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TMS Staff Picks: Essential Halloween Season Viewing

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It’s October, but at The Mary Sue, it’s Halloween month, which means that we spend all the days that aren’t officially Halloween celebrating just the same. Personally, my favorite thing to do around Halloween time is marathon some of my favorite spooky movies. Some are gory, some are eerie, and some are just nuts, but they’re all a great time. So, I want to share with you some of my favorite things to watch around Halloween time, and I’ve asked my awesome TMS cohorts to do the same.

Daniella’s picks: 

halloween michael myers

(image: Universal Pictures)

Halloween 

Is it too obvious? I don’t care. It’s tradition for me to rewatch Halloween in October. Every. Single. Year. That’s just how it is—just how it’s always been.

Ed Wood

I’m guessing Ed Wood might not scream Halloween outright to a lot of people, but if you think about, it might be the most Halloween-type movie ever. It has aliens, vampires, Vampira, and Bela Lugosi. I mean, what’s more Halloween than that? Bela. Lugosi. It’s my go-to.

Blair Witch Project 

My favorite part about Halloween is that I get to sit back and enjoy some of my favorite scary joints. Blair Witch Project is one of the few movies that really gets to me no matter how many times I watch it—perfect for the spooky holiday.

Ghostwatch

Ghostwatch is brilliant. It’s just plain brilliant, and if you have yet to experience it, I’m jealous that you get to watch it for the first time. And watch it you should—go right now.

winona ryder lydia beetlejuice

(image: Warner Bros.)

Beetlejuice

To be fair, I will watch Beetlejuice any hour of any day of any month, but it’s also always included in my Halloween rotation, and Lydia is always costume goals.

MTV Fear

In the age of everything getting revived,  I don’t understand why MTV Fear hasn’t come back around. You can have all your Real Worlds and Real Housewives; I will take my strangers forced to sit alone in dark empty haunted woods for money, yhank you very much.

Dead Alive

Okay, this movie is stupid—like really stupid—but that’s the greatest part about it. It really doesn’t get much campier than Dead Alive. While the gore looks fake, it comes in abundance and might not be for those of you who aren’t fans of excess.

Here are a few other things that are always on my list: Trick ‘r Treat, Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Death Proof, and Rope. 

I’m probably forgetting something, but that’s okay, because some other members of the staff have a few suggestions to add to the list:

Vivian’s pick:

simpsons treehouse of horror

(image: Fox)

When the Halloween chill comes around, Vivian does a rewatch of all the Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror” episodes … “until they get bad.”

Kate’s picks: 

scream movie killer

(image: Dimension Films)

Halloween means a rewatch of the entire Scream franchise for Kate, and the original Lugosi-starring Dracula—because, again, what’s more Halloween-y than Lugosi?

Now that you know what we at TMS like to watch this time of year, what’s on your Halloween-time viewing list?

(featured image: Kristina Paukshtite/Pexels)

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