Fall’s chill was in the air for a few days, but now we’re back in the 80s for the afternoon temp. The leaves are still falling, but it isn’t very fall-like. All the Christmas displays in the stores and Christmas commercials really take the bite of the Halloween season, too. What the actual Hell?

This is why we must fight back with horror! Read a good creepy book or watch a scary movie! Fight for the season!

Okay, I won’t try to be the haunted general leading you to battle, but I will share a few films I’ve been enjoying this Halloween season. I know my viewing habits are the same all year round, but here are the movies I’ve made sure to view this year.

1. Event Horizon– Yeah, some people call it a Sci-Fi flick, but its roots are straight-up horror. When an experimental spacecraft reappears after going missing on its maiden voyage, a rescue crew must grapple with the evil awaiting them on the abandoned craft. The ship is the creepy winner of the film, but the amazing cast playing it straight-up gives the movie an ominous sense of dread. I always thought of this as a Hellraiser story in space.
2. The Witch– This movie is a slow-burn classic. The building tension in the outcast family is wonderfully done and explored. This movie isn’t for everyone due to the slow build-up, but the ending is worth the wait. Was it all in their heads? Was the situation brought about by mold in the crops? Was it supernatural? Viewers can make their own decision, but it leaves plenty to think about after taking it in.
3. In the Mouth of Madness– In the Pantheon of John Carpenter flicks, this one is next in line after Halloween. This movie is Sam Neill at his best while he travels to a nightmare world straight out of H.P. Lovecraft. He plays an insurance investigator who is sent to find missing best-selling author Sutter Cane. Neill’s John Trent believes it is a publicity stunt for Cane’s upcoming book, but soon finds himself lost in a town straight from Lovecraft lore. Neill also finds himself examining what makes Cane’s books addictive to his horde of readers. You may find yourself asking, “Do you read Sutter Cane?”
4. Dracula– Nothing new here, this is the Bela Lugosi classic I’m talking about. I love the old Universal Monster movies, and Drac is the top of the dark mountain. Lugosi is at his best, and he unfortunately never gets his career out of Dracula’s vampiric shadow. That is how good and influential the original is to cinema.
5. The Omen– The anti-Christ is born, what more can you say? The movie is a classic, and it’s one of my favorites to watch a few times a year. The other two films in the trilogy are good, but not quite in the same ballpark as the first one. There was a fourth movie that we shall speak of, and a remake. Is Damian really the anti-Christ or is his lineage a delusion of fanatical minds? You can wonder about it early on, but as things progress, there is no doubt who his daddy is.

Okay gang, I’m going to stop at five, because I could go on for hours about horror films. I know some will think I left some good classics off the table, but we have to leave some stuff for the rest of the year! What are some of your go-to movies in October and beyond?

Well, I need to get back to the two novels, the secret project, and shopping some tales. Stay safe and be kind to each other!

From the office next door to the evil chickens,

Brent