It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Your neighbors have covered their windows in cottony spider webs, the sweet bite of allspice and sugar coats your tongue, and the soft orange glow of plastic pumpkins makes even the darkest nights feel like home. A crisp chill beckons you out the door past sunset, where shadows multiply and any noise cuts through the gloom straight to your heart. Skulking the streets you pass inflatable witches and bedsheet ghosts until a mélange of sounds draw you down a crooked little alley. The slice of a knife through thick meat, the groan of a ghoul come to life, and the scream of a pure hearted victim mingle in the air, beckoning you down cold steps into a dank ritual space where your deepest fears are projected brazenly upon the wall. And who am I? I’m the proprietor of this fine establishment, think of me as the conductor of your nightmares and the maestro of your dreams. If you would give me the honor of directing your October, I can guarantee one thing: You’re in for a scare.

What follows is your challenge, 31 days and 31 films. From real life dangers to psychedelic scares, I’ll guide you through it all. Just don’t forget to 1. Check your fears at the door and 2. Study last year’s list for any interesting alternatives.

October 1: Clown in a Cornfield (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

It’s exactly what it says on the tin, and you have to love that. Based on a YA novel (and I recommend the first one in the series, it’s a very fun and quick read), Clown in a Cornfield is your perfect intro to the Halloween season. This spooky but not too spooky movie follows a group of teenagers in a small town that has a creepy clown mascot and a gaggle of adults who aren’t quite what they seem. When bullets start flying at a kegger deep in the corn, our teen heroes have to fight their way out, or die trying.

October 2: Mind Body Spirit (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

For those of us who have always wanted to be jump scared by Yoga with Adrienne, Mind Body Spirit is here to answer our collective prayer. This found footage ditty follows a calm and collected wannabe yoga influencer as she finds her footing in the YouTube world and also happens to find a book of spells left by her dead grandmother. Would it surprise you if I tell you things go awry from there? This is the perfect flick to watch with your friend who only reads self help books (or with your dead grandmother, if she’s available).

October 3: Starve Acre (watch it on Kanopy)

Calling all Doctor Who fans (or The Crown fans?), this folk horror flick features dream boat Matt Smith as a difficult dad with a fantastic hair cut who lives on a haunted parcel of land in a town with some interesting customs and a family who must pay the price. Seriously though, if you appreciate a weird slow burn, Starve Acre will serve you well as its scares are the kind that build slowly as the movie inches onward. Just don’t let Dandelion Jack draw you out with his eerie whistling.

October 4: Ichi the Killer (watch it on Tubi)

I don’t know about you, but I watched a lot of Japanese horror movies this summer and they completely reinvigorated my love of the genre. I haven’t included all of the J-horror films I’ve watched on this list, but I have worked in a few of my favorites, starting with the slick, gory, and sexually deviant stunner Ichi the Killer. This yakuza v. yakuza movie by the singular Takashi Miike is a stylish and sensual walk on the darkside, with the charismatic and fucked up Ichi as your Joker-esque guide. Show this to your friend who lists Fight Club, American Psycho, and Taxi Driver in their Letterboxd top four and I can guarantee that Ichi will work his way into that last slot.

October 5: The Pope’s Exorcist (watch it on Hulu)

After all of those surreal, gory, and surprisingly depressing movies, you’re going to need something that lifts your spirits and reminds you how weird the catholic church is, and The Pope’s Exorcist can do all of those in one delightful package! When shit hits the fan and the demons get too real, there’s only one man the pope can trust and it’s a Vespa wielding Russel Crowe. If you like your demonic possessions with a little heart and a lot of levity, look no further. It’s also based off of a series of books (and I’ve heard they’re good).

October 6: Curse of Aurore (watch it on Tubi)

There is nothing I love more than a low budget found footage horror movie. I slurp those suckers up like they’re going out of style, and of the found footage gems I’ve watched this year, I truly enjoyed Curse of Aurore. I wouldn’t say it’s bucking any trends, but it’s a solidly creepy little flick set in the Canadian countryside that follows a trio of filmmakers investigating the murder of a little girl. As they get closer to the truth, things become more paranormal. If you liked the background scares of Ghostwatch, you can’t miss this one.

October 7: Demons (watch it on Tubi)

The first time I saw this movie, I was drinking a dark and stormy at a dive bar called Deadbeats in Providence, Rhode Island. The sound was off (because Chat Pile was playing over the speaker) but the subtitles were on and I still had one hell of a good time. The second time I saw this movie was a week later when I was watching it in my living room. That’s the power of Demons, you get a little sniff of this 80s Italian zombie classic and you just can’t let it go. Tease your hair, put on some heavy metal and let the mind meld of Mario Bava and Dario Argento take you away.

October 8: Daddy’s Head (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

How could you ignore a movie called Daddy’s Head? It’s title is too messed up and evocative! Its plot is too sad and weird! To give you the rundown, this British flick follows a stepmom and her fraught relationship with her stepson after the death of her husband/his father. Grief is tough enough, but when it seems like her dead husband hasn’t completely left the building, things get weirder. There are weird lights and strange sounds, and truly upsetting creatures wandering around the woods. But don’t be too worried, daddy’s head is here.

October 9: Ringu (watch it on Kanopy)

I know, I know, we were traumatized by the American remake of The Ring in 2002, but what that movie packs in pure scares, the Japanese version makes up for in pure romance. And by that I mean, Ringu is as much about love as it is about evil VHS curses. So invite a date over and hold them tight, after all, you’ll only have seven days after Samara is done with you (and goddamn that scene still hits hard all these years later).

October 10: Fréwaka (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

Immerse yourself in some creepy, folky Irish horror with Fréwaka. When a woman who is fresh off of the death of her freaky deaky mother heads out to the countryside to care for an elderly woman, she thinks she’s breaking away from the horror of her youth, but instead, she’s diving headfirst into a town where nothing is as it seems. Due to this film’s lush and ritualistic imagery, I often think about the house under the house. It’s featured prominently in a few of my dreams (and/or nightmares).

October 11: El Conde (watch it on Netflix)

You probably haven’t thought about this before… but sometimes history is the real horror! Sometimes true life is scarier than fiction! And in the world of El Conde, that means that Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet isn’t just scary because of his real life crimes, he’s also… a vampire! In all seriousness, this black and white black comedy was really engaging and strange in a way that made it more enjoyable than its paper thin premise. Pablo Larraín delivers something both silly and foreboding in equal measure. Watch it with your most politically active friend.

October 12: Red Rooms (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

If you’re familiar with the quote unquote horror community, you’ve probably already seen Red Rooms and have a strong opinion on whether or not it lived up to the hype. But I write this calendar for the casual fans who just want to inject a little creepiness into their month, and if that’s you, I think you should check it out. My favorite kind of movie is a pretty fucked up movie, so this flick about a woman who hangs out on the dark web and is obsessed with the high profile trial of a serial killer didn’t quite hit my high water mark, but I still think it’s a great and weird film that will send a chill down your spine. If you’d like to dip your toe into cinema with more transgressive themes and imagery, I think this is a great place to start.

October 13: The Coffee Table (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

I read online that you should go into The Coffee Table blind, so I went into it like a newborn baby, with no idea what was going to happen and with my eyes open to all of the wonders around me. I’m going to suggest you do the same, but I’m going to warn you that this movie is a bad time and a stress-a-thon. You will be on the edge of your seat the entire time and you will not like it (I mean that as a compliment).

October 14: 28 Days Later (watch it on Netflix)

Zombies are back, baby!!! 28 Years Later did double platinum in my mind and heart and while I cannot wait to see what happens with the second 28 Years Later film (it’s gonna be a trilogy in case you didn’t know), I will be jamming out to the original 28 Days Later like it’s going out of style. This very british apocalyptic zombie movie scared the pants off me when I was a teen and it will scare you too (that’s a money back guarantee).

October 15: Best Wishes to All (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

Best Wishes To All was part of my personal J-horror curriculum this summer, but even if you’re not into that genre specifically, this film is a fun one for anyone who loves a twisted family tale. This eerie story follows a bright young college student as she heads out into the countryside to spend some quality time with her grandparents. As is the case with most horror movies, things aren’t quite what they seem and sometimes the fears of your childhood take on a whole different light when you’re old enough to actually understand what’s going on (for better or for worse). You’re going to want to call your grandparents before you watch this movie, not after.

October 16: Black Mountain Side (watch it on Tubi)

There is an unintentional vein of Canadian horror movies running through my calendar this year, but you have to give credit where credit is due, sometimes our neighbors really know how to make them. If you’re a super freak about Carpenter’s The Thing, you’re going to love Black Mountain Side as it’s basically also The Thing! Don’t get me wrong, it has some of its own tricks up its sleeve, but this chilly horror definitely pays homage to all of the freaky stuff about isolation that Carpenter was illustrating with his masterpiece. Look, there’s nothing wrong with wearing your inspiration on your sleeve. What this with your friend who loves to camp and enjoy freaking them out and ruining their solo plans.

October 17: The Devil’s Bath (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

I am a huge fan of the aunt/nephew directing team that is Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. If they make a movie, I’m going to see it because they’re always cooking up something truly insane and twisted. From Goodnight Mommy to The Lodge, they know how to ratchet up the tension and set their audience on edge. The Devil’s Bath is their folk horror foray and it is as upsetting as it should be. Set in 1750, the film follows an unhappy recently wedded woman who would prefer to go home to her own family and opt out of the whole marriage deal, but in a society where that is essentially impossible, she opts instead to take drastic measures.

October 18: Haunt (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

If you’re not the kind of person who can walk confidently through a haunted house (and by “haunted house” I mean the fake kind with scare actors and props and canned music) you can live vicariously through the people who are brave enough with this spooky little slasher. When a group of friends find their way to an extreme haunt in the middle of nowhere, they think they’ll be back at the bars cracking jokes and going home with strangers before the clock strikes midnight. Surprise surprise, this extreme haunt lives up to the name and its cheap looking props belay real life horrors. It’s a fun one!

October 19: It’s What’s Inside (watch it on Netflix)

This is the perfect movie to watch with a bunch of friends you would be open to have an intimate relationship with! Or if you just like sci-fi-ish horror! No pressure on the intimate relationships! It’s What’s Inside is the party game from hell that features people switching bodies with some minimally tested proprietary technology and making very bad decisions. Things start getting messy when the extra curricular hook ups begin, but things get even messier when people start bleeding. I think this movie would pair very well with a game of spin the bottle.

October 20: Occult (watch it right here on YouTube)

If you haven’t seen Noroi: The Curse I’m going to need you to watch that film first because it’s a weirdo masterpiece to the highest degree, but if you caught that flick and you’ve been dying for some more found footage greatness from Kōji Shiraishi, rejoice because Occult is available on YouTube with english subtitles. Both Occult and Noroi feel like cursed film collages, like things are building and something new and deeply messed up is emerging from the layers. In this case, the movie focuses on a mysterious spree crime that took place at a tourist destination in Japan, and the unusual imprint that crime has left on its victims.

October 21: Swallow (watch it on Kanopy)

I don’t think I’ve forced you all to watch enough body horror this year, but that ends today. Swallow is exactly what you think it is… If you think it’s about a bored and mistreated house wife who just can’t stop swallowing harmful objects. This movie is quiet and slow, until you’re watching scene after scene of a woman swallowing pins (and other items) and you realize your jaw has been on the floor for an uncomfortable amount of time. Don’t eat while you watch this, it’s just gonna make you feel weird. 

October 22: Clearcut (watch it on Tubi)

Once more into the breach (and by that I mean Canada). Clearcut had been on my personal watchlist for years, but I finally caught it last October and I’m here to tell you, it’s a good movie! Once again, this movie is focused on a slew of real life horrors, and everything from the destruction of natural resources to killing and murdering a stranger you’ve kidnapped is on the table. This 90’s flick follows a white lawyer who is representing a Native group against a logging company that is attempting to clearcut on their land. An intense activist disagrees with the lawyer’s methods and forces him to join him on a mission to kidnap the plant manager of the mill.

October 23: The Deeper You Dig (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

Okay so this is a pretty straightforwardly sad movie, but we all need a little sadness in our lives every once in a while so that the fun, nonsense movies hit even harder. Set in the deep, darkness of winter, The Deeper You Dig is about the lengths a mother will go to to get justice for her missing child. There’s some really interesting imagery in this one, and in general, the movie feels so cold and desolate. Watch this one alone wrapped in blankets.

October 24: Red White & Blue (watch on AMC+)

It’s not unusual for me to scope out movies by googling “fucked up movies” and just following whatever weird Reddit threads I find from there. Red White & Blue  is one of those movies, and while it is fucked up in a multitude of ways, there’s a sweet beating heart at the center of it. This sunbleached story begins with a woman sleeping her way through the bars of Austin, Texas and ends with a series of torture sessions straight from the mind of a dishonorably discharged Iraq war veteran. There are a lot of good and bad things that happen in between, but you will leave the movie feeling emotionally emptier than you were before you started it.

October 25: The Ugly Stepsister (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

I am personally tired of retellings of classic fables or greek mythology, but The Ugly Stepsister gets a pass for all of that because it is messed up and funny and a really wild watch. This is Cinderella on research chemicals. This is Cinderella with 100% more retro plastic surgery. This is Cinderella with an incest-y necrophilia subplot? (I might be reading into a couple of scenes here but they felt off.) What more could you want?

October 26: Litan (watch it on Tubi)

I don’t know what to say about Litan. I don’t really know what happened in Litan. It’s a fever dream, it’s a nightmare, it’s a romance? Picture a town bursting at the seams with a sinister weirdness. Picture two lovers in a coffin heading down a river. Picture a very unsettling marching band. That’s Litan. You should watch it.

October 27: Audition (watch on Kanopy)

I’ve been joking with a friend that we should gather some people we know for a screening of our favorite romantic comedy and then show them Audition, and while it would be a cruel trick, it would kind of work. You cannot deny the magic of Takashi Miike, he knows how to bend a genre and lead you down a darkly wooded path so that you do not recognize where you started or where you’ve ended up by the final frame of the movie. Let’s just say Audition deals with a widower looking for love in all the wrong places and a former ballet student making the same mistake.

October 28: Oddity (watch it on Hulu)

If you like creepy houses and haunted items and never knowing where the next jumpscare is going to come from, you’re going to like Oddity. Speaking of things you might like, if you’ve seen Caveat, this is from the same director Damian McCarthy. If you haven’t seen Caveat, then I think you should boot up a double feature that is sure to give you nightmares and have you jumping at random bumps in the night. Both of them are filled with heavily haunted items and complicated family dynamics, a perfect combination.

October 29: Smile 2 (watch it on Paramount +)

I know, I know, you’re thinking “Kaylee, what if I haven’t seen Smile?” or “But I thought the first movie was dumb.” Well, I’m here to tell you neither of those things matter because Smile 2 is an absolute hit and is jam packed with some of the finest jump scares I’ve seen in years. We’re not talking enough about how good Smile 2 is as a country! This movie should be getting awards! The plot doesn’t really matter, but this one follows a semi-disgraced pop star experiencing a multitude of… hallucinations? Demons? A curse? This movie has everything and it will give you nightmares and/or make you pee yourself.

October 30: V/H/S/Halloween (watch it on Shudder or AMC+)

This is the only movie on this list I haven’t seen yet, and that’s only because it won’t drop until October 3 (although if anyone cool is reading this I would absolutely accept an early screener). I never recommend movies I haven’t personally vetted, but I’ve been obsessed with the V/H/S  franchise since the first movie debuted way back in 2012, so I can basically guarantee that this horror anthology will be worth your time (and that it will be packed with inventive scares). This is the eighth entrance in the V/H/S franchise, so if you like what you see, there are plenty more where that came from.

October 31: The Exorcist (watch it on HBO Max)

As we’ve come to the end of our time together this month, I have a little bit of a tradition I’d like to share with you. We’ve watched ghost films and found footage films and murder-y films and art-y films, and a whole slew of messed up shit together, but for me, nothing says Halloween quite like The Exorcist. So fill your gut with candy corn and fill your brain with the horrifying images and sounds of one of the best horror movies to ever do the damn thing. 

See you next year.

Feature image from Demons

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