Halloween is right around the corner and that means candy, costumes, and scary (and some not so scary) Halloween movies. It’s my favorite holiday except the ones that revolve around food in our family (Thanksgiving and Christmas). This is the time of year that you can pretend to be anything you want to be, believe in the unbelievable, and stuff your face with candy (and popcorn balls) while you watch scary movies until you can’t sleep unless all the lights in the house are on.

Must See Halloween Movies Every October

There are tons of lists of essential Halloween movies to watch. But this is the list of MY favorite and always essential Halloween movies to watch in the month of October (and some so good that I watch them year round). My favorites include movies that are scary, family friendly, and gory or adult themed. They can give you chills; make you scream, hide your eyes, or jump. These movies are funny, happy, silly, scary, bloody, evil, dramatic, and full of suspense. Whatever emotion or action they evoke, they truly are some of the best movies out there to watch for Halloween.

Scary Halloween Movies

These are the movies that make you jump, squeal, bury your face in a pillow, or have to have a sleeping buddy for weeks afterwards.

1. The Ring

2. The Sixth Sense

3. The Exorcist

4. 13 Ghosts

5. 1408

6. Paranormal Activity

7. Wrong Turn

8. Signs

9. The Hills Have Eyes

10. Joy Ride

11. Children of the Corn

12. The House on Haunted Hill

13. Jeepers Creepers

Family Friendly Movies

These movies are ones that the kids can watch and won’t end up in bed with you (at least hopefully).

14. The Addams Family

15. Addams Family Values

16. It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

17. Monsters Inc/Monsters U

18. Toy Story of Terror

19. Hocus Pocus

20. The Nightmare Before Christmas

21. Casper

22. Corpse Bride

23. Beetlejuice

24. Monster House

25. Coraline

26. Frankenweenie

27. Edward Scissorhands

28. Hotel Transylvania

29. ParaNorman

30. Spookley the Square Pumpkin

31. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Monster Musical

32. Ghostbusters

33. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Halloween Collection

34. Garfield’s Halloween Adventure

35. Scared Shrekless

36. Max & Ruby: Max’s Halloween

Gory/Adult Movies

These movies are the quintessential “Halloween” movies…the bloody, gory, scary, adult movies that make us crave more and really feel like it’s the Halloween season.

37. A Nightmare on Elm Street

38. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

39. Friday the 13th

40. Dark Shadows

41. Carrie

42. Silence of the Lambs

43. Psycho

44. The Shining

45. Halloween

46. Practical Magic

47. Sleepy Hollow

48. It (Newer Version)