Every year Halloween brings around new creepy television shows, scary movies and eerie music. But there are some classics that come to mind every Halloween no matter how old they are that bring on the full-blown nostalgia.
1. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”: This “Thriller” album, released in November 1982 along with the iconic video, still holds the title of being the best-selling album of all time.
The music video involved a group of zombies with incredible rhythm dancing with Jackson, who had also become a zombie, in an iconic number that most people are still able to break out doing if they hear this song come on.
The creepy music video plays out like a movie, lasting approximately 13 minutes with narration from the late Vincent Price, and raised the platform for music videos.
It was MTV’s first video world premiere and was voted the most influential pop music video of all time.
2. The Addams Family: “They’re creepy and they’re cooky, mysterious and spooky. They’re all together ooky, the Addams Family!” The Addams Family consisting of Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsly, Uncle Fester, Cousin It, Mama and Lester was originally a cartoon family created by the late Charles Addams for The New Yorker in 1938.
Since then, the Addams Family has become both a cartoon and live television show, as well as movies, video games and even a Broadway musical.
Many people across the country know exactly when to snap their fingers when they hear the catchy theme song. The weird and spooky lifestyle of the Addams Family makes others fear them and they seem to be just fine with that.
3. Michael Myers: The “Halloween” movie series with Michael Myers is a classic Halloween horror originally premiered in 1978 and was directed by John Carpenter.
In this disturbing story, the young boy Michael Myers murders his teenage sister and returns years later to murder more teenagers. The original movie has five sequels to it as well as a couple more Michael Myers movies and some remakes, with the most recent one in 2009.
4. The Goosebumps: This series is also a good way to get in the Halloween spirit and relive some childhood memories if you were a fan. This collection of children’s horror stories was created by R. L. Stein and is one of the best-selling book series of all time, with 300 million sales.
There was even a television show based off of the books which aired from 1995-1998 and is currently available on DVD.
5. Hocus Pocus: Originally released in 1993, this classic just celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. Directed by Kenny Ortega, this family fantasy/horror/comedy is about three witches who come back from the dead on Halloween night.
The movie stars the legendary Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker in her pre-“Sex In The City” days.
The film follows a teenager, Max (Omri Katz), his sister Dani (Thora Birch) and high school crush Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and a talking cat as they work together to send the witches back to where they came from. This cult movie can be a little creepy, but will make you laugh too.
6. Ghostbusters: The song “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. topped the Hot 100 in 1984, making everyone aware of whom they were going to call. The song accompanied the 1984 movie Ghostbusters, which was a supernatural comedy directed by Ivan Reitman.
This movie, starring “Saturday Night Live” veterans Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and actor Harold Ramis, is about a team of eccentric parapsychologists who literally exterminates ghosts for a living.
7. Edward Scissorhands: The 1990 Tim Burton film stars Johnny Depp as an artificial, unfinished creation who has scissors for hands and falls in love with a young girl named Kim, played by Winona Ryder.
Many of Tim Burton’s films would make an appropriate choice around Halloween time, but this classic love story definitely sets a dark tone while still being quite a tearjerker.
It also has supporting roles from Dianne West, Anthony Michael Hall and Vincent Price in his final theatrical performance.
8. It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: This pick came out in 1966 as a children’s cartoon special based off of the Peanuts comic strip by the late Charles M. Schulz.
Most people in America today are probably familiar with Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang. This program was nominated for an Emmy Award and has brought pure joy for generations.
9. Frankenstein: The 1818 novel by Mary Shelley is a classic that would be great to visit or revisit at Halloween time. The story of a big scary man created by a scientist from body parts and electricity is a little strange, but it is also a widely recognized work of literature.
It was turned into a monster horror film by the same name directed by James Whale in 1931 that starred Colin Clive and Mae Clarke and featuring Boris Karloff as the monster. Other adaptions of the film were created after the original as well.
10. The Nightmare Before Christmas: Here is another incredible Tim Burton production that’s also celebrating its 20th anniversary. It is an animated film from 1993 and is about the character of Jack Skellington from Halloween Town, who comes across a portal to Christmas Town and then tries to bring the idea of Christmas into Halloween Town.
This dark and strange animation is another good movie for the whole family.
What are your top 10 favorite Halloween songs or movies? Share your favorites in the comments below.
