By Sukriti Wahi Entertainment 13.10.2026

21 Not-So-Spooky Movies To Watch This Halloween if You’re Easily Scared

Can't do the scary stuff? These delightfully dark films are perfect for the horror-averse.

Spooky season is upon us, folks, and with that, so too is the time for dress-ups, dinner parties and, perhaps most importantly, curling up with a scary movie (or two).

Of course, the latter doesn't have to mean full-scale horror if you're easily frightened or it's simply not your thing (it's not ours either). So fear not, for we have done the groundwork for your Halloween viewing this year.

From witch flicks to ghost stories and campy horror comedies, these not-so-scary Halloween movies deliver a fright fix without the side of stress.

1. Addams Family Values

An iconic franchise that spanned the original comic strip, a sitcom, multiple cartoon series, several films and a musical – with arguably one of the catchiest theme songs ever made – The Addams Family in any form is perfect Halloween fodder. However, if we had to pick a singular film, 1993's Addams Family Values would be right up there for its funny yet slightly darker tone. Following on from the first film, this sequel centres on the birth of the spooky clan's newest member, Pubert, and a bachelor-murdering nanny out to swindle Uncle Fester.

2. Attack the Block

Part sci-fi, part horror, part comedy, the British film Attack the Block ticks multiple boxes. Starring John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker and Nick Frost, the story sees a gang of South London teenagers team up with other residents in their housing estate to defend their block from a savage alien invasion.

3. Beetlejuice

Directed by Tim Burton, this gothic comedy classic veers more gaudy than grotesque in the best way. Widely considered one of Burton's best works, the film follows Adam and Barbara Maitland, a recently deceased couple who return as ghosts to haunt their home's new living owners out of their house with the aid of a mischievous trickster spirit and self-proclaimed "bio-exorcist" called Betelgeuse.

4. Casper

Notable for being the first-ever film to feature a CGI main character, Casper is, famously, a friendly ghost who only wants to befriend humans, unlike his three ghost uncles, with whom he haunts the abandoned Whipstaff Manor in Maine. When the house's greedy new owner enlists paranormal therapist Dr James Harvey in a bid to exorcise the place of all spirits, Casper finds himself falling for his daughter (played by a young Christina Ricci) – much to his uncles' dismay.

5. Coco

After a film you can watch with the kiddos? Consider Coco a solid contender (but fair warning: keep some tissues on hand). Winner of two Academy Awards, this vibrant film follows 12-year-old Miguel, a Mexican boy with big aspirations of becoming a musician. His dreams, however, are thwarted by his family's mysterious generational ban on music, which leads him accidentally into the colourful Land of the Dead to find his great-great-grandfather and uncover the reason why his family forbids music.

6. Coraline

Based on Neil Gaiman's horror novella of the same name, Coraline is one of those kids' movies adults will enjoy just as much, and not just for the stunning stop-motion visuals. Voiced by Dakota Fanning, Coraline is a young girl with inattentive parents who, while exploring her new home, discovers a secret door to the "Other World". A parallel universe closely resembling her real life – but better – it's exciting to meet her more loving Other Parents at first... until she realises not everything there is as it appears, and she must fight to make her way back home.

7. The Corpse Bride

Another Tim Burton classic to add to your watch list. Set in the late 1800s in a Victorian village, an awkward young man named Victor prepares to marry his betrothed and decides, after messing up rather sizably at his wedding rehearsal, to head to the forest to practice his vows alone. Except... he's not alone. Accidentally reciting them in front of the corpse of the deceased bride, she rises from the grave, and she takes him to the Land of the Dead. Soon enough, Victor finds himself torn between his living fiancée and his new spouse; whom will he choose?

8. The Craft

Craving more witchy content? A touch of nostalgia? The Craft is worth a look-in. Released in 1996, the story follows Sarah, a Catholic school newcomer who befriends a group a coven of witches that the other students either shun or fear. Fitting in, however, is not a worry for these students – not since they discovered the power of "The Craft" to exact revenge on all those who have wronged them.

9. Death Becomes Her

Meryl Streep. Goldie Hawn. Isabella Rossellini. Need we say more? Premiering in 1992, Death Becomes Her was underappreciated at the time of its release but has since become a high-camp classic (and spawned a Tony Award-winning musical). Streep plays fading Broadway actress Madeline, who steals her best friend Helen's (Hawn) plastic surgeon fiancé (Willis). Seven years and one mental breakdown in a psychiatric ward later, Helen returns, inexplicably radiant, youthful and hell-bent on revenge. Madeline is desperate to know her secret and discovers that Helen has been taking a mysterious youth potion that grants its drinker immortality. She does the same, but both women learn that eternal life comes with a price.

10. Haunted Mansion (2023)

A supernatural horror-comedy with a star-studded cast featuring Tiffany Haddish, Rosario Dawson and more, Haunted Mansion was inspired by the famous Disneyland ride of the same name. In the film, single mother Gabbie (played by Dawson) and her nine-year-old son move into an oddly affordable New Orleans mansion with plans to make it a B&B... only to discover the place is riddled with ghosts. Cue: a rag-tag group of spiritual "experts" including a tour guide, a psychic, a priest and a historian who arrive to help rid the place of squatting spirits.

11. The Haunted Mansion (2003)

The predecessor to the 2023 remake, The Haunted Mansion, starring Eddie Murphy, is also inspired by Disneyland's famous ride of the same name. The plot, however, is totally different. Murphy plays real estate agent Jim Evers, who, with his family, is confronted with 999 grinning ghosts when they find themselves stranded in the creepy Gracey Manor. With the help of supernatural psychic Madame Leota, they must try to survive the scary house of spirits, break the mansion's curse and make it out alive.

12. Hocus Pocus

Scary or not: Is Hocus Pocus the perfect Halloween screening? We dare say it might be. Starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, the trio play the evil Sanderson sisters – three 17th-century Salem witches who are accidentally brought back to life on Halloween for one night. On a mission to suck the essence of life from Salem's children to resurrect themselves for good, it's up to a teenage boy, his sister and an immortal black cat to outwit the witches and stop that from happening before the break of dawn.

13. It’s What’s Inside

Think of this as a freakier version of Freaky Friday. Per director Greg Jardin: "It's about a bunch of friends [who] get together in a house. One of them brings up a body-swapping machine. He suggests they play a game with it where they can all simultaneously swap bodies. Then the night devolves into existential chaos."

14. Pee Mak

Based on Thai folklore, this supernatural story mixes horror, romance and comedy all in one. Breaking records as Thailand's highest-grossing film of all time on its release, it tells the story of Mak, a soldier in 19th-century Siam who heads home from war with four close friends to reunite with his wife and meet their newborn baby. Only Mak's family isn't quite as, er, "lively" as they once were. We won't spoil it by saying anything more!

15. Practical Magic

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman play Sally and Gillian Owens, two orphaned sisters from a long line of witches raised by their eccentric aunts, who, aside from odd bits of practical magic, have largely avoided witchcraft for most of their lives. But being a woman of the Owens family bloodline carries a curse: the men they fall in love with are doomed to an untimely death. And when Gillian's vicious boyfriend dies unexpectedly, he spells trouble for them all, leaving the pair no choice but to take a crash course in hard magic.

16. Practical Magic 2

Set around 25 years after the events of the first film, Practical Magic 2 takes us right back to the Owens family – this time with a new generation of witches in tow! We don't want to spoil anything if you haven't seen the first movie, but let's just say that the Owens sisters must confront the ancestral curse that threatens to unravel their family once and for all.

17. Stree

Set in the small town of Chanderi, India, the locals fear the arrival of Stree – a supposedly evil female spirit who captures unsuspecting men at night and leaves their clothes behind – during a four-day festival every year. Village tailor Vicky doesn't believe in the superstition, and soon finds himself enamoured with a mysterious woman who only appears every year during the festival. His friends are suspicious that she could be Stree, and when one of them goes missing in the same style as Stree's victims, Vicky feels personally responsible for finding out the truth and saving his friend before it's too late.

18. The Witches (1990)

Anyone else recall being absolutely terrified of Anjelica Huston in The Witches as a child? Such was her chilling brilliance (and it still holds). Based on Roald Dahl's novel of the same name, it centres on a young boy called Luke, who, while vacationing at a hotel with his grandmother Helga, stumbles upon a secret convention of evil witches who plan to turn all of England's children into mice – the mission to stop them now in his hands.

19. The Witches of Eastwick

A cult classic with a stellar cast (Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer, oh my!), The Witches of Eastwick is campy, chaotic and kooky in equal measure. Set in the sleepy New England town of Eastwick, the story follows a trio of friends who – unaware that they are witches – form an informal coven and accidentally conjure their ideal man (played by Jack Nicholson). Seducing each of them, he awakens powers in each woman... which they'll need to rid their lives of him when they realise he's far from the dream man they thought he was.

20. Vampires vs. the Bronx

With a title like that? It's kind of what's written on the tin (in a good way). Set in the famous New York neighbourhood, a group of teenage friends from the Bronx band together to uncover who the bougie new residents behind the gentrification of their block are... only to find out they are vampires determined to suck all the life from their beloved community.

21. Wendell & Wild

Comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele – the latter of whom also co-wrote and produced the film – voice the titular demon brothers in this standout stop-motion film. Deciding she is the "hell maiden" they need to carry out a scheme in the Land of the Living, Wendell and Wild make a deal with Kat, a 13-year-old riddled with guilt over her parents' accidental death, who wants nothing more than to resurrect them. Things go rather awry (as one might expect, working with demons), and soon Kat's entire hometown is in danger, causing Kat to confront her inner and outer demons to save the day.