This list of the best Halloween horror movies includes classics (Psycho), mysteries (Sixth Sense), chick flicks (The Witches of Eastwick), children’s Halloween classics (It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown), and black comedies (Beetlejuice). There’s something for everyone in this Haunted House of Halloween Horror Films!

First, a cool quip from a horror movie star:

“In all the horror films that I have done, all of those women were strong women. I don’t feel I ever played the victim, although I was always in jeopardy,” said Adrienne Barbeau, who starred in The Fog, Creepshow, Swamp Thing, and Escape From New York.

Screaming men and women who venture down dark stairwells are all part of a must-see Halloween movie. So, turn the lights off, sink into a blanket on the sofa, and munch on popcorn and chocolate while you watch a scary movie - it’s one of the best ways to de-stress. Plus, getting scared with your family and friends can strengthen your relationship (because happiness is found in your experiences, not your possessions).

Get ready to get scared….

The Best Halloween Movies: 43 Popular Horror Films & Scary Movies From 1955 to Now

Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy - a classic horror film from 1955! Abbott and Costello go to Egypt and find archaeologist Dr. Zoomer murdered before they can return to America. A medallion leads them to a crypt where a revived mummy terrorizes them. “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein” may be a scarier, more “realistic” horror movie.

The Addams Family - a black comedy starring Christina Ricci, Christopher Lloyd, Raúl Juliá, and Anjelica Huston. The Addamses are a family of wealthy and eccentric individuals who live together in a mansion and share a common interest in bizarre and macabre activities.

An American Werewolf in London - Two American students in England are attacked by a Werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The Werewolf is killed, but reverts to its human form, and the townspeople deny its existence. The surviving student begins to have nightmares; his dead friend friend and other recent victims appear to him, demanding that he find a way to die to release them from their curse (they’re trapped between worlds because of their unnatural death). A classic scary movie!

The Amityville Horror - a family moves into a house that was the site of a horrific murder the year before. They decide to keep the house and try to keep the horror in the past. But, the husband starts to behave strangely and the daughter starts to see people. What now follows is 28 days of sheer terror for the family! (a great scary Halloween movie to watch with your own family….)

Arachnophobia - starring Jeff Daniels and John Goodman, Arachnophobia features a large spider from the jungles of South America, which is accidentally transported in a crate with a dead body to America where it mates with a local spider. Soon after, the residents of a small California town disappear as the result of spider bites from the deadly spider offspring. It’s up to a couple of doctors and an insect exterminator to annihilate these eight legged freaks before they take over the entire town.

Beetlejuice - a black comedy starring Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, Catherine O’Hara, and Winona Ryder. Adam and Barbara are a normal couple who also happen to be dead. A live family moves into their house; Adam and Barbara try to scare them out, but end up becoming the main attraction as the family makes money from their presence. They call upon Beetlejuice to help, but he has other ideas in mind.

Blade - in a world where vampires walk the earth, Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) has a goal: to rid the world of all vampire evil. When he witnesses a vampire bite a female doctor, he fights the vampire and takes her to his hideout to heal her. The vampire and Blade battle it out in this horror movie (which isn’t exactly a scary Halloween movie).

Creature From the Black Lagoon - originally released in 1954, this classic horror film has been re-made and is scheduled to be released in 2009. A scientific expedition searching for fossils along the Amazon River discovers a prehistoric Gill-Man in the legendary Black Lagoon. The explorers capture the mysterious creature, but it breaks free. The Gill-Man returns to kidnap the lovely Kay, fiancée of one of the expedition members, with whom it has fallen in love.

Dawn of the Dead - a mysterious virus transforms its victims into mindless, flesh-eating zombies.  This horror movie is packed with blood, gore and bone-chilling thrills as a handful of survivors wage a battle to stay alive – and human. Definitely a popular theme of a scary Halloween movie!

Dead Again - starring Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, and Andy Garcia. A Los Angeles private detective specializes in finding missing persons; he takes on the case of a mystery woman who he calls Grace. She has amnesia, and keeps having nightmares involving the murder of a pianist Margaret by her husband Roman Strauss in the late 1940’s. In an attempt to solve the mystery surrounding nightmares, the detective seeks the help of an antiques dealer with the gift of hypnosis. The hypnosis sessions soon begin to reveal some surprises. This thriller will have you at the edge of your seat!

Dracula - starring Winona Ryder and Gary Oldman, this version of Dracula is closely based on Bram Stoker’s classic novel. A young lawyer is assigned to a gloomy village in the mists of eastern Europe. He is captured and imprisoned by the undead vampire Dracula, who travels to London because of a a photograph of the lawyer’s fiancée. Dracula begins a reign of seduction and terror, and the friends gather to try to drive Dracula away.

Frankenstein - Dr. Frankenstein creates a simple creature from various body parts. This creature turns into a monster when Dr. Frankenstein rejects him, and seeks his “father.” This is a classic horror film, great on Halloween.

Friday The 13th - Many years after a boy drowns one summer and two camp counselors are killed the subsequent summer at Camp Crystal Lake, a new owner decides to reopen, which sparks a series of grisly murders. A scary Halloween horror movie!

Hocus Pocus - starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, this scary movie tells the tale of an event that happened more than 300 years ago. Three witches were sentenced to die in Salem, Massachusetts and a boy was turned into a black cat. At  Halloween, the witches return. This time, they’re set on immortal life and have turned their wrath on trick-or-treaters. It’s up to the 300-year-old cat to save the day.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - written by Charles Schulz, this classic Halloween film tells the story of how The Peanuts gang celebrates Halloween. Linus hopes that he’ll finally be visited by The Great Pumpkin, and Charlie Brown is invited to a Halloween party.

Jacob’s Ladder - a Vietnam vet has terrifying nightmares that seem to spill over into the waking world. Faceless demons have begun chasing Jacob through desolate New York alleys and he fears for his sanity. He finds out that he was victim of brutal drug experiments in Vietnam. Jacob begins to pursue the horrifying truth in this chilling and profoundly surreal suspense/horror film.

Monster House - A teenager observes his neighbor Nebbercracker, who destroys tricycles of children that trespass his lawn. When the teen’s parents travel on the eve of Halloween and the abusive nanny Zee stays with him, he calls his clumsy best friend to play basketball. When the ball falls in Nebbercracker’s lawn, the old man has a seizure and soon the teens discover that the house is a monster. Nobody believes them when they try to explain that the haunted house is a monster. The secret of how to destroy the house is revealed on Halloween night.

The Nightmare on Elm Street - this classic Halloween movie features a young girl who discovers that the ghost-like figure of Freddy Krueger, a former child-serial killer, is able to murder teenagers in their dreams while they sleep. Her friends die gruesome deaths as she battles to stay awake to avoid his razor-sharp appendages. Eventually as the massive amounts of coffee wear off, she will have to battle Freddy for her life in her worst nightmare come true.

Pet Cemetary - Louis Creed has just moved to Maine with his wife and kids when he learns that the family cat has been hit by a truck and killed. He follows a strange elderly neighbour who claims to know a secret that will make the family feel better. Jud takes him into an ancient Micmac burial ground where they bury the cat. Miraculously, the feline returns in a matter of days, resurrected but different. Despite strong warnings of horrible consequences, Dr. Creed returns to the burial ground hoping to bury and bring his son back. A Stephen King classic horror story.

Poltergeist - a family learns that their home rests on an ancient burial ground. Poltergeists move the furniture and communicate with youngest daughter through the TV set. Harmless pranks turn bad when the ghosts kidnap the daughter into the spirit world through the TV. Parapsychologists and a psychic are called to the rescue to perform an elaborate exorcism.

Practical Magic - starring Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock, this is more of a comedy/fantasy/mystery than a true scary Halloween movie. Sisters Sally and Gillian Owens have always known they were different. Raised by their aunts after their parents’ death, they grew up in a household that was anything but typical–their aunts fed them chocolate cake for breakfast and taught them to use practical magic. Their sorcery carries a price - or, more accurately, a curse: the men they fall in love with are doomed to an untimely death. Sally and Gillian must use all of their powers to fight the family curse and a swarm of supernatural forces that threatens the lives of all the Owens women.

Psycho - starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh, this is a classic horror film that many people are scared to watch! Marion Crane is fed up with her life; she has to meet her lover Sam in lunch breaks and they can’t get married because of Sam’s alimony payments. When Marion is trusted to bank $40,000 for her employer, she sees an opportunity to take the money and start a new life. She leaves town and heads towards Sam’s California store. Tired after the long drive and caught in a storm, she gets off the main highway and pulls into The Bates Motel. The motel is managed by a quiet young man called Norman who seems to be dominated by his mother…and who is (simply put) psycho.

Rosemary’s Baby - Rosemary and Guy move into a spacious apartment off Central Park and are befriended by the elderly couple next door. Shortly after another young woman in their building commits suicide, Rosemary is haunted by disturbing dreams. After a vivid dream of a hallucinogenic black mass during which she is raped by something inhuman, Rosemary finds herself pregnant and violently ill. Her seemingly well-meaning elderly neighbors become involved, and the story twists and turns until Rosemary realizes that she is the victim of a deeply evil conspiracy. Another classic horror film!

Saw - in this mysterious thriller, two men find themselves chained in a chamber with no recollection of how they got there. A man lies beside them with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. They soon discover that they are captives of the man the cops have dubbed the “Jigsaw Killer”, who pits two innocent people against one another and who face terrible consequences if one does not kill the other. A different twist on the classic Halloween scary movie!

Scary Movie - A copycat is reenacting the Scream murders, and six high school students who ran over a man on a sharp curve the year before think the killer is out for revenge.  Scary Movie is a spoof that parodies everything from popular horror movies to comedies.

Signs - Mel Gibson plays a former priest who lost his faith after his wife was killed in a car accident. He then discovers a gigantic crop circle in his yard, and similar events happen all over the world. Graham’s children think it’s aliens, his brother thinks it’s pranksters, and Graham is confused. The crop circles cause a media frenzy and test his faith as he journeys to find out the truth behind the crop circles. However, as more and more strange events occur, he regains his faith and realizes something big is coming…and it’s not happy.

The Sixth Sense - Bruce Willis plays a successful child psychologist who is shaken by the sudden reappearance of a former patient who commits suicide. Months later he encounters an 8-year old boy who sees dead people…a scary twist ends this popular horror film. This is more of a psychological thriller than a true classic scary movie.

Sleepy Hollow - starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, and Miranda Richardson, Sleepy Hollow is the classic story of “The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow” by the gothic film maker Tim Burton. Johnny Depp plays Ichabod Crane, and to win the heart of Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci) he has to brave the nearby woods, even though several decapitated bodies have been found. Enter the legend of the axe wielding headless horsemen….a classic horror film!

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - this is one of the scariest Halloween movies ever, and a genuine classic horror film. It’s also loosely based on a true story. Five teenagers driving through Texas stumble across an old farm inhabited by a family of mass murders headed by “Leatherface.”  They decorate their home with human bones and skin and rob local graveyards when live victims are not available.

The Blair Witch Project - Three film students go into the forest to make a documentary about a legendary witch, who is linked to murders and mysterious occurrences spanning 200 years. This may not be a classic horror film, but it could be a stress-relieving Halloween movie.

The Exorcist - in this classic horror film, a once-sweet 12-year old girl becomes possessed by the devil. She becomes a murderous hellhound who, in the horrific exorcism, violently vomits and spins her head 360 degrees. This is a classic scary scene, which has been parodied in numerous other films.

The Haunted Mansion - Eddie Murphy plays a real estate agent workaholic who gets a call late one night from mansion owner Edward Gracey, who wants to sell his property. Murphy’s family visits the mansion, which is located on a remote bayou. A torrential thunderstorm strands them in the old mansion with the brooding, eccentric owner, his mysterious butler, and a variety of residents both dead and alive. At first Murphy scoffs at the stories about ghosts and hauntings - until he unearths the mystery of the mansion and finds that his wife Sara has unexpected connections to its haunted past.

The Mothman Prophecies - This scary Halloween movie is based on a true story.  A reporter for The Washington Post loses his wife after a strange car accident. Years later, he finds himself in the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia where he starts to realize that his wife’s cryptic drawings, which he finds after her death, might have a connection to the supernatural creature known as the Mothman. The Mothman’s appearances seem to foretell cataclysmic events.

The Mummy - Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz go on an archaeological dig at the ancient city of Hamunaptra. Another group unveils a curse which has risen the dead High Priest Imhotep (Vosloo). Now ‘The Mummy’ is awake and it’s going to take a lot more than guns to send him back from where he came from…there are two sequels to this horror movie.

The Omen - An American ambassador living in England in the 70’s is talked into replacing his own still-born child with another baby and without telling his wife. As the child grows, tragedy follows. Creepy and unexplained events unfold until a photographer reveals to Robert that the child carries an ominous 666 under his hairline. Things go from bad to worse in this genuinely frightening classic horror movie.

The People Under The Stairs - This Halloween movie is the story of a young boy (Fool) and his 13th birthday. In an attempted burglary (along with two others) of the home of his family’s evil landlords, he becomes trapped inside and discovers the secret of the “children” that the insane brother and sister have been “rearing” under the stairs.

The Ring - A skeptical newspaper reporter watches a video of nightmarish images that is supposed to lead to a phone call predicting the viewer’s death in one week. After watching it, she finds that she has seven days to unravel the mystery of the ring and save herself and her son. (I actually haven’t watched this horror movie, so if you have - do let me know if it’s a good choice for a scary Halloween movie!).

The Rocky Horror Picture Show - A young couple is stranded at the home of a mad scientist who is building the perfect man. This is an interactive “rock you out” classic Halloween movie!

The Witches of Eastwick - starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer, this black comedy revolves around Alex, Jane, and Suki, who are left to live without their husbands. They innocently conjure up a mystery man who can satisfy all their desires. A new man moves into town - and he fits the bill perfectly. Daryl Van Horne is filthy rich and wild eyed, and within days the three women have all discovered almighty power within themselves.

The Shining - This classic horror movie involves Jack Nicholson as caretaking a hotel called the Overlook for the winter, which operates only during the warm months. Jack grows more and more evil throughout the movie as strange and unexplainable events start happening in the desolate and haunted hotel. A Stephen King classic horror story - this is one of my favorite scary Halloween movies (though it’s not technically about Halloween.

What Lies Beneath - A couple has a seemingly perfect life: a great marriage, a daughter just entering college and a beautiful home on the water. Strange things start to happen as Claire suspects that the man next door has murdered his wife and that she is trying to contact her from beyond the grave. Dangerous events unfold and a frightening truth threatens to destroy everything.

Young Frankenstein - Gene Wilder plays a young neurosurgeon who inherits the castle of his grandfather, the famous Dr. Victor von Frankenstein. He finds a funny hunchback called Igor, a pretty lab assistant named Inga and the old housekeeper. Young Frankenstein scoffs at the work of his grandfather, but when he discovers the book where the mad doctor described his reanimation experiment, he changes his mind.

Did I miss a great Halloween horror movie? Fill me in below!

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