Happy Halloween! What Movies to Watch, Candy to Eat, and Some of the Best Costumes You’ll See
It’s time for a fright!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Today is the best holiday and the second greatest day of the year behind baseball’s Opening Day. I take Halloween seriously and cannot remember a year I didn’t dress up. This year, I’m Wendy from the great cartoon Gravity Falls.
Since I’m a self-professed Halloween expert, I want to share with you which movies you should watch today, the best Halloween candy, and some of the best costumes I find on social media.
Movies
Horror is my favorite genre. It’s one that’s hard to perfect and to find originality.
Of course, today you should indulge in the Halloween franchise. Nothing tops the first one made by the great John Carpenter, but the others are not bad, except for Resurrection. Go ahead and skip that one.
Halloween III is out of place because the makers never intended to make Michael Myers stick around, but he proved too popular and they brought him back, ending the idea that the Halloween movies could be stand alones.
Other movies to watch today:
- The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2
- 30 Days of Night
- Ghost Ship
- Sinister
- Poltergeist 1 and 2
- Scream franchise
- The Thing
- Insidious movies (yes, all 4!)
- The Cabin in the Woods
- Trick ‘r Treat
- Fright Night
I highly recommend the Netflix movie Hush. You also cannot go wrong with the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises.
Candy
CANDY. ALL THE CANDY.
I think we can all agree that Reese’s has the best candy. HANDS DOWN. But what others do you enjoy? Here’s a list from FiveThirtyEight:
THE ULTIMATE HALLOWEEN CANDY POWER RANKINGhttps://t.co/4oiNrOZYfY #trickortreat pic.twitter.com/gju10u5lQW
— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) October 31, 2018
Too much chocolate! And I say that as a chocolate lover. I also enjoy the Laffy Taffy (especially strawberry!), Nerds, Blowpops, Dots.
What are some of your favorites? I noticed Krackel is missing from the list, which I consider a fantastic chocolate treat. Milk Duds are also underrated.
Costumes
Who doesn’t enjoy dressing up? It’s so much fun!
I’M UPSET THAT THIS COSTUME IS SO DAMN PERFECT pic.twitter.com/6spiBpJjaB
— Lil Lejo (@lilyonya) October 31, 2018
My Halloween costume this year #yazqueen pic.twitter.com/XZd9vlP9RB
— Alex Griswold, but Halloween-themed I guess (@HashtagGriswold) October 31, 2018
Venom & Thor, aka @Enes_Kanter & @RonBaker31, surprised kids at a @gardenofdreams event with Halloween costumes, with Kanter donating 225 outfits to the Foundation #HappyHalloween pic.twitter.com/7xTEXyEF1X
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) October 31, 2018
Here’s a great idea for a #Halloween costume if you have twins and you don’t wanna lose ‘em. pic.twitter.com/Q4fbmkYeB7
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) October 30, 2018
For the children who reported the original tweet and got it taken down, we leave you your costumes: pic.twitter.com/j6y9fHSCMB
— eUnited (@eUnitedgg) October 31, 2018
Kevin Hart’s Halloween costume ???? pic.twitter.com/jA5utGyFLi
— Nader (@BonsaiSky) October 31, 2018
Ok everyone. You may as well stay home on Wednesday. We have a winner for the best Halloween costume of the year.
May the Force be with you, Ruth Vader Ginsberg.
(h/t @KennethBaer) pic.twitter.com/GCDhjxDdSS
— Andrei Cherny (@AndreiCherny) October 28, 2018
Best baby Halloween costume this year! pic.twitter.com/XBLz65WQo3
— Fergi ???? (@LolaFaglana) October 27, 2018
Halloween costume of the year?
14-year-old Luke Fanella suffers from a muscle disorder, so he incorporated his wheelchair into his costume, the Blackhawks Bench ???? ????pic.twitter.com/aaD5LRocwo
— Tim and Sid (@timandsid) October 31, 2018
Émile is a popular kid with hands-down the best costume.
A team built it to be specially-adapted for his wheelchair.
Story here: https://t.co/VvPa1bpjRd pic.twitter.com/GW1njMLf0E
— Sarah Leavitt (@sarahleavittcbc) October 31, 2018
Having a scary day in space. The crew of the International @Space_Station wish you a happy #Halloween! #Exp57 @AstroSerena #SergeyProkopyev pic.twitter.com/ezU94btds9
— Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex) October 31, 2018
You’ve got a friend in me! Happy #Halloween from Andy’s toys (aka our office staff) ???????? pic.twitter.com/meiZaNULak
— First Student Caledon (@CaledonFirst) October 31, 2018
Just saw this great Halloween costume on Facebook… “Tired Mom” pic.twitter.com/8Bqwxg9cuF
— Julie Dolan (@WLKYJulie) October 30, 2018
SPOOKY: This 2-year-old girl’s creepy headless costume just won Halloween ???? https://t.co/8kEW1JCAFN pic.twitter.com/2EeDs4HVCz
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 30, 2018
[Featured image via YouTube]
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Comments
Something’s changed with much of American chocolate candy. It is not the same as it was years ago. It’s not an age thing with my mouth, I enjoy high quality chocolate. I have read that Reese’s has not modified their chocolate, could this be the reason it tops the candy list?
Probably.
Let’s blame it on China!
Snark.
Chocolates price went up significantly a few years back, candy companies may well have changed their recipes to cut costs.
Pro tip – freeze your milky way candy bars before eating.
The chewey texture that results significantly boosts the taste IMHO.
In the category of Heavy Metal Band Ghost
He is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hMaHDTw-pI
Their tribute to “countess Drakula” Elizabeth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4H0EvPcDGM
Their version of the Dance Macabre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Gr63DiEUxw
Not to mention the original Dance Macbre ( best video of it )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0glOYQBlSA
and a new candy
Snickers Crisper
and the old traditional
Candy Corn
Do they still make O’Henry bars?… Those were my favorites, decades ago. Candy was better then, chocolate was richer, peanuts were saltier, and caramel was stickier. Sadly, now a days if I want something sweet, I have a grape.
A grape or “grape juice”?
I’m ready for the kids with chocolate and a nice red wine for their parents. Hey, it’s chilly tonight!
If you’re looking for something new – Netflix’s 10 Episode series “Haunting of Hill House” is a tossback to the old scary movies that used excellent cinematography, lighting, tension and storytelling to scare you. We’re on #4 tonight, the hubby, who loves good slasher flicks, is beyond creeped out and I, who generally hate the horror genre, find myself hooked. My dog would just like it if both of us would not scream while she’s napping.
Kevin Hart as the “Rock” reminded me of the shortest, skinniest kid in our high school showing up one year in a Superman costume. It was so sad. Since kids are the cruelest, his reception was brutal. One of the jocks jokingly suggested that the lettermen’s club throw a harness around him and run him up the flagpole. My personal favorite was the cheer squad. They showed up as Playboy Bunnies! Woo Hoooo!
Your movie list glaringly omits ‘The Exorcist,’ the scariest of them all. While in college, I worked the graveyard at a 24 hour convenience store, one block away from the campus theater. We always had a rush of post movie-goers, but when “The Exorcist’ let out on opening night, I watched as people began exiting the theater. The first few looked like they might be hurrying to their cars, but then the entire audience began running towards the brightly lit parking lot and interior of the store. Individuals told me that the movie was so horrific that the lights of the store seemed to be the only safe place. More than one person was sobbing. I told them they could stay as long as they needed. I’ll never forget the looks on their faces….over a movie!
I vowed that night to never watch that movie. You’re on your own.
The Exorcist was released at the same time that McDonald’s was promoting their Shamrock green mint shake. ooooops!
The first Omen movie could be on the list too. Not nearly as scary as Exorcist but still a solid story line for a horror movie.
Great to see 30 Days of Night on the list. I stumbled upon that one a few years ago and thought it was excellent.
Bella Lagose’s Dracula, the original Frankenstein and The Mummy.
Of course, the brilliant Mel Brooks Dracula; Dead and Loving It and The Young Frankenstein.
For a cultural change the Poirot Hallowe’en Party.
Not much of a Halloween here. Heavy thunderstorms and a tornado watch. Texas at the change of the seasons…
You win with ‘Young Frankenstein’
If you like mindless comedy:
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
Vampires Suck
Pretty much every day in Portland is Halloween. For movies I’d go with the original Wickerman or Gargoyles.
I started watching this movie “Lucifer Rising” thinking Lucifer 60’s might be a good horror flick.
I stopped watching it, because it was some psychedelic Anton Levay type stuff. Then I realised that the leaders of the Democrat party were the demographic the film was aimed at. Then the fear really set in…
Last weekend was fun. Watched Salem’s Lot and Christine.
A-Arsenic and Old Lace
B- Bell, Book and Candle
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte goes well with those
My top 10 Horror-genre movies are:
1. The Exorcist
2. The Others
3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1950s)
4. The Exorcism of Emily Rose
5. Psycho II
6. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
7. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
8. A Nightmare on Elm Street
9. The Birds
10. Psycho
I love horror films, too, but am not a huge fan of slasher types (though the Town That Dreaded Sundown is pretty good, maybe because it’s not straight slasher).
In recent years, I’ve added The Blair Witch Project to my Halloween movie list. There’s something super spooky about that film (and it gets bonus points for a truly remarkable marketing campaign, though it loses a point or two for inspiring an entire genre of “found footage” films . . . most of which are horrifically bad).
For my money, John Carpenter’s The Thing is the all-time best horror movie. It has everything, suspense, humor (how funny is it when Palmer sees that head spider crawl across the floor and say “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?”), and a nod to one of humankind’s deeper fears: an evil we can’t identify because it looks just like us. The paranoia, anger, frustration, and suspicion are masterfully stoked to a fever pitch in this film.
Bear noted the Exorcist, and that is right up there on my list, too. Seriously disturbing, again hitting our deep fear that we can be taken over by an evil force, that we lose complete control of our mind and body. Plus, head-spinning, pea-soup spewing goodness.
On the lighter side, Motel Hell is a fun watch. A cuddly couple runs a hotel and serves up the best human jerky in the tri-state area. The scene where the bucket is removed to reveal a “planted” human awaiting his turn to become the latest jerky treat is shocking but hilarious.
And still, to this day, Jaws freaks me out. Cheesy now, it had such an impact and is still a great flick to watch (the politics of Amityville with the town’s economic concerns trumping public safety, the great acting by the three mains, the suspenseful use of the Jaws theme instead of all-out gore . . . marvelous! Yes, I know that latter thing was due to budgetary constraints not an intentional choice decision, but still, it’s genius).
I would also add Jurassic Park to this list. It’s not “horror” in the main, but there is something completely horrific about it that is in line with the horror of Frankenstein. Man playing God and the resulting carnage and all that good stuff.
Sigh. I could go on and on. But I’ll spare you. 🙂
Oh, and the Fly (the original), soooo freaking creepy. I had nightmares for years after seeing that scientist guy trapped in the spider web squeaking “Help me!” as the spider moves in. And we know that it will bite him, liquify his innards, and then suck them out. Shudder.