October is my favorite month of the year, and I thought it might be fun to take the time to share some weekly seasonal media recommendations with you.
movies:
I've been a horror movie fan for as long as I've been alive, and that's not much of an exaggeration. I was renting A Nightmare on Elm Street sequels when I was 6 or 7. Since 2011, I've had a yearly tradition of watching at least 31 horror films each October (my record is 69)(nice). I'm at 16 so far this month, according to my Letterboxd. Here are three recommendations from what I've seen so far.
Frankenhooker (1990, Frank Henenlotter) (rewatch)
I think if you like horror comedy, you should know who Frank Henenlotter is. Frankenhooker isn't my favorite of his movies, but it's easily the biggest crowd-pleaser. Great for watching with a big group of friends. Bonus fact: I named my first episode of Jellystone (Frankenhooky) after this movie.
You can stream it for free on Tubi.
Prince of Darkness (1987, John Carpenter) (rewatch)
I could be wrong, but I feel like this is a lesser-known John Carpenter movie. I didn't see it until a couple years ago, but it may already be in my top 5 of his films. Dreamy and visually striking. It's slow to start, but stick with it and you'll be rewarded.
It's not streaming for free anywhere like the other two movies. If only someone had Archived it... somewhere on the Internet...
Phenomena (1985, Dario Argento) (first time viewing)
I love all those Italian freaks. Argento, Fulci, both Bavas, etc. I don't know what was going on in the culture over there, but it cooked up some of the greatest images in cinema. This movie is maybe not a "great" in the traditional sense, but if you watch the full thing through to the end, you'll understand why I had no choice but to give it a five star rating.
You can stream it for free on Tubi.
tv:
Tales from the Darkside is George Romero's tv show he made after Creepshow. The tone is the same as Creepshow, so basically low budget Tales from the Crypt. The show is not officially streaming anywhere, but luckily some generous people have put some episodes on the Internet Archive, the world's most important website™.
youtube:
SuperGreatFriend is the only let's play youtuber I still follow. He tends to play horror or horror-adjacent games year-round, but in October he does a little extra to make it special.
reading:
I haven't read any BOOK books lately, but I'm currently in the middle of reading through the entire original run of EC horror comics. You can find them on The Internet Archive
music:
Krzysztof Penderecki - Jutrznia Utrenja: I have been obsessively playing this album on loop whenever I need to focus. It scratches my brain in just the right way, but I understand it might not be for everyone.
The Lounge Lizards - Tarantella: Just a fun little bonus song recommendation to let you know I listen to normal music too and not just noises for the mentally unsound.
podcasts:
I don't really have any Halloweeny podcasts to recommend at the moment. I'm still waiting for Scott Aukerman and Adam Scott to do U Talkin' Boingo 2 My Oingo. But in the meantime, I guess listen to The Best Show. It's uh. Um. Scarily funny...!