Hello
It’s me
I’ve been wondering if after all these films you still can scare me
And elicit… any screams
Cinemonster says it's time now, so let's get our fears rolling

Welcome, scarehounds, to another round of Hoop-tober! Congratulations to Cinemonster and the other remaining participants who have been Hooping it up for ten freakin’ years, y’all. Wow. I’ve been signing up since 2018 and completing the challenge more often than not. It’s one of the best things about the best time of year. 

My previous spooky successes:
2019 | 2020 | 2022

And unspeakable underachievements:
2018 | 2021

As usual, I like to add one or two personal rules to the main guidelines:

I shall begin the festivities with a Stephen King film that fits the challenge categories. I inadvertently started this tradition in 2019 and just never stopped—after this many years, it’s basically set in stone. 

In 2021 and 2022, I exclusively selected previously unseen scares, but this time I’d like to give myself a chance to revisit stuff I’ve seen but maybe partly forgotten because it's been a while. Therefore, rewatches are allowed for movies I last saw about 10+ years ago. 

Six countries:
Black Sabbath (Italy)
The Day of the Beast (Spain)
The Housemaid (South Korea)
The Babadook (Australia)
Dracula: Pages From a Virgin’s Diary (Canada)
Titane (France)

Eight decades:
1910s: L’Inferno
1930s: Son of Frankenstein
1940s: Cat People
1960s: The Housemaid
1970s: Eyes of Laura Mars
1980s: Silver Bullet
1990s: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
2010s: Attack the Block

Two postapocalyptic or natural disaster situations:
Mad God
Night of the Comet

With Robert Englund:
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare

Underground menace:
I seriously considered making this a Tremors rewatch, but I had to go with C.H.U.D. in the end.

Three featuring Satan or equivalent devil shenanigans:
The Day of the Beast
The Devil Rides Out
And I somehow haven't seen The Omen yet.

Amicus:
Cool, I hadn't heard of this studio before, though I obviously recognize some of their films. Vault of Horror looks fun.

Lowest-rated Dracula:
Welp, I didn't even know Dracula 3000 was a thing, but there it is. I've got no objections to Caspar Van Dien and Coolio.

LBGTQ+:
Bodies Bodies Bodies

Mix and match of five from De Palma, Craven, Russell, Hitchcock, or Moorhead & Benson:

The Serpent and the Rainbow (Craven)
Wes Craven's New Nightmare
Gothic (Russell)
Altered States (Russell)
Spring (Moorhead & Benson)

Two with Peter Cushing:
Tales From the Crypt
Twins of Evil

Bram Stoker-derived:
Dracula: Pages From a Virgin’s Diary

Clive Barker:
Nightbreed

From the year I turned ten:
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Which means I should really get around to finishing the second season.

Mario Bava:
Black Sabbath

With an X:
Gotta be The Exorcist, in tribute to both the 50th anniversary and the greatness of Mr. Friedkin (R.I.P.). 

As always, a Hooper:
Lifeforce 

And I seldom have time for the extra credit, but just in case:
The Zodiac Killer
10 Rillington Place
Shaky Shivers

Happiest viewing, y'all! See you on the other side, I hope.

KILLERS HUNTING DOWN OUR HIIIIIIIIDES
AT LEAST I CAN SAY THAT I TRIIIIII-IIIIIED
TO SCARE MYSELF SILLY
ON EVERY OCTOBER NIGHT
WHEN THE TEMPERATURE GETS CHILLY
LET’S WARM UP WITH A FRIGHT

Abominable addendum, 10/31: I'm afraid I have to write this one off with only 21/31 films watched. On account of the mixed blessing of living in a city with great repertory theaters, I devoted my viewing hours to far too many non-Hoop-tober screenings to be able to keep up with the challenge. Still, I mostly had a blast with the stuff I did watch. My overall Hoop-tober completion rate is now back down to 50%, and my infernal pride demands that I succeed next year in order to avoid falling any further behind. In the meantime, I plan to catch up on missing reviews from Hoop-tobers past. Until August '24, y'all! Happy Halloween, and I hope you got some good frights.