WELL into the month of October, Halloween is almost around the corner. This day of tricks, treats and spooks is one of the biggest highlights of every year. Children walk around dressed in their favorite costumes while knocking on doors and asking for candy. Adults stay home and fancy a scary movie or two—even a downright marathon. As for the kids (and adults) who find themselves wanting to partake in the annual tradition of getting creeped-out without too much of the spine-chilling scenes and screams, ‘Zup has prepped a little list of not-so-scary Halloween-appropriate movies to watch this Autumn season.
1. Coraline (2009)
A girl named Coraline moves to a new town in a house with eccentric neighbors. Her parents get too busy to spend time with her, and her only companion ends up being some kid named Wybie she thinks talks too much. After finding a strange doll that looked like her, she stumbled on a secret door that led her to an alternate reality where her neighbors were cool, Wybie was mute and her “other mother” promised to give her everything her real mother can’t. The only thing about this world is that everyone has buttons for eyes. But that doesn’t have to mean anything, right?
2. ParaNorman (2012)
Just like Coraline, ParaNorman is another stop-motion movie—which makes it even eerier. This movie is the story of a boy named Norman who has the ability to speak with the dead, including his deceased grandmother and a bunch of dead townsfolk. No living person believes him though, which makes Norman an outcast. In spite of it all, will this outcast use his ability to save the town from a ghostly curse?
3. Monster House (2006)
While D.J. Walters’ parents are away, he spies on his neighbor—old Mr. Nebbercracker—who scares kids away from his house and takes the things that land in his front lawn. But the crabby Mr. Nebbercracker isn’t the only scary thing to do with that house. We usually hear stories of monsters that live in houses, but what happens when the monster is the house itself?
4. Corpse Bride (2005)
This Tim Burton classic is a stop-motion movie about a man named Victor who accidentally marries the corpse of a dead woman named Emily by practicing his vows and putting the ring on what he thought was a tree root (but actually ended up being her finger). Victor then has to travel to the Land of the Dead to set things right so he can marry his real betrothed, Victoria. Does he though? Or is the story of Emily just too lonely a tale for Victor to find the heart to leave her behind?
5. Frankenweenie (2012)
Tim Burton, the father of all things creepy-yet-comical, produced this movie—which pays homage to the story of “Frankenstein”. In this movie, Victor Frankenstein is a young scientist who doesn’t really care for any of his peers due to a close relationship with his dog and best friend, Sparky. When Sparky is killed in an accident, Victor then turns to science to try and revive him.