So, your kids have roped you into some form of Halloween sleepover or similar, and you’ve been out and done the trick-or-treating, your kitchen’s flooded from bobbing for apples and someone’s wee weed when you turned the lights out, but what then?

Well, assuming you manage to peel them off the ceilings and walls after they get hyped up on all that sugar, why not plonk them in front of a few films? Here are our top 5 suggestions for kid-friendly but still mildly scary films to rent out this weekend. We can’t guarantee there’ll be dry sheets all round but, hey, fingers crossed!

All these films are rated PG…

1: Tim Burton’s animation, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Jack Skellington is the King of Halloween but he’s bored with the same routine every year. However, when he takes a walk into the woods, he discovers a door leading to Christmas time. Christmas time is amazing for Jack but he doesn’t fully understand the concept. Once he’s seen it all though, he wants to bring Christmas to everyone and is planning to take over the job from Santa. Problem is, the real world isn’t used to Jack’s lifestyle, and it’s not going to go to plan for Jack at all…

2: R.L. Stine’s, The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It. Emily Osment plays a 13 year old gothic girl, Cassie, who’s trying to fit in at her new school. To entertain herself, she plays a series of pranks on the popular kids – including Brittany Curran from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Cody Linley from Hannah Montana – as well as her younger brother, Max. When she goes to a Halloween store looking for new tricks, she finds a little book called ‘The Evil Thing.’ The Evil Thing is a monster two kids made up, and if you think about it, it will haunt you. And if you try not to think about it, you can’t think of anything else! Maybe that’s why the book says ‘Don’t Think About It.’ on the last page. And that’s when the spooky adventure begins…

3: Something Wicked This Way Comes. In a small town in America, live two young boys; the quiet Will Halloway and the rebellious Jim Nightshade. When the boys hear about a travelling carnival from a lightning rod salesman, they’re intrigued, so when the ominous Mr. Dark, the Illustrated Man, rides into town on a dark midnight, setting up his massive carnival in a matter of seconds, the boys are both thrilled and terrified. It seems to be just another carnival at first, but it’s not long before the forces of darkness are manifesting from the haunting melodies of the carousel and the scary ‘Mirror Maze’. With his collection of freaks and oddities, such as the Fat Man, Mr. Electro, and the blind Dust Witch, Dark intends to take control of the town and seize more innocent souls to damn. It will take all the wit and hope of the two boys to save their families and friends, with help from an unlikely ally, Will’s father, who is the town librarian. He understands more than anyone else that something wicked this way comes…

4: Disney’s The Haunted Mansion starring Eddie Murphy who’s brilliant in everything! Realtor workaholic Jim Evers and his wife and business partner Sara, get a call late one night from mansion owner Edward Gracey, who’s looking to sell his property. Smelling the biggest deal of their career, Jim, Sara and their two children pay a visit to the mansion, which is located on a remote bayou. A torrential thunderstorm of mysterious origin strands the Evers family in the old mansion with the brooding, eccentric Gracey, his mysterious butler, Ramsley, and a variety of residents both seen and unseen. At first Jim laughs at Gracey’s stories about ghosts and hauntings, until he unearths the mystery of the mansion and finds that his wife Sara has unexpected connections to its haunted past!

5: Another of Tim Burton’s animated films, Corpse Bride. It’s set back in the late 1800’s in a Victorian village where a man and woman by the names of Victor Van Dort and Victoria Everglot are to be married. The Everglots need the money the marriage will bring or else they’ll be living on the streets, while the Van Dorts want to move up in society. But when things go wrong at the wedding rehearsal, Victor goes into the woods to practice his vows. Just as he gets them right, he finds himself married to Emily, the corpse bride. While Victoria waits for him, a rich newcomer appears who may take Victor’s place. So two brides, one groom, who will Victor pick? It’s suitably scary for kids, even if the plot’s a bit lame, so it should keep them happy for a couple of hours!

Well, I hope you have a fun Halloween and I suggest while the kids are bobbing for apples, you bob down to Oddbins and track down something made from fruit for yourself…