Shocktober rises again. With massive thanks to another Letterbox user, Aubra, I'm taking on her Pick Your Poison challenge: 31 days, 31 themes, 31 flavours of fear. If you're keen, go check out her list, where she has compiled 31 days/themes with 20 films to choose from for each day, or follow along for mine!

I’m not just watching at random. I’m testing what “horror” really is. We’ll dip into Something Old, salute Lady’s Night, drift through Dream a Little Dream, get Sliced and Diced, squirm at Tentacle Tales, hunt for Hidden Gems, get Filled With the Spirit, and finish with A Haunting We Will Go.

The big question this year: what actually makes a film “horror”? Last year a few picks didn’t fit the tag for me. So I’m testing the edges. Does psychological dread hit harder than jump scares? Does body horror disturb more than supernatural terror? Or is it all about context, culture, and intent?

I was also challenged by my wife last year, in how I can watch these films, and be okay spiritually. So, I want to look at each film through the lens of a Christian, as well, hoping that there might be a moral or lesson that is practical in my faith walk. Who knows, we’ll see. 

Each review will include:
📺 Cultural Context & Social Commentary
✟ Religious Commentary & Symbolism
🩸 Gore Score
🤔 Is It Horror? (or why it’s not)

Day 1: Something Old 
To kick things off, I’ll dive into an oldie but goodie - a film that had its theatrical release before I was born!
- The Howling - (available to rent on Prime Video)

Day 2: Lady’s Night 
Showing some love to ladies of the genre and watching a woman-directed horror film. 
- Cannibal Mukbang - (available to stream on Tubi via VPN)

Day 3: When You’re Evil 
Today, I’ll watch a film featuring hell, devils, demons, fallen angels, the antichrist, or satanists. 
- The Omen - (available to stream on Disney+)

Day 4: All You Need is Love 
Today, I’ll engage with a film in which love conquers all. sort of. maybe. Okay, maybe not. But it’s the thought that counts. 
- Fresh - (available to stream on Disney+)

Day 5: Dream a Little Dream 
Tonight I’ll grab my favourite blanket and a stack of pillows to watch a film that features sleep, dreams, or nightmares. 
- A Nightmare on Elm Street - (available to rent on Prime Video)

Day 6: Sliced and Diced 
Check your closets, and don’t forget to look under the bed. Today, I’m visiting slasher territory! I’ll be right back! 
- Maniac - (available to rent on Prime Video)

Day 7: Wake me up Inside 
Zombies, people mysteriously coming back from the dead, havoc being wreaked by folks that may or may not have a pulse. Check to make sure both of your ears are still firmly attached and get ready for a day of reanimated corpses and returning from the grave. 
- It Stains the Sands Red - (available to stream on Shudder)

Day 8: Hidden Gems 
Please return your tray tables to their upright positions and deploy the secret handshake as I look for a lesser watched hidden gem - films with fewer than 25k views on Letterboxd that deserve my attention and will make me feel like I’m part of a secret cool horror club. 
- Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare - (available to rent on Prime Video)

Day 9: Snakes, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails 
What’s your favourite nursery rhyme? Your favourite fairytale? Your favourite fantasy creature? Today, I’ve looking for everything from lab constructed men, to Peter Pan, to werewolves, to Cinderella, to mermaids, to mysterious places in Mexico, India, Japan, Ireland, and China, and then some as I explore some dark fantasy horror. 
- Pan’s Labyrinth - (available to rent on YouTube)

Day 10: Central and South American Horror 
Pack your bags, grab your sunscreen, and get ready for fun as I jet set down South to sample a horror film directed by folks from Central or South American countries. 
- Terrified - (available to stream on Shudder)

Day 11: Glitz and Glamour 
Prepare to have your eyeballs and brains wowed as I explore the world of visually-striking horror.
- Mandy - (available to stream on Stan)

Day 12: The End of the World as we Know it 
You bunker or mine? Today I’m venturing out into the wasteland with a film centred on apocalypse horror. 
- I Am Legend - (available to stream on Prime Video)

Day 13: Trapped like a Rat 
Get fenced in, boxed in, locked in, and sharked in with some single location horror. 
- Bodies Bodies Bodies - (available to rent on Prime Video)

Day 14: Family Ties 
Preparing to reevaluate my life decisions as I watch horror focused on children and families! It’s not just a phase, mum! 
- Cuckoo - (available to stream on Netflix)

Day 15: Hello, Dolly! 
Children’s toys, mannequins, wooden creatures and more shock and scandalise as I select a movie focused on doll horror. 
- The Boy -

Day 16: Disability Horror 
Characters facing physical challenges rise to the occasion to take on all sorts of foe as I sample from films with disability representation. 
- Monkey Shines -

Day 17: On the Road Again 
Snacks? Check. Playlist? Check. Full tank? Check. Maniac with implements of torture? Double check. Get ready to play passenger princess as I hit the dusty trail with some road trip horror. 
- House of 1000 Corpses -
 
Day 18: Spooky Substances 
Preparing for a unique sort of trip as I hone in on horror featuring drugs and chemicals
- The Stuff -

Day 19: Candyman, Candyman, Candyman 
Strap in and stare down your favourite region-specific lore as I become my own worst enemy, by chasing after some urban legend horror. Hold onto your heads! 
- Ringu -

Day 20: Stay Out of the Woods 
Witches, killers, creatures, cults, oh my. Probably best to just stay home, based on today’s selection of forest and wilderness horror. We’re definitely not in Kansas anymore. 
- The VVitch -

Day 21: She Blinded me with Science (Fiction) 
If you like body transformations, and giant brains. If you’re not into yoga but want to see reality change. If you like hiding out from creatures, from some distant place. This is the day that you’re looking for - watch sci-fi horror and escape. 
- The Mist -

Day 22: Tentacle Tales 
Cosmic and Lovecraftian horror are on the menu for today, friends! Tuck in your bib, and get your fork and knife ready to cut into all the weirdness this theme has to offer. Literal tentacles may or may not be included!
- The Thing -

Day 23: Do you Hear the Lambs Screaming? 
Today I’m on the prowl to view some serial killer horror, with dastardly individuals from different countries and decades.
- Angst -

Day 24: Story Time 
Kicking back and preparing for the best kind of tales - those of the spooky variety, as I dive into today’s theme of anthology horror. 
- Southbound -

Day 25: Fangs for the Memories 
These guys and gals really suck - they’ll keep you up all night, try to nibble, and may even want you to join their club. Preparing my neck for some vampire horror. 
- Interview with the Vampire -

Day 26: I See Dead People 
Open your hearts, minds, and your third eye as I check out a film featuring psychics, clairvoyants, mediums, or telepathy. 
- Extra Ordinary -

Day 27: An Unquiet Mind 
The insides of our heads can be quite the uncertain place. Take a few slow, deep breaths and prepare to experience some psychological horror. 
- Daniel Isn’t Real -

Day 28: Now Screening 
Click like and subscribe and log in for today’s theme - screen-life, computer, streaming, vlogging, and influencer horror. 
- Countdown -

Day 29: When You’re Strange 
The goal of today is to keep it strange. Embracing my inner oddball and diving head first into some weird horror. 
- MadS -

Day 30: Filled With the Spirit 
Say a little prayer and get that holy water ready - today, we’re watching possession horror!
- The Exorcist III -

Day 31: A Haunting We Will Go 
Creaky floorboards, spooky spectres, and strange sightings abound as I go on today’s field trip to haunted and/or spiritually infested houses and buildings. 
- The Changeling -