Mystery Classics For Halloween That Won’t Give You Nightmares….maybe.

One thing that will make anyone over the age of 40 feel old is to search for anything “classic” online. What you’ll find are lists of things produced in the 80s and 90s. Not exactly what I had in mind when I recently did a search for “classic movies.” 

This time of year as the weather turns chilly, I snuggle down on the sofa and reach for my collection of Halloween and mystery favorites to pop into my outdated DVD or VHS players. Some are scary. More are funny or campy. Most are “classics” from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Some are so old they are in black and white. Some are seasonal sitcoms. Many can be found on YouTube or streaming services. Some I am still searching for. There’s little to no graphic violence. No lifelike blood, or gore. These are from the era when suspense was an art and movie makers knew how to strike fear using methods other than violent special effects. 

Halloween Classics:

1. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein,,,, and Dracula and the Wolf Man, and the Mummy… There are a whole collection of these old-time comedies. 
2. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken – A not so brave Don Knotts meets a haunted house and wins the girl too.
3. Them – experiments with atomic weapons cause ants to mutate into giant killers. A black and white classic.
4. Psycho – Who hasn’t heard of Norman Bates? The 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film adaptation of a novel by Robert Bloch was once considered the scariest of tales. It probably seems mild by today’s standards.
5. The Birds. 1953 from Alfred Hitchcock.
6. Murder on the Orient Express. 1974. Based on the Agatha Christie novel.
7. Sorry wrong Number. 1948. A woman overhears a plot to kill someone and realizes that she is the intended victim. Young people might not understand the “party line.”
8. House on Haunted Hill. 1959 classic starring Vincent Price.
9. The Thing From Another World – scientists discover an alien being frozen in arctic ice and accidentally cover it up with…an electric blanket? Frozen no more!
10. It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown – Everybody knows this one!
11. Garfield’s Halloween Adventure One of my “newer’ choices.
12.  Storm of the Century This sophisticated tale from the master Stephen King is best for teens and adults. Watching it during a winter snow storm makes it even scarier.
13. Disney’s The Mystery of Dracula’s Castle can be found on YouTube
14. Disney’s The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove can also be found on YouTube.
15. Disney’s The Cat From Outer Space. My grandson’s favorite that he made me watch every time he visited.
16. The Blob. Sci Fi. 1958. Alien being consumes everything in its path.
17. Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, A cartoon classic.
18. Young Frankenstein A 1974 star-filled comedy.
19. War of the Worlds This 1953 film based on a H.G. wells novel is widely regarded as one of the best Sci-Fi classics of all time.
20. Invasion of the Body Snatchers a 1956 classic. Alien pods from outer space replicate residents while they sleep.
21. Frankenstein. 1931. Boris Karloff as the monster.
22. Happy Days S2 E6 “Haunted” The gang has a party at the old Simpson house.
23. The Brady Bunch S4 E6 ” Fright Night “
24. MASH S11 E2 “Trick or Treatment”
25. The Dick Van Dyke Show – S2 E20 – “It May Look Like a Walnut”
26. The Dick Van Dyke show. S4 E2 “The Ghost of A. Chantz” Rob, Laura and friends spend the night in a haunted cabin.
27. The Andy Griffith Show S4 E2 “The Haunted House” Opie loses a baseball through the window of the town’s haunted house.
28. Leave it to Beaver. S2 E23 “The Haunted House” Beaver is hired to walk the dog of a witch.
29. Ozzie and Harriet, S1 E5 “The Halloween Party”
30.  Bewitched. S4 E8 “A Safe and Sane Halloween”
31. Bewitched. S2 E7. “Trick or Treat”
32. Bewitched. S6 E7. “To Trick or Treat or Not to Trick or Treat”
33. Frankenstein. 1931. Boris Karloff as the monster.