October is my favorite month of the year. More than any other it feels like a powerfully liminal phase, a time straddled between two worlds.
Of course the government's kind of messed up the effect by extending daylight savings time into friggin' November, but there's still plenty of magic to be had.
October also seems to be a more community-oriented time, which is probably triggered by ancient memories of the harvest and coming darkness of winter. It harks back to a time when survival relied on cooperation, which adds to its magic.
It's also probably why Halloween and horror movies have such an appeal. We can see the cycles of death and rebirth play out before our eyes, and the pantomimes of fear act as an inoculant against the unknown dangers that winter brought to our ancestors.
In that light, let me offer up a selection of recommendations of classic spookers to watch while you await the parade of trick-or-treaters. These older flicks just seem to meld with the vibe, probably because they trade more in mood and atmosphere rather than gore and jump scares.
You can also pick from this Halloween horror list I put up two years ago
By the way, Dunwich Horror is dumb as a post and more than a little cringe, but that just makes it all the more festive as a Samhain cinematic pick.• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Before we start, don't forget: The Spandex Files is on sale now!
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If you want another Sixties screamer in a Lovecraftian vein, there's always The Shuttered Room, based on a short story written by the old creeper and August Derleth (which is a totally metal name for a horror writer). It has the bonus feature of peak-pretty Carol Lynley, worth the price of admission alone.
Bonus real-world horror: Co-star Gig Young killed his wife and then himself in a New York hotel room in 1978. He'd been under the care of super-sketchy headshrinker, Eugene Landy, so do the math.
The Sentinel isn't exactly The Exorcist (which it's clearly inspired by) but is a neat little time capsule of its era, as well as a hearty helping of good, cheesy fun. You also get Burgess Meredith noshing on every square micron of scenery and early appearances by Christopher Walken and Jeff Goldblum. How can you go wrong?
You can't.
It wouldn't be Halloween without a little Christopher Lee, and The Devil Rides Out - based on the Dennis Wheatley novel - has got you covered. It also springs from a time when horror was a bit more Manichaean in intent. Meaning it was ultimately about the triumph of Good over Evil.
In movies, Aleister Crowley groupies are formidable figures operating in the shadows. In real life, Aleister Crowley groupies are mostly a bunch of dumpy sexpests and cringey sickos. Niall MacGinnis plays "Julian Carswell" (based on the Great Beast ShitShitShit) more fitting to the latter and more realistic category. It's also got one hell of a monster in it.
Based on the M.R. James short story, "Casting the Runes."
I can think of two very good reasons to watch Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, in addition to it being an adaption of Bram Stoker's Jewel of the Seven Stars and it starring my favorite Quatermass.
Not a world-beater by any stretch - Hammer was kind of running on fumes at the time - but a lot of goofy Egyptological fun.
This surprising-scary TV film clearly influenced Mike Flanagan, especially on The Haunting of Hill House. Kim Darby is always excellent, and is perfectly cast here as a mentally-fragile housewife succumbing to the siren songs of creatures straight out of a John Keel potboiler.
That's Timothy Hutton's dad as the husband, by the way.
We recently did a livestream on folk horror at the SSI, and this forgotten classic is a top-notch entry in the genre. That's a young, pre-Toto Rosanna Arquette as the asthmatic daughter and Bette Davis as the village matriarch.
Stephen King is an absolute tool and a shameless bootlicker - and his yarns can get maybe more than vaguely creepy when it comes to the young'uns - but once upon a time he wrote some great pulp horror before he lost his goddamn mind.
The TV take on Salem's Lot is a terror classic, so enjoy it now before the ravenous lampreys of current-year Hollywoke ruin it.
And also don't forget that The Endless American Midnight is finally available on Kindle. A lot of folks have asked me to do so and I'm happy to say that their ship has finally come in.You can get it here in the US, here in the UK, here in Canada, here in Australia and here in Germany.
