September is here, which means the weather is about to get a little chillier, the days are getting shorter and, most importantly, it is officially time for us to figure out what our comfort shows and movies are going to be for the season.
There is just something about fall that makes staying in feel right. The candles come out, the blankets get heavier, the hoodies get bigger and suddenly watching six episodes of a show you've already seen three times feels like a perfectly reasonable way to spend your evening. Whether you're curling up alone, with your pet, your favourite stuffed animal or maybe even a special someone, this is your invitation to get cozy.
So, naturally, I had to make a list. For plot and release context, the links below point to official studio, network or platform pages where available.
I put together 20 of my personal fall favourites, ranking them from my least favourite to the one I think deserves the number one spot. Some are here because they are basically Halloween in movie or television form, some because they have that perfect rainy-day atmosphere, and others made the cut simply because they give me the kind of nostalgia and comfort I want when the temperature starts dropping.
And yes, there are witches. There are vampires. There are small towns with suspicious amounts of murder. There are teenage girls who desperately need to start communicating with each other. Basically, everything we need.
Take your pick, grab a blanket and settle in. Whether you want something spooky, nostalgic, romantic, funny or just something you've already watched 15 times, I've got you covered.
The Comfort Watchlist
20. Coco
What it's about: Coco follows Miguel, a young boy who dreams of becoming a musician despite his family's ban on music. After accidentally entering the Land of the Dead, he goes on a journey to uncover the truth about his family's history. (Día de los Muertos context)
This one isn't necessarily giving October, but it absolutely gives November to represent Día de los Muertos. It's warm, nostalgic and guaranteed to make you stare at the ceiling thinking about your family history afterward. I love putting this on when I want something comforting but also feel like having a little emotional breakdown. I love providing range.
19. Lemonade Mouth
What it's about: Five high school students from completely different social circles meet in detention and eventually form a band, using music to push back against the rules and expectations at their school.
There is something about a Disney Channel original movie that instantly transports me back to being twelve, sitting way too close to the TV and genuinely believing my own high school experience was going to involve spontaneous musical performances.
Lemonade Mouth is pure nostalgia for me. It doesn't exactly scream fall, but sometimes I don't need a movie to have changing leaves and Halloween decorations to make it onto this list. Sometimes I just want to watch something that makes me feel like a kid again, and this one does exactly that.
18. Hotel Transylvania
What it's about: Dracula runs a hotel where monsters can vacation away from humans, but everything gets complicated when a human accidentally finds his way inside and falls for Dracula's daughter, Mavis.
This is for the girlies who want Halloween without actually committing to anything scary. I'm sorry, but I don't always want to be genuinely terrified when I'm trying to have a cozy night in. Sometimes I want animated monsters, bad dad jokes and a movie I can half-watch while scrolling on my phone.
I don't care how old we get. Animated Halloween movies will always hit differently when you're watching them under a blanket.
17. Alias
What it's about: Sydney Bristow is a CIA agent who works undercover while trying to keep her dangerous career a secret from the people around her.
For when I want my fall watchlist to have a little more mystery, espionage and early-2000s fashion.
Alias isn't the first show I think of when someone says fall, but there is something about watching Jennifer Garner run around in increasingly elaborate disguises while I'm sitting inside on a rainy night that just works. It's giving ‘I could definitely be a spy’ while simultaneously refusing to leave my house. And honestly, that is a combination I can get behind.
16. Pitch Perfect
What it's about: College student Beca joins an all-female a cappella group and helps them compete against rival groups while navigating friendships, romance and the general chaos of college life.
College campuses, hoodies, singing competitions and early-2010s comedy? You got it.
Pitch Perfect is one of those movies that doesn't necessarily need to be about fall to become part of my fall rotation. Something about the college setting makes it feel like the perfect movie to throw on when I want something easy and familiar.
Plus, sometimes I need a movie I can quote from beginning to end while eating snacks I absolutely did not need to buy.
15. Glee
What it's about: A group of students at McKinley High joins their school's struggling glee club while navigating friendships, relationships, competition and approximately 700 dramatic personal crises along the way.
There is something extremely nostalgic about starting Glee when the weather gets colder. Maybe it's the school setting. Maybe it's the music. Maybe it's the fact that watching teenagers have wildly dramatic problems makes my own life feel a little more manageable.
I also love a show where I can randomly remember an episode from 10 years ago and immediately start singing the song that was performed in it. That is the kind of useless information my brain has decided to retain.
Either way, prepare to say, ‘I forgot how insane this show was,’ approximately every three episodes.
14. Matilda
What it's about: Matilda is a brilliant young girl with neglectful parents who discovers she has telekinetic abilities and uses them to stand up to the adults who mistreat her.
Matilda isn't technically a fall movie, but it is absolutely a curl-up-on-the-couch-and-feel-like-a-kid-again movie.
For me, this is one of those movies where I don't even need to be paying full attention to enjoy it. I'll hear the music, see a familiar scene and suddenly I'm eight years old again. It's cozy, nostalgic and just the right amount of dark.
Also, Miss Trunchbull remains one of the most terrifying adults ever put on children's television. I said what I said.
13. Ghost Whisperer
What it's about: Melinda Gordon has the ability to communicate with spirits and helps ghosts resolve unfinished business so they can move on.
If I'm looking for something a little creepier without committing to actual horror, this is where I'm going.
Ghost Whisperer is peak ‘it's 3 a.m., it's raining outside and what the hell am I watching?’ television. It's supernatural, emotional and just spooky enough to make me question every weird noise coming from my hallway.
I also think there is something very comforting about watching a supernatural show where the goal isn't always to defeat the ghost, but to understand why they're still there.
12. Twitches
What it's about: Separated at birth, twin sisters Alex and Camryn discover each other on their 21st birthday and learn that they are witches with magical powers.
It's campy, nostalgic and it deserves its annual seasonal rewatch.
Spooky Season Favourites
11. Teen Wolf
What it's about: Scott McCall is an ordinary high school student until a werewolf bite turns his life upside down, forcing him to balance school, friendships, romance and supernatural threats.
Fall is when my supernatural television obsession begins, and Teen Wolf is absolutely part of that conversation.
Beacon Hills has everything I want from a fall binge: mysterious forests, werewolves, teenage drama, lacrosse and an alarming number of people who should probably be calling the police. Add a hoodie, a late-night snack and maybe some rain outside and you've got yourself an evening.
10. Once Upon a Time
What it's about: Fairytale characters are trapped in the real world by a curse and forced to live ordinary lives in the town of Storybrooke, until a young woman arrives and begins uncovering their identities.
This show was made for people who looked at fairytales and thought, ‘Okay, but what if we made this dramatically more complicated?’
I love the whole atmosphere of Once Upon a Time. The forests, the old-fashioned costumes, the curses, the magic and the fact that everyone seems to have approximately six different identities. It gives me that storybook feeling I want when the weather starts getting colder.
It's also the perfect show when I want fantasy but still need drama.
Fall Comfort Classics
9. Harry Potter
What it's about: Harry Potter discovers that he is a wizard and attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he makes friends, learns magic and becomes increasingly involved in a battle against the dark wizard Voldemort.
There are certain things that simply belong to fall, and Harry Potter is one of them.
Hogwarts, candles, fireplaces, sweaters, rainy castle corridors and magic? The atmosphere is practically begging me to make hot chocolate and sit for an absurdly long movie marathon.
I don't even need to explain this one. Put it on, grab a blanket and get pulled into a magical world.
8. The Addams Family
What it's about: The Addams family is a strange, wealthy and extremely eccentric family whose love of everything dark and bizarre constantly clashes with the outside world.
It's perfect for the girlies who have never been interested in being normal.
The Addams Family has that perfect combination of creepy, funny and weird that makes it feel like Halloween without being genuinely terrifying. I love that the Addamses are completely comfortable being strange, because honestly, more people should probably take notes.
And Wednesday Addams' complete lack of concern for fitting in remains iconic.
7. The Vampire Diaries
What it's about: Elena Gilbert's life changes when she becomes involved with vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore, pulling her into the supernatural world surrounding the town of Mystic Falls.
This show gives us old houses, forests, fog, fireplaces, leather jackets and enough supernatural drama to keep you watching long after you've told yourself to go to bed.
And yes, you're probably going to pick a Salvatore brother, but that decision is between you and God.
6. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
What it's about: Sabrina Spellman is a half-witch, half-mortal teenager who has to balance her ordinary life with the supernatural world while navigating magic, family secrets and increasingly dangerous forces.
Black clothes. Witchcraft. Spell books. Dark forests. Gothic houses.
I don't know how much more fall I could possibly ask for so close to Halloween.
If Chilling Adventures of Sabrina doesn't make you want to light a candle and do witchcraft, I'm not sure what will… except for my number 1 pick. I love the darker, more gothic take on Sabrina because it feels like the kind of show I want to binge when it's already dark outside at 6 p.m.
It's basically fall in television form, except your local high school probably doesn't have a secret witch society. Probably.
5. Pretty Little Liars
What it's about: Four friends begin receiving mysterious messages from someone known as ‘A,’ who seems to know their deepest secrets following the disappearance of their friend Alison.
Rosewood is exactly the kind of small town I want to visit in fiction but never want to live in.
Pretty Little Liars has secrets, murder, creepy texts, autumn outfits, giant coats and enough suspicious behaviour to make me yell at the screen. I love a show that makes me think I have everything figured out, only for it to introduce another completely insane plot twist.
Every time I think I've figured out who ‘A’ is, the show basically looks at me and says, ‘Cute, let's do this all over again.’
4. Hocus Pocus
What it's about: After accidentally resurrecting three witches on Halloween night, a teenager and his friends have to stop the Sanderson sisters from completing their plan to regain their power.
There are some things you simply have to watch every October.
This is 100 per cent one of them.
The Sanderson sisters, Salem, Halloween night and an entire town full of children running around after dark. It's nostalgic, ridiculous and probably one of the easiest movies to associate with the season.
I don't care how many times I've seen it. When October comes around, I'm watching it again. Honestly, if I'm not watching this while eating something pumpkin-flavoured, what am I even doing?
3. Twilight Series
What it's about: Bella Swan moves to the rainy town of Forks, Washington, where she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire, and becomes caught between the supernatural world of vampires and werewolves.
Rainy Washington. Vampires. Werewolves. Hoodies. Forests. Dramatic staring.
Twilight was made for fall.
I don't care if people want to make fun of Twilight. I know that I definitely do. But the second September hits, I want gloomy weather, a blanket and five movies about vampires who desperately need to communicate.
And let's be honest: the second September hits, someone is putting Twilight on.
2. Gilmore Girls
What it's about: Single mother Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter Rory live in the quirky small town of Stars Hollow, navigating relationships, school, family drama, friendships and an unreasonable amount of coffee.
Coffee shops. Cardigans. Leaves. Small-town gossip. Cute boys. Academic stress.
Need I continue?
Gilmore Girls might genuinely be the ultimate fall comfort show. Stars Hollow feels like the fictional version of every autumn Pinterest board I've ever saved. There is something about watching Lorelai and Rory walk around town with coffee while everyone else's business somehow becomes their business that just makes me want to get cozy.
And yes, I already binged this earlier in the summer. And yes, I would absolutely watch it again. Apparently once is never enough.
Fall doesn't officially begin until someone in Stars Hollow is walking down the street holding a coffee.
1. Charmed
What it's about: Sisters Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell discover that they are powerful witches and use their abilities to protect innocent people from demons, warlocks and other supernatural forces while trying to maintain somewhat normal lives.
Three sisters living in a beautiful Victorian manor. Filled with magic, demons, love interests, spells and more.
Come on.
I don't think I could put anything else at number one.
Charmed is exactly what I want my fall evenings to look like. There is something about the Halliwell Manor, the candles, the supernatural storylines and the sisters fighting demons together that makes this show feel like the ultimate comfort watch for spooky season.
I love that it manages to be spooky without losing that cozy, familiar feeling. I can start watching it in September, keep going through October and somehow convince myself that watching another five episodes at midnight is a perfectly reasonable part of my seasonal routine.
The girlies are lighting the candles. The Book of Shadows is open. We're staying in.
Welcome to fall.