By Callie Honeycutt, Social Media Editor

With 17 Halloweens under my belt, I can confidently say I know which movies are the best and which ones you should avoid. Here are seven Halloween movies ranging from scary to funny that have stayed timeless throughout the years. 

The Nightmare Before Christmas 

Story by: Tim Burton 

Director: Henry Selick 

This follows the story of Jack Skellington, Halloween Town’s Pumpkin King, who gets bored with the repetitive life of scaring people one day a year every year, so he goes exploring for something more exciting. When Jack stumbles upon Christmas Town, he returns home with a new mission, to take over Christmas. Watch this movie to learn a lesson about being grateful for what you have and never taking something for granted.

I love this movie. I think that if you watch it at the perfect time it rolls Halloween right into Thanksgiving and keeps the holiday spirit going. It is one of those movies you never get sick of watching and always puts a smile on your face. There are a few side stories that get distracting, but it all comes together at the end.

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown 

Story by: Charles M. Schulz

Director: Bill Melendez 

Continuing the Peanuts storyline, this show follows Charlie Brown and his friends as they celebrate Halloween. Linus, Charlie Brown’s friend, stays up all night to catch The Great Pumpkin – who only comes on Halloween – to prove to his friends that The Great Pumpkin does exist.

If there is a classic Halloween movie, this is it. I will never ever get sick of watching this movie. I love how it makes you feel like a little kid again. There is at least one character that everyone can relate to and honestly, who doesn’t love Charlie Brown?

Hocus Pocus

Story by: David Kirschner; Mick Garris

Director: Kenny Ortega 

After freeing three evil witches, The Sanderson Sisters, from an abandoned house, main characters Max, Dani and Allison try to capture them again as The Sanderson Sisters wreak havoc on the town as payback for all the years they spent in captivity.

This movie is just like every other Disney movie: short, sweet, and with a heartwarming message at the end. It was made in the ’90s, so the language is iffy, but I love the costumes and The Sanderson Sisters are a timeless Halloween costume. Disney definitely has better movies but this is one of the best Halloween ones.

Halloweentown

Story by: Paul Bernbaum 

Director: Duwayne Dunham 

Following her grandma to Halloweentown (a town of supernatural creatures), Marmie finds out she comes from a long line of witches and is about to become one on her 13th birthday. Almost at the same time, an evil being starts to threaten the safety of Halloweentown and the rest of the world, and it’s up to Marmie and her family to save everyone.  

Now this is the best Halloween movie Disney ever made. Not only is it funny, interesting and has a good story line, but the sequels are just as good as the original. Every little girl wanted to find out she was a secret witch after this movie. I will never get sick of it and if you get anything from this review, it’s that you need to watch this movie. 

Ghostbusters 

Story by: Ivan Reitman

Director: Jason Reitman

This is the story of three scientists who, after they lose their jobs, decide to become Ghostbusters and use technology to earn money by fighting supernatural creatures. After opening a gate to another dimension and releasing a ton of ghosts into New York, the Ghostbusters must now save New York City. 

This movie is obviously a classic. It isn’t my favorite, but the main characters are really funny and there are some popular lines in this movie that people still use to this day. I love the all-female sequel to this movie, but the franchise is so big now it’s hard to even figure out where it starts and ends. 

Casper

Story by: Joe Oriolo

Director: Brad Silberling

This is the story of a friendly, young ghost named Casper who haunts a mansion. After a ghost communicator arrives to talk to Casper, Casper quickly falls in love with his daughter, Kat. Their relationship is rocky to say the least, since Casper is transparent and the little girl is human. The movie follows Casper as he learns about young love and how to be a mature young ghost. 

As a little girl, I always imagined a little ghost like Casper coming to my house and falling in love with me. It never happened, but this is still a great movie. I would probably get bored watching it now, but little kids love this movie. I suggest it to anyone with little siblings when you need to distract them for an hour and 36 minutes. 

Halloween 

Story by: John Carpenter 

Director: John Carpenter

At 6 years old, Michael Myers kills his mom and sister on Halloween and is sentenced to life in prison. Flashforward 15 years and Myers is now 21 years old and escapes jail with a stolen car. He heads back to his hometown to find more helpless victims to murder on Halloween night. 

I am not a fan of scary movies at all, but this one is not that bad. Probably because it was made in the ’70s, the graphics are pretty terrible. Everyone knows who the villain Michael Myers is and there are so many sequels. I would watch this again if I had to but it wouldn’t be my first choice. 

Senior Callie Honeycutt can be reached at 22honeycuttca54@daretolearn.org.