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The horror standard that all other possession films are compared to, William Friedkin’s adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel remains as frightening and controversial as it was the day of its release. Linda Blair plays 12-year-old Regan McNeil, whose unsettling behavior reveals itself to be a full-fledged demonic possession, prompting her mother (Ellen Burstyn) to recruit both a faith-challenged and a veteran priest (Jason Miller and Max von Sydow, respectively) to perform an exorcism. Cut to a barrage of incredibly magnetic demonic trash talk, mind games, levitation—and pea-soup puke. Watch the extended director’s cut that includes the restored, shocking “spider-walk” scene if you dare.

October is my favorite month of the year. I love Halloween and thoroughly enjoy getting myself into a spooky mindset for 31 days with a variety of fright flicks, from creepy classics and mainstream

frights to fringe titles and hard-to-find oddities. In that spirit, here are ten fright-flick picks for every mood to stir up your soul for All Hallow’s Eve.

A well-crafted modern thriller, James Wan’s box-office hit has the period setting and stylings to make the film feel like a genuine throwback to ’70s cinema—the time when the story takes place. Based on a supposed true incident, THE CONJURING follows famed paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) and her husband Ed (Patrick Wilson) as they encounter malevolent forces at the Rhode Island farmhouse of Roger and Carolyn Perron (Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor). An exercise in restraint until the shocking final act, THE CONJURING will keep you up at night—with the lights on.

The perfect antidote to the glut of cut-rate slasher movies that invaded multiplexes in the ’80s, Tom Holland’s entertaining horror homage stars William Ragsdale as a teen who cries “vampire” when he spies the suspicious doings of his mysterious neighbor (Chris Sarandon) through his bedroom window. But no one believes him—not even Peter Vincent, “Vampire Killer” (Roddy McDowell), a has-been late-night horror movie host recruited to suss out the creature of the night. Of course he’s right, and he must fight for his life and the life of his friends in a story that revels in challenging the tropes of the genre along with the expectations of the audience with the help of superb, pre-CGI practical effects.

Taking its cue from spooky anthologies like CREEPSHOW, Michael Dougherty’s TRICK ’R TREAT features a quartet of spooky tales that put the likes of Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, and Dylan Baker in jeopardy from vampires, the undead, questionable candy, and more—all tied together by the creepy meanderings of Sam, a trick-or-treater with an unsettling secret under his burlap-sack mask. Although the movie arrived with a thud at the box office, word-of-mouth brought it back from the dead, and TRICK ’R TREAT truly grows on you like a flesh-eating virus.

(1973)

(1985)

(2007)

(2013)

by David Weiner

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A key reason that Tobe Hooper’s micro-budgeted ’70s shocker remains one of the scariest viewing experiences put on film is its cinema verite approach: watching the film shot on 16mm, you feel like you’re trapped with hitchhiking teen Sally Hardesty (Marilyn Burns) as she helplessly endures the manic, morbid delight of a deranged, cannibalistic Texas clan’s house of horror—inspired by real-life serial killer Ed Gein, whose affinity for stitching together human flesh lent itself to the mask stylings of Gunnar Hansen’s chainsaw-wielding Leatherface.

The perfect “scary” movie for kids of all ages, this must-see black and white classic packs in three of everyone’s favorite Universal Monsters: Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein’s Monster. Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr. send up their most famous creature-feature roles opposite Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s bungling baggage clerks, who become embroiled in a fiendishly funny plot to steal Costello’s brain. Stick around for the surprise monster cameo at the end!

Another perfect choice for the kiddies, this animated Disney short is narrated by Bing Crosby and gets all the details of Washington Irving’s classic folktale right: the festive nature of the season, the colorful fall foliage, the shadows that play tricks on the imagination, and a frightening, flaming-pumpkin-wielding headless horseman chasing down poor old Ichabod Crane to separate him from his noggin—guaranteed to leave an indelible mark on the minds of impressionable young trick-or-treaters.

Finally, how can you not watch HALLOWEEN on Halloween? John Carpenter’s low-budget thriller was a watershed moment for cinema, igniting a new wave of slasher films in the late ’70s/early ’80s. Cleverly casting Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of PSYCHO star Janet Leigh, as the prudish babysitter who must confront the almost supernaturally unstoppable Michael Myers (who “came home” after breaking out of his mental institution), HALLOWEEN is a relentless masterpiece of pacing and perception, from the chillingly hypnotic soundtrack to Myers’ distorted Shatner mask and the shocking, unexpected final scene.

(2012)

(1974)

(1949)

(1948)

(1978)

Ground zero for the modern zombie genre, George A. Romero’s creepy, no-budget film started it all with an atmospheric story of ordinary people desperate to survive a zombie invasion by holing up in a remote, surrounded farmhouse. The black-and-white film establishes a feeling of claustrophobia and dread with old-fashioned editorial know-how and mild, gross-out makeup effects, all without one pixel of CGI.

(1968)

This clever film, co-written by geek god Joss Whedon and packed with snarky, referential dialogue, challenges conventions by playing with expectations and broadening the scope of the teens-trapped-in-the-woods storyline by taking it to mythic proportions. Without spoiling it for the uninitiated, suffice it to say that the fates of Chris Hemsworth and his fellow horny teen stereotypes are in the unlikely hands of lackadaisical lab-coat puppet masters (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford), who have their own demons and obligations.