Not just for Halloween: 31 classic haunted house films

I find it tragic that many people are only interested in horror films at Halloween when these movies are delightful to watch all year.

So every October, I salute classic horror with my annual series of daily posts on X/Twitter under the hashtag #31daysofclassichorror. My hope is that the mention of a film might intrigue someone enough to check it out.

For the first time, I chose a theme this year: haunted house films. It was fun and I was surprised at how many of these films were horror comedies.

I’ve pulled them together here to create a quick look at my #31daysofclassichorror as they appeared daily through October 2023 on X/Twitter via @toniruberto. There are a few spots where I added cast members or a few extra words, otherwise they read as they originally appeared.

I hope you find something new to watch.

A living skeleton is among the terrors in “The Haunted Castle” by George Melies.

Day 1: “Le Manior du Diable/Haunted Castle” (1896)

Let’s start with what is considered the first horror film. In only 3 minutes, visionary director George Méliès set the standard for what we would see on screen for more than 100 years: Bats, demons, vampires and witches throughout the haunted castle.

Day 2: “Fall of the House of Usher” (1960)

Edgar Allan Poe via Vincent Price, Roger Corman and Richardson Matheson. Yes please.

Gloria Stewart and a mysterious hand in “The Old Dark House”

Day 3: “The Old Dark House” (1932)

A dark and stormy night, stranded travelers, a creepy old house and Boris Karloff as a mute servant. Director James Whale makes it feel like fun & games until a hand reaches out from behind the wall. The great cast also includes Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton, Gloria Stewart.

Day 4: “House of Darkness” (1948)

Laurence Harvey made his film debut as a pianist haunted by the ghost of someone close to him.

Day 5: “The Bat” (1959)

A mystery writer (a spunky Agnes Moorehead) spends time at a secluded mansion with hidden passageways, dead bodies and someone – or something – with claws skulking the premises. Vincent Price co-stars.

Day 6: “The Innocents” (1961)

Deborah Kerr is the new governess at a Victorian mansion who comes to believe the children are possessed. Creepy, atmospheric Gothic horror film based on “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James.

“The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,” starring Gene Tierney, left, and Rex Harrison is a ghost story that is gentle and loving.

Day 7 : “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” (1947)

If my house is going to be haunted, let it be by a handsome ghost like Captain Gregg (Rex Harrison) and let me be as lovely and graceful as Gene Tierney. A beautiful and eloquent ghost story about a widow and her little girl who move to a seaside house haunted by its former owner.

The creepy chauffeur (played by Anthony James) leaves a lasting impression in “Burnt Offerings.”

Day 8: “Burnt Offerings” (1976)

A family thinks it’s a good idea to rent a 19th-century mansion for the summer. Unfortunately, they’re not alone in the house. Look out for the creepy chauffeur! Dan Curtis directs Bette Davis, Oliver Reed and Karen Black.

Day 9: “Hillbillys in a Haunted House” (1967)

Familiar tale of stranded travelers and a haunted house – but this time as a musical. Country singers headed to Nashville and get caught up with Lon Chaney Jr., Basil Rathbone and John Carradine. One word sums it up quite well: Campy.

Day 10: “Ghost Breakers” (1940)

Bob Hope is a radio broadcaster on the run from cops and the mob. Paulette Goddard just inherited her family’s haunted mansion in Cuba. Expect ghosts, zombies, bad guys and Anthony Quinn.

Day 11: “Ghosts of Hanley House” (1968)

A super low budget take on the haunted house challenge. A guy who can’t unload a house where strange things happen, bets a friend to stay overnight and prove to potential buyers that everything is OK. It’s not.

Day 12: “Legend of Hell House” (1973)

Oh look, more researchers spend time in haunted house. But this one was written by Richard Matheson from his book so it’s good. Belasco House is home to the spirits of victims of a sadistic killer. With Roddy McDowall and Pamela Franklin.

Day 13: “The Shining” (1980)

If a haunted house isn’t enough for you, then check into the haunted Overlook Hotel. Jack Nicholson gives an over-the-top portrayal of a winter caretaker who loses his sanity thanks to hotel “guests.”

Who doesn’t have fears of being sucked into their closet by a malevolent entity as happens in “Poltergeist.”

Day 14: “Poltergeist” (1980)

A family frantically searches for a child trapped “inside the house” by malevolent spirits. This Spielberg-produced film takes on childhood fears with monsters under the bed, in the closet & walls. It’s loosely based on the chilling “Twilight Zone” episode “Little Girl Lost,” written by Richard Matheson about a child who falls into another dimension. He wrote it after he couldn’t find his daughter in his house. Cue the goosebumps.

A family moves into a house with ghosts – and Margaret Hamilton, right, as the housekeeper.

Day 15: “13 Ghosts” (1960)

Let’s start three days of haunted house films by great movie showman William Castle. A house is haunted by ghosts the audience sees by wearing “Illusion-O” glasses. Bonus: Margaret Hamilton is the creepy housekeeper.

Day 16: “The Spirit is Willing” (1967)

A family renting a seaside New England home is pranked by a trio of mischievous and unhappy ghosts in this William Castle comedy. With Sid Caesar, Vera Miles and John Astin.

No one knows what lurks in the rooms and hallways of William Castle’s “House on Haunted Hill.”

Day 17: “House on Haunted Hill” (1959)

William Castle’s best. A suave Vincent Price delightfully spars with his conniving wife (Carol Ohmart) while offering $10,000 to guests who can make it through the night in their mansion.

Castle gave live audiences the experience of “Emergo!” as something would “emerge” in the movie theater. Oh, to have been so lucky to have seen the movie in this way.

Day 18: “Amityville Horror” (1979)

When it comes to haunted houses, this is terrifying – mostly because it’s based on a true story. Yes, I know they played with the facts, but it’s still creepy. James Brolin and Margot Kidder move their family into a new home – but they’re not alone.

Even his reflection scares the hilarious Don Knotts in “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.”

Day 19: “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” (1966)

Universal horror via Mayberry in this ghostly comedy starring Don Knotts as a typesetter who stays overnight in a haunted house to become a reporter. The laugh-filled film was a big hit.

Day 20: “Two on a Guillotine” (1965)

A woman returns home for her father’s funeral and learns she has to spend seven nights in his gothic mansion to get her inheritance. It’s playful, romantic and unsettling with plenty of jump scares. Connie Stevens can scream! With Disney’s Dean Jones.

Day 21: “Scared Stiff” (1955)

Martin & Lewis flee mobsters but still help a lovely woman (Lizabeth Scott) who has inherited a haunted castle off Cuba. This is the fourth screen adaptation of “The Ghost Breaker,” but with music. (See also Day 10)

Day 22: “House in Marsh Road” (1960)

A wife and her failing author of a husband scam landlords out of rent, until they inherit a country house. Turns out the resident poltergeist takes a shine to the woman and protects her from her nasty hubby. What starts as a little ghost film goes full-on with suspense and poltergeist terror.

Day 23: “The House That Dripped Blood” (1971)

Amicus anthology film has five shorts depicting the tragic fates of inhabitants of a British cottage. With Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Ingrid Pitt.

Day 24: “The Evil/House of Evil” (1978)

Richard Crenna moves his family into a gloomy mansion terrorized by an ancient evil, hence the title. Doors shut and windows close on their own, pets attack, people scream and die violently.

Day 25: “Canterville Ghost” (1944)

Loose take on Oscar Wilde’s tale of a cowardly man cursed to haunt his castle until a descendant frees him with an act of bravery. Charles Laughton, Robert Young and an adorable Margaret O’Brien.

Ray Milland carries Gail Russell in her flowing nightgown after a ghostly encounter as Ruth Hussey looks on. Tell me you don’t want to get all cozy and watch this in the dark.

Day 26: “The Uninvited” (1944)

Can shadows be poetic? Yes. A composer and his sister buy a seaside house with ghosts connected to a lonely young woman in this supernatural mystery-romance. Gorgeous cinematography, iconic music.

Day 27: “Haunted House of Horror” (1967)

From party on the beach to party in a haunted house. Frankie Avalon is a bored young American in London who takes other bored kids to play in a haunted house. A séance, murder and guilt follow.

Day 28: “Haunted Palace” (1963)

A little Poe, a little Lovecraft, a little Corman. A warlock’s curse follows a family a century later when they inherit his palace where evil lives. Bonus: Vincent Price in dual roles.

Michael Anderson Jr., Kitty Winn, Barbara Stanwyck and Richard Egan are haunted by “The House That Wouldn’t Die.”

Day 29: “The House That Wouldn’t Die” (1970)

Barbara Stanwyck inherits a house in Gettysburg where her niece has terrifying dreams and visions. So let’s have a séance or three and see what happens. An ABC Movie of the Week.

Christopher Lee, John Carradine, Christopher Lee and Vincent Price in “House of Long Shadows.”

Day 30: “House of Long Shadows” (1983)

“What lives in this house? What skulks in these halls?,” the fun film trailer asks. How about four  masters of horror: Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and John Carradine along with, inexplicably, Desi Arnaz Jr.

Julie Harris in the scene that still gives me nightmares from “The Haunting.”

Day 31: “The Haunting” (1963)

Saving the scariest for last. Robert Wise directed one of the most frightening films ever, yet never showed the monster, instead relying on sound, acting and camera work to freak viewers out. The scene where Julie Harris thinks that’s a human with her – except it’s not – has scarred me for life. After the first time I saw it, I slept with the lights on – and still do. Based on Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House.”

READ MORE

If you want to read more, here are other stories I’ve written that mention some of these films. Just click on the name of the film to read the story.

“Amityville Horror”

“The Bat”

“Ghost and Mrs. Muir”

“House on Haunted Hill”

“The House That Dripped Blood”

“Le Manior du Diable/Haunted Castle”