Tag Archives: Halloween

Oh, the Horror! Films for the Fearless?!

, , , ,
Dark image of three glowing jack-o'-lanterns, which are bright orange. Picture by Kevin Segal via Unsplash.
Photo by Kevin Segal on Unsplash

The leaves are turning orange, the evenings darken at an earlier time, and pumpkins are popping up around the city. You know what that means: It’s spooky season! Admittedly, I’m not good with horror films, although sometimes I can’t tear my eyes away from the screen despite cowering behind a blanket. Since Halloween is roughly a week away, now is a good time to start putting some scary movies on hold in case you’d like to celebrate the 31st at home, if you’re up for some (or many) scares. Get some hot cocoa, get comfy in a dark room, and put on your brave face!

Below is a list of horror movies for those who are feeling a bit fearless; the recommendations range from found footage to paranormal films to slashers. What do you find scary? Killer clowns? Demonic possessions? Vampires? Scroll down to unravel what just might be your next fear, if you don’t already have one!

Continue reading →

Vampires, and Werewolves, and Frankenstein (Oh My!)

, , ,
Spooky-image-of-bottle-of-bat-wings-in-the-front-and-a-blurred-skull-candle-and-book-in-the-background

It’s that time of year again; time when the warm, long nights and the smell of barbeques in the air give way to the impending cold as we say goodbye to summer and get our first warning bells that winter is coming (unfortunately no relation to the endless wait for George R.R. Martin’s next book, but since there might be a few of you I accidentally led on, have this meme). It’s the time when all the heat-averse people start breathing sighs of relief, and I start grumbling about the cold as I prepare to hide for six months in the safety of the indoors. But I promise this is not a post about how best to hibernate, because in between the end of summer and the worst season of the year, we have the second-best season. October. Spooky Season. Halloween! And, most importantly, the season when all the quality horror movies and TV shows are slated to come out (give or take a few weeks).

I’m sure I’ve mentioned Mike Flanagan’s work (The Haunting series, Midnight Mass, Doctor Sleep, and others) countless times. He’s always been my mainstay every Spooky season, but since he jumped the Netflix ship to join the crew of Amazon, I’ve needed something else to look forward to as the weather starts turning. So, as a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro, when I heard that he’d be taking on Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel Frankenstein in his next film, I was actually okay with the inevitable end of summer. But since I missed my window to see it at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival (my wallet thanks me, though my heart does not), and I’ll have to wait until it gets its day in theatres or pops up on Netflix, I need to tide myself (and those who’ve had their interest piqued) over in the meantime. Thankfully, October also happens to be a season when classic monsters are never out of style. So, gather your plastic fangs and bedsheets because we’re going on a tour of vampires, werewolves, and Frankensteins (oh my!), and the many adaptations they’ve starred in.

Continue reading →

Summerween: When fall is so close and you need a tide-me-over

, , , , ,
New this year to my home decor, my own Pine-O-Lantern. And yes, that’s a Pennywise rubber duck beside it and yes, he floats.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of things I like about summer. The slow sunny vibes. Not having to deal with snow. The sense of vacation and rest and time spent outdoors and pools and parties. Plus strawberries (my favourite fruit).

One thing I cannot stand about summer? The heat! My gosh, the heat! If the temperature stays between 20 and 25 degrees that’s pretty perfect. Over that, especially when it’s humid out? It’s miserable and sweaty and hard to sleep in or work out in.

OK, rant over. Why am I bringing this up? Well, because as much as there’s lots to love about summer, there is, in my opinion, an even better season following it. Fall.

*happy sigh* Ah fall, my favourite. Cool breezes, beautiful colours, you can still spend time outside without melting or freezing, pumpkin spice everything, delicious food in general. And, what may be best of all, HALLOWEEN! Yes, I am a Halloween fangirl. Have been my entire life. Horror and creepy things in general are my jam, not anything too extreme though, fun scary (though your mileage may vary on that), and Halloween is when we celebrate all of it. And after a long year of snow and rain and heat, we Halloween Heads are ready to embrace it. But we have a few more weeks to go and summer can still be fun.

But did you know there’s a compromise? A way to soak in the summer sun and still feed that need for scary season? If you haven’t been properly introduced to Summerween yet allow me to be the first to do so.

Continue reading →