Eight Movies for a Nostalgic Halloween at Home

Halloweekend may be over, but there is still time to enjoy the actual day of Halloween while recovering from costume mishaps, blisters, and potential hangovers. A movie marathon of the funniest, quirkiest, and weirdest Halloween movies from our childhoods seems like the perfect way to celebrate Halloween when you have a 9:00am class the next day. Buying yourself some candy couldn’t hurt either. Here’s a list of eight classics that will take you back to those good old days of trick-or-treating and ABC Family’s 13 Nights of Halloween:  

1) Hocus Pocus: The most iconic Halloween movie of our generation. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. The Sanderson Sisters are the best part of Halloween. How anyone can go a year without turning this on at some point in the month of October, I will never know.

2) Edward Scissorhands: This one is a little before our time, but is still a classic, quirky Halloween movie. The spooky castle overlooking the picturesque town is perhaps the ideal Halloween aesthetic.

3) Corpse Bride: Oh Tim Burton, this list would be a lot shorter without you. Corpse Bride is probably one of his most underrated movies, but how can you turn away a title like that on Halloween? This movie is actually surprisingly heartwarming, so don’t let the title and dark colors scare you away.

4) The Halloweentown Trilogy: (The fourth one does not exist in my mind. You can’t just recast the lead like that, Disney!): I cannot imagine that the majority of people reading this article have not seen these movies. Halloweentown is possibly Disney’s best series of television movies. They’re cute, they’re funny, and they’re full of with witches, skeletons, vampires, and every other Halloween creature you could possibly imagine. Also, Grandma Aggie is a boss.

5) The Addams Family: Who doesn’t want to spend some quality time with the Addams family? Morticia and Gomez are relationship goals. Wednesday is an inspiration, both of costumes and life philosophies. This movie basically screams Halloween from the cast, to the costumes, to Thing. Plus, it’s leaving Netflix after Halloween, so if not now then when?

6) Beetlejuice: Another Tim Burton classic with an amazing cast, including a young Winona Ryder. Fair warning: if you didn’t watch this movie as a child and are about to watch it for the first time, just give it a chance and remember it’s from the 80s. This movie is so weird and funny, despite the morbid plot. Also, the final scene makes the whole movie worth it even if you hate it.

7) Practical Magic: Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sister witches being raised by their witch aunts, one of whom is Stockard Channing. How can you say no? This is a Rom-Com that is so much more than a Rom-Com. It’s about family, female empowerment, and most importantly, magic. It also has the greatest kiss scene of all time, set to “This Kiss” by Faith Hill.

8) The Nightmare Before Christmas: This list would not be complete without this iconic movie. The Nightmare Before Christmas can really be watched at any point between October and Christmas, but not watching it on Halloween seems like a tragedy. It’s full of great songs, good intentions, Jack the Pumpkin King, and even some Christmas cheer to get you excited for the holidays still to come.

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