The spookiest month of the year is nearly upon us. That’s right, just 42 days until Halloween. With this comes all the tricks, treats, and costumes that (nearly) everyone I know has come to love. My family typically celebrates by watching movies that are centered around the holiday or will give us a little scare. Some of our favorites are “Monster House,” “Ghostbusters,” “Hocus Pocus,” and “The Shining.”

As I have grown older, I have become more fond of “The Shining” because my knowledge has expanded as well as my appreciation for Stephen King books.

Though this movie is a little bit older (1980), it will be sure to give you just the right amount of scares in this haunted hotel setting. This movie is about a family who heads to an isolated hotel to tend to it during the winter months when it will not be accessible to the general public. It is quickly evident that there is an evil spiritual presence influencing the father to violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

This movie is definitely for a more mature audience, but is sure to be just spooky enough to get you to watch it again and again.

“Hocus Pocus” may be one that you can watch with the entire family. It has been one of my favorite Halloween movies for a long time. “Hocus Pocus” is centered around three witch sisters who are resurrected in Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween night after three centuries. This is a movie that I would say is truly timeless.

“Ghostbusters” (the 1984 version) is also a family friendly movie, however the older you are, you will understand more about the references that the actors make in the film.

This movie is about three former parapsychology professors who set up shop as a unique ghost removal service and get highly ridiculed for it until the public is in dire need to get rid of the ghosts and spirits they are being tormented by.

“Monster House” is the newest of the four movies I mentioned, with a release date of July 2016. This is an animated movie that quite literally used to scare the sh*t out of me when I was younger.

It is about three teens who discover that their neighbor’s house is actually a living, breathing, scary monster. This movie was relatable for me because in every neighborhood I’ve been to, there is a house that people (especially children) avoid because it looks spooky or is too scary to go by.

All of these movies are a great way to really get into the mood for the Halloween season and are sure to get any family member ready to be scared and to get spooky.