fright night
October 2024 (Issue #50!!!!!)
Welcome to a love letter, a monthly publication from artist, writer and yoga teacher Colby Mackenzie featuring stories of my loving practices and support for yours. Thanks for being here.
Happy Halloween Month! October is ripe for many reasons - peak fall season with the glorious colorful trees in all their states of change, SWEATA WEATHA (FINALLY!), leather jacket and boots weather, and of course, Halloween.
All Hallows Eve is the night before el Dia de los Muertos in Mexico. According to cultural mythos, the wall/thing that separates the living from the dead is the thinnest on this night. It is the ideal time then to commune with those past, to celebrate their memory and leave them treats for them to collect. Of course, close contact with ghosts is the perfect time for horror vibes. A restless ghost! A vengeful ancestor! Misty gray walks and shadows and cloaks rustling in the dark!
My nervous system has refused the horror genre for the past 7 or so years - additional stress, fear, and adrenaline were not welcome in my life lol. Now that my health is significantly improved, I’ve been enjoying horror flicks to my surprise (I usually watch them during the daylight hours though). There is also something comforting about confronting the worst of our imagination. To gain some experience with it, to practice encountering it, sitting in the discomfort. My therapist would call this “exposure therapy.” Maybe that’s why so many women watch so many true crime shows.
Remember, creation/light/magic does not (cannot) exist without its opposite. Destruction is natural to nature. It can manifest in the human experience as evil, sick, deranged.
My bag is more the fantastical. Vampires. Ghosts. Witches. Psychological thrillers. Murder mystery. Goth. (I’m not into slashers or extreme gore).
Below are some of the ones I’ve been streaming or have on my list for Spooky Scary Month:
The Watchers - sci-fi mystery with a twist by M. Night Shyamalan.
Nosferatu - the OG vampire movie from 1922 that Robert Eggers is remaking starring Willem Dafoe and Lily Rose Depp (coming this Christmas!).
Oddity - super good, witchy, satisfying.
Hereditary - EEK! Creepfest. The acting is phenomenal, almost too good to be fiction.
The Gift - great cast, great surprises.
Wednesday - my new favorite show featuring Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams. Counting down until the next season.
A Quiet Place - scary sci fi action.
Castle Rock - show streaming on Hulu based on Steven King characters.
The Shining - DUH! Now available on HBO
Grotesquerie - a new very dark and grizzly murder detective show on Hulu and FX.
American Horror Story - every epiode I tried to watch was too gorey but perhaps I’ll give it another go.
Hocus Pocus - a feel good classic with minimal scares.
The Haunting of Hill House - 2 seasons about old creepy houses and the families they haunt on Netflix.
The Feast
Llorona
Let me know if you watch any good ones!
What do you like to do in October? Are you dressing up for Halloween? If you want to be in the thick of it, visit Salem, MA!
Watching with a nearby blanket to put over my eyes,
Colby
