10 Family Friendly Halloween Movies That Are Actually Scary AF

By Emily Lee

October 11, 2021

Photo: HBO Max

Finding a spooky movie to watch with the whole family can be a challenge. While there are a ton of not-so-scary options out there, some kids do enjoy creepy monsters and jump scares. If you've got kiddos who like a bit of fright—but not so much that they'll be sleeping with the lights on—we have a few suggestions for your movie night.

From classic Disney Channel Original Movies that will have your kids double-checking for monsters under their bed to surprisingly spooky cartoons, here are ten family-friendly Halloween movies that are actually pretty scary:

1) Don't Look Under The Bed

Photo: Disney

Official Synopsis: "Frances enlists the help of an imaginary friend named Larry Houdini to deal with a prank-playing bogeyman, who's framing her for his dastardly deeds."

Streaming: Disney+

2) Coraline

Photo: Focus Features

Official Synopsis: "While exploring her new home, a girl named Coraline discovers a secret door, behind which lies an alternate world that closely mirrors her own but, in many ways, is better. She rejoices in her discovery until Other Mother and the rest of her parallel family try to keep her there forever. Coraline must use all her resources and bravery to make it back to her own family and life."

Streaming: Starz

3) Frankenweenie

Photo: Disney

Official Synopsis: "Young Victor Frankenstein is a science nerd and outsider at school, but he does have one good friend: his dog, Sparky. But then, tragedy strikes and Sparky shuffles off this mortal coil. Victor is heartbroken, but his science teacher gives him an idea of how to jolt old Sparky back to life. The experiment is successful, and all goes well until Victor's fellow students steal his secret and use it to resurrect other dead animals -- with monstrous consequences."

Streaming: Disney+

4) The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Photo: Disney

Official Synopsis: "Two animated adaptations of classic literature make up this Disney film. In 'The Wind in the Willows,' wealthy Mr. Toad yearns for all the newest fads. When he wants an automobile, Mr. Toad sets out to get one anyway he can. In 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,' gangly schoolmaster Ichabod Crane falls for the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel. Caught in a love triangle with Katrina and Brom Bones, Ichabod fears a local legend called the Headless Horseman."

Streaming: Disney+

5) Monster House

Photo: Netflix

Official Synopsis: "No adults believe three youths' assertion that a neighboring residence is a living creature that means them harm. With Halloween approaching, the trio must find a way to destroy the structure before innocent trick-or-treaters meet ghastly ends."

Streaming: Netflix

6) The Witches (1990)

Photo: HBO Max

Official Synopsis: "While staying at a hotel in England with his grandmother, Helga, young Luke inadvertently spies on a convention of witches. The Grand High Witch reveals a plan to turn all children into mice through a magical formula. When they find that Luke has overheard, the witches test the formula on him. Now, with the help of Helga and the hotel manager, Mr. Stringer, Luke the mouse must fight back against the witches."

Streaming: HBO Max

7) Labyrinth

Photo: Netflix

Official Synopsis: "Teenage Sarah journeys through a maze to recover her baby brother from the goblin king, played by David Bowie."

Streaming: Netflix

8) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

Photo: Universal Pictures

Official Synopsis: "After a gentle alien becomes stranded on Earth, the being is discovered and befriended by a young boy named Elliott. Bringing the extraterrestrial into his suburban California house, Elliott introduces E.T., as the alien is dubbed, to his brother and his little sister, Gertie, and the children decide to keep its existence a secret. Soon, however, E.T. falls ill, resulting in government intervention and a dire situation for both Elliott and the alien."

Streaming: Amazon Prime

9) Goosebumps

Photo: Sony Pictures

Official Synopsis: "Upset about moving from a big city to a small town, teenager Zach Cooper finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah, living right next door. But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach’s comes when he learns that Hannah has a mysterious dad who is revealed to be R. L. Stine, the author of the bestselling Goosebumps series. It turns out that there is a reason why Stine is so strange… he is a prisoner of his own imagination – the monsters that his books made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books. When Zach unintentionally unleashes the monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it’s suddenly up to Stine, Zach, and Hannah to get all of them back in the books where they belong."

Streaming: Netflix

10) Gremlins

Photo: Warner Bros.

Official Synopsis: "A gadget salesman is looking for a special gift for his son and finds one at a store in Chinatown. The shopkeeper is reluctant to sell him the mogwai but sells it to him with the warning to never expose him to bright light, water, or to feed him after midnight. All of this happens and the result is a gang of gremlins that decide to tear up the town on Christmas Eve."

Streaming: HBO Max or Peacock

Happy Halloween!

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