It’s finally that time of year again when the weather drops and the leaves start to change. There’s no better time to huddle up on the couch with a cup of apple cider and watch some movies. Everyone loves a good scare this time of the year and with the plethora of horror movies out there to choose from, I, a lifelong horror fan, thought I’d share some of my favorites to watch while getting ready for Halloween.

1. Halloween (1978) – It doesn’t get any more classic than John Carpenter’s “Halloween.” While this wasn’t the first slasher movie ever made, it really brought that subgenre of horror to the main stage and set up the 80s for being known as the decade of slasher films. Halloween basically set the precedent for how slasher films are formatted with a boogie man chasing after a teenage girl and those around her.

2. Friday the 13th: Part 3 (1982) – Arguably the most known and loved horror franchise, ‘Friday the 13th’  is well worth a watch during October. Part 3 is when famed horror villain Jason Voorhees finally gets his famous hockey mask after wearing a burlap sack in Part 2.

3. ABC’s of Death (2013) – ‘The ABCs of Death’ is a great anthology movie featuring short films from 26 directors around the world. Each director was tasked with making a ‘chapter’ on the topic of death for each letter of the alphabet. The variety of content in the chapters is diverse with directors from Europe, Japan, the United States and more.  

4. Cabin Fever (2002) – ‘Cabin Fever’ is a fun zombie movie directed by Eli Roth in his directorial debut. A classic situation of a group of friends at a cabin in the woods and all hell breaks loose. Roth goes overboard on the blood and gore, making this a fun watch for any horror lovers.  

5. The Cabin in the Woods (2011) – ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ is a great horror/comedy film from recent years. The premise of the movie is a typical horror movie, with a group of friends staying a weekend in a creepy old cabin in the woods, except this movie has twists left and right. The movie more or less makes fun of itself and clichés in the horror genre throughout the film, which adds a sense of humor for horror fans. The ending scenes are extremely over the top, and all I can say is you need to see it for yourself.  

6. Candyman (1992) – ‘Candyman’ is a supernatural horror film centered around the legend of the Candyman played by horror icon Tony Todd. ‘Candyman’ was based off of the short story ‘The Forbidden’ written by Clive Barker. The film overall has an extremely eerie and unsettling aura that gets amplified when Todd’s character comes on screen.  

7. You’re Next (2011) – ‘You’re Next’ is a great spin on the classic slasher film. It centers around a strong female lead and the havoc that ensues after being invited to her partner’s very wealthy parents’ house for dinner. My favorite thing about this movie is that the main character Erin, played by Sharni Vinson, is one bad*ss character. A lot of times in horror movies female characters are shown as helpless and naïve, so it was a breath of fresh air to see such a strong female character in the lead role.