21 Scary Things to Watch Without Losing Your Soul

When it comes to Halloween, it can be a tricky thing finding entertainment to recommend to Christian families. Some embrace every facet of the holiday while others avoid it like the plague. Whether we want to admit it or not, many of us enjoy a good thrill every now and then whether it come from a roller coaster in a theme park or the big screen at the local multi-plex. With that said, we should all take stock in what we consume visually. Not every film or TV show is harmless, but just because one may feature a monster or two, doesn’t mean that it’s evil either. (What would Sesame Street do without Cookie Monster?)

So, with that in mind, here are some suggestions for you and your family to take with or without a grain of salt. And as always, be open to talking to your kids about such things.

Kid Favorite TV Specials

You can count on ABC and ABC Family to provide a variety of specials before the month is over. Check your local listings for dates and times.

Though it first aired in 1966, the Peanuts special, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, is timeless affair. It is one of the best of all of the Peanuts specials as it features the most original concept. Blanket-toting Linus is usually the smart one of the bunch, but somewhere down the line, he became convinced in the Great Pumpkin, a creature that gives toys and candy to good little children all around the world. According to Linus, the Great One only visits the most sincere pumpkin Patches.

In 2013, Disney/Pixar produced the half special, Toy Story of Terror features many of the original characters from the Toy Story films. Woody, Buzz and a bunch of others traveling with their new owner, Bonnie, find themselves at a mysterious roadside motel. Set up like an old time thriller, the toys start to vanish one by one. Fans of the series should not miss it.

Binge-Watching Comedies

Two great shows from the past make for great “safe” Halloween Fare for the family. Both are available on DVD.

Both The Munsters and The Addams Family began airing on TV in 1964 as direct competitors of each other. Though color was now common for television shows, both were produced in black and white. Both were family sitcoms with two drastically different premises. The Munsters centered on a small family living in a big spooky house on Mockingbird Lane. The family resembled Universal famous monsters Frankenstein (Herman), Dracula (Grandpa and Lily) and the Wolfman (Eddie). One on-going joke was the unattractive Marilyn, Lilly’s niece, who was actually a knock out. The family never understood why they were so much different than their neighbors.

The Adams Family was based on the single panel comics from in The New Yorker by Charles Addams. The show was more macabre in nature and the family members were very odd, but less “monstrous.” This family was wealthy, Gomez truly loved his wife and was always aroused by her. Morticia was frequently scene cutting the tops of roses off their stems. The servants of the household included 7-foot-tall Lurch and the disembodied hand named Thing. The Addams had two children, Wednesday and Pugsley who delighted in torturing each other.

Creature Features

For some, the best scary movie is one that is full of creatures creating havoc and but spares the blood considerably.

The four Jurassic Park movies are films that will make you jump, but are not nightmare-inducing. Some consider this year’s Jurassic World the best in the series and if you haven’t seen any of them, you could easily skip the second and third films. Essentially, the films tells what happens when an arrogant dinosaur loving man creates a theme park with real dinosaurs. What could go wrong?

2014’s Godzilla isn’t a great film, but it is entertaining enough for home viewing. However, it is a must see for anyone who is a fan of the film’s long franchise history. In some ways it is similar to Jurassic Park, but it stays true to its Japanese history of the films.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the 2005 version of King Kong has been rated highly by those critics and fans alike, but the more popular big ape movie is still the 1933 version.

Finally, the special effects seen in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film, The Birds, are a lot less polished than today’s current hits with super CGI. But the film is still unnerving and can still surprise viewers with a few shocking moments of birds gone bad.

Faith-Based Horror

Believe it or not, there have been a couple of faith-based horror flicks made that briefly saw life in the theaters before landing on the shelves of video stores, Netflix and OnDemand.

Not to be confused with the 1986 horror comedy of the same name, this House, filmed in 2008, was based on the novel of the same name written by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti. Stylistically, the film looks great, but the writing isn’t the best, but fans of true horror may enjoy seeing a Christian take on the genre. The plot involves two couples trapped in a mystery house by the mysterious “Tin Man” who gives them the “house rules” that include one of them to kill one of the others.

In 2014, Chris Dowling co-created the next big rapture movie, The Remaining that is a lot edgier than other similar films. “It has everything people love about horror films but with some meat,” the writer told me in an interview last year. “Most horror films, you walk out of the theater and completely forget about. You and your buddies are already talking about if you want to grab coffee or how late Buffalo Wild Wings is open by the time you hit the parking lot. The Remaining is not that movie. It stays with you. It’s a conversation starter. You don’t just walk away from it.” The film is a “lost footage” film that follows a group of friends who try to make sense of all of the strange world events happening at the same time. If provides a few shocks, surprises and a grim ending.

Cheesy Favorites

Before the new Ghostbusters movie comes out next year, fans may want to revisit the 1984 original about a small group of slightly inept ghost specialists who can running with callers complain of ghost infestations. The film has a lot of laughs, but some believers will feel uncomfortable near the end of the film where it appears that some characters become possessed by the devil.

The 1986 film, The Little Shop of Horrors is one funny and odd musical with very dark humor. Based on the Broadway show, it is hard to believe that the music was written by the same team who wrote the music for The Little Mermaid. The story is also a fantastic allegory about what can happen when someone tries to play God with their life instead of relying on God to change their circumstances. Seymour finds a most unusual plant with an most unusual eating habit that propels the would-be green thumb into stardom – for a price. (Note: This film will appeal to young children, but it will scare the socks off of them, so save it for later when they are asleep in bed!)

What’s the worse film of all time? Some same it is Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer-Space. Created in 1959 on a shoe-string budget, old vintage film footage and virtually no plot, Plan 9 has become a favorite bad movie for groups to show at their parties. It is hard a film to explain even after watching it, but it is so bad, it is good.