Every October, horror filmmakers and fans come together to celebrate the season, eagerly seeking out entertainment laced with blood, gore, violence, and terror in the lead-up to Halloween. If that’s your jam, you’ll find no shortage of cinematic frights to get your pulse racing, many of them released just this year. But not everyone enjoys being scared senseless. To those who still like to get into the spirit without the anxiety: we see you. And we’ve got you covered with this list of milder delights. While they’re still considered horror movies, or at least horror adjacent, watching them won’t feel like subjecting yourself to long-lasting psychological damage.
We’ve rated each of these recommendations by “fright factor” on a scale of one to five, an admittedly subjective measure based on how intense they get. A factor of one means even the most sensitive viewers should feel assured that they won’t encounter anything too terrifying, while a five indicates that the film contains material that may have you peeking through your fingers during some scenes. We’ve tried to include a range of options, from classics to recent favorites, so there should be something here for everyone to enjoy.
