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.