Unlike Harry Potter and Pretty Little Liars, my final fictional Halloween is not a larger series where Halloween has a small highlight. This one – and best one – is a movie whose plot surrounds Halloween: Hocus Pocus.

Hocus Pocus has everything I love about Halloween: fun costumes, witches, magic, trick-or-treating, and parties. 

I’m sure you know this story very well, but let’s do a quick summary. Max and his family move to Salem, Massachusetts just before Halloween. Max isn’t into Halloween, but gets roped into taking his younger sister trick-or-treating. In an effort to impress his crush, Max shrugs off his dislike for the holiday and disbelief in the town’s legend about three cursed witches, and lights the fabled black flame candle; bringing back the very witches that are meant to be a story for tourism. 

And here we have some of our favorite Halloween witches that have inspired countless trick-or-treating,  party, and cosplay costumes: Winifred, Sarah, and Mary Sanderson. These three sisters stay young by sucking the life out of children, and they have their eyes on Max’s sister Dani. On the surface, this is a really creepy and evil plot, but the delivery is so comedic, that the story can be enjoyed by all ages.

Throughout the rest of the movie we follow Max, Dani, and Allison (Max’s crush) as they try to evade the Sanderson Sisters while figuring out how to get rid of them. They get help from a black cat named Binx (who is really a human cursed by the Sanderson sisters) and a zombie named Billy. They sneak into the school, crash the party their parents are at, and do lots of running in the woods. There is also the constant hilarious reminder that Max is a virgin. As a child, I never noticed that. As an adult I find it hilarious and cringe at the same time. And as a mother, I pray my children don’t ask me what that means for several more years. 

I want to dissect a few scenes that were inspired by historical beliefs about witches. 

First is the scene where the Sanderson Sisters are hailed by a man wearing a devil costume. In the time of the witch trials, it was believed that witches made a pact with the real devil. Lucifer/Satan/The devil was a very real fear back then. Christians believed him to exist in the flesh, and that he could physically harm them. Christians believed that witches signed their name in a real book and that the devil would visit them and feed from them (a large mole indicated that was where the devil sucked, like a nipple). Witches were the devil’s bride the way nuns were Christ’s bride. 

To make this scene more tame, the Sanderson Sisters bow to the fake devil and he invites them inside. The man’s marriage is clearly on the rocks, so he enjoys their attention, thinking he’s playing pretend. His wife arrives and kicks them out. But since the Sanderson Sisters believed this man to be the real devil, it goes without saying that in the Hocus Pocus world, the devil is real.

Throughout the movie, Allison runs around with a container of salt, believing it will protect them from the witches. Salt has always been used to ward off evil throughout history. 

In the end, Max sacrifices himself to save Dani. He drinks the potion that allows the Sanderson Sisters to suck his life force out. Luckily for him, the sun rises before Winifred can finish, and she and her sisters turn to stone and explode into dust.

Hocus Pocus is almost 30 years old, and it remains a beloved Halloween tradition, and I imagine it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.