What To Read and Watch This Halloween - CULTURETAP

Before I get into this post, I want to take a second to really thank everyone for the overwhelming positive response on my previous post. It now has the most views on my site out of any other post, having surpassed 150 unique viewers. Maybe that doesn't sound like a lot to you, but to me, it's huge. One of my goals with this site was to get more comfortable with showing off my authentic self and my most honest writing, and I’m glad that a post where I was very real and vulnerable elicited a ton of positive messages across my social media.

Once again, thank you all for your continued support. Now, let's talk about Halloween!

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Autumn is probably my favourite time of year. It brings us sweater weather, my favourite seasonal foods, general beauty in nature all around, and of course, Halloween. If you know me, you know Halloween is one of my favourite days of said season (and of the whole year), and it absolutely kills me to know that it might be celebrated differently this year, or, depending on your area, not at all. Fortunately though, despite COVID restrictions, there are many ways to keep the festive spirit alive. For me, that includes consuming as much Halloween-themed media as possible. So, as an obviously accredited and renowned Halloween aficionado, I'm here to share my favourites with you! Here's my list of all the spooky things I've been reading and watching.

Disclaimer though: I love Halloween, but I am also a massive wuss, so there isn't any hardcore horror on this list, which I guess is helpful if I'm trying to make it accessible to everyone. Also - I tried to focus on things that you might not think of off the top of your head. Meaning, no Hocus Pocus or Halloweentown. We aren't basic here.

Let's get started!

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)

Okay, so maybe my first pick isn't the most profound one in the world, but there is not a soul reading this that can tell me that this shouldn't be at the top of the list. Peanuts cartoons are sacred in my immediate family. A Charlie Brown Christmas is a mainstay, but I think people tend to sweep this one under the rug simply because it doesn't involve Christmas. I mention this because It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown has the same essence as the Peanuts Christmas special: it's simple, it's nostalgic, and it's got adorable visuals that will never get old. It's about reliving that innocent feeling of trick-or-treating around the block with friends, pretending to be something else while in costume, and buying into those seasonal fables that were obviously made up when we look back on them. If you watch anything this Halloween season, let it be this. You really cannot go wrong.

Scooby-Doo (2002)

I've realized now that this list is going in a (roughly) descending order by wholesomeness. Forewarning from now on: this is probably the last family-friendly thing I'll be talking about. I'm hoping my viewing audience isn't that young anyways...

Truly, any Scooby-Doo adaptation is an apt thing to watch during Halloween. However, I chose the 2002 live-action version for this list because of how many people of multiple generations saw and enjoyed this movie. Directed by James Gunn (yes, that James Gunn), both this movie and it's sequel are the type of "family movie" that doesn't aim to just appeal to the youngest people in the room. There are plenty of jokes included that went right over my head as a kid and now give me a whole new way to enjoy both films as an adult. I actually haven't seen the second one in a while, and while I've heard that the sequel is better (critically speaking), I'm putting the first one down here since that's the one I remember best and have watched more recently. The casting was great, the story is charming, and it's a prime example of the unelaborate, spooky kind of fun any and all Scooby-Doo stories provide.

Afterlife with Archie (2013 - present)

Archie Horror is a sector of Archie Comics that I feel like is not often talked about. Although I can't say that I've read a whole lot from the horror line specifically, I have read (and loved) the first volume (issues 1-5) of Afterlife with Archie, an alternate-universe story of the town of Riverdale descending into a catastrophic zombie apocalypse. Pardon my constant whining about the show, but this comic achieves the darkness that the Riverdale TV series thinks it has. I can't say for sure how unique of a zombie apocalypse story it is (since I haven't read too many of them), but I can certainly say that despite my ignorance of the genre, I really enjoyed it. It's a lot darker and scarier than you'd ever expect an Archie comic to be, with striking visuals, a devastating storyline, and interesting characterization twists based on the original versions of Archie mainstays, including "crossover" characters such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch. While, again, I've only read the first volume, I'm definitely searching for the second one where I can, and I'm upset that the series has appeared to be on hold since the tenth issue. Either way, I definitely recommend it.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

As some of you may have realized at this point, quarantining for most of the year has led me to an adoration of musicals that I didn't even know I had. Surprisingly, I only saw this one recently, and I'm really upset at myself for putting it off for this long. Tim Burton's film adaptation of the Victorian melodrama Sweeney Todd is the most fun I've ever had while watching what is actually an incredibly depressing story. The music, curated by musical theatre legend Stephen Sondheim, is simply amazing, and the casting goes along perfectly with how these songs were meant to be performed. I also can't praise the acting performances of the cast enough, but this is again to be expected, with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, and Sacha Baron Cohen in prominent roles. This is a great Halloween watch for the exact reason you think it is: it's a Tim Burton film that involves a lot of murder. But obviously, it's a great movie during any season. Plus, it's tame horror. I need that for this time of year.

Scream Queens (2015 - 2016)

Speaking of tame horror, it's time for me to talk about a TV show, which doesn't really happen often. Scream Queens is probably familiar to most of you, as it was everywhere the year the first season came out. However, viewership suddenly dropped off during season one for some reason, and it ended up only getting two seasons. I wanted to bring this one up because while I didn't love the second season, I tend to come back to the first one every year at Halloween in some capacity. Unlike most of the things on this list, Scream Queens is great because while it definitely tries to be scary and provocative, it doesn't take itself too seriously, making for a sort of B-movie-esque type of fun. The cast is great as well, with the highlights being the Chanels (Emma Roberts, Abigail Breslin and Billie Lourd) and Jamie Lee Curtis as Cathy Munsch. If you're looking for something spooky to watch over the course of a few weeks leading up until the 31st, I'd go for this one.

Honorable Mention:

American Vampire (Vol. 1) (2010)

So, unfortunately, I cannot fully recommend American Vampire to you. Not because it's bad in any capacity, but because going to a more difficult university than last year and therefore having less free time for individual reading has rendered me unable to finish this book in time for this post. I can say that I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm optimistic for the rest of the story considering it was written by Scott Snyder and the king of horror literature himself, Stephen King. It's super creepy and unique; I really like how the story puts a Western, late 19th century twist on classic vampire story tropes.

So, uh, let me how it is when you finish it. Whoops!

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