Get To Know TJM: Our Favorite Movies for Halloween!

What’s Halloween with a scary (or not) movie or two? We asked our staff what some of their favorite Halloween (or Halloween-adjacent) movies were. There was one clear standout.

Shannon Moore

PICK JUST ONE?!

I have a list.  Halloween is my favorite holiday next to Thanksgiving (because...food). 31 days of Halloween movies is for sure a thing in our house, sometimes more than one a day.

These movies aren't typically viewed as horror films in a super scary sense. I have since shelved my needs to watch the Saw movies. A lot of them generally live in a nostalgia land, like Casper, Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown. Most Tim Burtons to be honest -- Edward Scissorhands, Nightmare before Christmas, Corpse Bride, etc. Harry Potter series…

PS Yes, watched Jeepers Creepers [filmed here in Marion County, Fla.] when I was a kid at a sleepover birthday party, then the next day went to the church it was filmed at. Definitely was an experience after watching that....

Justin MacDonald

Admittedly, I do not like horror movies. I enjoy a good thriller, but horror movies that are filled with gore just means that I will have nightmares that night.  Every time. Without fail. 

With that said, if I had to choose one, I’d say the original “Night of the Living Dead.” I was unsupervised at my grandparents’ house as a child and watched that by myself. It terrified me, but directly afterward the same TV station played the 1990 independent short called “Night of the Living Bread.” It provided a good laugh, a bit of relief, and was overall an enjoyable palate cleanser.   

As far as a movie I HAVE to watch around Halloween, of course Hocus Pocus is up there, but one of our new family favorites is Hubie Halloween, a 2020 Adam Sandler movie. [Editor’s Note: Some of us find the words “Adam Sandler movie” scary enough.]

I know it’s fun to hate on Adam Sandler movies, but as a dad of four, there’s almost nothing better for the whole family than the silliness that ensues with one of his movies. [Editor’s Note: Duly noted.]. This movie is so ridiculous that I can’t help but love it. It’s our new Halloween classic.

Courtney Cole

Well, you would think with my birthday being in October, I would really like Halloween and scary movies ….. nope! Haha. Halloween is fun, but scary movies are 100% NOT my thing. My friends and family think its funny and I know it is all fake, but I still can’t do it. 

I would say growing up, Hocus Pocus and Nightmare Before Christmas would be my top two Halloween movies. Although I did watch a lot of the TV series Sabrina the Teenage Witch when I was a teen as well. Does that count? [Editor’s Note: Of course it does, Courtney! We’re generous in our definition of Halloween movie/show.]

Matt Maio

My favorite Halloween movie by far is Hocus Pocus. [Editor’s note: Sensing a trend here.] Hocus Pocus 2 is also great. They pretty much embody everything Halloween.

The whole storyline is perfectly Halloween. Witches trying to eat children, the book of spells that has a life of its own, it taking place on Halloween while the parents are at a Halloween party. Everything about it really encapsulates the holiday.

Rick Cundiff

Confession time: Apparently, I’m the only member of the TJM staff who has never seen “Hocus Pocus.”

Like Justin, I’m not really a fan of the horror genre. Blood and guts, homicidal maniacs, zombies and ghosts are not my cup of hemlock. But I do love old black and white sci-fi films from the ‘50s. A couple of favorites are “THEM!” (giant mutant radioactive ants threaten Los Angeles) and “The Tingler.”

That one stars Vincent Price as a scientist who discovers a being that lives on human fear. Of course it escapes and wreaks havoc on an unsuspecting theater audience. Naturally, the only way to defeat it is by screaming. There’s a murder subplot, and suffice to say the killer gets his comeuppance. Fun without gore.

If I have to choose one Halloween favorite, and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” isn’t eligible, I have to go with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” It has everything – a dark and stormy night, space aliens, Meat Loaf (served!) and more. Not to mention terrific music. And IMHO, Tim Curry’s opening scene as Frank N. Furter in the descending elevator is simply the greatest entrance in modern cinema.