Halloween Horror Favorites: The Spookiest Books, Movies, and Podcasts for October

King-Kong at the local drive-in movie theater!

Welcome to my favorite month and my favorite fiction genre! October is basically my month-long celebration of horror, and now that I have teenagers, it's even more fun.

Because you know what it turns out teenagers are nearly all super into?

HORROR! They don't agree completely with my favorites (if there's a lull of all of five minutes between the splashes of gore, they start complaining that they're bored), but my teenagers are 100% still my favorite horror buddies.

A few days ago, the kids and I were listening to my current favorite horror podcast, Ruined:

In Ruined, one of the podcasters loves horror and watches every horror movie, and the other podcaster hates horror and never watches it. Every week, the podcaster who loves horror tells the podcaster who hates it the full, step-by-step plot of a different horror movie, pausing every now and then to make her try to guess who dies, what the twist is, etc.

I LOVE IT.

Anyway, we had just started their episode on The Sixth Sense, when suddenly I was all, "Wait! Do y'all know the plot of The Sixth Sense?"

Friends, they did not.

"Do you know what the twist is?"

Friends, they did NOT!

Obviously, I turned off the Ruined episode that second, requested The Sixth Sense from the library the next second, and two nights later we watched it.

They both guessed the twist during Cole's dead people monologue, my clever kids.

Here are some of the other horror movies the kids and I have enjoyed watching together:

I've actually got the super old-school Dracula film checked out from the library to show them, too, but we've got one hour and eighteen minutes left in the Dracula audiobook first!

We're all quite loving Dracula, but in a very talk-back-to-the-TV sort of way, if that makes sense. We'll all be absolutely engrossed for several minutes, then miss the next ten minutes while we all gripe about how obnoxious Van Helsing's incessant speeches about friendship are, then listen for another twenty minutes, then miss half a chapter bitching to each other about how Mina Harker is getting the freaking SHAFT in this book! I mean, she's the one who practically broke the story, considering Jonathan Harker had a mental breakdown due to trauma and thought all the shit that had happened to him back at Castle Dracula was brain fever. Mina's the only connection between Van Helsing and Jonathan, AND she typed out Jonathan's diaries for evidence and got Van Helsing over to visit for the first time (there's a hilarious scene in which she's writing to ask him to come, and she spends about four paragraphs just detailing exactly which trains he should take depending on what time he wants to arrive. GIRL LIKES TRAINS!). And yet, as soon as anything exciting happens, the dude gang of vampire hunters is all, "You guys, let's start leaving Mina out of all this, on account of she's a girl. And let's all just leave her alone in this literal insane asylum while we dudes go out as a group all night, every night, and when we finally get back, let's not tell her where we've been or what we've been doing together. Cool, right?"

And then the book just retells everyone's diary entries for a while, in which every guy in the group is in turn, like, "Went out with my boys to hunt vampires last night. Didn't see Dracula at ALL, dang it. In other news, isn't it so weird that Mina is so tired and pale today? Come to think of it, she wakes up even more tireder and paler every day. Maybe me and my bros will leave her alone in the insane asylum even earlier tonight so she can get more sleep."

I swear, if Mina does not, somewhere in the last hour and eighteen minutes of the book, have some sort of triumph, the kids are going to burn down the house.

NOVEMBER 2021 UPDATE: Sigh... Mina Harker was wasted on Bram Stoker.

Unfortunately, I accidentally let the kids know that Dracula is educational, and so when we're chilling out and working puzzles in the evening they refuse to listen to it. Instead, we've been cycling through our favorite horror podcasts:

Will and I have long held Night Vale as our favorite podcast, but I'm especially thrilled about The Black Tapes, which I listened to years ago and loved. It's so fun to get to experience it again with the kids, mainly because now I have someone to talk to and obsess with!

I mostly read my horror novels by myself, but the kids have a couple of favorites that they share with me. Will introduced me to Scary Stories for Young Foxes a few years ago--

--and I swear to god it scared the SNOT out of me. The sequel is also good, but more sad-scary than scary-scary:

Turns out that people are still the biggest monsters.

Syd's favorite book (and movie!) is Coraline:

It joins Coco and Nightmare before Christmas as the holiday classics that we have to re-watch every October.

Here are MY favorite horror novels:

Oh, and you can't forget this graphic novel--

--which isn't scary but DOES take place in a pumpkin patch. And it's adorable!

Here are the other non-scary Halloween family favorites:

Now, off to watch Hocus Pocus while figuring out a craft activity that my children did NOT ask me to plan for the Halloween get-together that they're hosting for their friends...

The Newest Bark Ranger of Indiana Dunes National Park: Day 4

 

On this day, we had time for one final adventure before heading back home. Instead of visiting another beach, Will wanted to hike the Great Marsh Trail, so off we went!

We picked the perfect time for our final hike--you can see in the photos how that mostly clear blue sky became overcast in just the hour that we wandered around, spying on egrets and monarchs and frogs:

After finishing our hike just as the skies finally opened up, all that remained was to pop back by the Visitor Center so that the newest Junior Ranger and Bark Ranger of Indiana Dunes National Park could take their oaths, and then we were ready for my teen with a learner's permit to terrify us both during her very first long drive on an interstate highway!

One day, I think she'll even be brave enough to pass another vehicle!

Make a Folder from a Cardboard Record Album Cover

This tutorial was originally published on Crafting a Green World in 2016.

You're going to have the coolest school supplies on the planet when you make yourself an upcycled folder from a cardboard record album cover.  

Cardboard record album covers are perfect for this project--they're a little sturdier than your regular dime a dozen cardstock folders (which is a good thing!), but still light and easy to carry, and their prominent graphics both recall the look of your favorite themed folders and are unique to your own old-school interests. 

Seriously, where else on the planet am I going to find a Simon and Garfunkel folder for myself? 

 Tip: To find cardboard record album covers to upcycle, check out yard sales and thrift stores. People barely know how to properly store records anymore, which means that a lot of the ones that you can pick up on the cheap have been mistreated and are now completely unplayable. Unplayable records are records ripe for upcycling! 

How to Make a Folder from an Album Cover

You will need: 

  cardboard record album cover. You'll need one entire record album cover, as well as one additional piece of cardboard of the same dimensions. Two record sets will provide the necessary cardboard, or you can utilize part of another record album cover. 

  x-acto knife and self-healing cutting mat. While cutting the cardboard to make one of these folders, I sliced a gigantic piece of flesh almost completely off of my index finger. I then proceeded to half pass out in the middle of the floor, bleeding profusely, while my two children hovered over me, horrified, and repeatedly asked me what to do.  It's important to make memories with your children, Friends! 

  duct tape. Duct tape isn't an eco-friendly craft supply, but it IS the best supply for the job here. You're also not going to be using a ton of it, and the folders that you make are sturdy enough that they should last for a super long time, so I'm comfortable with it. If you're not, play around with perhaps stitching or lacing up your folders, and then tell me all about it in the Comments below!  

1. Measure and cut your cardboard record album cover. For this folder, you will be using both the front and back of one cardboard record album cover, keeping them attached on the left side to form the folder's natural fold. The height of the record album cover, 12", is perfect for a folder. 

To get the correct length, 9.5", cut the excess 2.5" away from the right side of the cover. Watch your fingers!!! 

 Slit open the top and bottom of the record album cover, leaving the left side attached. 

  2. Measure and cut the upcycled folder pockets. From a second piece of cardboard, measure and cut two rectangles with the dimensions "9.25 x 5". Notice that the length of the cardboard is slightly less than that of each folder half--this will decrease bulk at the fold. 

The height of each pocket is up to your discretion, although 4"-5" looks proportionate and will do a good job holding your papers. 

  3. Tape the hinge of the upcycled folder. Measure out a piece of duct tape that's a little longer than the height of the folder, then cut it in half lengthwise--you'll have the easiest time if you use duct tape scissors (I own this pair). Use one of the halves to cover and strengthen the folder's hinge.  

After you've folded the duct tape to cover both sides of the hinge, trim off the excess at each end. 

  4. Place and tape the pockets. Turn the folder over and place the cardboard pockets on each side, lined up with both the bottom and outside edges. Use the second half of duct tape to cover the inside hinge, catching both cardboard pockets.  

Overlap or trim off any excess tape at each end. 

  5. Tape all the other edges. You can now cover the perimeter of the folder with duct tape, again measuring out the correct length for a side and cutting it into two lengthwise.  

Fold each piece of tape under to cover both the outside and inside edges of the folder, and don't forget to make sure that the tape catches the edges of the cardboard pockets, too. Trim excess tape after you've taped each side.  

These folders really are SUPER sturdy, and will stand up well to being tossed into a backpack and used all year. And next school year, you can use them again!