a recipe for the perfect Halloween.

As I have stated time and time again, Halloween is my favorite holiday. Once September hits, my brain is in full Halloween mode.

Ten years ago (whoof), I wrote about my Halloween essentials. In a nutshell, they are a costume (duh), candy, Halloween music/TV/movies, Halloween events, and friends with whom to enjoy this most special of all holidays.

All of this remains as true in 2022 as it was in 2012. However, allow me to adjust the details a little bit.

MOVIES

I am not super into scary movies - as the proud owner of a haunted house, I don't need anything artificial to scare the living shit out of me. However, I do love a good suspense film, and I REALLY love a good cult film. These are my choices for Halloween viewing:

Beetlejuice

Or really any Tim Burton film will do. Beetlejuice is my favorite, though - I have a soft spot for irreverent horror-ish movies.

Coco

Coco is hands-down my favorite Disney movie. It's an absolutely gorgeous film, and like all Pixar movies, it gets you right in the feels.

Hocus Pocus

Obviously. While the sequel was good, I'm all in for the original. I was a cat lady pre-1993, but Hocus Pocus solidified my love for black cats in particular.

Misery and/or The Shining

Stephen King is the master, we all know that. The scary movies that really get me are those that could actually happen. We all could be held hostage by a deranged fan. We all could lose our minds in total isolation (ahem, COVID).

Nosferatu

If you want to be thoroughly creeped out, watch this one. It's a silent vampire film from 1922. 

Rocky Horror Picture Show

I don't know how this movie became the cult Halloween phenomenon that it did, but if you can go to a midnight showing, DO IT. The audience participation is spectacular.

Shaun of the Dead

My favorite zombie movie. It's an Edgar Wright comedy with Simon Pegg. You know it will be great.

What We Do in the Shadows

It's a mockumentary about vampires living in New Zealand. And one of the funniest movies of all time.

Young Frankenstein

I actually have never watched Young Frankenstein around Halloween, but that's going to change this year. It's a Mel Brooks masterpiece.

MUSIC

Excuse me while I just type out what I have in my Halloween playlist:

"This Is Halloween" - Nightmare Before Christmas

"The Monster Mash" - Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Cryptkeeper Five

"Werewolves of London" - Warren Zevon

"Dead Man's Party" - Oingo Boingo

"Re: Your Brains" - Jonathan Coulton

"Witch Doctor" - Alvin and the Chipmunks

"The Time Warp" - Rocky Horror Picture Show

"Thriller" - Michael Jackson

(there are so many more, but these are the highlights.)

EVENTS

There are SO many Halloween events now, and I am HERE for it. I am always up for a ghost tour (any time of the year, of course), and I love that basically every event in October wants you to come in costume. There are zombie walks, Halloween bingo, midnight showings, costume contests, pumpkin patches, concerts, you name it. If I could take October off and do nothing but go to these events, I absolutely would.

TRUE GHOST STORIES

I love few things more than a good ghost story. I love to tell about my haunted house, and I love to hear about others' experiences. I go on ghost tours whenever possible, and one of my big dreams for Luverne is to start a ghost tour here. So if you have ghost stories, PLEASE tell me. I will be your best audience.

COSTUMES

One of the things I think about the most is what to be for Halloween. I've mentioned that my career goal as a child was to have a job where I would be allowed to dress up for Halloween. CHECK. But it's been YEARS since I only needed one costume. This year, I have a Zombie Appreciation event at the library, Halloween bingo/costume contest at the brewery, the Sioux Falls Zombie Walk, and of course, Halloween itself: one for work and one for family. (There's also a spooky supper club event that we may or may not go to because you know $.) I never repeat a costume on actual Halloween, but I do allow myself to mix and match from years past for the other events. (You should see my costume stash.) I have a separate costume for work so I can be whatever the hell I want. For family Halloween, I am totally going to get as many years out of a group costume as I can. That's the point of having kids, right?

FRIENDS

Of course, none of this is really any fun if you don't have anyone with whom to enjoy it. We have a solid group of friends and family with Halloween spirit, and that amplifies the fun. If you have to pick just one thing off this Halloween list, pick the friends. You will never regret it.