Raggedy Ann Girl's Top Ten Scary Things to Watch on Halloween
I'm a HUGE fan of all things Halloween, but I don't like being terrified so horror films have no place in my Halloween celebrations. I'm more the Disney-esque, cute, spooky, dark-but-not-dangerous kind of girl, so I have a regular list of DVDs that I like to watch around Halloween time. If you're of a more blood-thirsty type, you'll probably find my suggestions a bit tame. On the other hand if you like a bit of good, old-fashioned spooky fun, then … fill your boots my friends!
Details of how to buy them can be found at the bottom of the list.
1: It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
There simply isn't anything cuter and more heartwarmingly spooky than this wonderful cartoon from the Peanuts gang. It dates from 1966 but used to be on tv every year in the UK. Really, someone should bring it back!
2: The Haunted Mansion
The Disney theme park rides might have come first, but this hugely funny, delightfully silly Eddie Murphy film ticks all the family-friendly Halloween boxes for me. And if you're a fan of the ride you can spend 89 minutes looking for insider jokes.
3: Ghostbusters
Still one of the funniest ghostly films. It's silly and kids love the slightly disgusting slimer ghost.
4: ET
Not technically a Halloween movie, but it has one of the best on-screen Halloween scenes ever. And it's full of charm and sentiment too. If you don't end up craving Reese's Pieces after watching it, I'll eat my witch's hat …
5: Casper
A really cute, and not at all scary film about everyone's favourite friendly ghost. Very sweet.
6: The Addams Family
It's funny, it's macabre and it's got a great theme song.
7: The Nightmare Before Christmas
Ok, in theory this is about saving Christmas but nearly all of it is spooky, scary and dark and Jack Skellington is a complete Halloween hero.
8: Coraline
Spooky, dreams turn to nightmares, it has a talking black cat and you can watch it in 3D.
9: Sleepy Hollow
A classic tale with Johnny Depp and with Tim Burton as director, you just know it's going to get weird.
10: Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel box sets
Before Stephenie Meyer and Twilight made them chic, Joss Whedon made them witty. Vampires, slayers, werewolves & demons galore.