For as long as I can remember, October and Halloween have always been my favorite time of the year. I love the dark nights, the spooky fun decorations, and most of all, the scary movies.

When I was young, my family would all gather in our family room, turn off the lights, and watch scary movies together. I’d watch through the holes of an afghan. If the afghan wasn’t available, I’d cover my face with both hands and watch through my fingers. Now that I’m older, I’ve grown to enjoy seeing thrillers and scary movies in the theater. I’ve graduated to only using one hand to cover my eyes but I’ve become a popcorn thrower. Pop-out moments (what my kids used to call them) are what gets me. Not only would I eek loudly, I’d jump and the popcorn would fly out of my hands showering everyone around me. I eventually had to stop getting the butter topping since it can leave stains.

There are lots of good movies to watch for Shocktober in all sorts of genres but ghost stories are my favorite. And amongst those, there are only a few I’m compelled to watch every year. The first one is Poltergeist. My mom took me to see it when I was 11, along with my brother, 9. It scared the bejesus out of me. I think this movie became the foundation for my issues with clowns and closets. I don’t find it scary anymore but I’ll watch it for nostalgia’s sake. And to this day I still don’t watch the bathroom scene. I fast-forward through it with one eye closed so I’m only half seeing it as I pass that part. Somehow that makes it better.

The Shining is a another great one and a classic. That also has a bathroom scene that is very hard to watch. It’s a brief moment so I only need to turn my head when I know it’s coming. The Shining is on regular TV a lot, especially in October. Much like The Godfather movie (which is one of my ultimate favorites), whenever I come across it, I’ll watch it. It doesn’t matter where it is in the movie or how many times I’ve seen it, I’ll still want to watch it.

My utmost favorite ghost movie of all time is The Changeling with George C. Scott. If you haven’t seen it and are gonna watch it, know it’s a slow build but it’s totally worth it. Despite the movie being 40 years old, it still gives me the heebie-jeebies to this day. This movie was brilliant in taking simple concepts and making them uber creepy. No language, sexual content, graphic violence, or crazy special effects necessary. When my boys were 9 or 10, I let them watched it with me. Afterwards they told me that was the scariest movie ever. Grant it they were little kids but I’m so glad that I could pass along appreciation for that movie to the next generation. I hope one day they’ll watch it with their own children and the tradition would continue. It’s that good. Really, really.

Happy Haunting!

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