If the twelfth month is for the festive, the tenth is for the spooky. Flick to the back of a calendar and you’ll find a Christmas tree. Rest on October and the wide, jagged grin of a pumpkin will no doubt be staring back at you. Yep, it’s Halloween soon.

Following by example, it’s only right that we should be getting excited for October 31st. Get in the mood for fright night with these, our top Halloween movies.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

All spindle-legged animations and creeping, oddly addictive songs, Tim Burton’s 1994 masterpiece is a masterful blend of festive and frightening. If you’re caught in between when asked your preference for Christmas or Halloween, it’s a really rather perfect compromise.

The Shining

It’s impossible to live in the world and not be privy to the references that abound from this masterpiece. Adapted by Stanley Kubrick from the Stephen King novel of the same name, this nerve-shredding classic is all blood tidal waves, malevolent hotel ghosts and excruciating build-up.

Hocus Pocus

Disney’s take on the supernatural is – as you’d reasonably expect – not exactly macabre. It is, however, great fun, and features perhaps one of the most iconic trios in our dream costume lineup.

The Craft

This is pretty much just Mean Girls crossed with The Crucible. Revisit your adolescence (without any of the exams) when you join the cult with Sarah, Bonnie, Rochelle and Nancy.

The Babadook

Mom’s going crazy and she’s screaming at everyone once again, and I’m not talking about going home for Christmas. The Babadook is a brilliant manipulation of horror and one to leave you putting on every light in the house for safety reasons, obviously….

The Conjuring

If you like to be gripped and thrilled for an entirety of 2 hours, then The Conjuring is for you, with it’s eery and distraught direction this is definitely one to leave you alone in the room hiding underneath the blanket.

The Ring (Japanese Version)

This is truly one of the most terrifying films I’ve watched and it still remains a cult classic to this day. The Ring (Japanese Version) is not dulled-down like the western remake. If you want something you’ll really remember, let this be the one film you watch.

These are our top 7 recommendations on the run up to Halloween! Hopefully, you won’t get haunted by ghosts, taken over by demons or have trick or treaters on your door every 5 minutes.