22 Halloween movies for kids that won't keep them up all night
These festive flicks are just the right amount of spooky.
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Disney/Pixar
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Halloween fun is all about getting a little bit scared, but no one is having a good time if it means kiddos are losing precious sleep to holiday creeps—and keeping you up all night with them.
Here are some favorite films to get you into the spooky holiday spirit without scaring the daylights out of the little ones. Curl up with some classics as well as under-the-radar favorites—some are more sweet than scary, while others give just the right amount of spooky.
1. Room on the Broom
So good, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
Rated NR Best for ages: 2 to 8 Short and sweet, this story is more about magical friendship than anything too spooky. This half-hour film is based on a children's book about a kind little witch with a long ginger braid and a great big heart. She befriends a scrappy group of animals as the film tells a story of kindness, loyalty, and friendship. This movie is so good that it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and the author, who also wrote The Gruffalo, names this movie as her favorite adaptation of all her books.
Watch Room on the Broom on Netflix
2. Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest
This tame movie follows George on the quest for the perfect costume and on an adventure to debunk a legend.
Rated NR Best for ages: 2 to 6 On George's first trip to the country, his pals tell him the Legend of No Noggin, a spooky scarecrow who kicks hats off of people. George and his friends set out to find him and prove that he's real by snapping a photo of him in the act, but first George needs to find the winning costume for the town contest. Like all Curious George movies and shows, this tame tale is best for little kids and will have them smiling instead of shrieking.
Watch Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest on Hulu
3. Super Monsters Save Halloween
A sweet movie that debunks the creepy mysteries of Halloween for the littlest movie-watchers.
Rated NR Best for ages: 3 to 6 This movie is all about taking the tricks out of Halloween and making the holiday more of a treat for kids who scare easily. The main characters show that the spookiest parts of the holiday, like haunted houses, ghosts, and goblins, are really just pretend. This movie is a fun way to help the littlest Halloween fans feel like big kids who are in on the silliness of the holiday.
Watch Super Monsters Save Halloween on Netflix
4. It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
This classic has been enchanting kids since the 60s and still holds up.
Rated NR Best for ages: 4 and up No movie captures the anticipation—and sometimes disappointment—of Halloween night like this Peanuts-gang classic. There’s a reason why this movie has been a favorite since the mid-'60s; it holds up and it enchants kids from preschool to teen. Linus's hopefulness, Charlie Brown's misadventures, and the friendship of the Peanut gang never gets old.
Watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on Vudu
5. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
This clever claymation movie is more clever than creepy.
Rated G Best for ages: 7 and up A clever, claymation reimagining of classic horror movies, but with a lot of hilarious visual gags and clever British wordplay, this is both tame and smart all in one, making for a perfect all-ages family flick.
- Watch Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit on Vudu
- Watch Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit on Fandango Now
6. Toy Story of Terror!
Like all Pixar movies, this one is filled with humor, silly gags, and feel-good warmth.
Rated G Best for ages: 5 and up At 21 minutes, this is a short and sweet slice of Halloween fun that is perfect for a post-candy-consumption sugar high. When Mr. Potato Head goes missing at a roadside motel, Andy and the band of toys must save their friend. This leads to spooky adventures filled with all of the humor, silly gags, and feel-good warmth of the entire Toy Story cannon.
Watch Toy Story of Terror! on Disney+
7. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
There aren't any zombies or ghosts in this, but it's a great movie for a night of suspense.
Rated PG Best for ages: 8 and up An absolute classic and must-see for any movie lover, E.T. is more about friendship that transcends the galaxy than anything truly spooky, but it's filled with suspense and one of the most iconic scenes in the movie happens on Halloween night. Show this to them and soon enough and you just may have them begging to dress up from one of E.T.'s most memorable moments for Halloween night.
Watch E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on Amazon
8. Frankenweenie
This Tim Burton film is a clever twist on the classic Frankenstein story.
Rated PG Best for ages: 9 and up Like most Tim Burton movies, this one is macabre on the surface but pulls at your heartstrings. A sweet retelling of the classic story of Frankenstein, this is the story of a very young Frankenstein who reanimates his beloved pet dog. Pets are lost and there is a lot of heartbreak and grief, but overall this is a fun movie that is an excellent intro to the horror genre.
Watch Frankenweenie on Disney+
9. Casper
Casper is a friendly ghost, so a lot less scary than some.
Rated PG Best for ages: 9 and up Casper is a sentimental little love story about a friendly ghost who develops a crush on the new girl who moves into the house that he—and his rowdy ghost uncles—haunt. While many of us remember the sweet cartoon of Casper the Friendly Ghost, the movie version talks about death quite a bit so, while not really scary, it's best for slightly older kids.
10. Coco
A beautiful family movie that will give kids a bit of insight into celebrations around the world that take place during the Halloween holiday.
Rated PG Best for ages: 6 and up Dia de los Muertos is part of a celebration that spans from Oct. 31 until Nov. 2. While Coco isn’t technically a Halloween movie, it is a wildly enjoyable film about the season, and it will give kids a bit of insight into celebrations around the world that take place during this time. With themes focusing on memory, family, death, and tradition this may be one of the most meaningful Halloween-season movies your whole family can settle into.
11. The Addams Family
They're still just as creepy and kooky and a whole lot of fun.
Rated PG Best for ages: 6 and up They’re creepy and their kooky, and they are also a lot of good-humored fun. Kids will be more likely to laugh than scream at the campy misadventures of this tight-knit family that is simply misunderstood in their love of the twisted and macabre. More slapstick than scary, it's a good choice for a Halloween laugh.
Watch The Addams Family on Hulu
12. Coraline
If the vacant button eye visuals don't creep your kiddo out, this is a wonderful film.
Rated PG Best for ages: 9 and up If your child isn't creeped out by the black button eyes of the characters of the alternate world, they will be engrossed and enchanted by the story of Coraline. This takes a bit more of a mature viewer who won't soon become skeptical of their parents as being interlopers, but once kids have their practical thinking skills honed, this may be a favorite family movie long beyond Halloween night.
13. Goosebumps
Jack Black plays R.L. Stine in this imagining of what would happen if all of the Goosebumps books came alive at once!
Rated PG Best for ages: 8 and up The Goosebumps book series, from author R.L. Stine, has been giving kids the creeps since the '90s and this movie is no different. When a teenager named Zach moves next door to the author, played by Jack Black, he unleashes all of the horrors from the book series. Parents will probably have flashbacks of being scared of such monsters as Slappy the ventriloquist's dummy, the Abominable Snowman, and garden gnomes who are woven into a whole new scary story for the film.
14. Hocus Pocus
The trio of witches in this movie is irresistibly charming and fun for all ages.
Rated PG Best for ages: 8 and up After moving to Salem, Massachusetts, Max and his sister Dani explore a seemingly abandoned old house. After dismissing a new friend’s superstitious story of the house, they accidentally free the building’s former residents: a coven of evil—and very kooky—witches, the hilariously outlandish and campy Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy. The kids must steal the witches' book of spells to stop them from becoming immortal.
15. Under Wraps
A movie about friendship, loyalty, and true love that spans for centuries.
Rated PG Best for ages: 7 and up When three 12-year-olds accidentally revive a 3,000-year-old mummy, clumsy chaos and chummy adventures ensue. But when they discover he needs to be reunited with his long-lost love by midnight on Halloween, the kids need to get their new friend back in his resting place or he risks losing her forever.
16. Dear Dracula
When a little boy writes a fan letter to Dracula, the iconic vampire pays him a visit and becomes his best friend.
Rated NR Best for ages: 6 and up When an introverted boy writes a fan letter to Dracula, he gets quite a surprise when his hero pays him a visit. Dracula is down on his luck and his self esteem has taken a hit. He needs a buddy to give him a lift and help him get his mojo back. This 45-minute short is a buddy movie wrapped up in Halloween jokes and is fun for any kid that has an affinity for the silly.
17. ParaNorman
Norman is happiest around the dead people he talks to, but finds he'll need to break out of his shy shell to save his town.
Rated PG Best for ages: 10 and up From the makers of Coraline and Corpse Bride, this beautiful and spooky stop-motion movie follows the story of a shy boy named Norman, who can see and talk to dead people—and rather prefers to. Learning of a town-wide curse, zombies soon rise from their graves to take over the town. Norman must summon all his courage and use his paranormal abilities to save his hometown and the people in it that he loves.
18. Halloweentown
A teen discovers her hidden power in this beloved family flick from the 90s.
Rated NR Best for ages: 8 and up Starring the legendary Debbie Reynolds, this 1998 made-for-TV Disney movie is filled with cheesy fun. When Marnie Piper discovers her grandmother is a good witch who lives in a fantasy world called Halloweentown, she gets a supernatural surprise that she has powers of her own that she must put to use immediately to fight evil.
Watch Halloweentown on Disney+
19. The Haunted Mansion
Eddie Murphy is always charming and he turns on creeped out hilarity in this movie based on the Disneyland ride.
Rated PG Best for ages: 10 and up Based on the popular Disneyland attraction, Eddie Murphy stars as a work-a-holic realtor who buys a mansion that turns out to be haunted. Murphy is, as always, hilarious and his charm appeals to all ages. When his character finds himself in a world of grimacing ghosts that need his help to break a curse, lots and lots of physical comedy and silliness ensues.
Watch The Haunted Mansion on Disney+
20. Monster House
Three kids must destroy a house, at first just seems creepy, but it's actually alive!
Rated PG Best for ages: 10 and up Three kids realize that something is not right with the creepy man and the creepy house across the street, discovering that the house is in fact alive—and is actually a living and breathing monster that wants to destroy their town. The three friends must figure out a way to destroy the house before it wreaks ultimate havoc on Halloween night.
21. The Witches
The scariest movie on the list, this movie makes for a truly hair-raising movie night.
Rated PG Best for ages: 10 and up We’ll soon see this adapted with a new cast including Anne Hathaway, but the original is too good to miss. In this Roald Dahl classic, a young boy named Luke accidentally spies on a convention of witches while staying in a hotel with his grandmother and discovers that the witches have a plan to turn all the children of the world into mice. This one can get pretty scary, so it’s probably best for older kids, but Angelica Huston is phenomenal, so if your kid can handle the scare this makes for a truly hair-raising movie night for all.
22. The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad
An under-the-radar classic with beautiful animation and one of the best musical numbers in the Disney catalog.
Rated G Best for ages: 6 and up This under-the-radar Disney classic is actually two iconic stories: The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the second of which is a perfectly spooky tale for this time of year. The hand-drawn classic animation is gorgeous and the musical numbers are maybe some of the most underrated in the Disney catalog. The story is at once goofy and suspenseful. It does have the possibility to spook smaller kids a bit, but they will be so enamored by Ichabod and his horse's daffy interactions and silly facial expressions that most of the potentially scary stuff will pass right over a little kid's head.
Watch The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr. Toad on Disney+
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