As a child, one of my favorite fall memories was curling up on the couch and watching Halloween movies with my family. Whether we were carving pumpkins, and one was playing in the background, or while my brothers and I were sneaking more Pillsbury cookies. Here are a few of my favorite Halloween movies that bring back some of my best childhood memories.

Halloweentown Trilogy

This trilogy connects the mortal world to Halloweentown, a place filled with all the magic of Halloween year-round. One Halloween night Marnie, played by Kimberly J. Brown, follows her grandma, played by Debbie Reynolds, onto a bus which serves as the secret portal between the mortal world and Halloweentown. Although her mother tried to hide her past of being a witch and keep her children in the mortal world, when Marnie arrives at Halloweentown she convinces her grandma to train her. Although they quickly find out that witch training is harder than imagined, especially when evil forces try to destroy Halloweentown. Each movie follows Marnie through a new journey of her witch hood, whether she is fighting evil forces trying to shut down the portal between the worlds or is introducing Halloweentown students to the mortal world.

“Hocus Pocus”

Three witches left behind unfinished business in the seventeenth century, placing a curse on the town to return. Hundreds of years later, a new family moves to town with a teenage boy refusing to believe in the stories of Halloween. While visiting the Sanderson cottage, Max, played by Omri Katz, decides to test his luck and light the candle, proving that the curse was just a myth, but instead he conjures up the three witches. As Max, his classmate and younger sister spend their night trying to get rid of the witches before they suck the lives out of the children, increasing their stay in Salem.

“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”

Although this is one of the older movies on my list, Charlie Brown never goes out of style. This film follows the Peanuts comic characters as they prepare for trick-or-treating, costume parties or instead The Great Pumpkin. With characters enjoying the fall weather, playing tricks on each other, it constantly reminds me of how I would spend many of my fall weekends. As Halloween night approaches, many of the kids get ready to trick-or-treat, but Linus, voiced by Christopher Shea, and Sally, voiced by Cathy Steinberg, spend their night in the local pumpkin patch waiting for The Great Pumpkin to make its return. The night continues without a sign of seeing The Great Pumpkin, but then Linus sees it, something rising from the patch and faints before ever landing his eyes on it. Was it truly The Great Pumpkin or just someone playing a trick on him? Looks like Linus will be back at the patch next Halloween to see if The Great Pumpkin will make another appearance.

“Twitches”

I have concluded that a classic Disney Channel movie can never be the wrong move, which is why this film has become a Halloween must-watch every year. Taking place within a magical world, a royal witch gives birth to twin girls Artemis, Tia Mowry, and Apolla, Tamera Mowry, were separated at birth and sent to Earth for their own protection. The twins live completely different lives, but one day they run into each other, causing a magical burst of energy between them. From that point on they refer to themselves as ‘Twitches,” a combination of twin and witches who work together to destroy the Darkness and bring light and love back to their magical world.

This story was written by Lauren Puthoff. She can be reached at [email protected].