Chicken Soup for the Spooky Soul

For the first eighteen years of my life I hated scary movies.

I used to pretend to have a headache whenever my friends tried to put one on just so  I could say I had to go home and avoid the terror that awaited me on the screen. But it’s been a few years since then, and now at the ripe age of 21 I can finally appreciate the cinematic masterpieces that are scary movies.

I’ve decided that since we are currently in the middle of what I like to think of as the Spooky Season, what better way to commemorate the occasion than with a list of a few of my favourite films from this year; a diary of sorts, mapping out my trek through the jungle of fake blood and masked psychos.

Also, I’ve linked all the trailers to each movie, so take a look and see what you think!

1. Sinister  (2012)

I don’t think that I would ever call myself a connoisseur of quality horror, but I still get the feeling that there is quite a divide when it comes to this movie,  a lot of people I have talked don’t really like it. 

Many people the protagonist is a little too brainless, even for horror movie standards. But, be that as it may, it is still one of my favourites, and I can always count on it to make me double check under my bed at night.

2. Lights Out  (2016)

When I was in my second year at UVic I was still a writing major (I’m in history now), and my focus was in screen writing.

Because of that, I took a screenwriting workshop, and during that workshop we would watch examples of short films that played to different requirements.

One week the requirement was no dialogue, so our professor showed us a film called “Lights Out”. It was less than three minutes long, but probably scared me more than any full length movie I had seen, at least recently.

When I found out they were making a full length version of the film I was excited, yet terrified. In the end I’m not sure if it totally lived up to the expectations I had set for it, but I still liked the plot line they set for it, and there were definitely still some scenes where you could barely see my eyes behind the blanket I was hiding under.

Here’s the short version, just in case you wanted to pee your pants a little bit while reading this.

3. The Shining  (1980)

Nothing like a little classic right? I think what has kept this move so relevant and and truly terrifying even after over 30 years isn’t the idea of ghosts or premonitions, but the human aspect, the idea of madness and isolation that don’t seem as far removed from real life as the supernatural elements. Just watch it, trust me, you won’t regret it.

I know this isn’t a very long list, and I’m sure a lot of you will disagree, or will have suggestions on what to add, so why not leave a comment and let me know? What are some of your top spooky must sees for October?