Looking to set a spooky scene this Halloween? Check out some of my seasonal favorites, including a special Halloween playlist!
WATCH
Robert Eggers’ chilling directorial debut The Witch: A New England Folktale became an instant classic after its release in 2015, thanks in no small part to it’s reluctant star, a goat named Black Phillip.
When I first saw this as a wee baby witch of 10, I was completely enchanted, and sure it’s more of a romance, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s no wrong season for Practical Magic.
Beyond her incredible goth glamour, Morticia Addams of The Addams Family is a feminist icon for the modern witch. Her attitudes about marriage and sex positivity are admirable, and she understands the importance of education– she majored in “spells and hexes”!
Now something of a trope, City of the Dead (or Horror Hotel, as it was called upon it’s US release) has the most predictable of premises: a young college student travels to New England to study witchcraft, and stumbles across more than she bargained for. Featuring the late Christopher Lee, this campy cult classic has so many plot holes, it’s begging to be turned into a drinking game.
LISTEN
Enjoy a (“Monster Mash” free) Halloween playlist by yours truly!
Not in a musical mood? Check out The Horror, a podcast of classic radio broadcasts featuring frightening tales and old-timey chills!
READ
Sure, Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Henry James are great, but they get all the attention this time of year. Do yourself a favor and read some of the books that inspired the classics this spooky season, like Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) or Matthew Lewis’ The Monk (1796). They were considered quite lurid and low-brow at the time of their publication, and are a hoot to read now, if only for all of the swooning.
What are your favorite Halloween traditions? Share yours in the comments!
