Family-friendly Halloween

Jack Skellington tries to run Christmas and gets the joy all wrong before he gets it right. Halloween bones, Christmas heart, and it is on Disney+.

Wednesday goes to summer camp, a new baby arrives, and Thanksgiving gets a pageant it will not forget. The 1993 sequel, PG-13, on Paramount+. Sharper than the first, and very funny.

A recently dead couple hires the afterlife's worst bio-exorcist to scare out their house's new owners. PG, strange, funny, and still a family Halloween if your kids like weird. On Peacock.

A boy strums his way into the land of the dead and learns his family's real story. It is a November movie as much as a Halloween one. Gorgeous, musical, and on Disney+.

A girl finds a better version of her parents behind a little door, and the button eyes are a warning. Gorgeous stop-motion, spooky but not mean, on Hulu, Max, and Tubi.

A boy brings his dog back, in black-and-white stop-motion, and the science fair gets out of hand. Tim Burton, on Disney+. Tender if you have ever loved a pet.

Jack Black plays R.L. Stine, and every monster in the manuscripts gets out at once. PG, funny-scary, on Paramount+. A safe bet for a kids' Halloween.

Marnie finds out she is a witch on Halloween, and her grandmother's town needs her. The 1998 Disney Channel movie that still feels like a sleepover. On Disney+ and Hulu.

The mortal world and the monster world try to share a school. It is sweeter than it is scary, and Disney+ still has it.

The grey spell is back and Marnie has homework of the magical kind. The second one, on Hulu, for when the first ending was too tidy.

A grieving scientist and a single mom get stuck with a house that will not let them leave. The 2023 one, PG-13, more jokes than dread, on Disney+.

Three witches get resurrected in Salem and a black cat has the brain cell. The 1993 Halloween movie a lot of families now watch every October on purpose. Disney+.

The Sanderson sisters are back, and so is the camp. A Disney+ sequel that knows you wanted the songs more than a new mythology.

Dracula is an overprotective dad, and a human backpacker wanders into the monster hotel. Loud, sweet, and safe for kids who want fangs without nightmares. Hulu and Paramount+.

The family is bigger and Dracula still cannot relax. The sequel keeps the joke going. Same two services, same easy Halloween.

Adam Sandler is the town's most earnest Halloween volunteer, and for once the town needs him. Goofy, PG-13, and the right amount of spooky for people who scare easy.

A kid who sees ghosts has to save a town that would rather not be saved by him. Funny, handmade, and kinder than it looks. Hulu, Max, and Tubi.

Two witch sisters try to live a normal life in a town that will not let them. Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, fall leaves, and a midnight margarita. On Max. PG-13.

College, a box of powers, and one more visit. The fourth film is the quietest of the set. Fine for kids who grew up with Marnie.

The 1991 one, with Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston treating the macabre like good manners. PG-13, on Paramount+. A Halloween movie you can watch with older kids and actually enjoy yourself.

The animated Addams Family, PG, with a loud neighbor who wants them normal. On Prime and Tubi. An easy Halloween for younger kids than the 1991 film.

A bullfighter, a guitar, and the land of the remembered, painted like a folk-art altar. On Disney+. A bright, musical Day of the Dead story for a family Halloween.

An orphan moves in with a warlock uncle and the house is counting down to something. Jack Black and Cate Blanchett, PG, spooky-not-cruel. On Netflix.

Twin witches, separated at birth, figure out they are stronger together on Halloween. A mid-2000s Disney Channel movie. Campy, pink, and on Disney+.

The twins are back and the darkness did not stay gone. If the first one was a sleepover, this is the sequel you put on while the popcorn is still out.