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.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Hocus Pocus 2.
Why Allison Is A Witch In Hocus Pocus
There’s Specific Imagery Associated With Allison’s 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. Hooded cloaks are warn by witches, and children pretending to be witches, and Allison.
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.
Allison’s 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.
Allison Kept Souvenirs Of Her Experience
Fans of the movie who waited patiently for the Disney Plus sequel might be interested to know that one already existed - in book form. For the 25th anniversary of the movie, Disney’s press published the original Hocus Pocus story in novel form as well as a sequel that is very different from the sequel movie. The Hocus Pocus sequel novel gives 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?
Allison Is “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.
Allison 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.
Allison 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.
Allison Used Salt As A Weapon, Not Just A Protective Circle
One of the reasons so many fans saw Allison as one of the best Hocus Pocus characters was because she took a proactive approach to going up against the witches. 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?
Why Allison Is Not A Witch In Hocus Pocus
Allison’s 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.
Allison 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.
Allison 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.
Allison Was Able To Walk In The Graveyard
Binx pointed out that witches are unable to walk on the ground in a graveyard. He cited 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. Of course, the movie sequel didn’t give a definitive answer on whether all witches cannot set foot on hallowed ground since Becca never makes it into a graveyard in Hocus Pocus 2.
The Broom Allison Handled 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 Sanderson 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?
Allison’s 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.
Allison Never Actually Used Magic/A Spell
There are a lot of details easy to miss in Hocus Pocus, but one of those details isn’t Allison’s lack of spell usage. The biggest argument in favor of Allison not being a witch is that the audience was never shown her doing anything extraordinary. All of her witchy evidence is circumstantial.
Everything can easily be explained 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.
Allison Never Accidentally Manifests Magic
One aspect of being a witch in the Hocus Pocus movie sequel was that witches begin to manifest their magic on their 16th birthday. It happened to Becca without her realizing as her latent magic actually allowed her to combat the Sanderson sisters more fully.
Allison never showsed exactly the same signs as Becca. Though she did use salt as a weapon, it never formed a fully protective shield like it did for Becca. She’s also never able to produce light or sparks from her fingertips. Fans of the theory that Allison is a witch might argue that she’s older than 16 and is more in control of what she’s doing, but it’s more likely that Allison is not really a witch in Hocus Pocus.
