As the season of carving pumpkins and baking Pillsbury Halloween cookies comes to an end, there’s not much time to watch all of the Halloween movies we love. Choosing between the iconic Disney Channel Originals that defined our childhoods or a new Stephen King horror movie can be difficult, so here are some Ward Melville student favorites to help in your decision. 

Starting off with one of the best Disney Channel Originals, junior Thea Atwa chose Hocus Pocus as her favorite. Atwa said, “it’s comical, not too scary, and there’s some history behind it.” The plot is perfectly Halloween, with witches, curses, kids fighting evil, and a talking cat. It’s one of the scarier Disney movies, but still light-hearted and funny. 

Junior Sara Bonventre also chose a Disney Channel Original, “Halloweentown, because it transports me back into the fictional world I wished I lived in when I was little”. Halloweentown is an excellent choice for anyone who wants to binge a series. 

Claire Becchina and Olivia Becchina also picked a fan-favorite Disney Channel Original, Twitches. Claire said, “probably Twitches, because it’s one of the first ones I watched, and I’m a twin so it’s always exciting.” 

Not a Disney Channel Original, but still from Disney, The Nightmare Before Christmas was junior Ari Zucker’s choice. “The songs are fire and all the characters are cool, creative creatures”. Tim Burton films are always a good option for a spooky watch and of course, “This is Halloween” must be listened to at least once before every Halloween. 

Moving toward legitimately scary movies, Holly Hessner says her favorite Halloween-time movie is “It”. “The graphics and acting are really good. The plot is great, it’s not just some dumb horror movie that’s goal is to mess with people. It has substance.” We’d have to agree with Holly. If you’re one who enjoys the horror genre, “It” is not just a creepy clown fiasco; the characters go through serious development as they are forced to face their deep, traumatic fears. 

We hope your Ward Melville peers gave you some good advice for your next Halloween watch. Our recommendation, although not movies, are the Halloween specials of “Suite Life of Zack and Cody”, “Ghost of 613” (season 1, episode 19), and “Wizards of Waverly Place”, “Halloween” (season 3, episode 2), which can both be watched through Disney+. We hope you had a safe and happy Halloween!