When spooky season comes around, many of us race to curate the perfect October watchlist filled with Halloween frights and delights. These carefully constructed lists usually include staples such as John Carpenter’s Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Scream. Many of these lists likely include titles that take place on Halloween, such as Trick ‘r Treat, House of 1000 Corpses, or even the Terrifier movies. Of course, there are also the classics like Psycho or Frankenstein. However, not all fans of the holiday enjoy horror and have to miss out on much of the season’s cinematic festivities.
Some Halloween enthusiasts prefer their holiday cinema to be lighthearted and fun. Some may still want to watch thrilling and exciting movies, just without making them feel like they need to sleep with the lights on. While Halloween and October are mostly associated with horror movies, there are plenty of non-horror films that still capture the spooky vibes of the season.
Mysteries, thrillers, and fantasy films can emulate similar creepy atmospheres that horror movies create, and even family-oriented movies provide Halloween elements, like haunted houses or evil witches. So, for those of you who like your Halloween flicks without horror elements, here are 12 non-horror movies that take place during Halloween.
‘A Haunting in Venice’ (2023)
Kenneth Branagh’s third movie centering on Agatha Christie’s fictional character Hercule Poirot takes the Belgian detective to Italy to attend a Halloween seance. Despite being self-exiled and retired, he reluctantly goes to this seance at a decaying palazzo in Venice. When one of the guests is murdered, Poirot is thrust into another investigation featuring sinister secrets.
A Murder Mystery With a Twist
Anything based on an Agatha Christie novel is bound to have twists and turns. Her mysteries unravel secrets and clues like cookies spilling from a jar. A Haunting in Venice is true to form for a Christie mystery, and despite being about a haunted Italian mansion, there are really no horror elements in this. It’s a murder mystery “whodunnit,” meant to make you guess and second-guess who the killer is and who in the room is in on it. The primary focus is getting the audience to look for clues, although it has plenty of spooky elements.
‘Monster House’ (2006)
Arguably one of the most underrated animated movies of the 2000s, Monster House is a fun and genuinely spooky motion-capture CGI must-see that focuses on 12-year-old best friends D.J. and Chowder as they team up with a plucky Girl Scout to stop their creepy neighbor’s sentient haunted house from targeting trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. The family-friendly flick features the talents of an impressive voice cast including Steve Buscemi, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Catherine O’Hara, and takes audiences on an exciting thrill ride from start to finish.
‘Monster House’ Is a Fun & Nostalgic Adventure
Not only are the visuals stunning and the storyline refreshingly original, but Monster House actually has children protagonists who are both capable and likable, with D.J. and Chowder making a wholesome dynamic duo. The animated movie is a stellar haunted house tale that appeals to fans of all ages while including some seriously creepy moments, sharp humor, and a nostalgic feel that left many critics favorably comparing it to the ’80s gem The Goonies. It’s no wonder that Monster House was executive produced by Hollywood legends Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis and was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
‘Hocus Pocus’ (1993)
If we’re talking about Halloween movies, Hocus Pocus will inevitably be mentioned. Whether you grew up with it or were introduced to it in the streaming era, Hocus Pocus is staple October viewing for many. It follows the three Sanderson sisters, 300-year-old witches, who are brought back to life when teenager Max (Omri Katz) lights a black flame candle. With the Sandersons bent on stealing the youth of Salem’s children, Max and his friends have to figure out a way to send the witches back to their graves.
Witchy Halloween Fun
Aside from the fact that it takes place on Halloween night, Hocus Pocus features pretty much everything you could want from a Halloween movie. Costume parties, trick or treating, teenagers tee-peeing houses, changing leaves, and witches with an ancient spellbook. It is eternally autumnal with the best aspects of the holiday scattered throughout, plus a memorable musical number by Bette Midler at a Halloween party.
‘The House with a Clock in Its Walls’ (2018)
Hollywood heavyweights Jack Black and Cate Blanchett brilliantly joined forces with director Eli Roth to help bring the spellbinding dark fantasy The House with a Clock in Its Walls to life, with the adaptation of the John Bellairs novel taking place in 1955 and following ten-year-old Lewis Barnavelt as he moves in with his eccentric uncle Jonathan (Black) in his massive, spooky mansion that contains a mysterious ticktock noise. When Lewis accidentally awakens the dead, he learns shocking secrets like the fact that Jonathan is a warlock and their neighbor, Florence (Blanchett) a witch.
Black & Blanchett Make Movie Magic
Any movie that features the always entertaining Black let loose and do his thing is going to be fun, and The House with a Clock in Its Walls impressively balances horror and humor while infusing the spellbinding premise with adventure, magic, and wonder. The fantasy flick proved to be a commercial success with moviegoers and nabbed a solid B+ CinemaScore, and was glowingly described by The Washington Post as “a throwback to an earlier era of filmmaking, in which the benefits of new technology are neatly disguised in old-school storytelling.”
‘E.T.’ (1983)
A family classic from Steven Spielberg, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial follows a gentle alien stranded on Earth who is discovered and befriended by a 10-year-old boy named Elliot (Henry Thomas). Elliot and his siblings decide to keep him in their house and hide his existence from everyone. When E.T. falls ill, it results in government intervention and a dire situation for E.T. and his young friend.
A Friendly Alien Invasion
Besides the obvious costume inspiration and the alien interaction, E.T. is directly tied to Halloween because it is set around that time. Halloween plays a pivotal role in the film and in E.T.’s plight to escape the hands of the U.S. government. On Halloween night, the neighborhood children disguise E.T. as a ghost so they can sneak him into the woods where they have set up a device to call his people. This is required Halloween viewing in many Gen X and Millennial households.
‘Halloweentown’ (1998)
If you’re looking for a wholesome Halloween viewing experience, look no further than the Disney Channel Original Movie favorite, Halloweentown. This feel-good fantasy movie follows 13-year-old Marnie Cromwell (Kimberely J. Brown) as she discovers that not only does she hail from a long line of witches, but there is a magical place called Halloweentown where mystical creatures live in harmony. When she and her siblings follow their grandma Agie (Debbie Reynolds) into the mystical realm, they realize that a powerful warlock wants to steal the Cromwell magic.
There’s No Place Like Halloweentown
Halloweentown is essentially required October viewing for many Millennials and elder Gen Zs who grew up watching this and its sequels every year on Disney Channel. Not only does it have ghouls, goblins, and ghosts, it celebrates the differences in people that make them unique. It made kids believe that monsters didn’t have to be scary and quirks should be embraced. Plus, the costumes and witchy outfits provide endless costume inspiration.
‘Twitches’ (2005)
Another DCOM on Millennial and elder Gen Z radars was Twitches. It centers around two girls on the eve of their 21st birthday who discover that they are not only long-lost twin sisters, but they are witches who come from another dimension called Coventry. Upon learning this information, they also learn that their homeland is in grave danger from a dark force that threatens to destroy all of Coventry.
Twin Witches
Starring Tia and Tamara Mowry from Sister, Sister, the movie takes place entirely on Halloween weekend since their birthdays are October 31st. It features many of the same Halloween elements from other DCOMs like parties and elaborate decorations, but with the aged-up characters and a focus on the inherent bond between sisters, it stands out among other family-oriented Halloween movies.
‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (1993)
Henry Selick’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is often considered an essential Halloween and Christmas viewing due to its intricate ties to both holidays. It follows Jack Skellington, a.k.a. the Pumpkin King, the king of Halloweentown, as he hits sort of a midlife crisis.
Despite being the most adored citizen of Halloweentown, Jack longs for something new. When he accidentally stumbles into Christmas Town, he decides he wants to be the new king of Christmas. Since Jack hails from the land of spooky and scary, his understanding of the magic of Christmas is lacking.
A Halloween Spin on Christmas
The stopmotion classic combines elements of both holidays to make something original. The combination of twinkling Christmas visuals with darker Halloween frights makes for a truly unique story that highlights the best of both holidays. For anyone who loves Halloween just as much as they love Christmas, this is a must-watch during Halloween.
‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ (1944)
Starring the always charming and equally hilarious Cary Grant, Arsenic and Old Lace is a riotous screwball comedy that happens to take place during Halloween. On the precipice of marriage, Brooklyn author Mortimer Brewister returns home to tell his aunts that he will be a bachelor no more. While trying to break the news that he has finally tied the knot, Mortimer is horrified to learn that his sweet aunts are serial murderers who keep their victims in their basement cellar.
A Halloween Screwball Comedy
The choice to have two seemingly innocent and sweet old ladies be delusional serial killers makes for a ridiculously fun time. Mortimer’s aunts believe they are doing a humanitarian service by killing lonely old men so they no longer have to be lonely. Add in the edition of Mortimer’s brother, who believes he’s Teddy Roosevelt, his cousin Jonathan, who looks like Boris Karloff thanks to years of changing his face to evade the authorities, and you have a hilarious Halloween movie night.
‘Casper’ (1995)
Although practically all movies depict ghosts as vengeful spirits, Casper argues that isn’t the case. The feel-good movie centers around a friendly ghost named Casper who has no interest in haunting houses or scaring people. When paranormal investigator James Harvey (Bill Pullman) and his daughter Kat (Christina Richie) move into the house he occupies, his affection for Kat grows. Things are complicated by his ghostly form and his mischievous uncles.
A Ghostly Halloween Viewing
Casper is another movie that features everything you could want from a Halloween movie. The New England fall setting and the paranormal shenanigans make it a perfect viewing choice for the season, but it actually does take place around Halloween. Caspar’s only wish is to be human again, and he briefly becomes human to attend a Halloween party with Kat.