The Four Weeks of Halloween

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What’s the right Halloween for you? Spooky? Scary? Or horrifying? Join us each week in October as we share book, movie, and comics recommendations to help you shape your Halloween season into something that's fun for you and yours, whatever your personal fright level.

10/27/2023

The Fourth Week of Halloween 2023

Recommended in this episode Poems * Zombies * The Corpse Less Taken * Extraterrestrials * Mermaid poems by Jamie Gower Movies/TV Lockwood and Co. (2023) Spooky, some menace and jump scares; stream on Netflix. One Lane Bridge (2020) Spooky, some jump scares, grown-up discussions of grown-up problems; stream on Acorn, AMC+. Wednesday (2022) Spooky, some jump scares and violence, including a pretty upsetting attack on Thing. Mostly surprsingly sweet, though. Stream on Netflix. Books Dracula Daily Like it says on the newsletter, “Get the classic novel Dracula, emailed to you in real time as it happens.” Also bound in a beautiful annotated print edition. Peeps (Scott Westerfeld) Vampirism as a sexually-transmitted parasitic infection. Spooky, sometimes scary—especially in the alternate chapters, which chronicle the queasy life-cycles of real-life parasites. The book is on back-order, but is available on Libby. In a Class By Itself The Bat Woman (1968) Oh, migosh, this is amazing. About as scary as the Adam West Batman, although there is a fish-man who might be scary if you’re under 11 years old. Stream on Tubi, rent on Amazon Prime Video. Also, the New York Times did a wonderful article about the movie and its star, Maura Monti. What next? We had a great time doing The Four Weeks of Halloween, and are wondering: should we do more? Not Halloween-specific, obviously (at least not until 2024!). But maybe we pop up for specific holidays, or on a regular monthly or quarterly cadence? What do you think? Let us know in the comments! And as always, we’d be ever so grateful if you could recommend us to a friend. We’ve even arranged wee gifties for you if someone uses your signup link. So we hope you might be able to help. Either way, and always, you’re the bee’s knees in our book. We hope you have a fun, safe, and delightfully spooky Halloween.
10/20/2023

The Third Week of Halloween 2023

Recommended in this episode: Poem Dear Dr. Frankenstein by Jericho Brown. From his book The New Testament, published by Copper Canyon Press Movies/TV Young Frankenstein (1974) Spooky? Possibly? Maybe?; stream on Max, buy the DVD to hear Mel Brooks’ commentary (prepare to have your heart broken when he reacts to seeing his departed friend Madeline Kahn on screen again) Werewolf by Night (1999) Legit scary, especially in the first half, but ultimately surprisingly sweet; stream on Disney The Wild, Wild, West (1965-1969) Occasionally spooky, although the spooky element almost always turns out to be a ruse by the villain (like the steam-powered Kraken tentacle that was destroying shipping in the San Francisco Bay—seriously, that was an episode) also mentioned: Eureka (2006-2012) Not even spooky, sometimes tense, mostly amiable romps Books Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots (at times scary, due to examples of the real consequences of super-hero level violence; also on Libby) Music What’s He Building in There? by Tom Waits (spooky, in a fun way; listen on most music streaming services) And we recommend searching for Halloween on any music streaming service—there’s a lot of stuff! also mentioned: Skullcrusher Mountain by Jonathon Coulton (spooky, also in a fun way; we’d recommend anything by Mr. Coulton) Podcasts Limetown (spooky, some scary descriptions of violence; available via most podcast players—also a TV series on Peacock, and a prequel novel) also mentioned: Welcome to Night Vale (spooky, maybe a little scary?; available via most podcast players—and is the nucleus of an entire spooky media mini-empire)
10/13/2023

The Second Week of Halloween 2023

Recommended in this episode Poem The Haunted Palace by Edgar Allan Poe Movies/TV Into the Woods (2014) Spooky at worst; stream on Disney, rent on most services Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) Not even really spooky; rent on Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu Books The Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare and Beyond blog (be sure to search for “Halloween“) His Face All Red by Emily Carrol (spooky; also on Libby) Shakespeare for Squirrels by Christopher Moore (spooky, with swearing and discussion of “sexy times”; also on Libby) Podcasts Strange Studies of Strange Stories (discussion of spooky, the scary, and sometimes horrifying stories and novels from the first half of the twentieth century and earlier) Old Gods of Appalachia (spooky, sometimes scary, occasionally briefly horrifying) also mentioned: Camp Monsters (spooky, sometimes really scary)
10/06/2023

The First Week of Halloween 2023

Recommended in this episode: Poems Vintage Halloween Greeting Cards by various Movies/TV Van Helsing (2004) Spooky, some scary; rent or stream on Apple+, AMC, Prime Video, YouTube and others Crazy Head (2005) Spooky leaning to scary; stream on Netflix Good Omens (2019-2023) Spooky, some scary; stream on Prime Video Books Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman (spooky at most; also on Libby) Monster, She Wrote by Lisa Kröger & Melanie R. Anderson (non-fiction about a range of works; also on Libby) The Weird edited by Anne and Jeff VanderMeer (spooky, some genuinely scary, one to two horrifying; also on Libby) Podcasts Random Number Generator Horror Podcast No. Nine (plot synopses of the spooky, the scary, and the horrifying) Also mentioned Too Scary, Didn’t Watch (plot synopses of the spooky, the scary, and the horrifying) Wikipedia (another great resource for plot synopses before you commit) *If you recognize what line from what movie I paraphrased for that last line in the intro, let us know in the comments, would you? See you there…
10/27/2022

Week Four: for Kids

Recommended in this episode Poem The Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash Movies It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)Spooky, barely Coco (2017)Spooky, at most Books Mommy? by Maurice SendakSpooky, some scary (mostly the price—it can be hard to find) Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice SendakSpooky Terry Jones Fairy Tales by Terry JonesOccasionally Spooky Games Grim Fandango Spooky, grown-up themes Podcasts Scary Stories for Creepy KidsSpooky Music “Frankenstein” by The Edgar Winter GroupSpotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music “Fury of Godzilla” from Godzilla, the King of All Monsters by Akira IfukubeSpotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music “Main Title” from Godzilla, the King of All Monsters by Akira IfukubeSpotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music “The Murder” from Psycho by Bernard Herrmann Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music
10/20/2022

Week Three: Witches

Recommended in this episode Poem Selections from Mother Goose (The Original Volland Edition) Movies Practical Magic (1998)Spooky, some scary (abuse) Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)Spooky at most Spirited Away (2001)Spooky, some scary Penny Dreadful (2014-2016)Scary, some horrifying Books Practical Magic by Alice HoffmanSpooky, some scary (abuse) Wee Free Men by Terry PratchettSpooky Which Witch? by Eva IbbotsonSpooky The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1: Charmed Life/The Lives of Christopher Chant, by Diana Wynn JonesSpooky Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Diasaster in Salem by Rosalyn SchanzerScary (actual history) Comics Archie Horror, an imprint of Archie ComicsSpooky to Scary, with touches of Horrifying Archie vs. Predator II by Alex De Campi & Robert Hack, Kelly Fitzpatrick, Jack MorelliSpooky to Scary, with touches of Horrifying Podcasts The Lovecraft Investigations: The Case of Charles Dexter WardScary In Our Time: The Salem Witch TrialsScary (actual history) Errata In this podcast, Jamie mistakenly refers to the Archie in Archie vs. Predator II as a “robotic” Archie. It is in fact a Predator modified to look like Archie. We regret the error. We regret it so, so much.
10/13/2022

Week Two: Hauntings

Recommended in this episode: We introduced a rating system for the fright level of our recommendations: Spooky (Maybe some jump scares, but it’s more about the mood.) Scary (Real frights, but nothing too graphic or disturbing.) Horrifying (Blood, monsters, madness. You are warned.) Poem Haunted Houses by Carl Sandberg Movies Housebound (2014)Mostly spooky, some scary stuff Beetlejuice (1998)Mostly spooky, some scary images/characters played for laughs Books The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (also available as a graphic novel)Spooky Amphigorey by Edward GoreySpooky Comics The Me You Love in the Dark by Skottie Young & Jorge CoronaScary, with touches of Horrifying Locke and Key by Joe Hill & Gabriel RodriguezNo rating from us—we haven’t read it yet Podcasts Too Scary, Didn’t WatchSpooky to Horrifying—but told second-hand to someone who doesn’t like scary stuff. Also mentioned Wikipedia is your friend, often with full synopses you can check out if you want to know what a book or movie has got planned for you.
10/06/2022

Week One: Trick or Treat

Recommended in this episode: Poem Theme in Yellow by Carl Sandberg Movies Van Helsing (2004) The Brothers Grimm (2005) Books A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny (also on Kindle) also mentioned: The Weird edited by Anne and Jeff VanderMeer Stories to Keep you Alive Despite Vampires by Ben Acker (also on Kindle) Comics The Dark Horse Book of Horror edited by Dark Horse Comics (available on Hoopla Digital) Podcasts Camp Monsters podcast Also mentioned: Dracula (1931) The Mummy (1932) Aliens (1986) Bullit (1968) Only The End of the World Again by Neil Gaiman (available in the collection Shadows Over Innsmouth edited by Stephen Jones, and as a graphic novel from Dark Horse or Hoopla Digital)
Season 1, Episode 1 Trailer

The Four Weeks of Halloween: Trailer

It begins…

Trailer

The Four Weeks of Halloween: Trailer

It begins…

What’s the right Halloween for you? Spooky? Scary? Or horrifying? Join us each week in October as we share book, movie, and comics recommendations to help you shape your Halloween season into something that's fun for you and yours, whatever your personal fright level.

Creator

(required field) Productions
Years Active

2022 - 2023
Episodes

9
Rating

Clean
Copyright

Copyright © 2022 C. James "Jamie" Gower
Show Website

The Four Weeks of Halloween