31 Nights, 62 Films, Double Features All Month Long
October’s here, which means it’s time to dim the lights, rattle a few chains, and cozy up with some cinematic spookery. Instead of carving just one pumpkin, I carved out a whole calendar — 31 nights, 62 films, a double feature every evening. Think of it as my haunted movie house: a mix of old monsters, Hammer glamour, folk horror weirdness, slashers with sharp cutlery skills, and even a little gallows humor to keep you laughing nervously in the dark.
Some films are classics you probably know by heart. Others might crawl out of the shadows and surprise you. By Halloween night we’re going full blockbuster Gothic — a brand-new Nosferatu paired with The Shining — because if you’re going to end the month with a bang, it might as well be an axe through the door.
So grab your popcorn, pour something strong, and settle in. Here’s what i’ll be playing this October…
Week 1: The Birth of Horror (1930s–50s)
Back when monsters were stitched together under lightning, capes were fashionable, and Lugosi’s stare could stop a room cold. Most of these scream in glorious black-and-white, but by the end of the week horror starts flirting with color — from Vincent Price’s lurid Poe sets to a giant fly head in shocking technicolor.
Wed, Oct 01 – Islands of the Damned:
Colonial nightmares with voodoo, mad science, and Bela Lugosi’s hypnotic eyes — tropical paradise, this is not.
White Zombie (1932)
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
Thu, Oct 02 – It’s Alive!:
Karloff grunts, Elsa screams, and James Whale proves lightning really can strike twice.Frankenstein (1931)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Fri, Oct 03 – Eternal Night:
Universal’s undead icons take turns brooding in capes and bandages — eternal love never looked so gloomy.Dracula (1931)
The Mummy (1932)
Sat, Oct 04 – Men in the Shadows:
One cursed to howl at the moon, the other cursed to streak through town — both unforgettable monsters of manThe Wolf Man (1941)
The Invisible Man (1933)
Sun, Oct 05 – Poe & Madness:
Karloff and Lugosi in two duels of sadism and Poe obsession — Gothic melodrama with extra eyeliner.The Black Cat (1934)
The Raven (1935)
Mon, Oct 06 – Steele the Scene:
Barbara Steele becomes Gothic royalty — one minute tortured by Vincent Price, the next resurrected as a witch.Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Black Sunday (1960)
Tue, Oct 07 – Mad Science & Obsession:
A bug-eyed tragedy meets Peter Lorre’s creepy surgeon hands — science goes mad, again.The Fly (1958)
Mad Love (1935)
Week 2: Gothic Elegance (Hammer, Italian & Amicus)
By the late ’50s, horror was tired of shadows and grayscale. Hammer splashed technicolor blood across stone castles, Italy dressed witches and killers in high fashion, and Amicus filled the gaps with anthology mischief. If Week 1 was a séance, Week 2 is the costume ball.
Wed, Oct 08 – Hammer Strikes Back:
Cushing, Lee, and technicolor gore — Hammer reinvents the monsters with crimson flair.
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) &
Horror of Dracula (1958)
Thu, Oct 09 – Hammer’s Strange Beasts:
A petrifying Medusa tale and a swashbuckling vampire slayer — Hammer at its weirdest and wildest.The Gorgon (1964)
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974)
Fri, Oct 10 – Italian Gothic Shadows: Blood and Black Lace (1964) + Suspiria (1977)
From masked killers in couture to witches in neon nightmare hues — Bava and Argento turn horror into art.Sat, Oct 11 – Anthology of Evil:
Tarot cards of doom and a house with too many secrets — Amicus production proves more stories = more screams.Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965)
The House That Dripped Blood (1971)
Sun, Oct 12 – Gothic Revival:
Burton’s fog-drenched fairytale meets Coppola’s operatic fever dream — baroque Gothic in full bloom.Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
Mon, Oct 13 – Fairytales in the Dark:
Guillermo del Toro’s ghosts meet a modern werewolf curse — lush Gothic nightmares, old and new.Crimson Peak (2015)
The Cursed (2021)
Week 3: Folk Horror, Witchcraft & Possession
The horror moves outdoors — and into the family tree. Here be bonfires, wicker men, cursed children, and goats with suspiciously persuasive voices. Witches and devils aren’t hiding under the bed anymore — they’re waiting in the fields, in the woods, and sometimes in the nursery.
Tue, Oct 14 – Pesky Pagans:
Two sunlit cult classics — maypoles, bonfires, and the smiling face of sacrifice.
The Wicker Man (1973)
Midsommar (2019)
Wed, Oct 15 – Curses in the Woods:
Lost hikers and weeping ghosts — the forest doesn’t forgive, it feeds.
The Ritual (2017) +
La Llorona (2019)
Thu, Oct 16 – Devil’s Due:
From cradle to crucifix — the devil always has a family plan.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
The Exorcist (1973)
Fri, Oct 17 – Children of the Damned:
One child’s the Antichrist, the others are creepy blond telepaths — either way, babysitting’s a nightmare.
The Omen (1976)
Village of the Damned (1960)
Sat, Oct 18 – Witch’s Curse:
Family drama, goat drama, and treehouse drama — the devil’s in the domestic details.Witch (2015)
Hereditary (2018)
Sun, Oct 19 – Domestic Demons:
Haunted basements and pop-up books that won’t stay shut — parenting is hell.The Conjuring (2013)
The Babadook (2014)
Mon, Oct 20 – Del Toro’s Dark Fairytales:
Ghosts of war, lost children, and monsters both human and otherwise — del Toro paints with shadows.The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Week 4: Slashers, Werewolves & Apocalypse (1960s–80s)
Say goodbye to candlelit castles — horror has moved to the suburbs, the graveyard, and outer space. This is the era of kitchen knives, hockey masks, full moons, flesh-eating ghouls, and parasites from the stars. In other words: the blood flows faster, the monsters snarl louder, and the popcorn buckets overflow.
Tue, Oct 21 – Psycho Visions:
Bathroom screams and Venetian nightmares — psychological horror never looked sharper.
Psycho (1960)
Don’t Look Now (1973)
Wed, Oct 22 – Masked Mayhem:
Suburban nightmares with kitchen knives and camp counselors — slashers at their sharpest.Friday the 13th (1980)
Halloween (1978)
Thu, Oct 23 – Full Moon Frights:
Dueling werewolf transformations — the fur flies and the effects still bite.The Howling (1981)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Fri, Oct 24 – Dead Rising:
From slow shamblers in a farmhouse to rage-fueled chaos in an empty London — zombies never really stay dead, they just get faster.Night of the Living Dead (1968)
28 Days Later (2002)
Sat, Oct 25 – Invasion of the Uncanny:
Paranoia in the cold and paranoia in the city — who’s human, who’s not, who cares?The Thing (1982)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Sun, Oct 26 – Houses of Tricks & Traps:
Two deceptive houses full of sinister games — one rigged by Lovecraftian gods, the other by Vincent Price.Cabin in the Woods (2011)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Mon, Oct 27 – Graveyard Oddities:
Chainsaws, boomsticks, and flying spheres — horror goes pulp and never looks back.Army of Darkness (1992)
Phantasm (1979)
Final Stretch: Cult, Comedy & Halloween Night
After a month of monsters, it’s time to get strange. Horror sings, dances, and cracks jokes before bowing out with a blockbuster finale. Vampires get stylish, corpses get wisecracks, and on Halloween night, we close the curtain with a brand-new Nosferatu alongside The Shining. Because if you’re going to say goodnight, say it with fangs and an axe.
Tue, Oct 28 – Madcap Macabre:
Monsters and murder get the screwball treatment — slapstick, graveyards, and gallows humor galore.Young Frankenstein (1974)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Wed, Oct 29 – Strange & Unusual:
Time warps, sandworms, and ghoulish show tunes — horror gets its sequins on.
Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Thu, Oct 30 – Vampires Just Wanna Have Fun:
’80s vamps with perfect hair — part horror, part MTV, all fangs and leather jackets.Fright Night (1985)
The Lost Boys (1987)
Fri, Oct 31 – Gothic Blockbuster Finale:
A brand-new vampire legend followed by Kubrick’s haunted masterpiece — Halloween ends with fangs and an axe through the door.Nosferatu (2024)
The Shining (1980)
Curtain Call
That’s 31 nights, 62 films, and one very full candy bowl. From tuxedoed monsters to technicolor witches, from pagan bonfires to suburban slashers, it’s a month-long tour of horror’s shadowy corridors.
So dust off the projector (or just your couch), mix yourself a cocktail worthy of Vincent Price, and let October work its haunted magic.
Happy haunting. 🍿👻