Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween returns October 1, and this year the marathon opens with something it has never had before: a brand new series premiere. Coven Academy, the supernatural teen drama from creator and executive producer Tim Federle, kicks off the celebration at 8 p.m. on opening night with a four-episode premiere, and the full season streams the next day on Disney+, Hulu and Freeform On Demand.
A New Coven Leads The Lineup
Coven Academy follows three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock classmates at an elite magic school where, per the network, power is currency, secrets are lethal and attraction is a liability. Caught between ancient supernatural wars and forbidden romances, the young witches have to decide how far they will go to protect their city and themselves. The New Orleans-set series is told in what Freeform describes as fast-paced, bingeable chapters, and its rollout is built directly into the Halloween event, with episodes five through seven airing October 8 after the network premiere of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
The Classics, Plus A Tim Burton Marathon
The staples that built 31 Nights into an institution are all back. Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice, Casper, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and the Ghostbusters franchise run throughout the month, with Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire making its Freeform debut as part of the event. October 16 brings a dedicated Tim Burton marathon stacking Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Dark Shadows and The Nightmare Before Christmas into a single day.
This year’s schedule also leans into a monster theme, folding Monsters, Inc., Monsters University, Frankenweenie and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed into the rotation, alongside seasonal fixtures like The Addams Family and Addams Family Values and the Haunted Mansion film. Opening day alone runs Edward Scissorhands, both Addams Family films and Hocus Pocus before handing the night to the Coven Academy premiere.
The Season Starts Now
The event runs straight through Halloween night, and the full day-by-day schedule is out now, which means the annual tradition of planning a month of couch time can begin in earnest. The timing pairs neatly with a Halloween season that is already fully underway on the parks side, where Halloween Time opened at Disneyland in late August. Between the parks, the premiere and the marathon staples, Disney’s spooky season now stretches unbroken from late August to November 1, and Freeform remains the piece of it you can enjoy in pajamas.
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