I love fall and, to me, the culmination of fall is Halloween. I have always been a massive fan of Halloween, with a few of my past costumes consisting of Robin from the Batman universe, Velma from “Scooby-Doo” and a bee — the latter of which I sported during my first Halloween where I was carried around by my grandmother to trick-or-treat. During fall, I aim to personify that Taylor Swift interview where she praises “plaid stuff and ankle boots and not caring when people make fun of pumpkin-flavored stuff because you love it.”
Here are a few pieces of media to hopefully help you personify that and get into the “spooky season” spirit.
Starting off with television episodes and specials, which may be my personal favorite, as they provide a way to infuse some Halloween into your day without the time commitment of a movie.
I love curling up with a good blanket and watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” Something about the Peanuts animation style brings me the happiest dose of nostalgia, and this TV special pairs perfectly with a trip to the pumpkin patch.
For all the bakers out there, may I strongly suggest Food Network’s “Halloween Wars.” As a kid, I would anticipate a new season of “Halloween Wars” as if it was the Olympics. Each episode, a team of a pumpkin carver, cake artist and sugar artist must work together to create a massive Halloween-themed display based on an eerie prompt. If you are a fan of food competition shows or art in general, this one is a must-watch. There is a season currently airing, as well as 12 others on which to catch up.
Something I do every Halloween is have a marathon of Disney Channel’s Monstober episodes. If you do not know what these are, I am sorry. Monstober is when Disney Channel shows would release Halloween-themed episodes during the month of October. With my marathon expertise, may I suggest any of the “Jessie” Halloween episodes, the “Helgaween-A-Rooney” episode of “Liv and Maddie,” the “Costumes and Courage” episode of “Austin and Ally” and the “mutANT farm” episode of “A.N.T. Farm.”
Queue your disappointment, there will be no horror movies on this list, as I am dreadfully squeamish and also afraid of them. However, I do appreciate the genius of some horror movies (key word some), and I regularly can be found Wikipedia-ing their plots.
Even though I said no horror movies, as a child, I was horrified by “Halloweentown.” However, once I got past that terror, it became one of my favorite Halloween films, and it truly has it all. With magic, themes of family, a bit of spookiness and the cutest fall town, this movie had me wishing I, too, secretly came from a lineage of witches.
Maybe this one is just pure nostalgia for me, but “Girl vs. Monster” starring Olivia Holt is a favorite of mine every October. A fun activity to pair with this movie is affectionately making fun of its god-awful CGI with your friends. Also, the songs will be stuck in your head for days, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Now onto some music that will have you feeling like pumpkin spice has been injected into your veins while strolling — or strutting — across the quad.
One soundtrack that never misses during October is the music from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” There have been many iterations of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” including the 1973 musical, the 1975 movie and that one version of it they put in “Perks of Being a Wallflower.” While I prefer the original movie when it comes to the Halloween classic “Time Warp,” I do recommend checking out the 2016 movie remake for songs like “Dammit Janet.” This version stars Victoria Justice, and her Hollywood Arts education clearly paid off, as she sounds angelic on this song.
We, as a society, can hate on “Glee” all we want, but we need to stop pretending that the mashups are not absolutely fire. The genius of “Thriller/Heads Will Roll” cannot be overstated and gives me the vibes of if you were caught in the middle of a dance battle between a group of zombies and the Queen of Hearts. If you can’t tell, that is an incredibly high compliment.
To finish off the music, I have to include October County’s “My Girlfriend is a Witch.” I would recommend pairing this one with a drive along a road with some scenic fall-hued leaves. Another song this list cannot go without is Annie Lennox’s version of “I Put a Spell on You” to really channel that boss witch energy.
Now if you say you aren’t in the Halloween spirit, you have no excuse. Grab those Pillsbury cookies with the little pumpkins, and have a happy October.