Gina N. Anderson

Just because Halloween is over, it doesn’t mean you have to wait until next year to extend spooky season.

Here are 3 things you can do to keep Spooky season alive:

• Put a spooky spin on Christmas by watching these flix:
  • Gremlins (1984): A young man receives an adorable pet for Christmas only to find out that it spawns mischievous creatures who wreak havoc on his small town.
  • A Nightmare Before Christmas (1993, Disney+): Who doesn’t love a Tim Burton film, marrying the comedy horror genre with your favorite winter holiday.
  • Krampus (2015): No, Krampus doesn’t just deliver a lump of coal to naughty boys and girls in this film, he’s coming for the dysfunctional Engel family in a bloody fight to survive the night.
  • Black Christmas (2019, Netflix): This remake puts a feminist spin on the holiday classic film of the same name to tackle the problematic college culture of Greek life on campus.
  • Violent Night (2022, Amazon Prime): Stranger Things’ favorite David Harbour plays Santa Claus in this ultra-violent Christmas film.
• Watch these modern-day adaptations of your favorite childhood scary story series by R.L. Stine:
  • The Fear Street film series (2021, Netflix): Set in a 1990s backdrop and going back as far as the 1600s, the three-part film follows teens from “the wrong side of the track” who stumble upon a curse that must be broken to save their small town.
  • Goosebumps TV series (2023, Hulu & Disney+): I know, I know, you’re thinking of the bubblegum-flavored Goosebumps of your childhood. This series has been spiced up to engage both youth and adult audiences. There are enough thrills to keep you smiling at your TV and waiting for the next episode to stream.
• Prefer to read your scary stories in print? Check out my stories in the following anthologies:
  • Short story “Delphine the Hag” in the Memento Mori: Rest in Peace anthology (CultureCult Press, Nov. 2023)
  • Short story in The Sirens Call eZine, “The Babysitter” (Issue #63 Halloween edition, Oct. 2023)