Scary movies happen to give me nightmares.
The eerie music prickles my skin, crawls up my spine and leaves me expecting an ax murderer to come through the front door.
I went through my horror-movie phase when I was in middle school. I would watch “The Haunting” movies back to back and bring out my Ouija board afterwards. I would sit on the edge of my seat watching “Monster House” and “Coraline” full of intrigue with a bowl of popcorn and M&Ms. I sat back and enjoyed “The Shining” and made far too many jokes about REDRUM.
But now, as an adult with trauma-induced anxiety, I can’t make it through the first 30 minutes of “9” without feeling my guts twist and squeeze out the liveliness of my heart when I watch the souls get sucked out of the dolls.
For anyone who is anxious gremlin and hates horror films but wants a hot cocoa to watch cozy Halloween movies with, here’s my top three list of movies and binge-worthy television shows to watch:
3. “ParaNorman”
“ParaNorman” is a stop-motion animation comedy horror film about a boy named Norman who can speak to ghosts. Even though his town alienates him, he forms a group of unexpected friends along the way to help save his community from a curse.
The stop-motion animation visuals are stunning in this film. The comedic aspects balance with the darker tones of the narrative and the overall cast is so well done.
The movie includes zombies, ghosts and witches which are all my favorite creatures of Halloween lore. However, even though this was a film targeted towards kids, it included much deeper themes and conversations.
I sympathized with Agatha’s story. She was deemed a witch as a child and was sentenced to death by the townspeople of her time. She cursed the town, causing corpses of townspeople who wronged her to return back as zombies and haunt the community years later.
As Norman discovers Agatha’s story, he understands her rage and resentment. Stories like these are so invigorating to see, as so many women were wrongfully killed during the Salem witch trials, and so many stories about witches end up being negative and reinforce that narrative that witches aren’t human.
Stories like Agatha’s show why it's so important to question history, begging people to always reexamine and learn about past events through multiple perspectives.
The ending scene always gets to me. Norman first tries to get Agatha to end the curse, but she was eager for the town to feel her pain.
Norman reconciles with her, listens to her and helps her heal from that pain which allows her ghost to cross over to the afterlife.
Overall, it's a fun film to watch that will definitely fit the Halloween theme but not terrify the audience.
2. “Wednesday”
I loved this show when it came out and it is now a Halloween favorite of mine. I always loved watching “The Addams Family” and seeing the character Wednesday get her own show starring the amazing Jenna Ortega was incredible to watch.
“Wednesday” is a Netflix original show that features Wednesday Addams going to a boarding school full of troubled misfits including werewolves, sirens and other outcasts.
I loved Wednesday’s friendship with her roommate Enid, a werewolf, and how the two were so different from each other.
Enid loves colors, fashion and decorating the room with glitter while Wednesday prefers dark, muted colors and the scent of death. The distinct contrast and antithesis of these characters was so fun to watch and even though they were complete opposites, they still supported each other through and through.
The show also mentions the abuse of witches in the past. The series specifically shows the effects of colonialism and how the natives of the land in America were burned alive because of how colonials viewed people that were different from them as a threat.
I found this to be a nod towards the 1993 “Addams Family Values” film where Wednesday exposes the history of Thanksgiving, where Native Americans were killed instead of the common story of sharing a feast with the colonials. It’s even better that they included the actress who played Wednesday in the 1993 film, Christina Ricci, who played the villain in the show.
There’s plenty to love about “Wednesday,” from the costume design and casting to the amazing soundtrack, but words alone can’t encapsulate the beauty this show is.
1. “Julie and The Phantoms”
Unfortunately, this show was canceled prematurely. It was meant to be a silly kid’s show akin to “High School Musical,” with a focus on songs and a remedial plotline. But this series still had me bawling.
The premise of “Julie and The Phantoms” centers around a ’90s rock band that died from eating bad street hotdogs coming back as ghosts in the year 2020 to help a girl named Julie rebuild her relationship with music after the death of her mother.
Throughout the show, the rules of the supernatural bend and adjust as people start to see the ghosts and hear their music when Julie performs.
The episode that had me crying my eyes out was episode eight, where the main guitarist of the band, Luke, goes back to his parents’ house with Julie and shares with her a song he wrote before he died at 16 years old.
The song was about the grief of leaving someone during a fight and never getting the chance of saying goodbye. The song was written while he was alive, when he felt bad for running away from his parents to pursue a music career, but the song carried more depth 25 years later when they read the lyrics of the song knowing their son is gone.
This episode hurt to watch and showed the complexity of the series. “Julie and the Phantoms” explores themes of grief, young death and the strength of music to build a community that lifts each other up.
I will forever have a grudge against Netflix for canceling my favorite ghost show, but I digress.
Conclusion
There are plenty of options for Halloween television features, but I tend to lean towards ones that include the Halloween aesthetic and explore complex issues over the pure horror genre.
Of course there are horror and thriller films out there that explore complex issues, but I love the cozy ones that explore those themes without the jumpscares.
There’s many ways to celebrate Halloween. For me though, I will be rewatching “Julie and The Phantoms” for the sixth time this holiday and won’t be regretting it.
