Hocus Pocus: 7 Reasons Allison Was Really A Witch (& 8 Reason She Wasn’t)
We still love the 1993 movie Hocus Pocus, including the character Allison. We're weighing whether she was really a witch or not.
Hocus Pocus put a spell on kids and parents alike in 1993 when it landed in theaters. Over 25 years later, it’s become a staple of the Halloween season for twenty and thirty-somethings who grew up watching the movie. Adults still love watching Max, Dani, and Allison battle the Sanderson sisters for a Halloween adventure.
One theory that longtime fans have tossed around the internet for the last few years is that there was more to Allison than there seemed. Some fans think the Sanderson sisters weren’t the only witches in the movie, but that Allison, and potentially more of her family, were witches as well. There’s a lot of evidence to look through.
Updated on November 20, 2020 By Amanda Bruce: With a sequel to the original movie on the way, fans are just as interested in whether or not Allison has a witchy history as ever. Thanks to the movie's novelization (and its sequel), there's a lot more information out there about Allison than fans might realize.
15) No: Her Family May Have Persecuted Witches
The audience didn't learn a lot about Allison's family, but there are a few interesting points to pick up on thanks to their massive Halloween party. Her family is wealthy and well established in the town. They also host a huge Halloween party with a seemingly historic theme every year. That's led to a lot of speculation from fans that her ancestors were likely in Salem during the witch trials, and that they might have even been part of the group of townspeople persecuting them. That could be why they're so well versed in local lore.
14) Yes: There's Specific Imagery Associated With Her Wardrobe
During one of Allison's early interactions with Max, she pulled her hood up to cover her head while leaving school. Fans might have noticed that particular look echoed later in the movie - by Mary Sanderson. Outside of that initial red outfit, Allison spent the rest of the movie in white. Her dress for the Halloween party and her sweater both saw her donning white. Winifred referenced her as a "clever little white witch" as well. That idea gave the impression that if Allison was a witch, perhaps she was a good witch.
13) No: She Had No Idea How To Help Binx
Though Allison knew the story of what happened to Binx, and she even got to hear the story again from him first hand, she didn't understand how his curse worked. If Allison was actually a witch, she'd probably have at least a minimal understanding of how Binx being cursed by the Sanderson sisters would go. After she thought they defeated the sisters, Allison tried to find a way to help him in the spellbook, but completely skipped over the actual spell used to curse him. If she was a witch, there was a bit of a disconnect there.
12) Yes: She Kept Souvenirs Of Her Experience
Fans of the movie who have been waiting for a sequel might be interested to know that one already exists - in book form. The sequel novel gave fans a chance to see how the characters end up two decades after the events of the original movie.
One of the details revealed in the book was that Allison kept certain items from that fateful Halloween night. One of those items was the black flame candle used to bring the Sanderson sisters back to life. Instead of getting rid of it or destroying it, she hid it away in her attic, supposedly to keep anyone else from using it, but who really knows?
11) No: She Didn't See The Book Glow
Though Allison was extremely intelligent and well-versed in witchy information, she didn't notice one vital thing. When the book was opened to reveal spells on the pages, she didn't see the magical glow produced by the book. That glow was clearly visible to Winifred, Mary, and Sarah from across town. If Allison had any kind of magical ability, she would have noticed the glow with the book right in front of her.
10) Yes: Her Family Ran The Sanderson Museum
The entire reason Allison, Max, and Dani head out to the old Sanderson house is because Allison could get them in. Her mother used to run the museum there, and apparently the family still had access to it. What’s most interesting about this is that so much of what the Sanderson sisters owned in 1693 was still perfectly preserved, right down to the broomstick hanging near the ceiling. Sarah’s “lucky rat tail” was even still in place. While it’s true that museum staff would want to restore as much as possible, it seems unlikely that so much would be preserved so well for so long. It makes sense if other witches kept it safe for the eventual return of the Sandersons.
9) No: She’s Able To Walk In The Graveyard
Binx pointed out that witches are unable to walk on the ground in a graveyard. He cites it as “hallowed ground,” the same reason a lot of novelists determine vampires can’t go into churches. When Winifred did step onto the ground for more than a few seconds, she slowly turned to stone. Allison, however, had no problem walking through the graveyard. She spent a good chunk of the final confrontation on the ground trying to fight off the Sanderson sisters with no indication that she was struggling to keep herself from turning to stone.
8) Yes: She’s “Really Into Witches”
One of the first things the Hocus Pocus audience learned about Allison was that Halloween was her jam. She knew the holiday’s history and the history of the Sanderson sisters. Allison’s explanation was that she’s “really into witches” when she met Dani Dennison. Allison finding witches interesting is a perfectly reasonable part of her character, especially since she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, where women were persecuted for the possibility in 1692. Just having an interest isn’t enough to make her a witch, but it certainly adds to the other evidence.
7) No: The Broom She Handles Didn’t Fly
Allison handled multiple brooms in the movie, but there was never any indication that she could fly one. Instead, she repeatedly used brooms as a weapon to hit the witches with, trying to knock them off their balance. However, when Winifred, Mary, and Sarah used their brooms, launching into the sky was accompanied by a particular sound effect. Their brooms were taken by trick-or-treaters during their visit to their “master,” and the same sound effect was used as the little girls took the brooms off-screen. It stands to reason that the brooms themselves might have been magic, and Allison wouldn’t necessarily have needed to be a witch to use one. So, why didn’t the broom in the Sanderson house make the same sound effect for her?
6) Yes: She Knew When Something Wasn’t Right
When Allison and Max came up with the plan to overheat the Sanderson sisters, they locked them in the school’s kiln. While the teens, Dani, and Binx all celebrate after the fact, Allison still thought out loud that “something isn’t right.” Even when getting ready to leave the Dennison house, she stopped as though she could sense the presence of the Sanderson sisters. Max wasn’t phased, even though the trio was sneaking into the house to take Dani. It always seemed like Allison had a bit more intuition than the other characters did.
5) No: Her Plans For Defeating The Witches Never Worked
If Allison was a witch, she certainly wasn’t very good at defeating other witches. She was the one who came up with quite a few of the plans to stop Winifred and her sisters. They didn’t really go the way she wanted. It was Allison who had the idea to lead the sisters into the kiln. Allison also used the car to simulate a sunrise and led the way when it came to protecting Dani with salt in the graveyard. None of those plans worked out the way she and Max thought they would - though they did all buy them time.
4) Yes: She Wanted To Read Winifred’s Spell Book
One common bit of evidence among fans was that Allison couldn’t get her hands on Winifred’s book fast enough. The book seemed to have a particular loyalty to Winifred, and Binx repeatedly told Max and Allison not to open it, no matter how much they thought it might help them. As soon as the witches were supposedly defeated, and Binx was taking a cat nap, Allison convinced Max they should look inside. It’s not clear just how much she got to look at since she only told Max about the details of protective circles of salt, but she certainly flipped through more than just one page.
3) No: She Never Actually Used Magic/A Spell
The biggest argument in favor of Allison not being a witch is that we’re never shown her doing anything extraordinary. All of her witchy evidence is circumstantial. We can easily explain everything away as a logical choice, as her being naturally curious, or her having special interests. She never used magic the way Winifred did or even recited a spell like Mary and Sarah did.
2) Yes: She Used Salt As A Weapon, Not Just A Protective Circle
When Allison decided to look through Winifred’s spellbook, she discovered that salt could be used to form a protective circle around a potential witch’s victim. Allison took that idea a step further when she used the salt. Yes, Allison used the salt to create circles around both Max and Dani at different points. She also, however, used the salt as an offensive weapon, something not detailed in the passage she read in the book. Allison literally threw salt at witches to keep them away. Was it just the salt that did the trick, Allison’s belief that the salt would work, or maybe a little magic inside of her?
1) No: Allison Isn’t Evil
If there’s one thing clear in Hocus Pocus, it’s that the witches in it don’t exist in shades of grey. Despite Winifred calling Allison a “clever little white witch” at one point in the movie, the movie only paints witches as evil.
Allison was about as far from evil as the movie could get. She hung out with Max despite rejecting his advances, took his little sister under her wing, and tried to help save her life instead of running away. At no point did Allison take advantage of the situation or wash her hands of everything. The Sanderson sisters, on the other hand, existed at the opposite end of the spectrum as the clear example of “witch” for the story. They couldn’t be more different than Allison.
Allison is A Witch
A Hocus Pocus fan theory suggests that protagonist Allison is secretly a witch the entire time in the cult classic Halloween movie.
It's October, which means horror films and Halloween-themed movies are dominating television sets all over the world. One film in particular tends to get significant watch-time during the Halloween season, and that is none other than Disney's cult-classic comedy film Hocus Pocus.
Hocus Pocus has become an annual Halloween tradition in many households, and with it available to stream on the Disney+ subscription service, it's safe to say that tradition will continue for many. And while Hocus Pocus fans re-watch the movie this year, they may want to do so with an interesting fan theory in mind that potentially changes the entire context of the plot.
While it's not a new idea, there is an interesting theory that Allison from Hocus Pocus, one of the film's protagonists and the love interest of main character Max, is more than she seems. In fact, she may very well be a witch herself, and there is some compelling evidence that points in that direction.
The Masquerade Party
When Hocus Pocus viewers first meet Allison, it's during a scene at Max's school, where the class is learning about the legend of the villainous Sanderson sisters and the lore behind it. Max, having just moved to Salem from California, dismisses the Sanderson sisters legend and doesn't take it seriously, instead using his time in class to try to flirt with Allison. Max's attempt to pick up Allison is a surprisingly bold move, especially since he's the new kid in school, but there may be an explanation for that behavior that we'll explain in a bit.
In any case, Allison rejects Max's advances, but the two cross paths later when Max conveniently stumbles into a Halloween party at Allison's house. The party is a strange masquerade-style affair where a ton of people are walking around in similar-looking Victorian-era costumes and masks. No one at the party, besides Allison, acknowledges the arrival of Max or his younger sister Dani, and the party itself seems bizarre.
The implication seems to be that Allison's family is part of some kind of secret group or society, maybe all being direct descendants of the Salem townspeople who originally killed the Sanderson sisters. It's revealed at this party that Allison's family actually owns the Sanderson sisters' house and used to run it as a museum, implying that Allison's family has an even closer connection to the situation than she may let on.
White Witch
Much later in the film, after the protagonists believe that the witches have been successfully defeated, Allison takes a look at Winifred's spellbook, despite Binx's warnings. If Allison is a regular human being with no magical abilities of any kind, there's no real reason for her to look through the spellbook to begin with, implying that she may have something to gain from flipping through its pages.
Allison opening Winifred's spellbook alerts the Sanderson sisters to the group's location, resulting in Dani being kidnapped. But when they arrive, Allison is able to use some knowledge she got from the book against them, utilizing salt to protect herself and Max, while also using it as a weapon.
During this encounter, Sarah Jessica Parker's character Sarah Sanderson calls Allison a "white witch." If nothing else, this at least confirms that benevolent white witches may exist in the Hocus Pocus universe, and so while Allison herself may not necessarily be a witch, perhaps her family has some connection to them.
Black Flame Candle
But if Allison is secretly a witch, perhaps she is the one that set the entire film's events in motion, and in an effort to do away with the Sanderson curse once and for all. We never see Allison do any kind of magic on-screen, but the theory goes that she possibly put a spell on Max to make him enamored with her, as well as get him to light the Black Flame Candle.
The Black Flame Candle is what resurrects the Sanderson sisters to begin with, and it's what gives the protagonists the opportunity to get rid of them once and for all. The Sanderson sisters are clearly able to use mind control-like magic, and so maybe that's what Allison did with Max. This would explain Max's dumber decisions throughout the movie, at the very least.
Of course, it's possible that fans are looking a bit too much into this, and that Allison is just as she seems. After all, there is far more evidence that Allison isn't a witch than evidence that she is, but it's a fun theory to think about nevertheless. Perhaps if the Hocus Pocus sequel ever materializes, fans will learn more about Allison, and maybe they will get more satisfying answers to some of the first film's lingering questions.
