Halloween media to consume this spooky season!

With the fall season here and Halloween right around the corner, individuals are eager to participate in the terrifying festivities. However, with COVID making a sudden comeback, there are those that may feel safer in their own homes. Here is a list of Halloween media to consume this season.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS BELOW!

The Halloweentown “quadrilogy” – these four films are Disney Channel Halloween classics and a must for anyone looking to consume some nostalgic content. These movies follow the Cromwell kids (Marnie, Dylan, and Sophie), their mother, and their grandmother – a resident of the mythical Halloweentown. As it turns out, the grandmother, Aggie Cromwell, is a witch, which means that her three grandchildren are magical themselves. In these four movies, we see the interactions between the normal and magical world, as well as how the three Cromwell kids grow and adjust to their powers and this revelation of a new world inhabited by the various creatures and cultures associated with Halloween.

The Nightmare Before Christmas – following the theme of nostalgia, The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Halloween classic for anyone who loves stop-motion animation and Tim Burton films. The movie follows Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, and his recent boredom with the Halloween season. After stumbling upon the beauty of Christmas, he becomes entranced in his newfound festive feelings and seeks to take control of the holiday from “Sandy Claws.”

Stranger Things – a more recent classic and one of Netflix’s most popular series. Stranger Things follows the mysterious adventures of a group of young friends and their discovery of a young, superpowered girl called “Eleven.” Going on for three seasons (with a fourth season on the way), the show explores concepts such as alternate dimensions, body-swapping, government secrets, and Dungeons and Dragons. The show stars It alum Finn Wolfhard, another Halloween movie recommendation.

P.T. – aside from movies and shows, the medium of video gaming has its own catalog of horror games to choose from. For those interested in a good scare, most people would recommend the short game P.T. Initially intended to be a game in the Silent Hill starring Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus, the game is a psychological thriller wherein the player walks down the same repeating hallway, forced to experience the horrors of death, loss, guilt, and paranoia. While the game was never completed, it is still revered as an “unfortunate masterpiece” by many.

House of Leaves – before movies, shows, and video games were ever created, there were books. Those who have taken Dr. Janet Feight’s 21^st Century Literature may be familiar with this postmodern fiction novel by Mark Z. Danielewski. The novel follows the mystery of a spatially inconsistent house, documented by numerous sources, and published into one novel. As the novel progresses, the readers may begin to feel an air of discomfort due to many of the stylistic and narrative choices implemented in the novel. This is twice as true for those who utilize the various notes available in the back of the book. In many ways, the book reaches out to the reader, breaking the fourth wall.

Ted the Caver – individuals familiar with the early internet may be familiar with one of the first internet horror stories (known as “creepypastas”) called Ted the Caver. To clarify, this is a recommendation of the creepypasta itself, not the film. The narrative follows a caver named Ted who details and explores his many ventures into one cavern that he cannot get out of his mind. The story is so startlingly accurate and detailed that many believed it to be a true telling of events, as it is published in a journalistic format. However, as it progresses, the narrator begins to feel increasingly paranoid by the cave he continuously returns to. The ending leaves off unresolved, leaving many to speculate on the mystery of Ted the Caver. For those interested, there is a two-hour narration of the creepypasta with the original images by YouTuber “The Dark Somnium.”