With the forecast calling for a white Halloween, bypass the snowy trick-or-treating for a cozy night in with your favorite candy and one of these top 10 Halloween movies. 

10. Insidious

This movie starts with the Lambert family moving into a new house. At this house, Dalton goes into the attic and is frightened by a creature within the shadows. Spirits attack the Lambert family, Dalton sleepwalks, frightening sounds, After the mother gets attacked by a figure, the family decides that it is time to move into a different house believing the old house is haunted. However, the house is not the thing that is haunted, Dalton is in a different realm spiritually. Although the concept of the movie is certainly terrifying, the build up of suspense and underwhelming jump-scares place this movie at #10.

9. Coraline

Coraline Jones has just moved into the Pink Palace Apartments in Ashland, Oregan. Here, her parents are focused on their new jobs, which leaves Coraline alone with nothing to do but explore the new house and meet the neighbors. One of Coraline’s new neighbors, Wybie, gives her a button-eyed doll that creepily resembles Coraline. One night, Coraline finds a small door within the apartment that leads her to an alternate universe. Her life seems so much better in this new world, but is it really? Join Coraline, in this creepy, yet beautiful stop-motion film, as she explores the mysterious door that is inside the apartment. 

8. Goosebumps

When Zach moves to a new neighborhood, he befriends his neighbor, Hannah Shivers. Mr. Shivers, Hannah’s overprotective father, warns Zach to stay away from Hannah and their house entirely. One night Zach heard Hannah and her father arguing and he calls the police. Concerned for Hannah, Zach sneaks into her house and discovers a secret that their family holds. What is this secret that shouldn’t be told? What will they do about this? The suspense and action of this classic Halloween movie leaves you dying for more.

7. Twitches

Twins, Apollo and Artemis, are born into the royal family of Coventry, a magical dimension, on Halloween night. That same night, their father is killed when he faces an evil entity, known as Darkness, trying to protect his daughters. In order to escape the Darkness, the twins are sent to Earth and separated during adoption. Follow the story of these twin witches who are reunited on their 21st birthday. What will happen once they reunite? What about the Darkness? This throwback Gen Z-er movie will always be entertaining and relevant to Halloween culture.

6. Hocus Pocus

This movie starts in the year 1693 where three sisters -Winifred, Mary, and Sarah- are executed due to practicing witchcraft. Right before they were executed, however, Winifred cast a curse, a curse that let them return to life when a certain candle is lit. Fast forward 300 years and we meet Max who is new to the town. Wanting to be seen as a cool kid, Max decides to light a candle that is said to be the candle that brings the three witches back to life. What will happen to the town when the witches return? Who will stop them from rampaging the whole town? Follow the adventure by watching this series.

5. Scream

Casey Becker receives a phone call from an unknown number and a mysterious person starts to question Casey on a rather weird topic, scary movies. During this call, Casey finds out that her boyfriend, Steve Orth, is being held hostage and if she gets one question wrong, the mysterious caller will murder Steve. After Casey refuses to continue answering questions, she is murdered by a masked killer. Scream is another iconic horror movie that is pleasantly inescapable during the spooky season.

4. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King and ruler of Halloween Town, throws a yearly party after a successful Halloween. However, Jack got tired of throwing these parties and was ready for something new. One day, he decides to roam the forest and where he encounters a ring of trees that each have a door decorated with a symbol that represents a different holiday. Jack becomes interested in the door with a tree decal and decides to go through the door. Here he finds Christmas Town. Who doesn’t love a movie that combines Halloween and Christmas?

3. It (2017)

In the town of Derry, Maine, we are introduced to a rather disturbing situation: children are disappearing. This brings forth a group of seven kids who figure out that the murderer of these missing children is not a man, but a clown who goes by the name Pennywise. Scary clown culture has picked back up in recent years. From “killer clowns” on the news and social media to Pennywise in the It movies, clowns have certainly re-entered our nightmares. 

2. Halloweentown

The movie begins with an argument between Marnie and her mother, Gwen, when Marnie’s grandmother, Aggie, appears. Aggie declares that Marnie needs to be trained in witchcraft before she turns thirteen or else she will lose her magical powers. Aggie leaves out the fact that back in her town, Halloweentown, there is a dark magic that is going around and disrupting the life. She needs help defeating these villains. When Aggie is returning to Halloweentown, Marnie and her siblings sneakily follow their grandmother back to Halloweentown. This is a feel-good movie that reminds us of our childhood days when we trick-or-treated and watched Halloweentown on the Disney Channel. It earns #2 for the nostalgia factor!

1. Halloween 

At the top of this list is the movie franchise, Halloween. This movie might be old, but oh is it a good one. This series of movies follow a character named Micheal Myers who stalks and kills teenage babysitters. Beginning with six-year-old Micheal Myers killing his older sister Judith on Halloween night, the movie follows Micheal through 15 years at Warren County’s Smith’s Grove Sanitarium. After fifteen years of being hospitalized, Micheal escapes the Sanitarium and returns to his hometown where stalks a high school student named Laurie Strode. Go into any Halloween store and you will see a Michael Myers mask. Go to any Halloween party and you’ll come across someone dressed as Michael Myers. Go trick-or-treating and you’ll encounter multiple Michael Myers masks. The point is Halloween was made for Halloween and it will remain one of the most iconic and culturally relevant horror movies of all time.