The 10 Highest-Grossing Halloween Movies Of All Time, Ranked By Box Office Mojo

Halloween is one of the most exciting times of the year when it comes to movie watching, as there are so many classics tied to the season. However, movies that are the most popular at this time of year, such as Hocus Pocus, weren’t always huge successes. Many of the most beloved Halloween movies today have become cult classics, as they were once box office bombs, whereas some of the highest-grossing movies upon release are a little less popular now.

Not all horror movies are Halloween-related, but it’s fascinating that so few Halloween movies are actually horror-centric. Between stop-motion musicals, black comedies, and fantasy movies about 1800s legends, the highest-grossing Halloween movies are an eclectic list of creative narratives and genres. But what are the biggest Halloween hits of all time, according to Box Office Mojo?

10 The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) – $91 Million

Christmas might be in the title of the movie, but Nightmare Before Christmas is the ultimate fall film. Halloween runs through every frame of the movie, and it had an October release back in 1993 to run alongside the spooky holiday. It’s full of Halloween spirit with skeletons and graveyards, and it even takes place in the fictional Halloween Town.

As The Nightmare Before Christmas is a musical too, the tone of the music captures the spirit of Halloween with its gothic cabaret. The movie marks the first time Tim Burton experimented with stop motion too, and he continued the trend with two more movies that are just as Halloweeny.

9 ParaNorman (2012) – $107 Million

ParaNorman often goes overlooked when it comes to animated spooky movies. It’s one of the best claymation movies of all time, and its music is better than even live-action movies. The score is composed by super composer Jon Brion, and even the music from Halloween appears too.

The film wasn’t released around Halloween and it isn’t overtly based around the holiday, but there are enough references in ParaNorman for it to warrant being called a Halloween movie. However, if it was released in October, it may have made more at the box office, as $107 million is way less than the film deserves.

8 Corpse Bride (2005) – $118 Million

Corpse Bride is the most wholesome Halloween movie there is, and it’s even sweeter than The Nightmare Before Christmas. There isn’t much in terms of scares, but the movie is instead a fantasy movie that takes place in a world where dog skeletons and haunted trees exist.

The movie is a spiritual successor to The Nightmare Before Christmas and it doubles down on the jangly, haunting tunes of Danny Elfman, with music being its biggest selling point. The movie earned more at the box office than its predecessor by $27 million, but taking inflation into account, Corpse Bride could still have done better.

7 Monster House (2006) – $141 Million

What’s interesting about most popular Halloween-related movies is that they don’t often take place during Halloween, but Monster House is the first to do so. The film is about a sentient house terrorizing a neighborhood during the holiday, and it makes for a great animated horror film.

It’s no surprise that the movie was a critical success, as the screenplay was written by comedic genius Dan Harmon, who is the brain behind Community and Rick & Morty. The humor in the film is a mix of those two shows, as Monster House has the creativity and innocence of Community, and it has the fantastical elements of Rick & Morty.

6 Goosebumps (2015) – $158 Million

There are few other franchises so tied to Halloween than Goosebumps. Starting with a series of popular children’s books, and then as a hugely entertaining 90s TV series, Goosebumps finally arrived on the big screen in 2015. The October release was perfect for this movie, and it helped the film gross over $150 million.

And the film is filled with fan-favorite monsters from the books, including Slappy the Dummy and the Abominable Snowman. There’s even a sequel that takes place on the evening of Halloween, but it wasn’t anywhere near as successful as the first movie.

5 The Addams Family (1991) – $191 Million

It’s no surprise that Tim Burton almost directed The Addams Family, as director Barry Sonnenfeld perfectly emulated the auteur’s style for the 1991 movie. Just as Burton loves Halloween, the adaptation of the classic TV show is perfect for October 31st viewing.

Not only does the movie follow a strange family with supernatural abilities, and not only does it perfectly conclude with a scene that takes place on Halloween, but it’s being re-released in theaters this October too. The film was a huge success, as it went on to make more than six times its budget at the worldwide box office, and it’s only going to make more with the rerelease.

4 Sleepy Hollow (1999) – $206 Million

Yet another movie directed by Tim Burton, the movie has all the typical trademarks that can be found in any of his work, only Sleepy Hollow doubles down on the creepy fall vibes. The movie is full of strange occurrences in a spooky town, and what’s more Halloween than a headless horseman?

What’s strange is that the initial theatrical release of Sleepy Hollow was two weeks after Halloween, but the release schedule worked nonetheless. The movie made just over $200 million, which was Johnny Depp’s highest-grossing movie up to that point.

3 Halloween (2018) – $255 Million

Obviously named after the holiday, Halloween is one of the highest-grossing movies centered wholly around the season. However, if it wasn’t for the 2018 reboot, the franchise wouldn’t have come anywhere close. The series, though it has been profitable, has had extremely low box office numbers for the past 42 years.

Considering how low-grossing most of the movies are, it’s surprising just how firmly lodged in the zeitgeist and a part of pop culture that Halloween and its iconic villain Jason are. However, 2018’s reboot is the best Halloween movie according to IMDb since Halloween II in 1981, and the return of Jamie Lee Curtis helped it become the most successful movie in the 12 film series.

2 Scary Movie (2000) – $278 Million

Scary Movie is the best movie to watch for fans of the season who can’t actually stomach horror flicks, as the film parodies all of the tropes found in the genre. Not only that, but the film makes fun of several horror movies all connected to the spooky season, including Halloween, in a major way.

The film sparked a whole successful franchise, but it became more disconnected from Halloween with each consecutive release, as the main parody source material of Scary Movie 3 is the drama 8 Mile. Nevertheless, every movie has been a huge financial success, but none of them have beaten the original.

1 Casper (1995) – $298 Million

Though it was released in May 1995, Casper became the highest-grossing Halloween-themed movie ever. The movie focuses on events leading up to a huge Halloween party, and what better way to plan a Halloween party than with a ghost? Not only that, but it was a huge technical achievement at the time too.

Everybody knows that Casper’s a friendly ghost, but though it’s the most financially successful Halloween-related movie ever, the film surprisingly isn’t typically in heavy rotation on TV during the season.