With Halloween tomorrow, it's the peak of the spooky season, and if your house is anything like mine, the kids are delighting in planning what they're going to "be" for trick-or-treating, anticipating the loads of candy they'll score ... and enjoying getting scared silly.

Of course, if your kids are young, you'll probably watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," and maybe the new "Monsters vs. Aliens" Halloween special, as well as themed episodes of the kiddies' favorite shows. "Yo Gabba Gabba" is a current fave in our house. But if your brood's in the tween-to-teen range, those viewing options may be too tame. If you're looking for scary movies that you and your older children can watch together -- scary enough but not too scary -- we've got the picks for you.


1. "Mad Monster Party" (1967)
OK, this one might not qualify as scary, but it's a classic -- it's like 'Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer' for Halloween. It was made by the 'Rudolph' team, Rankin/Bass, and features the same cute claymation look as 'Rudolph,' and with Boris Karloff as the voice of Baron Boris von Frankenstein, there's even a connection to 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' (Karloff narrates 'Grinch'). So, this one is really a great way to spend Halloween night.


2. "Monster House" (2006)
This CGI-animated haunted-house story is deceptive: It looks kid-friendly, but it delivers the thrills. 'Monster' was exec-produced by Robert Zemeckis (who was behind the smash grown-up thriller 'What Lies Beneath') and proved to be too frightening for the littlest tykes, which makes it a perfect pick to enjoy at home with your older kids, 10 and up.




3. "The Frighteners" (1996)
This early Peter Jackson-directed movie (produced by Robert Zemeckis -- we're beginning to see a pattern here) stars Michael J. Fox as a fake ghostbuster who inadvertently comes across a real haunted house. Some of the effects are a little cheesy, all the better to entertain the youngsters, while others are truly frightening. I watched it with my kids a few years ago, and was surprised at how spooky it was ... and not bad for a movie that was panned when it was originally released.


4. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)
Tim Burton has a way with the creepy and the kooky, and here he combines our two favorite holidays, Halloween and Christmas, for an eccentric little flick that's become a holiday classic for two seasons. Watch it now, for Halloween, or save it to use as a bracing tonic from the syrupy Christmas fare later in the year. Jack Skellington doesn't disappoint.




5. "Corpse Bride" (2005)
If you want to save 'Nightmare Before Christmas' for later, Burton's got this nifty little animated thriller to share with your kids instead for Halloween. Johnny Depp's Victor Van Dort is a milquetoast of a man who accidentally brings a dead bride back to life when he practices his wedding vows in the cemetery. The bride, voiced by Burton's wife Helena Bonham Carter, believes that this makes her his wife. Whoops.

Watch the "Corpse Bride" trailer & clips


6. "Fright Night" (1985)
This horror movie is such a treat to watch with tweens and teens; it is truly scary and suspenseful, and the fact that a high-school student is the big hero makes it relatable for the younger set. Roddy McDowell is a scream as a TV vampire slayer who's a scaredy-cat in real life, and Chris Sarandon is smooth and seductive as the vampire next door. Don't be shocked if your kids become big scary-movie fans after a family-flick night with this one.

Angie Argabrite, our guest movie reporter, is the features editor for our sister sites, Moviefone and AOL Television.