Halloween movies based on books you've read together with your family are a great way to celebrate the season. These not too scary Halloween movies are perfect for kids ages 8 and up.
We love to celebrate holidays with a family movie night but Halloween can be especially tricky to find just the right movie to enjoy with kids who don't like things too scary.
These Halloween movies based on books that I took the time to read with my kids before watching the movie are a great way to prep them for the plot and make sure they are comfortable with the material before you watch.
It also makes for a lively discussion on which one was better: the movie or the book?
For this list of Halloween movies, I definitely have kids age 8 and up in mind. The perfect age for read-aloud time!
Looking for Halloween books to read or tasty Halloween snacks for the movie night?
There are plenty of cute cartoony Halloween movies for the littlest ones, but finding something a little more thrilling but not full blown horror is a lot harder for the bigger kids and tweens in your life.
These movies have varying degrees of scary but are still meant for kids.
What scares every kid is a little different, so be sure to do a double check on CommonSenseMedia.org for your own peace of mind.
Halloween Movies Based on Books
This might be my favorite book/movie combo on this whole list.
I'm an enormous fan of Roald Dahl. The Witches is one of my favorite books.
The movie has a few intense moments but the witches are deliciously scary.
We'll be watching this movie this year and I can't wait.
If you want, you can read the book first.
Obviously. This wasn't too much of a stretch.
You can never go wrong with everyone's favorite boy wizard.
Little Pea hasn't finished the first book yet, so we are still holding off on the movie for her.
Wondering if your kid is ready? My thoughts on when to read Harry Potter to kids here.
My girls both think this movie is quite a bit intense on the creepy scale, but the animation of it is amazing.
I had no idea that it is based on a book, too.
I think we have to do this movie/book combo in reverse. We've already seen the movie but I'd love to check out the book.
We stumbled upon this movie on Amazon a few weeks ago and I had forgotten how enjoyable it is.
(It comes as part of the Starz subscription if you're an Outlander fan!)
My girls were riveted and the movie is still a ton of fun for the adults. They were definitely inspired to look up the book, it's actually a trilogy.
On the surface of it this doesn't seem like a "Halloween" movie, but A Wrinkle in Time is perfect for the season.
It opens with the famous line: "It was a dark and stormy night. . . " and features a trio of witches and plenty of magic.
Bonus points: It was one of my most favorite books when I was in 4th grade and my girls loved listening to it before the movie came out this year.
If you haven't read it with your kids yet, we highly recommend it.
Get the book here.
Ok, this isn't really a "movie" but it would still make for a phenomenal family movie party.
Have you seen the series on Netflix with Neil Patrick Harris?? OMG, it is sooooo well done.
The girls and I listened to the fantastic audio version of book 1 this summer and they were tickled pink with the Netflix show after.
They are faithfully making each of the books into the show, so this is a great series for your family, Halloween or not.
This super cute series is a Netflix Original.
The girls and I have really enjoyed the show and I was happy to discover it is based on a series of books.
The book may be a better choice for independent reading for your kids, but the storyline is totally fun for those who enjoy Harry Potter but would like to see more girl characters.
I asked friends over on Instagram about their favorite Halloween movies to watch with kids and a reader suggested Goosebumps with Jack Black as her family's favorite.
I loved this series of books as a kid, so this is a natural fit for the list!
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