Halloween night. Lights down. Snacks ready. Phone on Do Not Disturb.
Now comes the hardest part: what are we watching?
Whether you want something genuinely terrifying, a classic slasher, a little nostalgia, or just enough Halloween energy to count, we’ve put together the ultimate Halloween movie marathon guide.
Pick a category, grab your favorite snacks, get comfortable, and settle in.
Sometimes you just can't beat the classics.
Start here if your ideal Halloween includes masked killers, creepy music, old-school practical effects, and movies you've probably already seen more times than you can count.
Halloween (1978)
You can't really make a Halloween movie list without Michael Myers. It's atmospheric, simple, creepy, and still one of the best movies to kick off October 31.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Freddy Krueger brings a completely different kind of horror to the lineup. It's weird, imaginative, and unmistakably '80s.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Camp Crystal Lake. A group of counselors. Things go very badly. You know the deal.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
If you want to turn up the intensity, this is where you do it. Gritty, unsettling, and still effective decades later.
The Exorcist (1973)
Save this one for when it gets properly dark outside.
Halloween → A Nightmare on Elm Street → Friday the 13th → The Exorcist
Good luck sleeping.
Maybe you want Halloween vibes without checking behind the shower curtain afterward.
We get it.
Beetlejuice (1988)
Weird, funny, spooky, and one of those movies that just feels right in October.
The Addams Family (1991)
Gothic mansions, dark humor, and peak Halloween aesthetics.
Casper (1995)
Pure '90s Halloween nostalgia.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Witches, Salem, talking cats, and one of the most obvious Halloween-night choices of all time.
Casper → Hocus Pocus → The Addams Family → Beetlejuice
Costumes encouraged.
Okay. No cute witches.
If the goal is to spend the night genuinely uncomfortable, build your marathon around movies that bring a little more intensity.
The Conjuring (2013)
Haunted house horror done extremely well. Turn the lights off for this one.
Hereditary (2018)
Not exactly a relaxing watch. That's also the point.
The Ring (2002)
If you grew up in the early 2000s, you already know what that VHS tape did to an entire generation.
Sinister (2012)
Creepy imagery, unsettling home movies, and plenty of reasons to keep the lights on.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Sometimes not seeing what's out there is considerably worse than seeing it.
The Ring → The Conjuring → Sinister → Hereditary
Maybe don't watch this one alone.
There's a sweet spot between scary and entertaining where Halloween movie nights really shine.
Scream (1996)
Funny, clever, quotable, and still a legitimately great slasher.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Zombie apocalypse meets British comedy. An excellent palate cleanser after something genuinely scary.
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
The less you know before watching it, the better.
Zombieland (2009)
Zombies, comedy, road trips, and an extremely important set of survival rules.
Scream → Zombieland → Shaun of the Dead → The Cabin in the Woods
Probably our pick for the easiest crowd-pleasing marathon.
This category is for anyone who wants Halloween to feel like it did when they were a kid.
No nightmares required.
Halloweentown (1998)
If you know, you know.
Hocus Pocus (1993)
It belongs in multiple categories. We don't make the rules.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Technically Halloween. Technically Christmas. Perfectly acceptable from October through December.
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Yes, we're counting it.
Halloweentown → Hocus Pocus → Scooby-Doo → The Nightmare Before Christmas
Add an unreasonable amount of Halloween candy and you've got the full experience.
Want a theme within the theme?
Make it zombies.
Start with Night of the Living Dead (1968) to see where modern zombie movies really took shape.
Then move into 28 Days Later (2002), Dawn of the Dead (2004), and finish with Zombieland (2009) when you need something a little lighter.
Night of the Living Dead → 28 Days Later → Dawn of the Dead → Zombieland
That's a lot of zombies for one couch.
Arguably as important as the movies.
Popcorn is mandatory. Halloween candy should be within arm's reach. Pizza is strongly encouraged.
If you're watching with friends, have everyone bring their favorite Halloween candy and dump everything onto the table.
Then rank them.
This will inevitably become more controversial than whatever movie you're watching.
Can't commit to one category?
Pick one from each.
Start nostalgic while you're handing out candy. Move into something funny once it gets dark. Follow it with a classic horror movie. Then finish the night with the scariest thing on your list.
Our pick?
Hocus Pocus → Scream → Halloween → The Conjuring
That's a pretty solid October 31.
However you build your lineup, Halloween is really just an excuse to turn off the lights, eat too much candy, watch something creepy, and have a good time.
From all of us at Preston Herb Co., Happy Halloween. 🎃
Now turn off the lights and press play.
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