Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year again: Halloween! Of course, I know what you are thinking: “I know all that! What do you think you are, the guy in a horror movie who only exists to spout exposition?” Funny you should mention that, dear reader: After all, this is a list of the Top 10 Movies to Watch on Halloween, as provided to you by Stetson Today.

These films are listed in no particular order, and are judged based on the following: relation to the holiday, popularity, and most importantly, their ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Here we go:

1. The Rocky Horror Picture Show: This is the cult classic film. This movie is the reason why you and your friends know what the Athens Theatre is, and why you know all the steps to the “Time Warp” dance. (“It’s just a jump to the left!”) And most importantly, this movie is the reason why there are people who have heard of Speed Racer.
2. The Nightmare Before Christmas: Sing with me now – “This is Halloween, everybody make a scene! Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright. It’s our town, everybody scream, in this town of Halloween!” Wait a second… You’re not singing with me? Your loss, dear reader.
3. Young Frankenstein: Let’s not kid ourselves: this is the main Halloween movie that you and your friends quote like mad. Sure, the original Universal monster movies that are being parodied might work better for Halloween. But Young Frankenstein has several key advantages: better acting, better writing and a stronger sense of intentional humor. What more can you say than “Frau Blucher!” *WHINNYING AND THUNDER*
4. Night of the Living Dead: The original zombie movie. Enough said, especially since we haven’t had a Halloween-themed episode of The Walking Dead.
5. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn: This film is… Groovy. (Sorry, sorry, can’t help it.) Even still, its fun and goofily awesome nature makes this film a blast to watch on Halloween, especially in the last 10 minutes. For those who have seen it, say it with me now: “NO. NO. NO. NO!”
6. Nosferatu: Even though it’s a silent film from 1922, this is still one of the creepiest horror films you will ever watch. This is most obvious with the titular vampire, who almost looks like a rat in human skin. Adding on to that are many classically skin-crawling elements, and this film justifies its subtitle, “A Symphony of Horror.”
7. The Haunting: This film is the classic haunted house film. And by that, we mean the original 1963 version. The remake with Catherine Zeta-Jones absolutely does not count, and should be purged from the public consciousness, in my humble opinion.
8. It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: This is the Halloween special from your childhood, no doubt about it. Both the main story and the side plots are absolutely fun to watch, despite having to watch it all with young children.
9. Coraline: This adaptation of one of Neil Gaiman’s most famous works is filled to the brim with all sorts of creepy imagery that would make anyone’s skin crawl. And considering it was stop-motion, it was just as much of a horror film for the production crew as it was for the audience.
10. The Shining: Two words: “HEEEEERE’S JOHNNY!” And just to mess with your head…

By David Baker