***
This list is great for anyone looking for a good horror movie to watch from the library. Through the month of October 2018, library staff watched and reviewed 31 horror movies as part of the annual HoopTober Challenge. We have ranked the movies, best to worst, though there were surprisingly few stinkers! Click on “Read Notes” (or the glasses icon if in the app) to read staff reviews on each title, and to place holds in the library catalog. If you want to learn more about HoopTober, keep reading below for the introduction to 2018’s challenge. Always remember that you can ask your local librarian for suggestions on what to watch next, and any number of other things. And keep an eye out for us next year for HoopTober 2019…
***

Welcome to HoopTober, a yearly gathering of horror film fans who take on the admirable task of watching and reviewing 31 horror movies through the month of October. As with any worthwhile challenge, there are rules, which you will find detailed below. Every movie on our list is available in the library collection, but if you dare to take the challenge yourself, you can pick movies from any source. At the end of it all, we'll rank what we watched.

The best way to find our reviews is to follow the library here on Letterboxd, but we will also be posting updates on our FaceBook page, and on the library's movie blog, "A Flicker in the Stacks".

If you choose to take the challenge yourself, please link to your list in the comments so we can see what each other is watching, and TAG any reviews you write with HoopTober5.0

And if you need any help finding movies to watch, well...that's what your local librarians are for!

Also, you should take a wander over to Cinemonster's original list and include your link there as well--they are the brainchild of this whole crazy scheme. There's a lot of great and weird stuff out there, and even if the library doesn't own it, we may be able to find it for you.

Click on Read Notes to see what categories each film on our list fulfills, to read reviews, and to place holds in the library catalog.

Alright, let's do this.

QUICK EASY RULES:

10 'Anniversary Films' (Release years end in an 8, excluding 2018)
6 countries
6 decades
6 films from before 1970
6 films from the following directors: George Romero, David Cronenberg, Clive Barker, Terrence Fischer, Sergio Martino, Bill Lustig (mix-and-match, or all one)
2 flying things that kill you films
1 silent film as a tribute to "A Quiet Place"
1 aquatic menace film as a tribute to "Meg"
2 women directed films
1 inanimate object comes alive film
1 film with Barbara Crampton in it.

And 2 Tobe Hooper Films (There must ALWAYS be a Hooper film)

***FOR THOSE THAT LIKE TO DO EXTRA WORK: WATCH TALES FROM THE HOOD AND TALES FROM THE HOOD 2, WHICH DROPS OCT 2. YOU WILL RECEIVE A SHOUT OUT IN NEXT YEARS HOOP-TOBER. JUST LET ME KNOW WHEN YOUVE FINISHED ALL 33***

-review them all.(eek)

Clearly one film can satisfy multiple criteria. Viewing and reviewing will begin on Sept 15th.