10 (Non-Horror) Halloween Movies for the Family
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I have a love/hate relationship with Halloween. I LOVE seeing little kids dress up. I LOVE coming up with fun, themed family costumes. But often, I feel that Halloween is a celebration of death, the occult, evil and pain. A friend sent me a social media post of a person who was excited that they found a replica of an electrical execution chair to use as a Halloween decoration. Bloody body bags and serial killer costumes go way too far in my opinion. But pumpkin patches, carving pumpkins, and seeing friends and neighbors on Oct. 31 can be so fun!
The same goes for movies, so I wanted to share with you some great Halloween movies for the family that are on the lighter side of things. I have oldies, cartoons and everything in between. Of course some kiddos are more sensitive than others, so just be careful. 🙂
1. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
Don Knotts is at his finest as a newspaper reporter who is supposed to spend a night in a haunted house. Slap stick humor and a millionaire’s evil plot take center stage. This is our favorite Halloween movie.
2. Arsenic and Old Lace
Cary Grant. And that’s all I have to say.
Actually, no. Arsenic and Old Lace also has two sweet old ladies who kill people out of the kindness of their hearts, a half brother who looks like Frankenstein, and a fiance who doesn’t know what on earth is going on. This does have scary parts in it, but a ton of
3. The Canterville Ghost
A cowardly man dies a shameful death and is doomed to be the unhappy Canterville Ghost until a little girl and the U.S. Army step in and help.
4. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
Did you watch this when you were little? It’s a classic! Poor, loyal Linus…
5. Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman
This mini feature classic is part of the Disney’s Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad movie pack. They made the Headless Horseman pretty scary- I remember being scared when I was little, so be careful with your young ones! Now my kids watch it.
6. Hotel Transylvania
Vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein…Hotel Transylvania fits the bill without being scary. Daddy Vampire is worried about his teenage daughter learning about the real world- and falling for a human boy.
7. Scooby Doo
This is the old classic standard for spooky mysteries for kids. Generation after generation love these! They are scary, but not too scary.
8. Blackbeard’s Ghost
I ADORE this movie, it’s so funny! Captain Blackbeard is doomed to be a ghost until he does a good deed. An innocent track coach and his team get caught up in Blackbeard’s shenanigans until Blackbeard straightens up his act and helps a group of old ladies
9. Harry Potter Series
Witches, wizards, dark lords, owls, toads…Harry Potter will always be connected with Halloween to me. (This series does get progressively darker as it goes on.)
10. Garfield’s Halloween Adventure
For full disclosure, I have to admit that I haven’t seen Garfield’s Halloween Adventures. But my friend Andrea from Better Screen Time (who I completely trust) has a tradition of watching this yearly with her kids, since she grew up watching it with her parents. I think my little ones will really enjoy this one!
What are YOUR favorite Halloween movies?
Share them in the comments!
P.S. If you enjoyed this movie round up, you might enjoy the Ultimate Book to Family Movie list–with over 300 movies that have been made from books!
My kids are older and we like:
Private Eyes (another Don Knotts),
The Addams Family,
Coco,
The Nightmare before Christmas,
The Corpse Bride,
Hocus Pocus,
Casper,
Coraline…
There are a lot of those I haven’t seen. Thanks for sharing!
We had to take Coraline off the list over time we all just felt it was a bit too creepy for us. 🙂 We need to check out some of those others.
Honestly, I haven’t seen Coraline (I’m not a big fan of that type of animation). Thanks for sharing!
Curious George Halloween Boo Fest, Room on the Broom, and Mr. Boogedy!
Thanks for those ideas!
From a Sarah to a Sarah… YES!!! On Mr. Boogedy. Hahaha. My little one gets a little scared of how he looks but its 80’s effects at its best!!
The new-ish Disney/Pixar movie Coco could work, too.
True! Also maybe The Book of Life, which seems similar…
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is a must see! It gave my 5-year-old nightmares though. Now she is 10 and she laughs at how scared she was when she first saw the movie.
“Mummy Daddy” sounds pretty fun! I grew up watching “Wait Until Dark”, too! That one place where the guy jumps out at her gets me every time!!
I jumped here from Power of Moms, thank you for the great post!
We took your friends’ advice and tried Garfield’s Halloween Adventures last night. I would not recommend it; there were several scary parts that really upset my 8 YO. He had a few nightmares last night about the ghosts and scary old man in the movie! I have fond memories of Garfield from my childhood, but this Halloween movie definitely has some scary parts.
We’ll try some of your other recommendations later this week! Thank you!
Darn it! I’m so sorry! Little children’s nightmares are the saddest thing. We are all sensitive to different things. Thank you for the heads up. I really appreciate it.