Spooky movies to get into the spooky season spirit

Written by Autumn Kirkman

Graphic by Jiselle Santos

Now that everyone has dived into the Halloween spirit, a great way to celebrate is to watch movies that capture the essence of spooky season. Whether it’s a kid-friendly film or a movie that send chills down your spine, we all love to bundle up and watch Halloween movies. Here’s a list of the 10 best films to watch during October.

Coraline

This dark horror stop-animation film follows Coraline on her journey through a magic portal in her new house. Now in a different realm, her “new family” appears to be everything she wants, but there’s a darker force at hand as her “new” mom wants to sew buttons into her eyes. After watching this film, you will be terrified at the sight of buttons for a while.

Corpse Bride

Directed by Tim Burton, this dark fantasy focuses on Victor van Dort, a bachelor who’s preparing to get married to save his fiancé's family from bankruptcy. While practicing his vows, he places the ring on the finger of deceased Emily, who gladly takes him as her groom. Now married to a corpse, Victor must find a way to get back to the realm of the living or his betrothed will be married to another man. It’s not a slasher but a good film to watch with the kids.

Monster House

Trick-or-treaters D.J and Chowder are convinced Old Nebbercracker’s house is a toy and man-eating house after they witness the house eat Chowder’s basketball. After watching two police officers get eaten by the house, D.J. and Chowder enlist the help of candy-seller Jenny to go inside and find a way to destroy the spirit that controls it, which they believe is in the furnace. Monster House definitely puts a spin on the beloved “haunted house”.

It

Based on Stephen King’s novel, Pennywise the clown is finally challenged by seven misfit children, who call themselves “The Losers Club”. It’s up to them to put an end to his reign of terror.

The movie is spilt into two chapters: the first being The Losers Club against Pennywise as children, and the second is The Losers Club returning to Derry as adults. A deadly spirit who takes on the form of a clown and consumes children every 27 years just screams “spooky season.”

Hocus Pocus

Three witch sisters consume the souls of children in Salem, Massachusetts in order to regain their youth and are cursed by a father of a child whose soul they stole. 300 years later, three children visit their cottage, now a museum, and light a black candle, subsequently resurrecting the witches. Now, the children must kill the witches before they kill all the children of Salem. Black cats, witches and spell books, oh my!

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! The 1988 film features Adam and Barbara, a deceased couple, who are upset a living family is moving into their home. They enlist the help of “exorcist” ghost Beetlejuice to get rid of the family, but

Beetlejuice has alterior motives. The couple, with the help of the daughter of the family, must send Beetlejuice back before he takes lives to enter the mortal worlds. What’s a better way to celebrate Halloween than watching a perverted ghost and a family perform a séance?