I’m a Parenting Editor and Horror Movie Fan, and These Are the Best Halloween Movies for Kids
From specials for toddlers to teen-friendly frights, these are the films to watch all spooky season.
I’m an avid movie fan and a lover of all things spooky, so as soon as my kid goes back to school, I declare it’s time to start celebrating Halloween. By taking down our skeleton decorations and putting out the pumpkins early, I have even more time to watch a whole bunch of the all-time best Halloween movies, with and without my family.
There's nothing better than popping the popcorn, turning off the lights, and watching a spooky movie together as a family. But while it’s fine to scare kids and push them out of their comfort zones a little, there’s a right and a wrong way to do it—otherwise you end up staying up all night with wide-awake kids too nervous to go in their own rooms alone.
Here, the best kids' Halloween movies for every scare tolerance. Some are short specials or TV movies that are good for even the littlest trick-or-treaters. There are some classics that adults might remember fondly from their own sleepovers and movie marathons, plus some newer entries into the kid-horror canon. And then there are a couple PG-13 selections for tweens and teens who are ready for something more pulse-pounding. Just add Halloween candy, and the night is set!
NEW Wildwood (2026)
This movie is based on a book by The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, and made by Laika, the studio behind Coraline and ParaNorman. In this one, a girl and her friend must travel into an enchanted forest to save her brother (a premise that’s exciting to any Labyrinth fan). It comes to theaters on October 23. MPAA Rating: PG-13
NEW Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom (2026)
In this ovine adventure, Shaun becomes a mad scientist who tries to develop an elixir that makes pumpkins grow. When the farmer uses it on his bald head instead, the farmer becomes a Sasquatch-like monster, and the farm animals have to band together to put everything to rights. None of the characters really talk, so even little kids can understand it. It was released in theaters on September 18. MPAA Rating: PG
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
It just isn't Halloween until the Great Pumpkin descends and brings this sincere 25-minute holiday special to sincere TV screens. Lots of Halloween movies for kids delve into the excitement and joy of the holiday, but only the Peanuts can cover the disappointment of it, too, and still have it be entertaining for families. Rating: TV-G
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KPop Demon Hunters (2025)
Like the kids in your life needed another excuse to watch KPop Demon Hunters: The movie has already become one of Netflix's most watched of all time, and has even charted songs on the Billboard Top 100. For the uninitiated, it follows a KPop girl group that moonlights with an unusual profession: hunting demons, and safeguarding the Honmoon, the barrier between the human world and demon world. Only things get complicated when a group of demons emerges posing as a rival pop group. This is a good one for Halloween family time, since it's about demons, but not very scary. MPAA Rating: PG
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Kiki's Delivery Service is from legendary animation director Hayao Miyazaki—director of My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and other acclaimed films from Japan's Studio Ghibli—so it's never a bad time to throw on one of his films for kids. But this one, about a good witch who uses her flying broom to start a delivery service, is perfect for Halloween and isn't scary in the least. Plus, it's got a cute cat. All this makes for an excellent first Halloween film for new movie-watchers. MPAA Rating: G
The Day the Earth Blew Up (2024)
Kids who got into the Looney Tunes via this year’s Coyote vs. Acme can keep their fandom rolling by catching up with this animated feature from two years ago. Patterned after old sci-fi movies, the film follows Daffy and Porky as they try to save the Earth from a chewing-gum-based alien invasion. MPAA Rating: PG
Toy Story of Terror (2014)
Something for the little ones: This one is only 20 minutes long, and it's definitely for the kids who love Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and all their friends (along with adults who will recognize the B-movie conventions). When Mr. Potato Head goes missing at a roadside motel, Woody and the rest of the toys go on a spooky and mysterious adventure to bring him back before Bonnie and her family check out and leave him behind. Rating: TV-G
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Beetlejuice (1988) & Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
Oops, I said it three times! Now Tim Burton’s classic will appear and spread mayhem. The first one shows the origin of the "ghost with the most," and how he flips the world so the living seems like villains and the dead demon seems like the hero. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (also on HBO Max), on the other hand, shows how the afterlife keeps throwing him for a loop even decades after his original run-in with the Deetz family—which is having struggles of its own. MPAA Rating: PG (Beetlejuice) and PG-13 (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
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The Universal Monsters (1931)
Whether their favorite monster is a vampire, a werewolf, or a gill man, there’s a classic Universal film to thank for its origin. Tell them to pick one: Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Creature From the Black Lagoon, or The Invisible Man and go from there. Still too scary? Try Abbott and Costello Meet the Frankenstein for a comedic twist on werewolves, Dracula, The Invisible Man, and other monsters. MPAA Rating: NR
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
What's this, what's this? It's the story of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, told by macabre master Tim Burton and stop-motion animation legend Henry Selick. When Jack decides he wants to head up Christmas instead of Halloween, things don't go as he planned. Since it spans two holidays, you can watch it any time between October and December. MPAA Rating: PG
Coco (2017)
This movie is filled with skeletons—but in a good way that won't always scare kids. It's actually about the Day of the Dead and not Halloween, so it's perfect for kids who don't like stories about monsters and trick-or-treaters. In it, a kid named Miguel accidentally finds himself in the Land of the Dead, and he needs to rely on his (deceased) family to help him get back to the world of the living. Along the way, he learns more about his own history and gets a greater appreciation for his family's past. MPAA Rating: PG
Ghostbusters (1984)
Older movie fans hankering for something other than little-kid Halloween movies may be placated by this one, which is certainly more grown-up—watch out for some sexual situations—but is just as much a comedy as it is a ghost story. If they like it, they can move on to the sequel, the 2016 reboot with Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, or the two newest entries, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which finally let kids strap on the proton packs for themselves. MPAA Rating: PG
Night of the Zoopocalypse (2025)
This kid-friendly scary movie has a real adult-horror-fan pedigree: The idea came from Clive Barker, the creator of the Hellraiser series. Only this time, it's more of a zombie story, where animals in a zoo have to escape a gummy-infection outbreak. MPAA Rating: PG
Coraline (2009)
Coraline is a good one to watch with family because it's actually about the relationship between parents and kids. The stop-motion film is about a family that moves to a new apartment complex. Busy with unpacking and work, Coraline's parents don't always have time for her. One day, she discovers a magic door that takes her to a parallel universe, where an "other mother" promises her everything her heart desires. But kids should be careful what they wish for, right? This one is also directed by Henry Selick, who made The Nightmare Before Christmas. MPAA Rating: PG
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Before they wrote the music for The Little Mermaid, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman wrote the songs for this '50s B-movie-inspired musical about a flower-shop worker and his man-eating plant. Yes, the murderous antics of the vegetation are terrifying, but the music is so catchy, it kind of takes the sting out of it all. MPAA Rating: PG-13
Spirited Away (2002)
Another one from director Hayao Miyazaki, the dazzling visuals of Spirited Away helped it earn a Best Animated Feature Academy Award nomination when it came out. In it, a family gets lost and winds up in a world of spirits, who turn the parents into pigs. Their daughter goes on a mission to turn them back, running into hungry ghosts, difficult witches, and soot sprites along the way. It does get scary at times. If kids want the otherworldly creatures without the peril, they might prefer Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro (also on HBO Max), about a friendly troll-like being who mostly looks like a woodland creature (and also some more soot sprites). MPAA Rating: PG
Sketch (2025)
In this under-the-radar gem, a young girl loves to draw giant monsters in her notebook. When the notebook falls into a magic pond, her sketches wind up coming to life, and her family has to work together to keep her creations from wreaking havoc. It's worth watching just for the doodly monster designs alone. MPAA Rating: PG
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)
There’s a creature on the loose—and it’s going after the town’s carrots! As pest control, it’s up to Wallace and his dog Gromit to stop the monster in this stop-motion animated film. It follows the blueprint of classic creature feaures, but, in the hands of Wallace and Gromit, is much more gentle than the old B-movies are. MPAA Rating: G
The Addams Family (1991)
Kids who are into the Addams antics thanks to Netflix's Wednesday TV series can enjoy even more kooky fun with the movies that came before it. Anjelica Houston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci star in a star in the first one, a caper about what happens when Uncle Fester (Lloyd) suddenly returns from having been lost in the Bermuda Triangle. If the kids like this one, show them The Addams Family Values at Thanksgiving. Then, there are two animated take on the family, 2019’s The Addams Family, and 2021’s The Addams Family 2. MPAA Rating: PG-13
Spookley the Square Pumpkin (2005)
For preschoolers who just want a hint of Halloween, this musical 47-minute special is just the thing. There's a lesson about acceptance, as Spookley has to learn to be proud of his square shape. If kids can't get enough of the cute cube, show them the Christmas special in December. MPAA Rating: G
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; previously, she wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her toy-collecting husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found helping out her team at bar trivia or posting about movies on Twitter and Bluesky.
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