Scary Stuff, Kids - Ramping Up for Halloween

'Tis the season for witches and hauntings, black cats and devils, and all manner of creepy and spooky beings. It's October, when on the 31st day we celebrate All Hallows' Eve, more commonly known as Halloween. For the youngsters, it's a time for costumes and parties and decorating and trick-or-treating. For the older kids and grown-ups, there may still be variations in those same activities, but many of us (like me) simplify the ritual to just watching scary movies. 

My two Universal Monster plastic model kits - Drac and

Wolfie - from when I was a kid... still holding up!

I watch horror movies all year long. If you've read some of my other posts, you already know that I'm a fan of the genre. Ever since I was a little kid, when I first stumbled upon Frankenstein and Dracula on TV, I have adored films that frighten. My fascination extended to literature, though not extensively. As a young teen, I read Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I remember reading a few books about the folklore of vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Of course, one Stephen King came to my attention back in the 70's. I was drawn to his movies and books for a while. And as an adult I read several of Anne Rice's and Nancy Baker's horror novels, plus a smattering of other supernatural books... collections of short stories and so forth. I suppose the most recent tales that gripped me were The Historian (a very cool modern day hunt for Dracula) and The Demonologist (a spine-tingler that I'll re-read often). 

Back on the movie side of things.... ever since the mid-1990's, I have been amassing a collection of films on home video. Of course, back then videotapes were still in vogue, so I grabbed everything I could find, horror and otherwise, to build a library of favourites. When the DVD format came along, I decided not to become an early adopter, instead buying at cut-rate prices all the VHS tapes my friend was selling off as he upgraded to disc. This was how I gathered together an impressive set of the best horror films of all time, stretching from the early days of cinema (1920's) until present day. Eventually, I did the same as my friend, and I sold off my tapes as I upgraded to disc, both DVD and Blu-ray.

A few of my old VHS tapes... still hanging onto them since some

are scarce on DVD, and are actually worth something

This October, as with every October, I itch to add something new to my shelves of horrific viewing material. I took care of that shopping early so that I'd have things to watch during the month... a disc of old Twilight Zone TV episodes (including The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, and Nightmare at 20,000 Feet - starring Bill Shatner) and a set of five 1950's sci-fi chiller B-movies. When those collections of fun drive-in oldies are so reasonably priced, I can't help myself... it's only a few bucks per movie, and I can enjoy them over and over again.

I even go so far as to program my horror viewing for October, not designating a certain film for a certain day, but selecting and making a list of flicks to choose from whenever I'm ready to watch something... right on up until Halloween night. Out of that bunch, I pull a core of favourites that I'll want to see on the final days leading up to the 31st, and finally one or two of my best-loved movies for the big night. Very often, I choose The Wolf Man (the 1941 classic starring Lon Chaney Jr) for that evening. As a kid, I loved those old Universal monster movies, and I still do. Even if they aren't exactly scary, they are loads of fun in a nostalgic way, very atmospheric, and I can appreciate the craftsmanship that went into producing those cinematic gems. I believe that I'll put on The Wolf Man again this year, with that Twilight Zone episode about poor Shatner as a warm-up to the main feature. Yes, there will be popcorn or chips, or both. 

Universal Studios Monsters... cookies???

I ate 'em (not great) and kept the cool box.

Since I have many shelves of film history at my fingertips, I do re-watch a lot of movies. Within the horror genre, I certainly have favourites that I gravitate to at least once if not twice a year. For this October, I've picked out some of those faves, plus some stuff I'm less familiar with, both modern and older. Plus I plan to watch some old Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, and Thriller episodes as warm-ups to the main features. Some of my key choices this year are:

The Awakening (on Netflix.... already watched it... pretty good ghost story)
The Lodger (watched it.... a great 1944 re-imagining of the Jack the Ripper tale)
Cult of the Cobra (one of those fun and crazy 50's B-movies.... already watched it)
The Leech Woman (watched it... rather awful 50's B-movie, but still watchable)
The Land Unknown (watched it... infamous for its cheap visual effects and rather a fun time!)
Vampire Circus (watched it.... a Hammer film, not great, but cool in its weird & bloody way)
Midnight Son (watched it... a very effective '11 film with a neat spin on the vampire concept)
The Blob (the 1958 original... I barely remember it, but it's a B-movie standard)
Repulsion (director Polanski's 2nd film... a young woman goes mad, all alone in an apartment)
The Invisible Man (the Claude Rains classic... more madness!)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920... stars John Barrymore, Drew's grandfather)
Nightmare, & Night Creatures (two of the lesser Hammer films)
Countess Dracula (there's no Dracula, but more of a Lady Bathory story)
one of the old Universal Mummy sequels... I'll decide later
Murders in the Rue Morgue (loosely based on the Poe tale, starring Bela Lugosi)
The Black Cat, The Raven, Black Friday (all starring good ol' Bela, two with Boris Karloff)
Carnival of Souls (didn't like this zombie flick on first watch, but I'll give it another chance)
Bell, Book and Candle (a supernatural comedy starring Jimmy Stewart)
The Mad Magician (Vincent Price in one of his more horrific roles... pretty gruesome for '54)
Under the Skin

On my final week leading up to Halloween, I'll try to check out these goodies:

The Creature Walks Among Us (this Black Lagoon sequel has really grown on me; weird & fun)
House of Dracula OR House of Frankenstein OR Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (mash-ups starring ALL the monsters)
Prometheus (yes, sci-fi, but still eerie and monster-ish... and a fave of mine)
The Howling V - The Rebirth (strangers gather at a castle, one of them a werewolf)
Pin (a bizarre 1988 Canadian thriller that fascinated me on first watch.... so, back at it)


And I believe this'll be my line-up on Halloween Eve:

The Warm-up: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (Twilight Zone episode)

Main Feature: The Wolf Man (1941)