Given the surfeit of commercially haunted real estate Halloween that’s come to occupy today’s pop culture landscape, you hardly need us to tell you there’ll be more spooky content available this month than any one person could watch in a whole year of Octobers. And yet, while everyone and their great aunt can expect to stumble on at least oneTim Burtonmarathon when flipping through Freeform’s annual31 Nights of Halloweenghouls-travaganza, we recognize that the recent explosion of streaming services, matched with necessity of keeping a whole family entertained night after night during the pandemic, means plenty of families will be on the lookout for a dedicated guide to all the best non-scary Halloween programming across the board.
To that end, we’ve both rounded up 22 of the most wholesomely spooky series, movies, and special events scheduled to premiere this month, and highlighted the titles we’re most excited to add to our queue. We’ve also included a quick explainer to the scope of the Halloween collections available on various apps, for anyone looking for more general guidance.
The real world is scary enough as it is; we hope you’ll join us in taking small breaks to celebrate the season in the gentlest ways possible.
Note:The titles below are listed in order of release date. Some have premiered as of publication, others are set to air later in the month. If you miss anything scheduled to air on various broadcast networks across the next few weekends, make sure to check the network’s associated streaming app — everything should be available to stream within a day of air.
The Worst Witch
Premiere date:January 2020 (Season 4)
Now in its fourth season, British-German magic academy seriesThe Worst Witchis such an obvious fit for this list that we’re happy to ignore the fact that its most recent season hit Netflix all the way back in January. Based on Jill Murphy’s long-running children’s series of the same name and featuring a large cast of charming young witches (well, actresses, but honestly, who knows?),The Worst Witchscratches the cozy British family drama itch that pops up for so many Americans when the leaves start to change color. If you’re looking for a new series to make a nightly habit of watching as a family,The Worst Witchis absolutely the place to start—with so many episodes on hand, it’s the best bingeing bet on our whole list.
Geared for:Tweens
Watch it on:Netflix
Julie and the Phantoms*
Premiere date:September 10
An absolute charmer of a debut series, Netflix’sJulie and the Phantomswears itsHigh School Musicalinfluences on its sparkly pop rocker sleeves. (HSMChoreographerKenny Ortega, unsurprisingly, is a lead part of its production team.) Starring newcomerMadison Reyesas a teen girl who, barely a year after her mom has passed away, discovers that she has the power to bring the ghosts of three teen rocker boys who died in the 90s far enough into the real world that they can all play music together,Julie and the Phantomsis pure tween catnip. The songs Julie and her boys sing are earwormy bops, the puppy-love romances that blossom between both Julie and Luke (Charlie Gillespie) and Alex (Owen Joyner) and Willie (Booboo Stewart) are gif-ably adorable, and theScooby-Doogoofiness of it all just ties the whole thing together. This is a ghost story, yes, but at the end of the day, it’s really just an excuse to watch cute kids with great chemistry rock the heck out.
Geared for:Tweens/Teens
Disney+ Hallowstream
Premiere date:All month
Between its access to the Disney animation vault, its deep bench of old school Disney Channel Original Series and Movies, and its hard-won ownership of the entireSimpsonscatalog, Disney+ has managed to build a more robust collection of spooky movies, shorts, and Halloween-themed episodes than any other streamer around. Billed asDisney+ Hallowstream, the collection includes everything fromFrankenweenieto theHalloweentown,TwitchesandZOMBIESfranchises toDoc McStuffins: “Boo-Hoo to You!”. It also, notably, includes all theSimpsons Treehouse of Horrorspecials, as well as a selection of Halloween-themed episodes fromAmerica’s Funniest Home Videos. A true smorgasbord of seasonal delights, ready to cater to whatever Halloweeny mood your family might be in. (And yes, just in case you were wondering, that does include Freeform’s favorite mainstay,Hocus Pocus. Brand synergy, baby!)
One final note: per the Disney+ press team, fans looking to make their seasonal streaming a bit more social can use #DisneyPlusHallowstream and follow Disney+ on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for live Q&As, watch parties, and exclusive content to engage in the conversation throughout the fall.
Geared for:All ages
Watch it on:Disney+
Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures, “The Mystery of Hot Dog Lake!/Phantom Wing”
Premiere date:October 2
In case you haven’t spent a lot of time watching Disney’s terrestrial programming these past few years, Mickey Mouse has been making a real comeback. In this year’s Halloween special, a mysterious cryptid makes an equally mysterious appearance, Daisy Duck convinces herself her GramQuacker is secretly a superhero, and legendary rocker Alice Cooper makes his triumphant return as the voice of Alistair Coop De Ville. Naturally!
Watch it on:Disney NOW
Vampires vs. the Bronx*
Premiere date:Friday, October 2
With aScream-y cameo fromZoe Saldaña, a major assist fromJoel “The Kid Mero” Martinez, and an uncanny sense of the exact kinds of fake hipster businesses best able to mock and attract would-be gentrifiers in equal measure, Netflix’s new teen vampire comedy,Vampires vs. the Bronx, is a perfect weekend watch for families with older teens. Written by Blaise Hemingway and Oz Rodriguez (the latter who also directed),Vampiresplays like the perfect cross betweenAttack the BlockandWhat We Do in the Shadows, following young Bronx teens Miguel (Jaden Michael), Bobby (Gerald W. Jones III) and Luis (Gregory Diaz IV) as they goof around in the neighborhood, hang with their buddy Tony (The Kid Mero) at his bodega, and fight off the murderous, pro-gentrification vampires who’ve landed on the Bronx as their new feeding ground. In a small-screen landscape alreadyawash with vampires, any new entry can feel like overkill, but between the sharpness of its humor and the confidence with which it builds Miguel’s neighborhood world,Vampires vs. the Bronxmore than earns its place.
Geared for:Older teens (death; cursing; discussions of gang violence)
DuckTales, “The Trickening!”
Premiere date:October 5
Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones’s reimaginedDuckTaleshas been a constant treat since it first launched on Disney XD back in 2017. (It now airs new episodes on Disney Channel proper.) With a line as iconic as “D-d-d-danger, watch behind you!” central to its infernally catchy theme song, it’s no surprise the animated series regularly deals in ghosts, ghouls, and mysterious curses. Still, its Halloween episodes manage to transcend, and this year’s outing, “The Trickening!”, which finds the kids taking on the most haunted house in Duckburg, is no different.
Geared for:Tweens/Teens/DuckTalesfans of all ages
Super Monsters: Dia de los Monsters*
Premiere date:October 9
A perennial favorite of the preschool set, Netflix’sSuper Monstersis another series that puts out a Halloween vibe year-round. Still, the series has never been shy to lean into its roots, releasing one Halloween special after another since it first premiered three years ago. If you haveSuper Monsterssuper fans in your house, we’re sure you’re already deeply aware ofSuper Monsters: Save Halloween(2018) andSuper Monsters: Vida’s First Halloween(2019), and probably just as deeply ready for a new special to add to the rotation. Cue (and queue up), then,Super Monsters: Dia de los Monsters, 2020’s entry in the spookySuper Monsterscanon. Featuring friendship, a flying magic burro, and the beauty of cultural and linguistic diversity, it’s a lovely little addition to spooky family film night.
Geared for:Little ones
The Loud House, “Ghosted!”
Nickelodeon’s—heck, all of television’s—favorite animated series,Chris Savino’s GLAAD Award-winning romp,The Loud House, might not be the right pick for big families looking for a bit of escapism, given its “middle child in a raucous family of 11” premise. For anyone with the bandwidth for a bit of chaos, though, it’s newest seasonal episode, “Ghosted!”, will be as fun a watch as any of the series’ previous Halloween outings have been. It’s got ghosts; it’s got golf—what more could you ask for? A bespoke spooky season vlog??? Well, joke’s on you: the officialLoud House & CasagrandesYouTube channel’sgot you coveredeven there.
Watch it on:Nickelodeon, 7pm ET (then streaming on the Nick app)
Officially spun off fromThe Loud Housein October of 2019,The Casagrandesfeatures the adventures of Ronnie-Anne Santiago (Izabella Alvarez) and her large, multi-generational Mexican-American family, which—as with Savino andThe Loud House—is loosely based on supervising directorMiguel Puga’s own. Central to Ronnie-Anne’s world is her family’s mercado, which gets a haunted makeover for this latest Halloween special, in which the kids set themselves up in a cemetery overnight in an attempt to break a local record. There is also (why not) a haunted chicken.
Watch it on:Nickelodeon, 7:30pm ET (then streaming on the Nick app)
Raven’s Home, “Don’t Trust the G in Apt 4B”*
Premiere date:Friday, October 9
Raven-Symonéhas long been one of the most gifted physical comedians on television, a fact which has held true since she andAnneliese van der Polreturned to theirThat’s So Ravenroots in 2017 for Disney Channel’s next-generation spin-off,Raven’s Home. As the series’ fourth Halloween special, “Don’t Trust the G in Apt 4B”, proves, that next generation—Issac Ryan Brown, Navia Ziraili Robinson, Jason MaybaumandSky Katz—is more than up to the challenge of meeting her legacy. (That it also gives the show’s writers a chance to nod to one of the saddest sitcom cancellations of recent memory? Total bonus.)
Geared for:Tweens/Young Teens
Watch it on:Disney Channel, 8pm ET (then streaming on the Disney NOW app)
