Katie Pumpkinhead’s Pumpkin Patch

 I haven't done much blogging this October, as I've been more focused on the annual photo challenge I do over on  Instagram . However, I've recently fallen in love with a new Halloween movie, and felt the need to talk about it.  A week ago, a movie called Carved appeared on Hulu, and I had to watch it ASAP, as I'm always looking for new Halloween-themed media, and this one was actually centered around a pumpkin! It's interesting to me, in a way, that the "pumpkin's revenge" storyline seems like a bit of a gimme, yet it really hasn't been done very often. The only other instance that immediately comes to mind for me is the final segment in Tales Of Halloween. Carved  is, to my knowledge, the first movie to do "pumpkin's revenge" as a full length storyline. And quite frankly, how could a movie about a pumpkin getting revenge on those who have wronged it not become an instant comfort film for me? Carved doesn't necessarily do anythin...

 When I was about two years old, my favorite movie was Beetlejuice.  It was on HBO a lot at the time, and I was absolutely obsessed with watching it. I didn't understand the plot as a toddler, obviously, but something about the characters and setting, particularly the underworld scenes, pulled me in. I was entranced by it, and would have the type of tantrum usually reserved for when little ones don't get the toy or snack they wanted if something or someone pulled me away from it. I have a very distinct memory of once having to leave to go to my aunt's house in the middle of it, and having a total meltdown. Luckily, my aunt lived maybe a five minute car ride from my childhood home, so she put it on for me once we got there. I suppose Beetlejuice was my very first comfort movie. My love for the movie remained as I got older. In my late teens, I became very much a "Burtonphile", as many referred to the Tim Burton fandom back then, devouring everything Tim Burton touc...

 2023 has been an interesting year for Halloween-themed/set horror. Several notable movies were released this year and I hope to get around to talking about them all here, when I eventually have the time. However, one particular movie has truly stuck out to me this year:  A movie called Cobweb. You can view the trailer  here . Cobweb is the story of a young boy named Peter, who lives with his very eccentric, very tightly wound parents, Carol and Mark. Peter is bullied in school and seems to always be tense at home, until one night when he begins to hear a strange tapping on his bedroom wall. Peter becomes obsessed with figuring out the source of the tapping, while his parents seem a strange mixture of unbothered and terrified. Soon the source of the tapping begins whispering to Peter, though, offering the friendship that Peter so desperately craves within his lonely existence. At school, Peter meets a new substitute teacher, Miss Devine, who takes a special interest in Pe...

As you most likely already know, Halloween-themed movies are tremendously important to me. For most of my life, when I needed a dose of Halloween in the off-season, or even wanted to make an October afternoon feel extra special and anticipatory, I’d turn to movies that would immediately transport me back into the most important day of my year.  I will watch pretty much anything relating to Halloween, whether it’s a horror film, a tv special, something intended for small children, or pretty much anything in between. And over the years, across genres, I’ve accumulated some go-to movies that capture Halloween for me like nothing else, and can make my heart leap with excitement as if it were October 30th, on, say, any random Tuesday in May. These are the movies that inspire me, and keep me going even at the worst points in my calendar year. A few days ago, I had the absolutely amazing opportunity to view a new film called The Pumpkin Man before its general release. I’ve been following ...

 One of my absolute favorite pastimes is watching old Halloween content on YouTube. Most of my nights end with a compilation of vintage Halloween commercials, old Halloween safety PSAs, or Halloween specials from my youth. There's nothing I find more relaxing.  A few days ago, I suddenly had a memory of an old spooky cartoon I hadn't in seen ages, a movie I used to rent from the video store as a child called The Ketchup Vampires , and felt compelled to look it up.  Both  The Ketchup Vampires  and its sequel/prequel  Ketchup Vampires 2  are available on YouTube. And let me tell you, this unlocked some major memories for me! The original movie is dated 1995, so I would have been seven or eight at the time, depending on the month of its release. But I vividly remember discovering it at our local video rental place.  I had wandered over to the children's section while my mother looked through the new releases in the main part of the store. Looking rig...

 One of the big things I have been looking forward to this Halloween season is seeing how the Halloween movie franchise finally ends. Halloween has been an iconic part of my “spooky seasons” since I was very young, even before I actually watched the movies. And, even though I may enjoy Freddy Krueger’s sense of humor just slightly more than Michael Myers’ more “strong and silent” approach to slasher-dom, the Halloween movies are always my go-to when it comes to rewatching an OG slasher. The atmosphere is just perfect. While many people seemed to be on the fence about Halloween Kills, I absolutely loved it and it’s one of my main go-to movies, period, not even just within the Halloween franchise. So I naturally had pretty high hopes for Halloween Ends.  To say that I was disappointed, just might be an understatement.  Halloween Ends was basically  the Necro episode  of American Horror Stories, minus a few details, with a little bit of Laurie Strode and Michael My...

 As you probably know, my taste in Halloween-y things ranges from things meant for people years (okay, sometimes decades ) younger than myself, to the darkest of horrors. I love spooky cute, but I also love a good gore fest, especially when it's set on Halloween night. It probably comes as no surprise that I absolutely love the Terrifier movies and particularly the character of Art the clown. And I consider myself extremely lucky to have caught Terrifier 2 in the theater on opening night. Before you ask, no, no one threw up or fainted at my showing. A couple of people got up and presumably went to the bathroom but I didn't see a sense of urgency in these people that told me they were about to toss their popcorn. At almost two and a half hours long, this is a movie some people simply may need a pee break halfway through. A few people behind me did gasp a lot, though.  Aside from a few moments that triggered my ommetaphobia, I got through it perfectly fine and thoroughly enjoyed...

 When I was seven years old, I saw a movie that changed my life. I was a scaredy-cat kid who loved Halloween, and it was hard for me to find things relating to that that I could watch, and not have anxiety over later on.  But then came Hocus Pocus. I saw the movie for the first time during one of those “free preview” weeks that the Disney Channel used to offer, back in the days when certain channels were “premium subscription” and your parents wouldn’t pay the price to keep it permanently. Ironically, I believe Hocus Pocus aired the day we put the Christmas tree up. To say I fell in love with this movie would be the ultimate understatement. I became obsessed .  I dreamt of being best friends with Dani Dennison. I woke up every morning hoping my cats would talk to me, all the while begging for a solid black one. I desperately tried to emulate Winifred Sanderson, to the point of trying to speak like her. (I have a weird memory of asking the family dog something along the li...

 As I’ve mentioned before, I often spend significant amounts of time browsing through Halloween-themed movies on streaming services, hoping to find something that truly speaks to me. There’s a certain something that I look for in Halloween movies that I can’t quite explain, and I usually know, fairly quickly, when I’ve found it, or, also, when I haven’t. Not that certain movies aren’t fun watches even if they don’t have that something, and I’ll talk more about those types of movies in the future, but today, I stumbled upon a movie that will surely be added to my list of go-tos and really want to share it. This is a little movie that came out last September, called Bad Candy. A few people I know within the Halloween community have watched this movie, but I never hear anyone talk much about it. I won’t lie, I put it on today as background noise while doing some cleaning, fully expecting it to not hold my interest enough to want to actually sit still and watch it. I tend to get cranky...

 I am always looking for new Halloween-themed movies to watch. Anything that sets the perfect mood in the off-season, or at the very least, is a fun watch in the spirit of the season, will almost instantly become a go-to.  But, sadly, many of the Halloween-themed horror films that can be found on streaming services suffer from… issues. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes these movies so subpar, but in many cases,  I think a huge part of the problem is that they try so hard to live up to the standards set by the more popular films, that they ultimately end up shooting themselves in the foot.  One such movie came to me today in the form of Candy Corn , a movie that got a lot of buzz in the Halloween community when it was first released in 2019, but hasn’t been free to watch until now.  With its beautifully designed signature pumpkin pail, and the fact that it’s set both on Halloween and at a creepy carnival , Candy Corn almost seemed, at first glan...

 Today, I’d like to talk about a Halloween themed horror film that I recently discovered and was pleasantly surprised by: A 2019 Canadian film called Halloween Party. I first became aware of this movie while scrolling through Tubi one afternoon looking for something else, and immediately declared it a must-watch. You can view the trailer  here .  Now, these random streaming-service spooky finds can be very hit-or-miss. There are quite a few that I’ve turned off before ever finishing them, so I tend to go in with low expectations. But, while I don’t find Halloween Party to be Oscar-worthy or anything like that, I personally found it to be a very interesting, smart horror film. Our story opens with best friends Grace and Zoe, hanging out in Zoe’s dorm room. Grace is scrolling through pictures on Zoe’s computer when suddenly a very primitive Halloween animation pops up, declaring itself “A Halloween Party For GRACE” and prompting her to type her worst fear in a little box wh...