Halloween Movies and Music
Aug 17
Halloween movie night does not have to include frightening monsters, intense villains, or scenes that leave younger children hiding behind the couch. Some of the sweetest seasonal movies combine pumpkins, costumes, friendly creatures, magical adventures, and gentle lessons about courage without becoming genuinely scary. True Halloween movies carrying a theatrical G rating are surprisingly uncommon. …
Aug 08
The 1940s occupy a fascinating place in horror history. The decade inherited the monsters, Gothic architecture, fog-shrouded landscapes, and supernatural traditions that had made horror enormously popular during the 1930s—but filmmakers were beginning to find new ways to frighten audiences. Monsters did not disappear. Universal Pictures introduced one of its most enduring creatures with The …
Aug 07
Halloween movies do not have to leave you hiding behind a blanket. Sometimes the best way to celebrate spooky season is with ghosts, witches, vampires, zombies, and monsters that make you laugh more than they make you scream. The best funny Halloween movies combine just enough supernatural weirdness with comedy, memorable characters, and autumn-night atmosphere. …
Jul 28
Disney’s The Haunted Mansion opened its doors in 2003, inviting moviegoers into a grand Louisiana estate filled with restless spirits, secret passages, sinister servants and familiar characters from the beloved theme park attraction. Led by Eddie Murphy, the supernatural comedy combines haunted-house atmosphere with family adventure, Gothic romance and plenty of ghostly humor. Although critics …
Jul 25
Halloween would not feel complete without music drifting through the darkness. The right song can turn a quiet October evening into a supernatural celebration filled with dancing monsters, mysterious witches, howling werewolves and things that go bump in the night. Classic Halloween songs have an especially powerful charm. Some were written specifically about monsters and …
Jul 23
Some horror movie characters do more than scare us. They become part of popular culture. A blank white mask can instantly bring Michael Myers to mind. A striped sweater and bladed glove belong unmistakably to Freddy Krueger. A hockey mask means Jason Voorhees, while a black robe and elongated white face immediately suggest Ghostface. But …
Aug 17
Animated movies are practically made for Halloween. Ghosts can float through walls, skeletons can sing and dance, houses can come alive, monsters can run hotels, and mysterious alternate worlds can hide behind tiny doors. Some animated Halloween movies are cheerful enough for young children. Others use stop-motion, Gothic imagery, supernatural mysteries, and genuinely creepy villains …
Aug 17
Music can make a Halloween movie unforgettable. Long after the monster disappears, the credits roll, and the lights come back on, a few notes can instantly bring the fear rushing back. John Carpenter needed only a spare piano melody to make Halloween feel dangerous. Bernard Herrmann turned shrieking strings into one of cinema’s most famous …
Aug 17
Finding Halloween movies for tweens can be surprisingly tricky. Movies made for little kids may feel too tame, while full-fledged horror can be far too intense. The best choices fall somewhere in the middle: creepy houses, witches, ghosts, monsters, supernatural mysteries, and genuine suspense without the graphic violence found in adult horror movies. For this …
Aug 15
Few filmmakers have created a visual world as perfectly suited to Halloween as Tim Burton. Crooked houses, pale-faced outsiders, restless ghosts, skeletal characters, foggy graveyards, eccentric monsters, twisted trees, and dark fairy-tale landscapes appear again and again throughout his work. Yet Burton’s movies rarely rely on horror alone. Some are funny. Some are romantic. Some …
