A Fortnight of Fright: Halloween/Scary Movies

Welcome to A Fortnight of Fright! Two weeks of Halloween any way you can possibly see it, hosted by me (The Book Addict’s Guide) and my wonderful co-host, Alyssa @ Books Take You Places!

For the vert first installment of A Fortnight of Fright, we’re bringing you our favorite Halloween movies! From the ones we watched as kids to classics to fear-inducing horror movies, we’ve got a list of our best and most popular ones!

CHILDREN’S MOVIES/FAMILY MOVIES

The Last Halloween (1991): First up for me is The Last Halloween. I don’t know if anyone else remembers this but a tiny bit, but I did some research to help me remember the details of this kids’ movie and I found that it was a made-for-TV movie that aired on CBS in 1991, produced by Hanna-Barbera. The story follows two kids, Jeanie and Michael, and what happens when they cross paths with some aliens who landed on Earth in search of coobi (that’s candy to you non-alien folk). Really the only inkling I had of this movie was that the aliens called candy “coobi” so I just Googled and voila! What do you know. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube if you really want to!

The Addams Family (1991): Sometimes I think I was a little dark as a child because The Addams Family fascinated me. I was totally sucked in the weird, creepy, and dark family. And surprisingly… I wasn’t scared. I was afraid of everything as a kid so I’m not sure how The Addams Family became one of my favorite movies not only around Halloween-time, but in general. Anyway, I still quite enjoy it!

Hocus Pocus (1993): There is no doubt about it. Hocus Pocus may be one of the best and most popular Halloween movies out there. When we asked people to share their favorite Halloween movies with us, this was the most mentioned by far. And how could it not be!? Witches, a zombie, a creepy spell book with an eye, a talking and immortal cat, and a non-believer. What a perfect tale! By the way, it took me a really, really long time to realize that was Sarah-Jessica Parker. Not like I knew who she was back then! 

What!? You don’t believe us that Hocus Pocus is the greatest Halloween movie of all time?? FIrst off, check out this link and you’ll get 23 reasons (and you’ll also laugh and cry).
Also, let’s see what our friends have to say! Because clearly, it’s the crowd favorite! Here’s what some other bloggers had to say about it:
From Vyki @ On The Shelf: “If you want a good Halloween movie that is also a great family movie, Hocus Pocus has been a favorite of mine for nearly two decades! Three witch sisters are awakened after hundreds of years and are determined to find a child they can use to gain youth before the sun rises or they will turn to stone. Binx, a cat cursed to live forever, aids a brother, sister and their friend to try to make sure the witches don’t succeed. I love this movie and watch it every Halloween!”
Katie @ Words for Worms told us: “I don’t even know why they kept making Halloween movies after Hocus Pocus. Nothing will ever beat it.”
Other bloggers who agreed that Hocus Pocus is the best Halloween movie?  Alyssa @ Books Take You Places, Flanery @ The Readventurer, and of course I’m in agreement on that too!

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993): Come on. If you’re anywhere near my age, you know you watched a fair few Mary Kate & Ashley movies. They only made a thousand movies and specials, and they’re right around my age so it was only fitting. Double, Double, Toil and Trouble was another one I watched every year as a kid. I mean, who could forget about those evil twin witches, two cute little girls, and the moonstone! Oh, and Cloris Leachman!

Casper (1995): CASPER. I. Loved. This. Movie. I think it was the first movie of my childhood where I started developing a crush. Young Devon Sawa as real life Casper? Young Brittany thought he was soooo cute. It was a movie about ghosts that didn’t make me afraid of ghosts, because let’s face it. I’m a super chicken. I love the feel-good Halloween movies, and this is definitely on the top of my list! I mean… look at how cute!

Halloweentown (1998): Another movie from my childhood (although I was nearing/in my teenage years by then) was Halloweentown, a Disney Channel original movie. Now, this was a pretty bad movie. I’m not going to lie. But for a few years straight, I watched it every year. The sequels weren’t nearly as interesting and I quickly lost interest, but it’s still a movie that sticks out in my mind as a Halloween special!

TEEN MOVIES

The Craft (1996): See, here’s another dark side of my childhood (kind of). I loved The Craft. It was spooky, it was supernatural, it was dark and weird. I was all about it. I was still pretty young when it came out, but I has plenty of re-viewings as a teen/adult and it’s still pretty interesting… And kind of freaky in a way. By the way, that hair change scene is still my favorite.

Scream (1996): I know, I bet you’re surprised too that I’ve actually seen Scream. My sister watched scary movies on occasion and somehow I ended up seeing Scream with her. I think I’ve actually seen Scream and Scream 4. Go figure. But this is a classic which obviously spanned off into many sequels and many spoofs! It simply has to be included.

Jennifer’s Body (2009): Okay, so here’s the thing. I know Jennifer’s Body was supposed to be half satire, half horror, but in all honesty, I started watching this movie alone in my apartment one day, got a creepy feeling, and immediately turned it off. I was kind of freaked out until I was leaving my apartment for the night. Just silly, I know, but I don’t like the idea of people being possessed. It really freaks me out. Anyway, I never actually finished! I’ve heard it wasn’t quite worth it though haha.

SCARY/HORROR MOVIES

Urban Legend (1998): Urban Legend. Oh man. Gotta love this cast: Joshua Jackson, Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayhart, Tara Reid…. what a horror film they make. I wasn’t so much “scared” by this movie as mildly sickened by some of the scenes, but nonetheless, I was still freaked out.

The House on Haunted Hill (1999): My sister rented this movie for a sleepover – I think it was her birthday party – and I basically spent the entire movie sitting on the couch and hiding my face or walking into the other room and pretending I wasn’t scared. I will never forget when we watched this and it was a quiet part of the movie and there was this loud THUMP that scared the crap out of all of us (well, me at least). I forgot I had let my hamster run around in his plastic ball and he ventured from the carpet out onto the hardwood kitchen floor. That was a good excuse to go play with the hamster and stop watching a freaking movie about ghosts and insane asylums, thank you.

The Haunting (1999): Another one. Why did I ever see this? Ghosts? CHILD ghosts? Ugh. I was petrified, but I really tried to pretend I wasn’t. Just a few gruesome scenes and I was down for the count.

The Uninvited (2009): Yep, my list of scary movies skips from 1999 to 2009. I don’t watch scary movies. I’m not good at being scared! But my friend Michelle convinced to watch it and although it’s mostly creepy and not fully scary, there was one scene that SCARRED ME FOR LIFE. Mild spoiler alert: Anna (Emily Browning) is sitting on her bed and she hears the scrape on the floor.. scraaape. Scraaape. It gets closer.. and closer! UNTIL!!! A freaking hand reaches up OVER the bed TO GRAB HER. AHHHH what the hell!! Why would this movie ever do this to me!?! That was a super low blow. Everyone knows that’s everyone’s biggest fear! This is why we don’t leave legs dangling over the edge of the bed, not even toes. What a seriously, seriously low blow. It still freaks me out to this day.

Since I’m not one for horror movies, I diverted to the crowd again!
Elizabeth @ Don’t Take My Books Away told us she loves The Shining and Scream
Jess @ Gone With the Words likes The Nightmare on Elm Street 3
Author L.M. Sherwin told us: “I’ve always loved watching “To Kill A Mockingbird” around Halloween time for some reason. Oh! And Hocus Pocus!”

And so we come full circle to Hocus Pocus! Clearly the best Halloween movie thus far.

To the polls!!!
Well, only 9 people voted, but hey, that works. What did our poll say? And the winner is…. Hocus Pocus! Well that’s no surprise 🙂

And of course, don’t forget to visit Alyssa’s movie post as well over at Books Take You Places because she has got some awesome movies to talk about as well!!

Hi, I'm Brittany!
Hi, I'm Brittany!

I'm an avid reader, candle-maker, and audiobook lover! Here you'll find book reviews, fun blog posts, and my other loves of photography & craft beer!

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18 thoughts on “A Fortnight of Fright: Halloween/Scary Movies

  1. Heidi

    Hocus Pocus is my favorite Halloween movie as well! Others I’ll watch off and on depending on my mood, but Hocus Pocus I watch every year no matter what. I know what you mean about Sarah Jessica Parker! I realized it a few years back, but certainly not as a kid before Sex and the City even existed.

    Also did you ever watch the movie Now and Then? It also has Devon Sawa and Christina Ricci and I was also totally crushing as a kid. Part of me wonders if my lingering love for Christina Ricci to this day is a result of many of her love interests. 😛

    Reply
  2. vmcarswell

    All these movies are so great! I also still love to watch Halloweentown and young me also had a crush on the Casper cutie. Whatever happened to Devon Sawa anyway?? Every time I watch The Mentalist, I see Lisbon in The Craft, lol. I LOVE scary movies. I even started watching Freddie when I was about 8 or 9! I’m sure it would be quite entertaining to watch you watching a scary movie, One of my biggest fears is windows at night because I am afraid I’ll look out and see someone looking back *eep*

    Reply
  3. Quinn

    I had a major crush on Devon Sawa, too! Serious crush. He was also in Little Giants, and I would watch that movie all the time to see cute little Devon. And I would fast forward (this was the days of VHS tapes) to the end of Casper to see him. He looked mighty adorable in those black pants and white shirt. I was also so sad that he turned back into ghost Casper at the end 🙁

    Love Hocus Pocus! I actually always knew that Sarah Jessica Parker was in Hocus Pocus because I loved the movie Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, so I recognized her in Hocus Pocus. Have you seen Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? Because if you haven’t, you should 🙂

    Looking forward to other Halloween posts!

    Reply
  4. Nancy

    I came across your blog while I was looking for Halloween movies appropriate for kids, and you have some great ones listed on here. I’m spending Halloween with a friend I work with at DISH and her kids, and we were thinking of having a movie night after going trick or treating. I’m going to rent a couple of these from Blockbuster @Home, which ships fast enough that I should have them way before Halloween. I’m thinking about Hocus Pocus and Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, for sure. Those movies make me feel a little nostalgic for my own childhood. I can’t wait until Halloween!

    Reply
  5. Elizabeth

    I seriously don’t think I’ve ever seen the entirety of Hocus Pocus. Thanks for reminding me of Casper. I was so in love with his real boy self. I also wanted to be Christina Ricci… like to have black hair and pale skin (my skin is pale, but more pink than hers).

    I’m such a scaredy cat I don’t really watch many scary movies now that I’m out of high school and not forced to for the sake of coolness. I have to close my eyes when they show previews for possession movies because possession freaks.me.out. I could only handle it in Supernatural because it was a bit hokey and because Dean+Sam=sigh. I miss when that show was still good.

    Reply
    1. Brittany

      Oh my gosh, I HATE possession movies/TV shows. Freaks me out sooo much!
      (oh I get it, real boy!)
      And I sooo had a crush on the real boy self too. He was adorable!

      Reply
  6. Kelsey

    So many awesome Halloween movies, and a bunch of them I haven’t even seen. My favourite of all time is still Hocus Pocus, and I think I need to go give that a watch soon!

    Reply
  7. Dixie

    i am not a big horror fan, i prefer them a little cheesy. but i love Casper! that was so super cute. and i love all the scream movies…how about 13 ghosts? that was very creepy & scary. but well done. great post!

    Reply
    1. Brittany

      Ooh I did not see 13 Ghosts – I can’t do ghost movies/books/anything in the least. I don’t know exactly why, but ghost stories TERRIFY me. I think because you can’t see them so I can expect ghosts to come out and get me at any time and I wouldn’t know hahaha.
      I love Casper too!! I’m gonna have to find it on TV this year – Hopefully!
      I totally agree too – I can do cheesy horror movies, but super creepy ones, count me out.

      Reply
  8. L.M. Sherwin

    OMG!!! “Hocus Pocus” is definitely one of my favs. I am sad that I didn’t see “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (did I get that title right? LOL) on here! I adored that one and definitely had to watch it every year.

    Reply
    1. Brittany

      I can’t believe I haven’t seen Charlie Brown as much as I should have! The Peanuts was totally my sister’s thing though 🙂
      thanks for your input!!!

      Reply
  9. Maggie

    The Craft!! I haven’t seen it in years but I still think about it every time I watch The Mentalist “I bind you Nancy” haha. Another cheesy 80s one could be The Monster Squad. Have you seen that one?? I THINK I might have a copy somewhere, I can investigate if needed. I see Jess mentioned Freddy, ACK. Between that, Cat’s Eye (I STILL do not let my sheets touch the floor), and IT I’ve been scarred for life. 5 year olds shouldn’t be watching that kind of stuff.

    Reply
    1. Brittany

      Seriously!! I was 6 when I saw BEETLEJUICE for Pete’s sake and that terrified me. I can’t imagine watching a real horror movie at that age.
      I haven’t seen Cat’s Eye or IT, and frankly… I don’t want to go near them hahahah.

      Reply

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