Time to empty the skeletons out of the closets and join my fellow cinematic ghouls in participating in Cinemonster's annual horror challenge, Hoop-Tober 9. Making the lists, digging through both obscure horror and needed first-watches, and of course checking out what films everyone else has unearthed is what makes this challenge so great each year, and I'm glad to be tackling it once more.

The challenge is to watch 31 horror movies by the end of Halloween night.

As is my tradition, there will be no rewatches on my list, first-watches for everything. There's just so much out there that I feel guilty rewatching things, y'know?

I probably won't get around to reviewing them, but never say never.

The criteria for this year's challenge and my selections that fulfill them are as follows:

6 Countries:
Films from 9 different countries are represented, including Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Russia, South Korea, Spain, the UK, and the USA.

8 Decades:
9 decades are covered, with films from the 1920s, 1940s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s represented.

2 Insect-Centered Films:
1. Bug (1975)
2. Empire of the Ants (1977)

1 Film Set in Space or the Future: Why not both?
Crimes of the Future (2022)
Sputnik (2020)

2 Animated Films:
1. Fear(s) of the Dark (2007)
2. Seoul Station (2016)
3. The Wolf House (2018)

1 Bloodthirsty Old Person / People Film:
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

2 1970s Regional Films:
1. Calfornia Axe Massacre / Lisa Lisa (1974)
2. Creature from Black Lake (1976)
3. Multiple Maniacs (1970)

Worst Unseen Horror Sequel from the 1990s (as ranked by rating on Letterboxd):
Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor (1992)

1 German Silent Film:
Genuine (1920) Full Version

5 Films by David Cronenberg, Ti West, Bill Rebane, Charles B. Pierce, William Grefe, and/or Joy N. Houck Jr.: Why not all 6?
1. Blood Harvest (1987) Bill Rebane
2. Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009) Ti West
3. Creature from Black Lake (1976) Joy N. Houck
4. Crimes of the Future (2022) David Cronenberg
5. The Evictors (1976) Charles B. Pierce
6. Whiskey Mountain (1977) William Grefe

2 Christopher Lee Films:
1. Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
2. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968)

1 Film with a Musician or Band in it: I'm not sure if Cinemonster meant a film that had a musician or band as a plot point or a film that featured an actual musician or band, but I'm covered either way.
Blood Harvest (1987) - Starring singer and ukelele player Tiny Tim.
Hard Rock Nightmare (1988) - 'nuff said.

1 Stephen King Adaptation Remake:
Children of the Corn (2009)

1 Lon Chaney Film:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

1 Tobe Hooper Film:
Dark Skies (1999) - Technically a 2-episode TV pilot, but it's apparently been presented as a singular film, so... it'll have to do, given that the unwatched Tobe Hooper horror well runs pretty dry these days.

Extra Credit Films: I'll probably take a shot at these as well.
The Last Circus (2010)
Silent Madness (1984)
Pennywise: The Story of It (2022)

Thanks as always to Cinemonster for delivering this yearly bit of joy, and to everyone out there checking out all the great lists.

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Replaced: Spirits of the Dead (1968) with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). For some reason I made the mistake of thinking Vincent Price was in Spirits of the Dead, and I needed a Vincent Price movie for the Cult Movie Challenge that I'm also participating in.

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Completed: 10/31/2022