar like his idol. He finds himself in the Land of the Dead, and his journey back to the land of the living enables him to learn about his family.

The soundtrack features eight original songs, written by Germaine Franco, Adrian Molina, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. Interestingly, Coco was originally intended to be a full musical, but the plans were scrapped following early test screenings.

However, the songs that are included remain some of Pixar’s best, with the beautiful lullaby ‘Remember Me’ winning the Oscar for Best Original Song.

The colourful animation will appeal to kids, whilst the moving approach to questions of culture, family, life, death and pursuing your passions means it scores highly with the grown-ups too.

Beetlejuice (1988)

‘Their house is being haunted by the living’

Bring the crazy this Halloween with an 80s classic. Michael Keaton has rarely been better as ‘no ordinary ghost’ Beetlejuice, plus you’ve got Winona Ryder, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin and Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek)

Davis and Baldwin are a recently deceased couple who find themselves haunting their former home. Having failed to scare away new homeowners the Deetz family, they call on ‘bio-exorcist’ Betelgeuse, who proceeds to cause absolute mayhem. Goth daughter Lydia (Ryder) is the only one who can see the ghosts.

This early Tim Burton vision is full of brilliantly weird effects, including stop motion and puppetry, and features a score by Danny Elfman, who went on to become Burton’s go-to composer. Plus, there are two original Harry Belafonte tracks, ‘Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)’ and ‘Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)’.

Ghostbusters (1984)

The 80s was a vintage decade for scares, including the first outing of the Ghostbusters franchise hitting the screen. Ghostbusters has a fantastic cold-open with something supernatural tearing up the New York Public Library - who you gonna call? Well, professors Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) – AKA the Ghostbusters – of course.

The paranormal investigation and elimination service the three set up (adding in Winston Zeddemore, played by Ernie Hudson) in a disused firehouse became a huge hit, spawning sequels as recently as 2021 (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, starring Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard), plus all-female reboot Ghostbusters: Answer the Call.

The soundtrack for the original movie was composed by Hollywood legend Elmer Bernstein, and performed with a full orchestra, the Hollywood Studio Symphony. Director Ivan Reitman apparently wanted a grounded, realistic score that didn’t tell the audience when something was funny. The eerie effect was created with an ondes Martenot – effectively a keyboard equivalent of a theremin.

Plus, of course, you’ve got the brilliant Ray Parker Jr theme tune if you want to dance around the sitting room with your proton packs.

Casper (1995)

When it comes to scary movies for kids, start the littlest ones off with the aptly-named Casper the Friendly Ghost. Based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character, it was the first feature film to have a full CGI character as the lead role.

The film stars Bill Pullman, Eric Idle and Christina Ricci, as Kathleen Harvey, the daughter of ghost therapist Dr James Harvey, whom Casper recruits to help him handle some unfinished business…

The dreamy, orchestral soundtrack was composed by award-winning composer James Horner.

Goosebumps (2015)

Think ‘Jumanji for books’ and you’re on the right page with Goosebumps (sorry). Zach moves in next to Hannah and her scary-seeming dad, R.L. Stine (Jack Black), author of the best-selling Goosebumps series. The books in their house are locked up for a reason: if you unlock them, it releases the monster inside.

When Zach unintentionally unleashes a legion of monsters – from the Abominable Snowman to a horde of gnomes, via Fifi the Vampire Poodle and the Body Squeezers, it’s up to Stine, Zach and Hannah to trap them and get them back into the books where they belong before they completely destroy their small town.

This is a zippy creature feature for kids and Jack Black is a hoot. The film is rounded off with a spooky score by Danny Elfman.

The Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021)

If you’re after a fun Halloween movie for families, and you want some music with your monsters, no-one brings it quite like the Muppets. Gonzo accepts the challenge to spend a night in a haunted mansion, and the guest stars include Taraji P. Henson, John Stamos, Yvette Nicole Brown and Darren Criss – together with, of course, Kermit, Miss Piggy and Fozzi bear – for ‘a party to die for’.

The original songs are written by Ed Mitchell and Steve Morell, plus there’s a cover of ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’.

The Addams Family (1991)

Based on the cartoon created by Charles Addams and the 1964 TV series, Anjelica Huston was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as macabre matriarch Morticia Addams. Yes, they’re creepy and they’re kooky, but they’re also tons of fun. Plus, there’s inspiration for a Halloween outfit for everyone in the family. If make-up isn’t your bag, then just pull all your hair over your face, and go as Cousin Itt.

The soundtrack was created by Marc Shaiman, who’s worked on everything from When Harry Met Sally to Sister Act, Hairspray to the BAFTA, Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated Mary Poppins Returns.

Want more Addams family? Watch out for Wednesday Addams on Netflix – the series brings together Jenna Ortega as Wednesday, alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Gusman, Christina Ricci and Gwendoline Christie, as Wednesday attends Nevermore Academy in a sleuthing, supernaturally-infused mystery.

More Scares

If you’re looking to be more creative than just pumpkin carving, then why not read our deep dive on how to make a horror movie. Then explore our picks of the best horror movie soundtracks and the science behind scary music. Plus, there are a tonne of Halloween-themed ads from top brands to enjoy.

Looking for music for your own horror content? We have heaps of Halloween playlists to choose from. Or discover the very latest albums in our playlist hub.