The Best Family Halloween Movies for Kids and Teens in 2023

Apologies to any adults who are super into Halloween, but this holiday is primarily for children. Costumes, candy, cute decorations — these are all things kids can and do appreciate. And if you're looking for something festive to watch with the whole family that won't be too scary, there are plenty of kid-friendly Halloween movies out there.

Our list of the best family movies to watch this Halloween includes old classics like Beetlejuice and Hocus Pocus, along with more recent hits like the Hotel Transylvania series.

More recommendations:

• The best overall Halloween movies to watch this year
• The best new Halloween movies to watch this year
  

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

In this classic, the weird kid in the neighborhood believes in some mythical Halloween being that will appear in a pumpkin patch, and even when it doesn't, he stubbornly still believes in it. Elsewhere, Snoopy hallucinates that he's a World War II fighter pilot, and Lucy attempts to maim Charlie Brown through football shenanigans. [Trailer]       

Beetlejuice

Much like many Halloween movies, Beetlejuice is most notable for its villain. This one is played by Michael Keaton, having an absolute blast as the titular Beetlejuice, a mischievous and malevolent spirit who agrees to help a deceased couple haunt the family trying to buy their home, quickly escalating the situation to scary and fun heights in the process. [Trailer]       

Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2

Yes, there's a plot here — a group of kids have to stop a trio of evil, kooky witches from becoming immortal — but it's barely worth noting, since the witches themselves (played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy) are the best part of the whole movie. We aren't still talking about Hocus Pocus all these years after its release because of its riveting story; we're still talking about it because of the "I Put a Spell on You" scene! A sequel 29 years in the making also hit Disney+ in 2022. [Trailer]    

Halloweentown

A teenage girl discovers she's descended from witches and bound to help protect the supernatural community of Halloweentown, where skeletons drive cabs and goblins walk among humans. It's charmingly low budget and co-stars Debbie Reynolds; what more could you want? [Trailer]      

The Addams Family (2019)

This is admittedly not the best Addams Family film, but it should entertain any kids you have in your life. In this one, which is somehow the first time this source material has gotten the animation treatment, the dark, eccentric Addamses move to a bland suburb, quickly becoming the focus of the town's confusion and ire. [Trailer]     

Casper

One of the only sweet-hearted movies on this list, Casper is, of course, about the titular friendly ghost, who strikes up a friendship with the teen girl (Christina Ricci) who's just moved into the house he haunts. [Trailer]     

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Is it a Halloween movie? Is it a Christmas movie? Why not both?! Jack Skellington, the unhappy pumpkin king of Halloweentown who's become bored with his repetitively spooky life, discovers a new passion when he accidentally learns of the existence of Christmastown. He decides to kidnap Santa Claus and take over his role, but as you can imagine, things don't go exactly as planned. [Trailer]     

Hubie Halloween

Adam Sandler threatened that if he wasn't nominated for an Oscar for Uncut Gems, he'd make the "worst movie ever." While this was his direct follow up to Gems, it's not the worst movie ever! It's actually goofily charming, starring Sandler as Hubie, the bumblingly earnest resident punching bag in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, who somehow finds himself involved in a kooky crime on Halloween. [Trailer]    

ParaNorman

This inventive animated movie follows Norman, a kid with the ability to communicate with the dead, and the only person who can save his town from a centuries-old curse. [Trailer]       

Monster House

Did you know that this animated 2006 film was written by Dan Harmon of Rick and Morty and Community fame? While there's no interdimensional cable TV or darkest timelines, Monster House is a very creative spin on kids' fears about the haunted house on the block. A young boy suspects something is up with the old man across the street, but things get even weirder when the house itself starts acting up. Featuring voice work from Steve Buscemi, Catherine O'Hara, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and more, Monster House — which was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars — is just spooky enough to get into the Halloween spirit, but not scary enough that your little ones will come crying to sleep in your bed late at night. [Trailer]

Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2

This animated film dares to imagine a world where Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) runs a hotel where the monsters of the world can take a load off. Everything is thrown into chaos when the human-free hotel is unexpectedly visited by a human traveler. There are four movies in this series, so there's enough here to keep the kids busy for a while. [Trailer]