Movie Horrors: The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas is by far one of the most influential, and enjoyable, animations in the history of time. Its animation, style, and narrative cemented within the Halloween holiday due to its strangeness and unique approach to a gothic story.

Originating from a Tim Burton poem--and trust me, it shows--The Nightmare Before Christmas follows the infamous Jack Skellington; Halloweentown's king, although he has grown bored of the tradition of scaring people in the real world. Jack Skellington stumbles across Christmastown, and immediately is drawn to its nature of high spirit and goodwill. Jack plots to kidnap Santa Claus and take his role as his own, although it clearly doesn't end well for everyone.

With Tim Burton as a producer, the animation very much follows his famous stop-motion aesthetic. It's truly beautiful, even if it is a little dark and sinister at points, it remains a beautiful, gothic animation. In fact, it is so dark that Disney published it under a different studio, so consumers wouldn't stumble across it thinking it's your average kid-friendly Disney animation.

The Nightmare Before Christmas is the one true film to watch on Halloween. It holds everything lovable about the holiday: the fear, the excitement, the gothic nature, the fantasy. It's all there. It's perfect.