1998 was a genuinely magical year for witch stories on screen. Within the span of about two weeks that fall, audiences got a big-screen romantic fantasy, a Disney Channel original that became a Halloween staple, and a prime-time network series that would run for eight seasons.
Together, Practical Magic, Halloweentown, and Charmed gave viewers three very different takes on women discovering (or rediscovering) their power, and the cultural appetite for that kind of story felt electric.
Practical Magic follows sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, who come from a long line of witches cursed so that any man they fall in love with will die. After years of trying to live ordinary lives, a dangerous situation forces them to lean on each other and their family’s magic.
Halloweentown, a Disney Channel Original Movie, centers on 13-year-old Marnie, who learns her grandmother is from a parallel town filled with witches, vampires, and other Halloween creatures. When the town comes under threat, Marnie and her siblings step up to help save it.
Charmed follows the Halliwell sisters, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe, who reunite after their grandmother’s death and discover they are the Charmed Ones, the most powerful witches of all time, destined to protect innocents from demons and warlocks.
What made 1998 feel special was the range: a glossy Hollywood film with star power and a love story at its center, a family-friendly Disney movie that introduced a whole generation to cozy seasonal magic, and a weekly series that let witchy sisterhood and supernatural battles play out over years.
The three projects arrived close enough together that it almost felt like a coordinated moment, even though they weren’t. It remains one of the richest stretches of witch-centric entertainment we’ve had, and plenty of people who grew up with that fall still wish we could get another concentrated burst of practical magic, Halloween towns, and charmed sisterhood on screen.
