23 Halloween films to watch with your family

Based on a Disneyland theme park ride of the same name, The Haunted Mansion stars Eddie Murphy and his family getting trapped inside a - you guessed it - haunted mansion. Although it didn't wow critics, it's a feel-good film that'll give you a few laughs throughout the evening.

Are you sick of hearing about how great Tim Burton is yet? No? Great! A young man named Victor (Johnny Depp) is hitched to the lovely Victoria (Emily Watson) whom he's never met, but is a rather nervous chap and fluffs up his wedding vows in the rehearsal dinner. He then heads out into the woods (GREAT idea) to practice and ends up hitching himself to a zombie named Emily (Helena Bonham Carter). Chaos ensues and there's a bit of an awkward love triangle but it all gets sorted out in the end, PHEW.

It's a proven fact that the best way to introduce your children to the concept of the afterlife is by watching Casper. Ok, maybe not... But The Friendly Ghost is sure to delight your kids rather than terrify them. This is another Christina Ricci classic and is well-loved by generations of all ages. If they like this one, they'll be sure to love Ghostbusters, too! Read on...

Although we're sure you enjoy ALL the films you watch with your children/they make you watch, there are some that are more adult-friendly than others. Don't be put off by the fact that Paranorman is animated, and although you may be able to guess the outcome in the end, the storyline is well-formed and intriguing, and there's a scene at the end that'll even make you reach for a pillow to cower behind.

Anyone who says they didn't spend at least some of their childhood holidays living in fear they'd be turned into a mouse by rogue witches in the hotel would be lying. And that's thanks to this INCREDIBLE adaptation of Roald Dahl's book The Witches. It may have been made in 1990, but the Grand High Witch peeling off her mask to reveal that monster face is still eerily convincing (and don't fear for your little ones – the ending is WAY happier than it is in the book).

One of the absolute classic films ever of all-time, never mind genre-specific, everything about Ghostbusters is... Fun! Bill Murray is hilarious, the ghosts are definitely more laughable than scream-at-able - and even the scary bit at the end where Sigourney Weaver gets possessed is funny because she kisses Seymour from Little Shop Of Horrors (Rick Moranis)! Silly billies.

Everybody loves Wallace and Gromit, and it's just lucky really that this film has the slightest sniff of spookiness - we'd have used any excuse to include it. Make sure you've got yourself a generous slab of Wensleydale and enough crackers to feed a Mars mission before settling down.

With the witches that everyone love to hate, this film features Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy and Bette Midler as the main three: Sarah, Mary and Winifred Sanderson. They're (accidentally) awakened after many years and come back to seek immortality by hunting children - but, you know, in a light-hearted kind of way. But three teenagers have the help of a talking cat and a zombie to save all the children of the town. What could possibly go wrong?

This is a film that nearly ALL children can relate to. On almost every street, there is a scary house with scary neighbours that's just plain - well, scary. Maybe a ball was accidentally kicked over there. Will your kids ever see it again? Nope. So this film will feel familiar, as there's a spooky old man who lives across the street. But not is all as it seems...

It's often assumed that Coraline was made by Tim Burton, as it's so similar to The Nightmare Before Christmas - but it was actually by Henry Selick, who also did James And The Giant Peach. Is there anyone with better credentials than him to take on a film like this? Coraline (Dakota Fanning) is more creepy and unnerving than scary, but your little ones will still need a hand to hold when the Other Mother (Teri Hatcher) reveals her true self.

Despite being known as a children's film, Pan's Labyrinth is actually pretty unnerving. Featuring incredibly terrifying creatures such as the Pale Man (above), it may be worth pre-watching this film beforehand to check if it's suitable. We wouldn't recommend it to watch with very young kids, but if your young'uns are about 12 years old and above, they may really enjoy this. Ofelia is offered the chance to become immortal and a royal of another world by completing various tasks set by a faun, but as the tasks get darker, so does the film...

After creating a monster that then plots to exterminate all life on the entire planet, The Scientist has just enough time to transfer portions of his soul into nine Stitchpunks - small human-like rag dolls. They are left with The Scientist's talisman, which they then go on a quest to discover the origin of. Again, this will get you in the feels and tug at your heartstrings, but well worth a watch.

Johnny Depp stars as police constable Ichabod Crane investigating a series of murders in the village Sleepy Hollow. Sounds like such a pretty name for a little village, doesn't it? This is a 15, and therefore we would advise exercising caution before whacking this on in front of your 6-year-olds - the Headless Horseman is PRETTY scary.

This film is one of the biggest confusions of genre EVER. Is it a Halloween film? Or is it a Christmas film? Or a Christmas-crossed-with-Halloween film?!It's got romance, drama, a couple of scary moments and a happy ending. What more could you ask for from a Christmas-crossed-with-Halloween film?

A boy receives a small creature as a Christmas present called a mogwai. It seems cute at first, but there are three rules you MUST adhere to when looking after a mogwai: you cannot expose the mogwai to bright lights or sunlight as this will kill it, do not let it get wet and never feed it after midnight...

There are adult-friendly children's films, and then there are children-friendly films for grown-ups. This is the latter. If your kids are very young and still going through their Disney phase (ok, we're still in ours but still), this may not be appropriate for them. But if your kids are a little bit older, they will probably enjoy it! Michael Keaton features as the witty and hilarious eponymous Beetlejuice, with Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as Barbara and Adam Maitland - the two (dead) main characters...

The first three names on the billing for this film are: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg and Selena Gomez - so you're pretty much guaranteed to enjoy it. A human-free hotel for ghosties and ghoulies that's run by Count Dracula for monsters to escape the persecution of the general population is our central backdrop for this story. You're intrigued, aren't you. Dracula then has to prevent his daughter from falling in love with a human so that his guests don't freak out... Count us in!

Ok, so it's not strictly a "Halloween film", but Jumanji can be quite scary at times! Starring the late, great Robin Williams as main character Alan Parrish, who plays a mysterious board game and gets sucked into the actual board. But 26 years later, a young pair of siblings inadvertently release Alan from the Jumanji jungle, amongst other things...

Right - seriously though, there are no characters more intimidating and downright scary than The Horned King in The Black Cauldron. There just aren't. A boy called Taran goes on a quest to rescue his magical pig who can tell the future who was stolen under his care (tut tut Taran), and along the way makes friends with a princess, some fairies, Gurgi (sorry - we're still not quite sure what Gurgi actually is) and an old man called Fflewddur Fflam before then fighting an army of undead skeletons. Pretty scary stuff.

Gosh darnit, we just love Winona Ryder at the moment. We know she's always been amazing, of course, but after her portrayal of Joyce Byers on Netflix's Stranger Things, our love has certainly been brought back up to the surface, if not rekindled. Her character, Kim, falls in love with Edward Scissorhands, a man whose hands are... made of scissors. Can they ever be together?

What better film to start with than The Addams Family? Although the film is mainly about gruesome and scary characters, at it's heart it's about the importance of family. N'aww. Starring Raúl Juliá and Anjelica Huston as the two parents, Back To The Future's Christopher Lloyd as the lovable Uncle Fester, and Christina Ricci as Wednesday - the role which catapulted her into stardom as a child actor - this really isn't one to miss.

If you weren't devastated by David Bowie's death last year, you'll at least have (hopefully) been saddened. He starred in Labyrinth, directed by The Muppets' Jim Henson as Jareth, the Goblin King - basically, if you like The Muppets, you'll love this.

Frankenweenie is set completely in black and white about a young lad named Victor. He's bereft when his beloved dog, Sparky, is killed by a car, so he sets about bringing him back to life by harnessing the electricity from a lightning storm. AND it's got Winona Ryder in too. It'll get ya right in the feels.