No one is immune to the spookiness of Halloween. We all enjoy a good scare from time to time and this is the season we celebrate it! To that end, the staff at Level Up Entertainment would like to share some of our favorite movies, TV shows, and specials we return to every October. Whether they’re for fear, fun, or family you’ll find something for everyone.

Did we miss something? Write your own recommendation and we will feature it in our post “Halloween Highlights: From Fans” on Halloween night! Send your submission to contact@levelupentertainment.com

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Scott Fine

When a movie starts with a song called “This is Halloween” you know it’s gonna be a seasonal classic! And what a classic it is! The Nightmare Before Christmas celebrates what makes the holidays of both Halloween and Christmas great. With the striking designs and timeless stop motion animation, this movie is a spectacularly memorable film!

Beetlejuice

Scott Fine

Tim Burton’s macabre sensibilities are cranked up to eleven in this movie. What happens when you’re a ghost and some horrible new family moves into your house? Well, you need to summon a poltergeist to scare them away of course! Highly imaginative, hilarious, and sometimes creepy Beetlejuice is one of those movies that you can never get enough iof.

Hocus Pocus

Becca Swezeny

Grew up in the 90’s? Had access to Disney channel? Then you’ve probably seen this movie. It’s becoming a cult classic these days, but overall it’s a great and fun movie. The witches are honestly the best part, their personalities, their expressions, the fish out of water gags, THEY are what make the movie great. Honestly if they just released a “Only the witch parts of Hocus Pocus” I’d watch it more than my usual 5 times a year.

Gremlins

Scott Fine

Gremlins is such a fun movie. I love the designs of those little guys and I enjoy seeing them take such delightful glee in all the chaos they’re raining down on this town.

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Becca Swezeny

“I got a rock.” This movie is a classic from Charlie Brown’s ghost costume with too many holes, to Linus believing in the Great Pumpkin. As with most holidays, watching the charlie Brown special is a must, and is always great for the family.

Halloweentown

Becca Swezeny

Did you see Hocus Pocus? Then you probably also saw this! (Sorry I grew up in the 90’s attached to the TV, you’re gonna get a lot of late 80’s early 90’s stuff). Halloweentown didn’t have the three witch sisters, sadly, but it was still a cute little TV movie. The thing that makes this movie stand out is the awesome make-up and costumes. From Benny the skeleton cab driver to the everyday monster walking the streets, all of it looked amazing done with practical effects, and just added that little bit of something to the movie to make it a classic that I go back to.

Coraline

Becca Swezeny

One of the creepier family-friendly movies, Coraline is about a girl entering a fantasy world better than her own only to figure out that its terrible, very creepy, and they want to sew buttons over/on her eyes. This is another stop motion movie and the style really helps with the overall vibe of the movie.

Frankenweenie

Becca Swezeny

There are a lot of Tim Burton Halloween movies out there, a lot are great for everyone and have that particular creepiness that only Tim Burton films have. Out of the recent ones Frankenweenie is one of my favorites. It’s a adaptation of an old short that is basically Frankenstein but with a kid and his dog. The animation is great and the humor of such a serious storyline being played out with a dog is great.

Over the Garden Wall

Becca Swezeny

I’m stretching this premise a little bit for this one as it did air as episodic, but it’s basically a movie, or at least be watched as one. This is a Cartoon Network special that follows a very fairy tale-esque story about two boys lost in the woods. It ranges from goldilocks level of horror to some of the Brothers Grimm stories levels of creepy. The story is amazing, the animation is great, they got some amazing voice acting talent on it (with Elijah Woods as the main brother and Christopher Lloyd), and overall just a fun but kinda creepy story great for kids, amazing for adults as well.

Teen Wolf

Becca Swezeny

Micheal J. Fox stars as Scott in this film where a young teenager figures out he’s a werewolf (genetically apparently, as his dad is also a werewolf). In a spin on the usually “I must hide my terrible secret” storyline, Scott uses his newfound werewolf abilities to win the basketball game and become the most popular boy at school. No spookiness here (except maybe for some 80’s fashion trends) but just a good comedy and a “be yourself” type of storyline.

Scooby-Doo and the Witch’s Ghost

Becca Swezeny

Most of the early Scooby-Doo movies could fill this spot honestly, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase, Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire, all great movies and a good watch with the family. The reason I choose the Witch’s Ghost is because, you guessed it, the Hex Girls. An all witch rock band that made some jamming tunes, teaching young me that there were four elements: Earth, Wind, Fire, and Air. This is a fun movie where the gang visits Sale-OAKHAVEN in New England… and find a ghost. Usual Scooby-Doo shenanigans, but the animation on this and all the other mentioned movies were pretty great, at least compared to the original show and all of them usually have some great music too.

Monster Squad

Scott Fine

It’s easiest to describe this movie as The Goonies versus The Universal Monsters. A group of monster movie enthusiastic kids must stop the mechanizations of Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, a Mummy, a Were Wolf, and a Gilllman (Creature From The Black Lagoon). Top that off with that great 80’s cheese and you have monster movie the whole family can enjoy!