October movie preview: 'Goosebumps' galore

Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize this month, as supernatural scares lead the pre-Halloween slate with horror entries such as Crimson Peak, Goosebumps and the latest Paranormal Activity.

The week-by-week roster of October's frightful flicks, awards hopefuls and comedic offerings:

OCT. 2

Freeheld

Stars: Ellen Page, Julianne Moore, Steve Carell

Director: Peter Sollett

Plot: In this drama, based on a 2007 documentary short film of the same name, a New Jersey police lieutenant (Moore) diagnosed with terminal cancer fights for pension benefits with her domestic partner (Page).

Trailer: 'He Named Me Malala'

Malala Yousafzai may be a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, but she's also just a teenage girl. Hear her inspiring story in her own words.

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He Named Me Malala

Star: Malala Yousafzai

Director: Davis Guggenheim

Plot: Events leading up to the Taliban's 2012 attack on this young Pakistani activist (now a Nobel Peace Prize recipient) are explored in a new documentary.

Trailer: 'Legend'

'Legend' tells the story of identical twin gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray who terrorize London during the 1950s and 1960s.

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Legend

Stars: Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, Taron Egerton, Paul Bettany

Director: Brian Helgeland

Plot: Twin gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray (both played by Hardy) rise to infamy in 1960s London in this crime thriller, based on actual events.

Trailer: 'The Martian'

When astronauts blast off from the planet Mars in 'The Martian,' they leave behind Mark Watney (Matt Damon), presumed dead after a fierce storm. Meanwhile, NASA tries to figure out a way to bring him home.

The Martian

Stars: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig

Director: Ridley Scott

Plot: After a Mars mission goes awry, a stranded astronaut (Damon) must fend for himself and find a way home.

OCT. 9

My All American

Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Robin Tunney, Sarah Bolger

Director: Angelo Pizzo

Plot: Texas Longhorns football player Freddie Steinmark (Finn Wittrock) wins a national championship and receives a devastating diagnosis in this biographical tearjerker.

Trailer: 'Pan'

An orphan is spirited away to the realm of Neverland, where he fulfills his destiny as Peter Pan.

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Pan

Stars: Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara

Director: Joe Wright

Plot: How Peter became Pan is given the blockbuster treatment in this re-imagining of the J.M. Barrie story.

The Final Girls

Stars: Taissa Farmiga, Alia Shawkat, Thomas Middleditch

Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson

Plot: A high school senior (Farmiga) is mysteriously transported back into an '80s horror film.

Trailer: 'Steve Jobs'

'Steve Jobs' details the life of Apple's co-founder.

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Steve Jobs

Stars: Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen

Director: Danny Boyle

Plot: Three key Apple product launches set the stage for this Aaron Sorkin-penned biopic of the late tech genius.

OCT. 16

Beasts of No Nation

Stars: Idris Elba, Ama Abebrese, Abraham Attah

Director: Cary Fukunaga

Plot: Based on the 2005 novel of the same name, a young boy (Attah) is forced to join a band of West African soldiers, led by a ruthless commander (Elba).

Trailer: 'Bridge of Spies'

The CIA recruits a lawyer to negotiate the release of a captured U.S. pilot.

Bridge of Spies

Stars: Tom Hanks, Alan Alda, Amy Ryan

Director: Steven Spielberg

Plot: A Brooklyn lawyer (Hanks) is recruited by the CIA to help save a pilot (Austin Stowell) whose spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union in this historical drama.

The Bronze

Stars: Melissa Rauch, Thomas Middleditch, Haley Lu Richardson

Director: Bryan Buckley

Plot: A washed-up, bronze-winning gymnast (Rauch) gets a new lease on life when a young athlete threatens her local celebrity status in this dark comedy.

Crimson Peak

Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Plot: An aspiring author (Wasikowska) takes refuge in a crumbling mansion with her new husband (Hiddleston) and his sister (Chastain) in the horror auteur's gothic romance.

Experimenter

Stars: Winona Ryder, Peter Sarsgaard, Jim Gaffigan

Director: Michael Almereyda

Plot: A social psychologist (Sarsgaard) conducts experiments testing humans' willingness to obey authority in this '60s drama.

Trailer: 'Goosebumps'

In the film 'Goosebumps,' Jack Black plays R.L. Stine, whose book series comes to life.

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Goosebumps

Stars: Jack Black, Odeya Rush, Ken Marino

Director: Rob Letterman

Plot: A teen (Dylan Minnette) teams up with the girl-next-door (Rush) and her mysterious dad, R.L. Stine (Black), when the monsters from his horror novels spring to life.

James White

Stars: Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi

Director: Josh Mond

Plot: A young man (Abbott) tries to take control of his life as his mother (Nixon) battles a serious illness.

Room

Stars: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, William H. Macy

Director: Lenny Abrahamson

Plot: A 5-year-old boy (Tremblay) grows up in a small room, where he's being held captive with his mom (Larson).

Woodlawn

Stars: Sean Astin, Jon Voight, C. Thomas Howell

Directors: Andrew and Jon Erwin

Plot: A newly integrated Alabama school is united through religion and football in this real-life story, which chronicles the rise of African-American player Tony Nathan (Caleb Castille).

OCT. 23

Burnt

Stars: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Daniel Bruhl

Director: John Wells

Plot: A misbehaving, Michelin-rated chef (Cooper) cleans up his act after losing his job, attempting to start over with a new restaurant in London.

I Smile Back

Stars: Sarah Silverman, Josh Charles, Thomas Sadoski

Director: Adam Salky

Plot: A mother's (Silverman) depression and compulsive behavior threaten to tear apart her family.

Trailer: 'Jem and the Holograms'

This is not the Jem that '80s kids grew up with. This modern-day adaptation of 'Jem and the Holograms' is a coming-of-age story about a teen reluctantly thrown into the spotlight after achieving Internet fame.

Jem and the Holograms

Stars: Molly Ringwald, Juliette Lewis, Stefanie Scott

Director: Jon M. Chu

Plot: A small-town girl (Aubrey Peeples) becomes a superstar in this big-screen revival of the '80s animated TV series.

The Last Witch Hunter

Stars:  Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Michael Caine

Director: Breck Eisner

Plot: A witch hunter (Diesel) teams with an enchantress (Leslie) to squelch a witch uprising in modern-day New York.

Trailer: 'Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension'

In 'Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,' a family finds strange tapes in their new home.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

Stars: Olivia Taylor Dudley, Chloe Csengery, Maria Olsen, Brit Shaw

Director: Gregory Plotkin

Plot: In the sixth and supposedly last installment of the low-budget horror franchise, a family moves into a house haunted by supernatural forces.

Rock the Kasbah

Stars: Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Kate Hudson

Director: Barry Levinson

Plot: A has-been rock manager (Bill Murray) discovers a young girl with a remarkable voice while on tour in Afghanistan, shepherding her through the country's version of American Idol.

Trailer: 'Suffragette'

The struggles of the British women's suffrage movement are brought to the big screen in 'Suffragette.' Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep and Helena Bonham Carter star.

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Suffragette

Stars: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham-Carter, Meryl Streep

Director: Sarah Gavron

Plot: A factory worker (Mulligan) joins the women's suffrage movement at the turn of the 20th century in England.

OCT. 30

Our Brand Is Crisis

Stars: Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Mackie

Director: David Gordon Green

Plot: A political strategist (Bullock) comes out of self-imposed retirement when she's recruited by a flailing Bolivian presidential candidate.

Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

Stars: Tye Sheridan, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Halston Sage

Director: Christopher Landon

Plot: A trio of Boy Scouts try to save their town from a zombie outbreak in this horror comedy.