We’re 3 days away from Halloween and for a big treat on this Trick of Treat Tuesday, I’m sharing my favorite Haunted House Horror.
The Changeling, 1980 Poltergeist, 1982 Hereditary, 2018 House of Haunted Hill, 1959 13 Ghosts, 1960 The Innocents, 1961 The Haunting, 1963 The Amityville Horror, 1979 Legend of Hell House, 1973 Burnt Offerings, 1976 The Others, 2001 Woman in Black, 2012 Stir of Echoes, 1999 Crimson Peak, 2015
It’s always hard to put together these lists. All the films are so good. There are a lot of classic horror films from the 60s and 70s on my list and I hope people will give them a watch.
I personally feel The Changeling starring George C Scott from 1980 is one of the scariest haunted house films ever made.
House from The Changeling
Scott plays composer John Russell grieving the death of wife and son. He moves from New York to Seattle to start over and moves into a house haunted by the ghost of a little boy who died mysteriously.
These movies will certainly spook anyone staying in on Halloween night and films like House on Haunted Hill or Poltergeist play nicely in the background at parties too.
Honorable Mentions:
Paranormal Activity House of Usher Horror House We’re Still Here House, 1985 The House that Dripped Blood House by the Cemetery
Happy October! It’s been a busy summer. I admit that keeping up with a blog this year has been challenging. On one hand I love it, I love sharing Halloween haiku and other spooky stuff, but truth is I simply don’t have the time to blog like I used to.
I did make time to visit Disneyland recently for some Fall fun.
I also know times are tough and depressing. It’s not going to get better anytime soon, we need Halloween! We need to celebrate our culture and traditions more than ever and we need to make new memories! Good memories! You never know when that may be the only thing you have. So after careful consideration, I will again be celebrating all 31 days of Halloween this year.
There will be two themes this month, Haunted Halloween and Halloween Happy. Americans are a haunted people, but we all deserve life. Halloween is for everyone. Full stop. The holiday combines both ancient pagan and religious ceremonies. The original purpose was to chase away the demons and bad ghosts that crossed over the spirit realm because of the thin veil between the living and the spirit world.
Don’t let anyone tell you how to do Halloween. Decorate or not. Wear a costume or not. We can be scary and sweet. We can be spooky and cute. Let the teenagers trick or treat. Kids collecting candy are too occupied to do anything else. I truly believe Halloween makes people happy. It’s about community. We need our communities more than ever. It’s the only thing that can save America now.
Be sure to check back every day this October for cool, fun, and inspirational Halloween, horror, and haiku.
HALLOWEEN SCHEDULE 2025
Monday Macabre
Every Monday, I’ll be posting a brand new Halloween Haiku, honoring the theme of Haunted Halloween.
Trick or Treat Tuesdays
Check in on Tuesdays for some online fun. I’ve got treats and I’ve got tricks.
Wicked Art Wednesdays
Every Wednesday, I’ll showcase the amazing and unique talents of Halloween artists from around the globe.
Timeless Thursdays
Every Thursday, let’s travel back in time and revisit some of the greatest Halloween music ever made on the corporeal plane.
Friday Fright Nightcaps
Bubble bubble, drink away trouble, it’s the return of Friday Fright Nightcaps!
Sinister Saturdays
Decadent desserts from the darkside. I’m not much of a cook, so this could get truly evil.
Spooky Sundays
Spooky Sundays are for reading, relaxing, and recharging our brooms.
On this last day in January, I thought I’d post a movie list as cold and bleak as a winter day.
I recently saw Robert Egger’s retelling of Nosferatu in the theaters. Anyone familiar with Eggers work, in particular 2015’s The VVitch, knows that the director pays meticulous attention to detail and pulls no punches in getting his period films to look, sound and feel authentic to period of time the story is set in. I highly recommend Nosferatu for anyone into gothic victorian horror and lovers of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker.
Victorian Horror films are some of my favorite types of horror because the atmosphere is filled with such dark despair, viewers want to wrap themselves in a blanket just to watch the movie. This is in no means a comprehensive list, but it’s a darn good start!
The theme this month is November’s Undead Embrace. Most vampire movies feel like autumn, or winter, with the exception of The Lost Boys, which had cool summer vibes.
My list of faves is made up of all older movies. Honestly, Abigail was the last good vampire flick I’ve recently seen. Some on my list are endearing, all the Draculas, because Bram Stoker’s Dracula is one of my favorite novels. Dapper and mysterious, the hyponotizing Bela Lugosi is still the best, but Frank Lagella was sauve and sophisticated enough to make forget all about those bad disco effects. Gary Oldman was tall, dark, and handsome, but honestly, young Christopher Lee still might be my favorite, sinister and sexy. He turned me onto Hammer Horror, and no one does olde English victorian goth better than Hammer.
The original Swedish Let the Right One In, from 2008, the gruesome horror coming of age tale, had the best story of all the vampire movies I’ve ever seen (it was also based on a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist).
And the militia controlled religious zealotry of the American apocalypse featured in Stakeland is something I very much forsee happening to our great nation, minus the vampires, well, maybe…
The other films, oh hell, I just like sleek, fun action horror monster movies.
So, here’s the list. Perfect for a Black Friday movie marathon, or you can go fight off real life vampires at the stores if that’s your thing. Bwahahaha😄
Dracula, 1931 Let the Right One In, 2008 The Lost Boys, 1987 Stakeland, 2010 Horror of Dracula, 1958 Dracula, 1979 Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992 Near Dark, 1987 Blade, 1998 Underworld, 2003
Honorable Mentions: Salem’s Lot Fright Night Afflicted The Hunger Only Lovers Left Alive A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Interview with a Vampire From Dusk til Dawn
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday or a very happy Thursday.
Happy October! I can’t believe we’re celebrating our 6th Halloween season! This year, work has been crazy busy and finding the time to keep up with blogging is a huge challenge, but I’m not quitting yet!
Although, I’m going to scale back a bit, I will still be celebrating all 31 days of Halloween. Our theme this month is Halloween Vintage Classic, bringing together two of my favorite things in the whole world, vintage style Halloween decorations and old black and white spooky movies.
Be sure to check back every day this October for cool, fun, and inspirational Halloween, horror, and haiku.
HALLOWEEN SCHEDULE 2024
Monday Macabre
Every Monday, I’ll be posting a brand new Halloween Haiku, honoring the theme of Halloween Vintage Classic.
Trick or Treat Tuesdays
Play spooky games and win spooky prizes! Every Tuesday, head over to Instagram for some fun and a chance to win some cool Halloween stickers and pins.
Wicked Art Wednesdays
Every Wednesday, I’ll showcase original Halloween art that most represents our theme of “Halloween Vintage Classic” from the world’s most talented artists.
Thursday Time Travels
Every Thursday, let’s travel back in time and revisit some great black and white haunted classic movies.
Friday Fright Nightcaps
It’s the return of Friday Fright Nightcaps and we’re gonna put the boos in booze!
Sinister Saturdays
Saturday nights are alright for fighting. It’s election year in the USA and what better way to get ready for November than by voting for your favorite scary movies!
Spooky Sundays
Spooky Sundays are for reading, relaxing, and recharging our brooms.
Due to time constraints, I’ll be running a shorter challenge this year, starting in the last week in October, with me choosing a winner on Halloween night. More details to come, but for now, sharpen those pencils or pull up a blank page; I can’t wait to see those Halloween haiku!
Peter Cushing reprises his role as the brilliant Baron Doctor Victor Frankenstein in this sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein 1957.
Having escaped the guillotine with the help of a hunchback man named Karl, Baron Frankenstein escapes to Germany and assumes the name of Dr. Victor Stein, where he equally caters to the rich and helps the poor with their ailments at a local pauper’s hospital.
It’s been three years since this new Dr. Stein showed up, and the local medical council is miffed with him for refusing to join their stuffy board, so they dispatch three advocates to see what he’s up to. Among them, young scientific admirer Dr. Hans Kleve, who recognizes the Baron immediately and returns later to blackmail Stein, but he doesn’t want money, he wants to partner up!
Turns out, Dr. Stein’s new gig is a bit of ruse, since now he’s able identify patients who are about die or lose a limb, which helps him collect body parts for his experiments much more easily.
Dr. Stein shows Dr. Kleve his newst creation and relays plans to transplant a living brain into a healthy body. In fact, he’s already found a donor, his henchman Karl, who is more than willing to swap his decrepit body for a new one, especially after meeting Dr. Stein’s new assistant Margaret.
At first, the transplant is a success, but when Dr. Kleve tells Karl he’s a medical sensation, Karl panics, knowing that Dr. Stein’s previous experiment, transplanting the brain of an orangutan into a chimpanzee turned the poor creature into a cannibal.
Karl runs away after killing the lab’s vile janitor during a violent fight and hides out in the stables belonging to Margaret’s Aunt.
Unfortunately, Karl’s deformities eventually mysteriously return and Karl does indeed turn cannibal. After killing a few townspeople, Karl then heads to a party to kidnap Margaret but is caught. He screams out Frankenstein’s name and the whole town now knows Victor Stein is really the outlaw Baron Frankenstein!
Although not quite as scary as the first film, Terence Fisher directs another well-plotted out thriller with stellar performances from the cast all around. I ways loved how Fisher allowed Cushing not to portray Frankenstein as a madman but more an overzealous brilliant scientist. I recommend this one for the high production quality, the comedy of 1950s special effects, great performances, and the glorious melodrama like only a Hammer Horror film can provide!
Hammer’s unique story mash up between Burke and Hare cases, legendary serial killer Jack the Ripper, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a mesmorizing gender-bender thriller.
Set in infamous Whitechapel at the height of Jack the Ripper’s murderous spree, Dr. Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates) hell-bent on his quest for immortality, crosses moral barriers with his experiments.
At first, the young doctor pays a local mortician to acquire body parts of newly-deceased women who end up in the morgue, but when supplies run low, the doctor enlists the grisly services of two lowly gentleman, Burke and Hare, who indiscriminately kill unsuspecting victims and bring their dead bodies to Dr. Jekyll.
But Dr. Jekyll’s serum has unintended consequences, when it transforms his own body into the body of a beautiful woman, who he eventually names Mrs. Hyde (Martine Beswick). He tells his noisy neighbors, including his admirer Susan (Susan Brodrick), that the alluring woman now living with him is his recently widowed sister.
Between The Ripper and Burke and Hare, the city of Whitechapel is gripped by fear. Someone eventually finds out about deadly duo’s murderous deeds and they succomb to the town’s pitchfork. This leaves Dr. Jekyll at a disadvantage, just as he was making progress with his serum.
Sister Hyde quickly realizes her demise is tied to Dr. Jekyll’s research, so she begins stalking the dark alleys of Whitechapel herself for young female victims to murder in the name of science.
Back in 1971, the idea of a man transforming into a woman was really taboo stuff. For some moviegoers, that in of itself was the horror. Despite the obvious misogynistic horror trope of making every other woman who appears on a screen a victim, this film really pioneered LGBTQ and woman empowerment themes.
Martine Beswick really stands out here with her cutthroat and sensual performance as Sister Hyde. She’s one spooky bitch, and probably deserves a little more attention in the pantheon of horror villains. If you’re new to Hammer Horror, definitely give this wickedly smart thriller a watch.
Part spy thriller, part goth horror, all parts 1970s grooviness, complete with sherpa vests, The Satanic Rites of Dracula takes place two years after Dracula, A.D. 1972. An undercover cop for Scotland Yard barely escapes the clutches of an evil mysterious cult in London.
In his dying last breaths, the agent recalls witnessing the horrifying bloody ritual sacrifice of a beautiful young naked woman, seen in secret photo evidence that he smuggled out of the compound.
With their colleague dead, Inspector Murray and Scotland Yard are at a loss for answers, so they call on Professor Van Helsing and his scholarly granddaughter Jessica to help decipher the satanic symbols and identify cult members.
While Inspector Murray, Jessica, and others go to the compound to dig around, Van Helsing reaches out to an old friend he recognized in the photos, with hopes of infiltrating the satanic cult made up of government officials hellbent on destroying the world and bringing back the Prince of Darkness.
Christopher Lee returns for his 7th and final performance as Count Dracula for Hammer Films. Also reprising their roles, Peter Cushing starring as Professor Lorrimer Van Helsing (a descendant of Dr. Abraham Van Helsing) and Michael Coles as Inspector Murray; and a young and absolutely fabulous Joanna Lumely shines brightly as Jessica Van Helsing, the woman Dracula hopes to make his new bride.
A heavily edited version of Satanic Rites of Dracula was redistributed in the U.S. in 1979 as Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride. You will find it streaming under that name on Plex, a free streaming service with an overwhelming ton of ads.
Legendary screen actor Peter Cushing reprises his role as Professor Van Helsing in Brides of Dracula, a sequel to the popular Hammer film, Horror of Dracula.
Count Dracula is dead, but his disciples live on, terrorizing Transylvania, all thanks to a young school mistress Marianne Danielle, played by Yvonne Monlaur, traveling to a small village to teach girls French and etiquette.
After her stagecoach mysteriously rides away leaving her stranded, Marianne meets the Baroness Meinster and agrees to stay the night in her castle.
Marianne sees a strange man in the chamber across from hers. In the middle of the night, she sneaks over and finds that the man is actually the Baroness’ son and her host keeps him locked up.
Ignorant to the dangers, she helps Baron Meinster escape and unknowingly releases a monster.
The undead Baron wrecks havoc on the local village, but thankfully, infamous vampire hunter Van Helsing, who has been called upon by a local priest, is back to save the day!
Released in 1960, Brides of Dracula was directed by Terence Fisher, a frequent collaborator and director of Hammer films. Despite losing the charismatic Christopher Lee as the titular character, Hammer had vision to expand the vampire universe and this was their first film doing so. I’ve read online that the production was plagued with problems, but totally worth it, as this is one of best Hammer films I’ve seen.
Brides of Dracula is now streaming on Prime Video with paid subscription.
Halloween Horror Haiku 
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