Plastic Pumpkins and VHS Screams: A Camp Halloween Movie Marathon
Because not every scare needs trauma lighting or an A24 logo.
Halloween doesn’t have to be prestige misery. Sometimes you just want neon blood, fog machines that never turn off, and villains who look like they shop at Chess King. These are the movies that understand horror can be stupid and sublime—the cinematic equivalent of drinking warm beer in a plastic cup while a fog machine wheezes in the corner.
1. Night of the Comet (1984)
A comet wipes out humanity, leaving two Valley Girls to shop, flirt, and fend off zombies. Shoulder pads, apocalypse, and the best mall lighting in film history.
2. Fright Night (1985)
Your next-door neighbor is a vampire with impeccable taste in silk pajamas. It’s part Hitchcock, part closet allegory, and all sweaty teenage panic. The gayest straight movie ever made.
3. The Lost Boys (1987)
Leather jackets, sax solos, and a vampire coven that smells like Aqua Net. Somehow both a comedy and a thirst trap.
4. Evil Dead II (1987)
A one-man Looney Tunes episode starring Bruce Campbell and a cabin full of possessed furniture. Splatter has never been so graceful.
5. Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Alien clowns turn humans into cotton-candy cocoons. It’s stupid, perfect, and absolutely deserves its Criterion release that will never happen.
6. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Every moral, psychological, and cinematic boundary gets violated. You’ll want to shower after, but you’ll never forget the ending.
7. The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Susan Sarandon share one devilish boyfriend. Spells, gossip, and feminist vengeance in shoulder-padded glory.
8. Maximum Overdrive (1986)
Stephen King directs his cocaine habit. Trucks revolt, AC/DC scores it, and somehow Emilio Estevez keeps a straight face. It’s beautiful chaos.
9. Cujo (1983)
One dog, one car, and two hours of claustrophobic sweating. Proof that the real horror is being trapped in a Pinto with a kid who won’t stop screaming.
10. House (1986)
A PTSD-ridden novelist fights rubber monsters in his haunted house. If you’ve ever wondered what Full Metal Jacketwould look like with puppets—here’s your answer.
How to watch:
String lights, cheap candy, red Solo cups, and a playlist that oscillates between Oingo Boingo and Bauhaus.
Mood:
Tongue-in-cheek. Blood-on-denim. A wink before the scream.
Further Reading
If you like this series and are curious about books that have inspired me, I’ve curated a collection on Bookshop.org. Buying through that link supports independent bookstores—and it helps sustain this project.
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I've only seen #3, 6, & 7, heard of most of the rest. I guess I have several days before Halloween.
I’m just sitting down to watch Sleepaway Camp now! It’s available on the free version of Peacock. It has commercials, but it’s somehow better that way.