IT’S JUST A BUNCH OF HOCUS POCUS

IN JULY 1993, AN UNSEASONAL holiday film magicked its way onto screens. Although it featured a stellar cast – with an antagonistic trio of Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy leading the way – Hocus Pocus met with a lukewarm critical reception and did not set the box office alight. But now it’s a firm fan favourite, both in the oeuvre of Halloween films and the Disney backcatalogue, with a nostalgic audience eager to return to Salem again and again.

Doug Jones, renowned for his versatile creature characters, played clumsy zombie Billy Butcherson, a jilted lover killed and subsequently resurrected. He thinks the film’s endurance is warranted. “I feel like the movie is timeless,” he tells . “As we were filming it, I felt like we were creating a seasonal classic, and its delayed success was a lovely