My Spooky Season Watchlist

It’s Spooky Season! I want to give kudos (and a whole pumpkin-shaped basket’s worth of mini candy bars and bags of Haribo) to whoever coined that phrase, because it really is a season and not a single day for a holiday.

Though September is a month to celebrate in its own right, with the delicious shivers of fall starting to creep in, the decorations don’t go up until October 1 to officially herald the beginning of the season.

And this means it’s also officially time to watch my roster of Halloween-ish movies, which in my case are only semi-spooky.

Spooky Season, like being a Swiftie, is a big tent situation! You can go watch your Hellraisers and your Poltergeists and your Saws and whatnot, and I can amuse myself with the mini-frights of Ghostbusters.

No, really. This is the most terrifying thing I can make myself watch, and honestly, it gives me a little bit of eeeps just to insert this gif here:

My Spooky Season Must-Watches

I will say this: every single person’s list should include The Nightmare Before Christmas, an absolutely perfect gem of a film that is worth watching multiple times because it’s less than 90 minutes long!

This movie has been one of my All-Time Top Fives since it was first released, and I’m basically using this post as an excuse to show you what Dan surprised me with this year:

If anyone wants to gift me the 13-foot Jack Skellington for our front yard, I will happily accept.

My October movie watch list also features:

• Beetlejuice AND Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, because what’s better than one film starring Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder)? TWO! (Oh, look what I did here — I said his name three times.)
• Hocus Pocus and its sequel, because the Sanderson Sisters never get old. Literally. BOOOOOOOK!
• Practical Magic, because midnight margaritas! And someday I will live in a house like that.
• Ghostbusters, and sometimes the sequel if I have time — though I consider that one more of a New Year’s movie because of the finale. Here are a few fun Ghostbusters tidbits for y’all!
• Muppets Haunted Mansion, which combines my great love for The Muppets with my great love for the best Disney ride of all time. I said what I said.
• Coco for the grand Dia de los Muertos finish, and speaking of Disney rides, why haven’t they transformed the boat ride in EPCOT Mexico into a Coco-themed one? You read it here first and I want my finder’s fee if it happens.

If you have a similar bent for watching a lot of stuff… sometimes, dare I say, too much stuff?… I have something for you:

The Stuff to Watch Notion Dashboard

My Stuff to Watch Notion dashboard is what I personally use daily (and seasonally) to take all the effort out of my brain when it comes to the TV shows I’m watching, all the movies and series I’ll get around to at some point, and my holiday faves.

Or, to break it down for you, this dashboard:

1. keeps track of all the shows and televised entertainment you’re currently watching — with an option to check that Quit? box and remove it from your queue if you are suddenly so over something in the middle of the season
2. lets you list all the stuff you definitely, really plan on watching… someday
3. has a separate Holiday Movies section to check off your own personal favorite holiday movies (both Halloween and Christmas… and New Year’s too?) that you watch each year

There’s much more detail to this extra helpful dashboard, so please check it out!