Over 100 PG-13 Horror Movies

We're creeping up on Halloween season. I love me some horror movies, but I don't really watch R-Rated movies. I've compiled a list of PG-13 horror movies that I've enjoyed, some of them a dozen or more times! I have included a couple of R-Rated movies that are rated R for the scares -Hellllooo Conjuring Universe- but would be PG-13 otherwise. 

In no particular order...

The Ring 2002 - This was the first movie I thought of. It was 100% the scariest movie ever at the time it was released!

The Ring Two 2003- Not as scary as the first, but still a good watch! 

Arachnophobia 1990- Still as creepy as when I first saw it in the theater as an 11 year old!

 
Poltergeist 1982- I first saw this when I was four. Nightmares for months! It still has good creep factor.

 
Poltergeist 2015- A really good remake. I love that it's not word for word the same as the original. 

Cry Wolf 2005- Not many people have seen this one, but it was a favorite of mine for years.

 
Disturbia 2007- Shia LaBeouf, when he was young and adorable, adds some laughs to this one. 

Countdown 2019- Makes you a little creeped out about what you download to your phone. 

His House 2020- Loved this unique take on the haunted house movie.

 
The Conjuring 2013- So good. So scary.

The Conjuring II 2016- Another great Conjuring movie. 

The Conjuring III 2021- Not as scary as others in the universe, but good. 

Annabelle 2014- Yikes. 

Annabelle: Creation 2017- Creepy Doll. Creepy kids. What more to say? 

Annabelle: Coming Home 2019- If you're following the Conjuring story, you don't wanna miss this one. 

The Nun 2018- This one was SCARY! And it ties into the other stories so well! 

La Llorona 2019- Loosely part of the Conjuring world. Not as scary as the others, but eerie! 

Prom Night 2008- Cheesy but fun.

 
Carriers 2009- Classic world-ending virus story. 

Insidious 2010- Scary good. 

Insidious: Chapter 2 2013- Continuation of the story in the first movie.

 
Insidious: Chapter 3 2015- Prequel to the first movie. 

Insidious: The Last Key 2018- Not terribly scary, but rounds out the story. 

The Babadook 2014- Creepy for sure! 

The Visit 2015- If you're scared of old people, this will especially freak you out.

 
Winchester 2018- Not terribly scary or historically accurate, but a good watch. 

Darkness Falls 2003- Having a kid who was scared to death of the Tooth Fairy made me not watch this for several years after it came out! 

The Forest 2016- Nice creep factor. Makes you wonder what really happened. 

Boogeyman 2005- Not scary enough for me to want to watch the sequels, but decent.

The Uninvited 2009- I really like this one! 

World War Z 2013- Zombies and Brad Pitt.

Haunting of Molly Hartley 2008- Used to be one of my favorites!

The Boy 2016- Dolls sure are creepy! 

The Boy II 2020- Just as good as the first. 

The Haunting in Connecticut 2009- Based VERY loosely off a true story. A good watch. 

The Messengers 2007- Birds are scary. 

The Final Girls 2015- One of my favorite movies. Comedy horror. Great film.

 
Mama 2013- Tim Burton looking ghosts. Decent scares. 

1408 2007- Weird and creepy. 

The Possession 2012- A Jewish spin on a demonic possession. 

The Last Exorcism 2010- Found footage film. Pretty scary. 

The Woman in Black 2012- Classic haunted house story. Definitely recommend.

The Woman in Black II 2015- Not as good as the first, but still worth the watch. 

1922 2017- Slow moving, but a good story with some rats and ghosts.

 

The New Daughter 2009- Creature horror.

Ouija 2014- Made my kids mad that they pronounced "Ouija" wrong. Haha

Ouija: origin of evil 2016- Better than the first one! 

An American Haunting 2006- Old fashioned ghost story with a twist.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 2019- I wasn't sure if they'd do the book justice, but this was a really fun, creepy movie. 

The Skeleton Key 2005- Voodoo is horrifying!

Cloverfield 2008- Found footage craziness. 

10 Cloverfield Lane 2016- In the Cloverfield world but not a sequel. Really liked it!! I did not like the third in the series so I left it off the list. 

A Quiet Place 2018- Don't eat or check your phone during this movie. It'll be too loud! 

A Quiet Place II 2021- Glad they made a sequel. Also Netflix has a knockoff Quiet Place and it's trash. 

The Others 2001- Classic spookiness. I think of this movie often because of all the doors in my house.

Night of the Living Dead 1968- Must watch zombie flick. Ties well into current issues. 

Truth or Dare 2018- Creepy good but not fabulous. 

The Sixth Sense 1999- Is there anyone out there who hasn't seen this film? 

The Bye Bye Man 2017-  Lots of plot holes, but still has some jumps. 

Slender Man 2018- I didn't really know much about Slender Man before watching the movie. It's got some frightening scenes. 

When a Stranger Calls 1979- Classic urban legend story. 

When a Stranger Calls 2006- Not as good as the original, but still some nerve-wracking scenes. 

Split 2016- Loved this. I know it's part of a series, but it's great as a stand alone. 

White Noise 2005- Intense. I don't want to know what's in white noise. Haha

The Grudge 2004- Ugghh... the shower scene. 

Hush 2016- This is a heart-racing one. 

I am Legend 2007- So many references to this with the vaccine situation right now. 

Veronica 2017- It was on several lists as the scariest movie ever. It was good, but it wasn't the scariest. Has subtitles. 

The Vast of Night 2020- Enjoyed this one. Retro vibe, good story. 

#Alive 2020- Zombie movie set in Korea. Has subtitles. 

Psycho 1960- We watch this at least once a year! 

The Birds 1963- Have I mentioned birds are scary? 

The Exorcism of Emily Rose 2005- The only bad thing is it tells you she dies right at the beginning. 

Lights Out 2016- The opening scene is SO scary! 

Sinister 2012- Super dark and horrifying. I wasn't a fan of the sequel though. 

The Unholy 2021- Decent religious horror story. 

Escape Room 2019- My daughter and I got ID'd to watch this movie in the theater? 

The New Mutants 2020- I know it's in the X-Men universe, but it definitely holds its own. 

The Unborn 2009- Worrisome spirit possession. Aren't they all worrisome? 

The Rite 2011- Religious horror flick.

Devil 2010- M. Night Shyamalan. Of course there's a twist.

House on the End of the Street 2012- Creepy house. Creepy dude. 

Flatliners 2017- Remake of the R-Rated Kevin Bacon film of the same name.

 
The Cave 2005- Creatures. In a cave. 

Cat's Eye 1985- Three disturbing tales with a cat linking them all together. 

The Vatican Tapes 2015- Another priests fight a demon possession flick. 

Now for a few not-scary but fun Halloween movies:

Hocus Pocus 1993- A must watch every Halloween season! 

Practical Magic 1998- Such a beloved witch movie. 

Ghostbusters 1984- Who ya gonna call? 

Ghostbusters 2016- Hilarious remake.

ET 1982- ET phone home. Don't forget the Reese's Pieces while watching this one! 

Goosebumps 2015- I was surprised at how much I liked this. 

Goosebumps II 2018- Halloween fun! 

The Witches 1990- Much more frightening than the remake, plus it has the nostalgia factor.

 
Fun Size 2012- Halloween night shenanigans.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer 1992- Vampires and teenagers. Luke Perry.

The Addams Family 1991- If you haven't watched this in a while, bust it out for Halloween! 

Beetlejuice 1988- Funny, creepy, a classic. 

Teen Witch 1989- I used to be able to quote this whole movie. 

Hubie Halloween 2020- If you like 1990's Adam Sandler movies, you'll laugh your head off at this one. 

Bewitched 2005- Fun and cheesy. 

Have a great movie night! I'm excited to see what new horror flicks will be coming out this fall!

Instant Pot Funfetti Healthy Dessert

This is a low fat, low sugar, Weight Watchers friendly (3 purple points for 1/6th of the dessert!), and super adorable cheesecake! I hesitate to call it a cheesecake because there's no cream cheese in it, but it looks like a cheesecake and tastes pretty dang close!  It's high in protein and is super easy to make.

Spray a 7" push spring form pan with cooking spray.

Beat together: 

3 eggs

1/4 c. granulated stevia

1 tsp almond extract 

Add and beat: 

32 oz container plain fat free Greek yogurt (if there is visible liquid, drain it off the top of the container first)

1 small box sugar free cheesecake flavored pudding mix

1/4 c dry yellow cake mix

Gently stir in:

3 TBSP sprinkles

Pour into prepared springform pan. 

Place water in Instant Pot liner until it's just under where trivet will reach. Cover full pan with a paper towel and then tin foil, using the tin foil to keep the paper towel off the batter. Place on trivet with handles and lower into Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes. Once done, turn off heat, release pressure, but leave in Instant Pot for at least 10 minutes. 

Carefully remove from Instant Pot, sprinkle with more sprinkles while still warm, cover with a paper towel and refrigerate overnight. 

Dried Apple Pie

This is such a delicious pie recipe from pioneer times and a great way to use dried apples!

Soak 2 cups dried apples in water overnight in the fridge (or somewhere cool). Drain the water and mix with 1/2 c. sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon (you can use pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon for some extra flavor!)

Place apples into a prepared pie crust. I prefer to use an all butter recipe crust. Dot apples with 3 T butter. Cover with top crust, seal the edges and make a few slashes in the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or topped with cheddar cheese! 

A Holiday Miracle

At the beginning of the Christmas season I had a meltdown. I was tired of all my bah humbug grinchy family members ruining my Christmas cheer year and year. The kids and I had been fighting about them not wanting to go to Thanksgiving dinner and they were already being brats about Christmas. My husband was moping around about the holidays. I haven't had as much energy, physically or mentally, since I had major surgery in July. School was very homework heavy this semester and I was just feeling generally overwhelmed with the stresses of being a mom and caregiver. I couldn't take any more fighting over something like the holidays. This should be the happiest time of the year. It used to be. I needed it to be again.

I wanted to go to a small town Christmas festival early in the season and my suggestion was being met with complaints and grumbling. My kids said no way. My husband said he'd go if I went, but he didn't want to. After the month long fight over Thanksgiving and the complaints I was already hearing about Christmas, I had enough. "FINE! I AM DONE. I'M NOT MAKING ANYONE DO ANYTHING CHRISTMASSY. IF PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO DO CHRISTMAS THINGS I'M NOT MAKING YOU DO THEM. I'M NOT FORCING YOU. I'M NOT GOING WITHOUT YOU. I'M JUST DONE." I may have shed a tear or two. After years and years of being the queen of Christmas, with three kids and a husband who hate the holidays, I finally broke. My Christmas spirit was gone.

Something happened to my family after I had my outburst. They all decided we should go to the Christmas festival. I was pouting and not even dressed and they told me I should get ready. We went and no one complained about anything, even though there wasn't as much to do as I had hoped. We stood in long lines out in the cold, and no one said an single negative thing. They even agreed to get our picture taken with Santa for the first time since they were little.

But it wasn't just that night. They were enthusiastic about taking Christmas card pictures. They laughed and posed and had fun with it. Alyssa spent the evening helping me pick out the picture to use as our Christmas card and choosing which card design to order.

My husband has watched many Christmas movies with me this month. He wore silly socks  to our family party even though he doesn't like attention.

Alyssa came home from her dad's house for our family Christmas party. She wore a Christmas sweater and socialized the whole night, which is very unlike her.

We've watched Christmas movies, listened to Christmas music, made gingerbread houses and my family hasn't complained at all. Alyssa has asked to do things I hadn't even planned this year, like going on a Christmas light scavenger hunt last night.

Caleb didn't want to go look at lights with us and I was disappointed, but I wasn't going to say anything about it since they've been so good all month. Alyssa jumped on his case and told him he had to go. He said, "Alyssa, you don't even like Christmas." She responded, "I know, but I'm really trying to this year.". I got a tear in my eye and told her, "Christmas is magical and life is hard. We should look for any magic we can find in this world." She said, "You're not wrong." and yelled at her brother to get in the car.

We drove around for hours last night, listening to Christmas music and trying to find all the hard things on Alyssa's list (Mrs. Claus and the Grinch escaped us). We all had fun and we laughed and laughed.

I have truly seen the magic of Christmas and giving in my family this year. They could see I was struggling because life IS hard and I needed the happiness of the holidays and positive family time. They gave that to me. I think they needed it too, especially Alyssa. As my kids are getting older, family time is the most precious gift in the world to me. My heart has grown three times its normal size this December. There have been no stresses this week, only JOY. I'm looking forward to Christmas eve festivities tonight and opening presents tomorrow morning with all three of my kids. I'm feeling Christmas excitement like I haven't felt in years. It's a holiday miracle!

Instant Pot Sweet Italian Soup

(may contain aff links)

My husband said this is the best meal I've ever made in the Instant Pot and I use my Instant Pot almost daily! It was super good! This could be made on the stove top as well. 

Grilled chicken, diced
Seeds of Change quinoa & brown rice pouch (I buy mine at Costco)
Can diced tomatoes w/sweet onion
2 cans water
Diced yellow bell pepper
Diced red onion
Italian seasoning 

Cook at high pressure for 6 minutes. You can quick or natural release. Serve with feta cheese.

To cook on a stove top, just simmer until peppers and onion are soft. 

Cherry Cream Pie

Having a cherry tree in my yard means I often have canned cherries on my shelf. I needed a last minute dessert for Father's Day dinner tonight and this cherry pie came out amazing! I will be making it again, for sure!

Cherry Cream Pie

1 quart canned cherries, drained or fresh cherries, pitted

homemade or store-bought graham cracker crust

Cream:
3/4 c. sugar
1/3 c. flour
dash salt
1/2 tsp corn starch
2 eggs
1/2 c. sour cream

Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. cold butter

Pour the cherries into the pie pan lined with graham cracker crust. Mix your cream ingredients well.  Pour over cherries, moving cherries around as needed to allow the cream mixture to settle in. For topping, cut butter into the sugar and flour until it resembles crumbs. Sprinkle topping over cherries and cream.  Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes or until top is golden brown.  If edges of graham cracker crust start to darken, cover edges with tin foil. Serve warm with ice cream.

J-E-L-L-O

My kids now call me the "Crazy Jello Lady" and people at church sing the Jello song to me when I pass because I happened to be featured on a fun KSL news segment about Jello in Utah last month!  You can watch it HERE!  It was a lot of fun!  This is the Jello salad recipe I make more than any other.  It's so delicious!

Overnight Jello Salad

1 small pkg vanilla pudding (not instant)
1 small pkg orange jello
12 oz carton of cool whip (extra creamy, if possible)
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1 can pineapple tidbits, drained
2-3 bananas, sliced

Cook pudding according to package directions using water instead of milk. Add the dry jello powder and boil until dissolved. Cover and let set overnight. In the morning, whip jello-pudding mixture and cool whip in a large bowl together. Fold in fruit. Let chill.