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A Frightfully Delightful Guide To Kid Friendly Halloween Movies

Halloween is just around the corner. The stores are already full of Halloween decorations, candy, and costumes. Children - as well as adults who are fans of the holiday - are gearing up to get in the mood to be delightfully frightened on October 31st. One of the best ways to get into the Halloween mood is to watch the plethora of movies, cartoons, and Halloween-themed television shows that are sure to be on every network imaginable in short order. However, when you have children, picking age-appropriate Halloween movies can be a bit of a challenge. It may leave you wondering where all the kid friendly Halloween movies are. 

However, when you have children, picking age-appropriate Halloween movies can be a bit of a challenge. These days, you're likely to stumble into things that are far too adult and frightening for the average kid. Therefore, it is important to make sure that you pick kid friendly Halloween movies. To that end, we have a list of those movies here for your entire family's Halloween enjoyment.

Hocus Pocus

This one is a classic. Featuring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker as three supposedly evil witches who are too incompetent to actually be scary, this is one of the best kid friendly Halloween movies around. It is timeless, as it was filmed in 1993, yet still delivers lots of witchy fun to families everywhere. Definitely look for this one in your local listings this Halloween season. 

kid friendly Halloween movies

Harry Potter

While the Harry Potter movies, adapted from J.K. Rowling's award-winning book series, of course, are not technically Halloween movies, they certainly can serve as such.  After all, there's nothing more delightfully Halloween-friendly than the magic of the Harry Potter world. Largely set at the fictional British magic school Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, these wonderful movies bring J.K. Rowling's brilliant fantasy to life. With the aid of the soaring talents of stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, among so many others, Potter never disappoints.

Halloween-themed or not, the Harry Potter movies definitely rank up there among the best kid friendly Halloween movies. After all, no matter the occasion, you can never go wrong with Harry Potter. In fact, these movies are so popular with children and adults alike that there are all kinds of Harry Potter themed things out there. People are even planning entire pregnancies around the franchise.

kid friendly Halloween movies

Disney's Halloween Town

This magical fantasy transports you from the home of a normal (but we soon learn they are not so normal) family into the fantastical world of Halloween Town. When Marnie turns 13, she learns something about herself that she never knew: She is a witch. With that comes the ability to live among the mystical creatures of  her own world. Said creatures include, but are not limited to, witches, warlocks, and werewolves. Far from being terribly frightening, Halloween Town is an amazing, delightful creation that is sure to get the whole family into the mood for Halloween. This should definitely be near the top of anyone's list of kid friendly Halloween movies. 

kid friendly Halloween movies

Tim Burton's Corpse Bride

Tim Burton is known for his dark movie creations. Tim Burton's Corpse Bride does not disappoint in this vein. It is an amazingly dark and giddy tale of a groom who mistakenly practices his wedding vows before a dead woman, things go awry when the corpse thinks she is now married to the man. This is a great kid friendly Halloween movie that the whole family can enjoy together. If you liked The Nightmare Before Christmas, another Tim Burton creation, you will absolutely love Corpse Bride.

kid friendly Halloween movies

Disney's The Haunted Mansion

Film star Eddie Murphy stars in this suspenseful family thriller. Murphy's character is a real estate agent who visits a haunted mansion he is hoping to list for the owner. It turns out that the owner and his servants are creepy, and the house itself is even creepier. Murphy and his family go on a wild adventure with this mansion and is cadre of strange inhabitants. The whole family will be on their seats throughout, but The Haunted Mansion is still one for the ages on your list kid friendly Halloween movies. 

kid friendly Halloween movies

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas

Tim Burton is doing double duty on this list. While The Nightmare Before Christmas is not technically a Halloween movie, it is deliberately dark, garish, and exaggerated in true Tim Burton fashion. In this classic, the king of Halloween Town is alerted to a playground that is very new - but also very intriguing to him: Christmas Town. However, Christmas is an unnatural thing for the king of Halloween Town to be celebrating. So the attempts to have the king of Halloween Town try to get into the Christmas spirit and celebrate wreaks havoc. When it comes to looking for kid friendly Halloween movies, it doesn't get much better than The Nightmare Before Christmas. This is perhaps the only movie in modern times that can easily and credibly double as both a Halloween classic and a Christmas classic. 

kid friendly Halloween movies

Beetlejuice

Here is yet another brilliant classic from Tim Burton's amazing imagination. So, make that triple duty for this master of dark fantasy. Most people will never get tired of this particular film. Beetlejuice tells the wild tale of of a dead couple who collude with ghosts to frighten the human occupants of their home away. The spirit world inhabitants they enlist for help includes one ghost who happens to be an absolute maniac. If you like laughs with your dark and wild fantasies, you will love this film - and your kids will as well. Beetlejuice should be on every parent's list of kid friendly Halloween movies. 

kid friendly Halloween movies

A Wrap Up On Kid Friendly Halloween Movies

Halloween is a great time of year. Kids get to dress up in their most imaginative, fantastical outfits, and go out into the night with their siblings and friends and collect treats from neighbors. The run-up to this spooky holiday produces many opportunities to get into that frightful spirit. Part of that tradition is watching all the Halloween movies that come on. While adults may be just fine with bona fide horror movies, children could have nightmares for weeks watching those things. That is why it is so vitally important to have kid friendly Halloween movies on hand - or to at least know which channels carry them. Per the list above, Disney and Tim Burton are great go-to places for kid friendly Halloween movies.

Hope you have a safe and enjoyable Halloween holiday. Happy Trick-or-Treating!

Related Article: The Best Toddler Movies Everyone Will Love

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