Last year I embarked on a challenge to watch 31 horror films in October that I hadn’t seen before. In case this self-imposed fright-fest wasn’t clue enough, I’m a huge horror movie fan. From Scream to Nosferatu to The Evil Dead, it’s always been something dark, haunting and macabre that fulfils my need for escapism and helps me relax.
My definition of spooky might be vastly different from yours, so, to clarify what I chose as my 2023 horror round-up, it consists of films, TV series or one off’s, games, books and podcasts all with the underlying theme of horror but with some adjacent spooky, thriller, sci-fi, whodunnit and crime genres thrown in. When compiling the lists below, I realised I’ve actually consumed far more ‘horror-based’ content in the past 12 months than I thought (a terrifying reflection). And all of my choices are new horror (to me) unless otherwise specified.
Films
- A Quiet Place
- Mother!
- Hocus Pocus 2
- Jennifer’s Body
- Boys in the Trees
- The Black Phone
- Let Me In
- Fright Night
- Personal Shopper
- Black Box
- I Still See You
- Underwater
- Master
- Night of the Living Dead
- Halloween (2018)
- Halloween Kills
- Searching
- Grimcutty
- The Changeling
- Scream 5
- Matriarch
- Horns
- Devil’s Due
- X
- Come True
- Willy’s Wonderland
- M3gan
- Eden Lake
- Parasite
- Escape Room
- IT Ends: Chapter Two
- Troll Hunter
- Fantasy Island
- The Menu
- The Boogeyman
- Clock
- Barbarian
- The Night House
- Nightmare Alley
- Books of Blood
TV
- American Horror Story Season 11
- I know what you did last summer
- The Woman in the Wall
- Servant
- Bad Sisters
- Wolf
- Marchlands
Games
- Oxenfree
- Oxenfree II: Lost Signals
- Scarlet Hollow
- The (entire) Rusty Lake Collection
- The White Room
- Cube Escape Collection
- Cube Escape: Paradox
- The Past Within
- Rusty Lake Hotel
- Rusty Lake Paradise
- Rusty Lake: Roots
- Samsara Room
- Underground Blossom
Books and Audio
- Deadlier: 100 of the Best Crime Stories Written by Women, chosen by Sophie Hannah (I have the hardback version of this which has a stunning dustjacket adorned with a metallic skull design)
- The House of Crows Collection by Lisa Unger
Onto my Halloween 2023 recommendations, and this Halloween I’ll personally be watching some titles I’ve not seen before:
- Totally Killer (Amazon original)
- Nope
- Night of the Hunted (Shudder)
- Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story (Apple TV)
- Appendage (Disney+)
- 6. 6. Come to Daddy (Amazon Prime)
Obviously, not every horror fan likes the dark and twisted so here are some special mentions of horror comedies, perfect for people who prefer a Halloween howl rather than a scream:
- Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a wonderfully comic juxtaposition of horror, turning an old-age trope on its head, reminding you never to judge a book by its cover.
- The Final Girls is a feminist Groundhog Day meets Friday the 13th parody.
- Happy Death Day 2 U (although I recommend watching Happy Death Day first to get up to speed on the storyline, this is a rare occurrence where the sequel is almost a different genre as the film goes in an entirely different direction!)
- Shaun of the Dead – it’s a classic from the Cornetto Trilogy. You’ll be quoting “You’ve got red on you” for weeks after.
And for those of you who’d rather go out for your spooks and scares, this year’s Halloween movie listings have a fairly decent-looking selection:
- The Exorcist: Believer
- A Haunting in Venice
- It Lives Inside
- Five Nights At Freddy’s
- Doctor Jeckyll
- Saw X
- Suitable Flesh
- Thanksgiving
In 2024, I’ll be looking forward to Stuart Ashen’s horror film ‘Turn Back: A Folk Horror Film Told in Reverse.’ Pledge here to back it on Kickstarter until November 9th.
Also coming in 2024 is Joker: Folie a deux which promises to be an even darker look into the twisted mind of the Joker and newly cast Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga).
I hope you’ve enjoyed the 2023 Horror Round-up. Let me know if you want more horror recommendations, film reviews or want to chat about all things Halloween-y.
Have a Happy Halloween!🦇