To me, there’s a difference between horror movies and Halloween movies. For every Nightmare on Elm Street, Jeepers Creepers, and Hereditary there’s The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus, and Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost. Typically, the line is drawn short of an R rating, but while keeping the spirit of the season.

Halloween is ultimately a family holiday, so many parents seek out spooky, but not scary, entertainment they can enjoy with their kids. Now we know which family Halloween movie is the most popular in New York, and it’s not one that I’d typically expect.

The Dish On Family Halloween Movies

A three generation family sitting down to watch TV.
They're NOT about to watch The Shining. Photo: Canva
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Dish scared up a list of the most frequently Google searched G and PG movies around Halloween and came up with a Top 12 list for the country. The most popular family Halloween movies include:

  • Scooby-Doo
  • Coraline
  • Ghostbusters
  • Beetlejuice
  • ET (which features Halloween as a major plot point)
  • Hocus Pocus
  • The Addams Family
  • Coco
  • Halloweentown
  • Hotel Transylvania
  • Gremlins (which is actually a Christmas movie, but we’ll let it slide)
  • The Witches

What's the Most Searched Family Halloween Movie in New York?

Here in New York, Coraline is the most Googled family Halloween movie, though maybe show this one to young kids at your discretion. I know a lot of people who watched Coraline when they were little and got freaked out. To be honest, I hadn’t seen Coraline until college and it still had its freaky moments.

A map of the most searched family Halloween movies by state for 2022
Dish
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Coraline is huge out west; the movie also topped the list in California, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and Arizona. Oregon was the lone holdout because Halloweentown was filmed there. Coraline was also number one in Kentucky, Illinois, New Jersey, and Georgia.

Scooby-Doo took top honors with 12 states wanting to watch Mystery Inc.’s greatest adventures.

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