Last year, I started Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves. I was 34 at the time, had heard about the book forever, and wanted to read it at the same age that he was when it was first published. I fell under its spell, and became consumed by it. It took me 5 months to read because I wanted to be deliberate in my assessment of it, and I knew I would never be able to read it for the first time again. I read every single word. I pored over everything in excruciating detail. I tried to decipher as much as I could in my initial readthrough. There's so much I probably didn't discover, and at some point in my life, whenever I go back and re-read it, I'm going to be as engulfed by all of the intricacies and as studious as I can to try to peel back the layers or see what pieces continue to fit together.

To honor this magnificent novel and the fact that I've thought about it quite often since I finished it earlier this April, and to celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, I decided to name my list after the book and its spoofing of academia throughout the footnotes.

Also, because after I fit as many movies as I could to Cinemonster's criteria for this year, all my additional slots are filled with the word "House" or "Home" in their titles (I'm disappointed I can't find a way to change the color of text on Letterboxd to make the words blue), or have plot points dealing with haunted houses, places, or spaces from what I could gather.

And last, but not least, always remember:

This is not for you.

Courtesy of Cinemonster.

There must be 31 horror films:

6 Countries (other than Italy or US) -
The Bloodettes (Cameroon), A Virgin Among The Living Dead (France), Out of the Dark (Hong Kong), River of Fear (Latvia), Rapine (Mexico), The House at the End of Time (Venezuela)

9 Decades -
Maciste in Hell (1920s, 1925), The Black Room (1930s, 1935), The House of Fear (1940s, 1945), Night of the Hunter (1950s, 1955), Libido (1960s, 1965), Rapine (1970s, 1975), Out of the Dark (1990s, 1995), The Bloodettes (2000s, 2005), Savageland (2010s, 2015)

5 Zombie Films -
White Zombie, Night of the Living Dead, A Virgin Among the Living Dead, Savageland, The Girl with All the Gifts

3 Cult or Conspiracy Horror Films -
Rosemary's Baby, The Wicker Man, Starry Eyes

1 Film from a Black director with a Black lead -
The Bloodettes

1 Film from a Mexican or Central American director -
Rapine

1 Canadian Film -
Of Unknown Origin

1 Russian or former Russian state Film -
River of Fear (Latvia)

The most popular film from the 1940s that you haven't seen and can access... -
The House of Fear

2 Post Apocalyptic horror films -
End of Days, The Girl with All the Gifts

1 Film with dreams or a dream as part of the plot -
Paperhouse

1 The animals are pissed at us film -
Of Unknown Origin

1 Silent Film -
Maciste in Hell

4 Based on Novels -
The Night of the Hunter, Rosemary's Baby, The Ninth Configuration, Paperhouse

Any film from THIS list that you haven't seen. -
Ghosthouse

1 Ernesto Gastaldi Written Film -
Libido

1 film from 1932 -
White Zombie

I have never made a specific film a part of this before, but WIZARD of OZ ('39) -
The Wizard of Oz

And 1 Tobe Hooper Film (There must ALWAYS be a Hooper film) -
The Funhouse

***FOR THOSE THAT LIKE TO DO EXTRA WORK: WATCH Burn Witch Burn, German Chainsaw Massacre & Trick or Treat.