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Writer's pictureMichael Ireland

Films to Fright and Delight this Halloween

Updated: Jan 4

It’s my favorite time of year again. The oppressive heat has lifted, the leaves have started falling, and there’s a subtle chill in the air that makes me crave a warm beverage and a sweater. Yes, Fall has descended upon us and with it comes the most ghoulish night of the year, Halloween! To help get you in a spooky mood I asked staff for their favorite Halloween movie recommendations. I’ve pared-down the list and made sure to include some flicks appropriate for the whole family as well as some more gruesome fare for when the little goblins are at rest. So prepare for goosebumps, spine crawling shivers, and frightful fun! Here are Caldwell Public Library’s top Halloween picks!

Cover for Hocus Pocus

After 300 years, the Sanderson sisters are resurrected in Salem Massachusetts on Halloween night, and it's up to two teenagers, a young girl, and an immortal cat to put an end to the witches' reign of terror once and for all. Bette Midler delivers an unforgettable performance in this classic Halloween film.



Cover for Monster House



A group of kids discover that a neighborhood house is actually a monster. To solve the mystery of the house they must go inside it, before it takes everyone that crosses its path. Wildly imaginative and captivating.



Cover for The Nightmare Before Christmas

Jack Skellington, the King of Halloween has become bored with the same routine every year. While on a walk in the woods he discovers a door leading to Christmastown and decides to spread Christmas joy to the world. But things don’t go as planned when Oogie Boogie plots to play a game with Santa Claus' life and creates a nightmare for all the good little boys and girls everywhere.


Cover for Casper

Casper (PG)


Determined to get her hands on her father's hidden fortune, Carrigan is forced to hire an afterlife therapist to exercise the ghosts that keep frightening her away. Dr. Harvey and his daughter, Kat, move in and soon Kat meets Casper, the friendliest ghost. But Casper's uncles are still determined to drive all the "fleshies" away.


Cover for Adams Family

Con artists plan to fleece the eccentric and eerie Addams family using an accomplice who claims to be their long lost Uncle Fester. However, the conniving crooks find themselves in over their head with a family too bizarre to be intimidated. In the hilarious sequel The Addams family attempts to rescue their beloved uncle Fester from his gold-digging new love. But that won’t be easy with a new baby in the house and the children away at summer camp.

Cover for Halloweentown


Thanks to a visit from Grandmother Aggie, Marnie and her family's tradition of ignoring the Halloween holiday are about to change in the extreme. It seems that Marnie's mother Gwen has been hiding a big secret from her three children--all of them possess supernatural powers.


Cover for Children of the Corn

A young couple is trapped in a remote town where a dangerous religious cult of children believes everyone over the age of eighteen must be killed. A Stephen King classic.



Cover for Pet Sematary



Louis and Rachel Creed and their two young children settle into a house that sits next door to a pet cemetery, built on an ancient Indian burial ground. Their mysterious new neighbor, Jud Crandall, hides the cemetery's darkest secret until a family tragedy brings the secret to life. Now, an unthinkable evil is about to be resurrected.


Cover for The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Fasten your garter belt for the time-warping, genderbending cult classic starring Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon and Meatloaf! Stranded newlyweds soon find themselves in the company of a strange cast of characters in this twisted musical.



Cover for the Shining


Jack Torrance is a writer who, along with his family, comes to the elegant, isolated Overlook Hotel. He is the off-season caretaker. Torrance has never been there before, but maybe he has. The answer lies in a ghostly time warp of madness and murder.


Cover for As Above So Below

Miles of twisting catacombs lie beneath the streets of Paris, the eternal home to countless souls. When a team of explorers ventures into the uncharted maze of bones, they uncover the secret of what this city of the dead was meant to contain. A journey into madness and terror, it reaches deep into the human psyche to reveal the personal demons that come back to haunt everyone.


Cover for Evil Dead II

Evil Dead II (Not Rated)


The sole survivor of the evil dead returns to the same cabin in the woods and again unleashes the forces of the dead. Playing up the more comedic aspects of the series, Evil Dead 2 pits Ash against more ghosts and ghouls as he struggles to survive the night while keeping his sanity. Buckets of blood and laughs!


How many on the list have you seen? What are some your favorite Halloween flicks? Let us know in the comments below!

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