7 Most Watch Horror Movies for Summerween!

Start your Summerween off on the right (severed) foot with these must watch summer horror movies!

Summer of Fear aka Stranger in Our House – Wes Craven (1978)

Linda Blair stars in an early made-for-TV Wes Craven movie based on a Lois Duncan novel about a teenager who may or may not be a witch… need I say more? Okay: Lee Purcell.

Fun fact: This premiered on October 31, so it’s really the perfect Summerween movie.

No One Will Save You – Brian Duffield (2023)

A home invasion movie where the invaders are, in fact, aliens. Mostly set in one location and featuring almost no dialogue, No One Will Save You is intense and tightly paced. It also features the classic grey alien, which is something that simply hasn’t been utilized enough in movies.

The Ruins – Carter Smith (2008)

Based on the novel of the same name, The Ruins follows a group of entitled tourists who end up on the wrong side of both the locals and an unknown threat after overstepping their boundaries. Filled with some grotesque body horror, The Ruins is criminally underrated and a must-watch this summer. I’ve written about this one previously. Click here to read my words!! 

Fall – Scott Mann (2022)

The premise is simple: two adventure-seeking women climb a 2,000-foot abandoned radio tower and climb right back down. Just kidding. They end up stranded at the top of the tower with no way to get back down. Despite its modest budget, Fall is an effective and absolutely terrifying experience, especially if you’re afraid of heights. Which I am. 

Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers – Michael A. Simpson (1988)

Let’s face it, any of the films in this series fit the bill, and as much as I adore the first movie, my heart will always belong to Unhappy Campers. It’s CAMPY (sorry), over-the-top, and features a number of fun kills. However, what really makes this one work (as well as the equally enjoyable sequel, Teenage Wasteland) is Pamela Springsteen’s hilariously fun performance.

Southbound – Radio Silence (2015)

An anthology film featuring five tales of terror, Southbound’s desert highway backdrop—which serves as a sort of intersection connecting each tale—is as hot and desolate as it is moody and atmospheric.

Just Before Dawn – Jeff Lieberman (1981)

Noted for its jaw-dropping Oregon forest locations, Just Before Dawn is more than your typical backwoods slasher. The film focuses on unsettling tension and atmosphere while featuring a terrific score that’s sure to get under your skin.

Halloween Happenings

While some elements of the Halloween season are and will continue to be hindered by the ongoing apocalypse we are currently going through, the great thing about the season of spook is just how many fun things there really are to do. And really, when it comes to Halloween, some of the most enjoyable elements are those little things, from lighting that dusty Pumpkin Fart Dollar General candle that’s been sitting on your bookcase since last October, to the dangerously dark shit you get from eating too many Halloween Oreos. 

As is the case every season, I’ve been witch’s tit deep into all things Halloween, and whether you like it or not, I’m going to share some of what I’ve been up to with you right this very second. 

HallowBaby Halloween training continues...

The decorating process is still, well, in the process, but this year I decided to start creating some fun decorations of my own, which is something we hadn’t done since 2013 when I posted these two videos (Indoor Halloween Decorations Outdoor Halloween Decorations). 

So far this year, with some inspiration from the Demon Queen of the Demented (better known ‘round these parts as my wife), I hand cut this Haunted village out of poster board, which as you can see will be backlit by some seriously spooky orange lights. We plan to do more with this, but this is the main theme for the mantle, and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. 

We also decided to do a witch theme this year, which will be highlighted by a not-quite-started and more complex cauldron for the front/outside of the house, and a more simple cauldron for the fireplace inside the house. The inside cauldron was done by encasing a set of orange LED lights in some expanding foam sealant to create the look of burning embers, and the cauldron is simply a $1 cauldron with some green LED lights inside and some spider webbing around the edge to make it look as if a bubbling brew is boiling over. Once everything is all said and done, I plan to post a video of how it all looks. 

I don’t think I need to go into detail about the state of the cinema in 2020, but while things have been pretty bleak on the multiplex front, the drive-in made a bit of a comeback this Summer, and I am lucky enough to have a couple drive-ins near me. As a result, I have been able to take in a ton of movies at the drive-in, which really kicked off at the beginning of the Summer with a viewing of Jaws. Following Jaws came some family friendly drive-in trips to see ET and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, both of which are big favorites in my household. 

As cool as all that was, things really kicked into gory gear over the last month, where I was able to catch a double feature of A Nightmare on Elm Street paired up with The Lost Boys and a double feature of The Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. It was all pretty awesome getting the opportunity to see movies that are so integral to my development as a horror fan on the big screen, and at the Drive-in no less. Hopefully they’ll keep the goodies coming throughout October. 

There’s plenty more I could go over, but at this point you’ve probably begun to decay due to boredom. So with that being said, I hope you have found some nice Halloween silver linings to keep your spirits up so far this season, and if so, I’d love to hear all about it!