Werewolf – Halloween Horror Haiku

August is for aliens. Ha! When I went to write up my list for favorite alien movies, I noticed I forgot to post my favorite Werewolf Movies list last month. Obviously, my brain was abducted by aliens back in July.

That’s okay though, cuz now you’ve got one post with two lists of great spooky movies to watch this Halloween Season. There’s no breakdown, just lists. Go watch ’em!

There doesn’t appear to a definitive origin story for the werewolf. Early movies were just based on a collection of myths and legends from around the world. Like vampires, this lead to a variety of possibilities of appearance, characteristics, and nature of the beast. Early movies like Universal’s Wolfman, starring Lon Chaney, wowed audiences using brilliant make-up techniques and stunning special effects of their time to achieve the werewolf transformation. It was simple, but sorta magical. By 1981, technical advances in both film making and special effects allowed John Landis to direct one of the most realistic transformations of man into monster that moviegoers ever witnessed. To date, it’s been hard to top. My list though, isn’t necessarily a ‘best of’ list, just my faves.

American Werewolf in London, 1981
The Wolfman, 1941
Ginger Snaps, 2000
Dog Soldiers, 2002
The Howling, 1981
Wolfen, 1981
Silver Bullet, 1985
In the Company of Wolves, 1983
Wolf Cop, 2014
Brotherhood of the Wolf, 1998

By mere definition, aliens on the other hand do not have origin stories. They come from beyond the great unexplored universe. Movie audiences flocked to theaters to see the original 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers in search of thrilling new sensations. In 1979, Ridley Scott’s Alien, delivered in spades, spawning a 40-year blockbuster franchise, solidifying aliens as a huge part of cinema. SciFi and Horror are like peanut butter and jelly, they just go together. Condensing a list of thousands of movies down to just ten spots is pretty agonizing. For purposes of this list, I chose what I think are the scariest alien movies. Admittedly, some are more action than horror, but having a terrifying villain is half the assignment.

Alien, 1979
The Thing, 1982
Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978
Event Horizon, 1997
Annihilation 2018
Predator, 1987
Pitch Black, 2000
District 9, 2009
A Quiet Place, 2018
Nope, 2022

I love all these movies so much, I can watch them over and over. It’s really hard to pick a winner. Help me out! Here are two great lists of horror films to watch for Halloween 2025, help me decide who wins this epic battle, werewolves or aliens?

Have a happy Halloween season! Be safe out there!

Happy July! It’s a buck moon tonight. This the time of year when young deer grow their antlers.

This month’s theme is Werewolf Americana. Werewolves have been a source of great thrilling fiction since the turn of the 20th century. Stories of man-eating monsters roaming the countryside were brought over with immigrants from Europe. Often times, these stories were told to ostracize newcomers of other races, religions, and such, and sometimes, the monsters were already here.

One of the scariest things about werewolves is they do not know they are the monsters. The curse takes hold and changes them into beasts they don’t recognize if they looked in the mirror, but make no mistake, these are not innocent beings. These damned men and women have no control of their bloodlust and will kill even small children and ravage our towns and cities. They must be destroyed before they spread their evil disease and they kill us all.