Halloween season films we watched in October 2026

 Hello Plan9Crunch readers, I, Doug Gibson, our guest cult film scholar Rob Craig, and fellow blogger Steve D. Stones, and fellow blogger Joe Gibson, logged the genre films we watched during the month of October 2026. The graphics you see below are posters of some of the films. Below that is a list of films we both watched. Note the films you also watched and see if you watched scary films that we missed. 

DOUG GIBSON

Scary movies watched October 1:

Sleepaway Camp

Taste the Blood of Dracula

Dracula A.D. 1972

Fright Night, 1985

Scary movies watched October 2:

Friday the 13th Part 5

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

The Raven, 1935

Scary movies watched October 3:

Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman 

Spooks Run Wild 

The Corpse Vanishes

Scary movies watched October 4:

The Invisible Man's Revenge

Return of the Vampire

The Corpse Bride

Scary movies watched October 5:

Dracula, 1931

Night Monster (Bela wasted as Rolf, should have played Ingston or Singh)

Friday the 13th, 2009

Werewolf of London

Scary movies watched October 6:

Silver Bullet

Son of Dracula

Frankenstein, 1931

The Ape Man

Scary movies watched October 7:

Theatre of Blood

The Old Dark House, 1931

Vampyr

She Wolf of London

Scary movies watched October 8:

Voodoo Man

The Beast of Yucca Flats

The Cat and the Canary (silent version)

The Vampire Bat

Scary movies watched October 9:

The Howling

The Man with Nine Lives

Blood, 1974

Scary movies watched October 10:

Bride of the Monster 

Young Frankenstein 

Freddy Meets Jason ... meh

Scary movies watched October 11:

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein 

House on Haunted Hill, 1958

Return of the Ape Man

Munster Go Home

Scary movies watched October 12:

The Invisible Man, 1933

The Mummy, 1959

The Legend of Hell House, 1973

Scary movies watched October 13:

Insidious: The Last Key

Devil Bat

The Frozen Ghost

The Ghost of Frankenstein 

Scary movies watched October 14

House of Frankenstein

House of Dracula 

The Tingler

Homicidal

Scary movies watched October 15

Mad Doctor of Market Street

The Mummy, 1932

The Wolf Man, 1941

The Mad Ghoul

Scary movies watched October 16

White Zombie 

Man-made Monster 

Valley of the Zombies

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday

Scary movies watched October 17

Son of Frankenstein 

The Devil Doll

Army of Darkness

Scary movies watched October 18

Carrie, 1976

Mark of the Vampire 

Friday the 13th Part 3

The Haunting, 1963

Scary movies watched October 19

The Unknown 

Scream, Blacula, Scream

The Mystic 

The Vampire's Ghost 

Scary movies watched October 20 (Bela Lugosi’s birthday)

Murders in the Rue Morgue, 1932

The Human Monster

Invisible Ghost 

The Phantom Ship

Ghosts on the Loose

Scary movies watched October 21

Halloween, 1978

Insidious 3

Billy the Kid Versus Dracula

Scary movies watched October 22

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff

The Walking Dead, 1936

Scary movies watched October 23

Isle of the Dead

Mystery of the Wax Museum

Dracula's Daughter

Carrie streaming series, 2026 (It's terrible, by the way)

Scary movies watched October 24

Axe

Doctor X

Dead Men Walk

Scary movies watched October 25

The Vampire

Nosferatu, 1922

Nosferatu, 2024

Scary movies watched October 26

Troll 2

House of Horror 

The Fall of the House of Usher, 1960

Coraline

Scary movies watched October 27

The Haunted Palace

Carnival of Souls 

Night of the Living Dead

Cat People, 1942

Scary movies watched October 28

13 Ghosts, 1960

The Screaming Skull

The Body Snatcher

Scary movies watched October 29

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1920

Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla

Zombies on Broadway 

Christine

Scary movies watched October 30

The Leopard Man 

The 7th Victim

The Indestructible Man

The Atomic Brain

Scary movies watched October 31

The Curse of Frankenstein 

Mad Love

Corridors of Blood

I Walked with a Zombie 

Spider Baby 

114 TOTAL

ROB CRAIG

4D Man (1959)

Bamboo Saucer (1968)

The Being (1981)

Black Dragons (1942)

Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1972)

The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971)

Bowery at Midnight (1942)

The Brood (1979)

Castle of Evil (1966)

The Cat Creature (1973)

Count Dracula & His Vampire Bride (1978)

The Day the Sky Exploded (1961)

Deathmaster (1972)

Death Race 2000 (1975)

The Devil’s Rain (1975)

Don’t Go Near the Park (1981)

Dracula AD 1972 (1972)

Dr Bloods Coffin (1961)

Dressed to Kill (1980)

The Dunwich Horror (1970)

Eyes Behind the Stars (1978)

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)

From Beyond (1986)

The Gorgon (1964)

Horror of the Blood Monsters (1970)

House (1985)

Killers From Space (1954)

Maniac (1934)

Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1993)

Manos, the Hands of Fate (1966)

The Man Without a Body (1957)

Mausoleum (1983)

Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954)

The Mutations (1974)

Night of the Cobra Woman (1972)

A Night to Dismember (ca 1979)

One Frightened Night (1935)

Robot Monster (1953)

The Savage Bees (1976) in

Scars of Dracula (1970)

Screams of a Winter Night (1979)

Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

Virgin Witch (1971)

Welcome to Blood City (1977)

Yog: Monster From Space (1971)

45 films

STEVE D. STONES

October 2nd, 2026 - 1). The Raven  (1935). 2). Dracula (1931). 3). Dawn of The Dead (1979). 4). Carnival of Souls (1962). 

October 3rd, 2025 - 1). The Haunting (1963). 

October 4th, 2026 - Rocketship X-M (1950). 

October 5th, 2026 - The Ghost & Mr. Chicken (1966). 2). Killers From Space (1954). 

October 8th, 2026 1). Dawn of The Dead (1979) (again). 

October 9th, 2026 - 1). Blood (1971).  2). The Innocents (1961). 

October 10th, 2026 - Frankenstein (1931). 2). The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). 

October 11th, 2026 - 1). The Mummy (1932). 2). Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959). 

October 12th, 2026 1). The Invisible Man (1933). 

October 13th, 2026 1). The Embalmer (1965). 

October 14th, 2026 1). The Pit & The Pendulum (1961). 2). White Zombie (1932). 

October 15th, 2026 - 1). Messiah of Evil (1973). 

October 16th, 2026 - 1). Night of The Living Dead (1968). 

October 17th, 2026 - 1). The Shining (1980). 

October 19th, 2026 - 1). Creepshow (1982). 2). Hell High (1986). 

October 21st, 2026 - 1). Halloween (1978). 2). I Bury The Living (1958). 

October 23rd, 2026 - 1). Curse of Frankenstein (1957). 2). Village of The Damned (1960). 3). Halloween 3 (1982). 2). Halloween 2 (1981). 

October 25th, 2026 - 1). Blood Of The Vampire (1958). 

October 26th, 2026 - 1). Nosferatu (1922). 2). The Screaming Skull (1958). 

October 28th, 2026 - 1). Daughters of Darkness (1971). 

October 30th, 2026 1). I Bury The Living (1958) (again).

October 31st, 2026 - 1). The Crawling Eye (1958). 

36 films

JOE GIBSON

Films watched October 2026

1. Insidious 4

2. Insidious 5

3. Evil Dead 2013

4. The Last Voyage Of The Demeter 2023

5. Friday the 13th 2009

6. Split

7. A Nightmare On Elm Street 1984

8. Evil Dead Burn 2026

9. Freddy vs Jason

10. Monster House

11. Frankenstein 1931

12. Renfield 2023

13. Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday

14. Scream 7 2026

15. The Haunting 1963

16. Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers

17. The Invisible Man 1933

18. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

19. Vampires Suck 2010

20. Coraline

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken - Pure Comedy Gold

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) is pure comedy gold. The humor is this film will have you rolling in the aisles with laughter. I've laughed so hard myself from watching this film that tears rolled down my eyes. Actor Don Knotts has the most animated face in the history of entertainment. His facial gestures alone will have you laughing throughout the entire film. This film is a series of five films that Knotts starred in from 1966 to 1971 for Universal Studios. He also appears in The Reluctant Astronaut (1967), The Shakiest Gun in the West, (1968), The Love God (1969), and How to Frame a Figg (1971). The Ghost and Mr. Chicken is Knotts' first major project after leaving The Andy Griffith Show on television. All five films are sold as a Blu-Ray set from Shout Factory. The films can be purchased separately also.  

Knotts plays Luther Heggs, a typesetter for the local newspaper, The Rachel Courier Express, in Rachel, Kansas. The citizens of Rachel have avoided a run-down mansion in the town owned by the Simmons family. The Simmons mansion bears a striking resemblance to the Munsters Mansion at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Twenty years earlier, Simmons murdered his wife and then committed suicide in the mansion. The town is approaching the twenty-year anniversary of the murder-suicide. Rumors in the town suggest that the mansion is haunted.

Heggs happens to notice a local man named Calver Weems being hit on the head with a board in front of the Simmons mansion and runs to tell his boss (Dick Sargent) at the newspaper that the man was murdered. His colleagues at the newspaper and the town citizens laugh at Heggs when it turns out that the man was not murdered but is alive and well. Heggs gets a reputation for having an overactive imagination.

As the twenty-year anniversary of the Simmons murder-suicide approaches, Heggs writes a small filler article about the Simmons story. The article gets lots of attention from the local citizens. To follow up on the popular story, Heggs' boss challenges him to stay a night in the mansion. Being the awkward dunce that Heggs is known for, no one has any confidence that he will stay in the mansion for one night.

Heggs decides to stay overnight in the murder mansion to prove he is not a coward and encounters a number of ghostly apparitions. He sees a portrait of Mrs. Simmons on the wall with garden shears stuck in her neck and blood flowing from the painting. In the organ loft of the mansion, a dusty old organ with blood stained keys plays all by itself. Heggs throws a book at a bookcase, and a secret passage opens behind the bookcase.

Heggs manages to make it an entire night in the mansion and later writes an article about his experiences. Nicholaus Simmons, a surviving family member, sues Heggs for writing the article and demands that he retract his story. Before making a ruling on the case, the judge orders that the jurors and town citizens take a tour of the Simmons mansion with Heggs leading the tour. Heggs tries to get the events of his overnight stay at the mansion to unfold once again, but with no success. The entire town writes off his experiences as an overactive imagination.    

The funny moments in this film are too many to mention. Heggs backs into a tree in front of the Simmons mansion and thinks he is being attacked. He turns around and karate chops the tree, as if he is confronting a person. A similar scene occurs when Heggs encounters a mannequin in the mansion and once again thinks he is being attacked, so he karate chops the mannequin. The expressions on Heggs' face will have you laughing for days. 

During Heggs' picnic speech at the town's Chamber of Commerce meeting, Heggs stands in front of a podium to give a speech about his experiences. His hands are shaking so much from nervousness that he eventually lets the wind blow his speech papers out of his hands. The microphone malfunctions during the mayor's speech at the meeting and he says to the town citizens: "The electrician must be a Democrat!" Heggs makes the same comment when the microphone malfunctions during his speech.

During his speech in front of the Chamber of Commerce, Heggs also tells the crowd: "I have been called brave. What is brave? Let me clarify this." This scene is particularly funny because Heggs shakes with nervousness as a person in the crowd yells out "Attaboy, Luther!"  Heggs sits at a table with a beautiful brunette he has a crush on named Alma (Joan Staley). After mentioning to Alma that they both have a love of food in common, He tells Alma "I just love good food. My mother loved good food. She used to say I'd rather have good food than bad food any day of the week." Many of his comments to Alma in the film appear to be very awkward, but this helps to express Heggs' shy and awkward personality.

For absolute Halloween fun and scares - don't miss The Ghost and Mr. Chicken this Halloween season. Happy viewing.

-- Steve D. Stones

Sleepaway Camp; Maniac; sleazy horror flicks for Halloween season

 This October I was looking to recommend a couple of sleazy cult films for Halloween. For viewers who want to slum it a little. Here’s a couple:

Maniac, 1934, directed by Dwain Esper. Note an actor named Horace B. Carpenter. He has more than 325 credits, mostly in bit parts. In this exploitation, states-rights 51-minute celluloid garbage he’s memorable as the most insane, maniacal mad scientist on film. Working with a disgraced ex-vaudevillian who later kills him, he works to resurrect the dead.

A cat with its eyeball popped out; male mortuary workers leering over an attractive dead young woman; same young woman wandering partially nude in laboratory and later kidnapped and assaulted by a young man driven crazy by adrenaline; a creepy neighbor with hundreds of cats he raises to make fur attire; inserts of women in undies and showing their breasts; a hysterical wife wondering what the mad doctor did to her husband; real mad doctor lying dead in basement; cops to the rescue; sets too cheap for Ed Wood.

This has been described as the worst film ever made. It isn’t of course. It’s bad, true, but so unique you can’t take your eyes off the screen, at least the first time. Schlockmeister Esper directed. His wife Hildergarde Stadie, who worked in carnivals, wrote the hysterical script. As was the norm for these films, it pretends to be "educational," with inserts about the various forms of insanity the doctor is experiencing. It’s a combination of Poe’s The Black Cat and Murders in the Rue Morgue; throw in the ‘80s film Reanimator. It likely made a fortune at the box office. You can stream it free on many sites.

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Sleepaway Camp, 1983, directed by Robert Hiltzik. You’ll need a shower after watching this grubby little slasher at a teenager summer camp. A boy cousin and his “sister” come to the nastiest, dirtiest, most dysfunctional camp. The cook is an overt pedophile. His co-workers just giggle as he vocalizes his rape wishes. Said cook is punished with a fate worse than death. One strength of this film is the inventive slasher attacks and kills within its 88 minutes.

The camp includes a very strange, paranoid owner who lusts after a teenage counselor who is a bit of a sociopath herself. The backstory is a slow-building romance between two young, bullied teens, Angela, (Felissa Rose), and Ronnie. The rest of the film is just one murder after another. There’s a backstory with Angela and her cousin, Ricky, and one crazy-as-a-loon mom, which you’ll have to watch the movie to learn more about.

I like little touches in this sleazy, gory film, like flypaper in the kitchen literally covered with dozens of dead flies. A final, wildly inappropriate credits song over the jarring final scene shot adds to the kitsch.

The ending of this film is iconic in low-budget horror. It does pack a punch for the viewer. This is not a good film but it’s unique; tasteless but quite watchable. Also, lead actress Rose, who has become a regular at genre conventions, wisely underplays her role; in contrast to the rest of the cast. That adds to the impact of the finale.

You can find Sleepaway Camp for free on Tubi, Prime and YouTube; and probably more streamers. Several badly reviewed sequels have been released. I have not seen any of those. However, I do watch Sleepaway Camp every October.

-- Doug Gibson