How I Decide on Halloween Movies to Watch

I decide on Halloween movies to watch by settling two things first: whether I want to be genuinely unsettled or just pleasantly scared under a blanket, and whether I'm watching alone or with someone who scares easier than I do. Everything else gets sorted on the night itself, usually while the flat smells of whatever candle I panic bought and I end up watching something I've already seen eleven times anyway. I've made peace with it. Mostly.

Why I never plan it weeks ahead

I used to keep a list. A proper one, titles saved through September, ranked and everything. It never once survived contact with the actual evening. The film I want on Halloween depends entirely on what kind of night I've had, and I don't know that until I'm sat down with the lights low, so the list was always answering a question I hadn't asked yet.

Now I only decide two things in advance: whether I want to be genuinely unsettled or just pleasantly scared with a blanket over my knees, and whether I'm watching alone or someone's coming round who scares easier than I do. Everything else gets sorted on the night, usually while I'm meant to be doing something else entirely.

What are the best Halloween movies to watch?

If I want the proper thing, the one that started all this for me, it's always Halloween 1978, and I keep going back to my Halloween 1978 Blu-ray box set because it's the version I trust to still work even when I know exactly what's coming. If I'm after something slower and colder, the kind of dread that sits in your chest rather than jumps out at you, it's The Shining Blu-ray steelbook, though that one is not for a night when I actually need to sleep afterwards.

For the nights when someone less keen on horror is joining me, I keep Hocus Pocus Blu-ray on standby, because it lets everyone in the room stay on the sofa instead of one of us hiding behind it. And if I'm feeling properly ambitious and the room is dark enough, I'll pull out my Nosferatu 1922 restored Blu-ray, which is quieter and stranger than anything modern and always makes me wonder why I don't watch it more than once a year.

How do you set the mood for a Halloween movie night?

I've learned that the film choice barely matters if the room isn't doing its job first. I've got my black cat string lights up along the shelf by mid-October, and a couple of my pumpkin spice wax melts going before anyone sits down, otherwise it's just me watching a horror film under my normal living room lighting, which frankly isn't frightening, it's just Tuesday.

Last year I made the mistake of trying to do popcorn from scratch while also lighting candles while also queuing up the film, and set off both the smoke alarm and a small amount of personal panic before the opening titles had even finished. This year I've decided the popcorn seasoning does the heavy lifting instead, and I'm not ashamed of that. My popcorn seasoning gift set means I get to sit under my chunky knit throw blanket rather than stood at the hob apologising to my smoke alarm.

What is the best Halloween movie to watch on the night?

If you actually pinned me down and made me choose one film for Halloween night itself, out of everything I could pick, it's still Halloween 1978. Not because I lack imagination, whatever my browser history of half finished watchlists might suggest, but because some nights you don't want a discovery. You want the thing that has never once let you down, with a hot chocolate going cold beside you and the room smelling of pumpkin spice, and honestly, that's most of what deciding what to watch on Halloween night actually comes down to. Not the perfect choice. Just the right one for that particular version of you, sat on that particular sofa, pretending you're not going to jump.

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