'Spirit Halloween' Movie Inspired From Popular Seasonal Stores to Feature 'Back to the Future' Star

By Stephen Andrew

A movie inspired by the popular seasonal Spirit Halloween stores is reportedly on the way with Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd attached. According to Variety, the film is titled Spirit Halloween, and it was reportedly filmed in secret, with a tentative October 2022 release date. Joining Lloyd in the family-friendly Halloween adventure film is She's All That actress Rachael Leigh Cook and iconic TV star Marla Gibbs (The Jeffersons, 227).

A synopsis of the new movie reads, "When a new Spirit Halloween store appears in a deserted strip mall, three middle-school friends who think they've outgrown trick-or-treating make a dare to spend the night locked inside the store Halloween night. But they soon find out that the store is haunted by an angry evil spirit who has possessed the creepy animatronic characters. The kids embark on a thrilling and spooky adventure in order to survive the night and avoid becoming possessed themselves." The young actors appearing in the film include Donavan Colan (Zoe) and Jaiden Smith (Blue Bloods), as well as Dylan Frankel and Marissa Reyes, both from Raven's Home.

Another big family-oriented horror project in the works comes from Disney+, who is reviving the Goosebumps franchise. The revival was first revealed in April 2020, and now Variety reports that the new series will consist of 10 live-action episodes. No casting announcements have been made at this time, but Nick Stoller and Rob Letterman will serve as writers and executive producers on the series.

According to Variety, the new Goosebumps series "follows a group of five high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces upon their town and must all work together – thanks to and in spite of their friendships, rivalries, and pasts with each other – in order to save it, learning much about their own parents' teenage secrets in the process." The original Goosebumps TV series was based on the horror book series of the same name, by author R.L. Stine. The anthology series debuted in 1995 and ran for four seasons, ending in 1998. 

Two decades after the series launched, a Goosebumps movie was released, starring Jack Black and Dylan Minnette. The film was a massive hit with audiences and led to a standalone sequel, titled Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, which premiered in 2018. At this time, the Disney+ revival series does not have an announced premiere date.

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