Freeform’s “31 Nights of Halloween” Begins October 1

 by Beth Keating

News/Review

DisneyBizJournal.com

September 25, 2020

 

Fall has officially arrived, and in parts of the country, people have started donning sweatshirts and cozy sweaters (sorry, Floridians… the tables will turn in January, I have no doubt).

With Halloween just around the corner, the Freeform channel released the schedule for their annual “31 Nights of Halloween” series. (Freeform is owned by Disney…remember back when it was called “ABC Family”?)  And while the event is billed as the “nights” of Halloween, most of the “nights” begin by showing movies as early as 7 am on weekends, or as early as 11 am on some weekdays. 

 

Each day features a different lineup, but the movies are taken from a stable of 44 films in rotation, including a few that will be making their Freeform premieres. If you miss your favorite frightfest, fear not, because the odds are it will be around again in a few days. 

 

Among this year’s cinematic offerings are Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride; Casper (1995); The Goonies; Beetlejuice; The Simpsons: “Treehouse of Horror-thon”; Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins; Ghostbusters (1984); Ghostbusters II; The Craft; The Addams Family (1991); Addams Family Values; Boxtrolls; Matilda; Jumanji (1995); Goosebumps (2015); Warm Bodies; The Mummy (1999);The Mummy Returns; Twitches; Twitches Too; Halloweentown; Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge; Shrek; Scared Shrekless; Scream; Scream 2; Scream 3; Toy Story of TERROR!; Hotel Transylvania; Monsters, Inc.; Monsters, University; Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; Gremlins; and Sleepy Hollow (1999).

 

Freeform will also be premiering Hotel Transylvania 2 and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacationon Saturday, October 10; The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and The Scorpion King on Monday, October 12; and on Saturday, October 24, Ghostbusters (2016).

 

Of course, no scarefest would be complete without the cult status Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas or Hocus Pocus, which make a number of showings during the month.  With Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party on hiatus this year, it’s as close as you’ll be able to get to the Sanderson sisters, though you’ll still be able to see Jack and Sally in their own cavalcade at the Magic Kingdom.  And….wait for it… there is also the obligatory plug for the Disney Parks, which probably need all the help they can get this year anyway, with Decorating Disney: Halloween Magic, which shows up several times in the line-up.  

 

If you want to “plus-up” your screen time during the season, Freeform is also offering a series of free downloadable backgrounds for your video calls based on the “31 Nights” films, including The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, or The Addams Family.  You can get them here.

 

We won’t print the Spook-tacular schedule in its entirety here (you can go to Freeform for that), but you might be interested in the offerings for Halloween day (and night). Chances are, you won’t be out running “Amok, Amok, Amok” this year anyway… Socially distanced Trick-or-Treating is hard!

 

Saturday, October 31st
7:00 am – Twitches
9:00 am – Twitches Too
11:00 am – Halloweentown
1:00 pm – Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge
3:00 pm – Hocus Pocus
5:10 pm – The Addams Family (1991)
7:15 pm – Addams Family Values
9:20 pm – Hocus Pocus
11:30 pm – Ghostbusters (1984)

 

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Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.