Last year I wrote about vampire stories, and talked about how I find Halloween waaay more exciting than Christmas. As a kid I looked forward to December; in recent years Halloween has become my favorite holiday. Every October 1 it’s time to break out the soundtrack to The Nightmare Before Christmas. (And yeah, I also like the Marilyn Manson version of “This is Halloween.”) Decorating trees in December is meh, but decorating my porch and door and giving out treats is so much fun. I love seeing all the trick-or-treaters and their costumes.
October is just a long prelude to the holiday season, and I’m going to use this post to expand on one of the honorable mentions in a previous post that highlighted holiday horror. This year I’m focusing specifically on Halloween itself—movies, TV episodes, and books that feature Halloween. Because Halloween is a lot of fun, right? Right!
The best Halloween story is…
H.G. Wells and Orson Welles, The War of the Worlds (1898; radio play, 1938). Sure, go watch the movies (I’m partial to the classic, however the 2005 update did a good job at instilling mortal terror). But what I like to do is to listen to the original broadcast. I think everyone is familiar with the story, so I won’t recite it here, but let’s just say Welles & Wells turned out to be a great combination. A number of years ago Brian Holmsten put together Wells’s original text, paired it with research about the radio play, and included a CD of Welles’s original 1938 dramatization that panicked the nation along with the script. Bonus: an interview between H.G. Wells himself and Orson Welles. So, every October when the leaves start turning colors and the air gets a little chilly outside, I pick a night, put in the CD and sit in a darkened room and just listen to the broadcast. It’s pretty effective if you have never heard it. I highly recommend tracking down this book & CD combo for any science fiction collection.
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). This classic dark comedy is not to be missed. Cary Grant plays a man who discovers that murder runs in the family. Grant plays Mortimer Brewster, who on Halloween marries the love of his life, girl next-door Elaine. As if a marriage on Halloween isn’t strange enough, the two return to their respective homes to pack and prepare for their honeymoon—and Mortimer inadvertently discovers his two lovely old spinster aunts are serial murderers. Also, surprise!—so is his brother Jonathan. (His other brother Teddy has been burying the bodies in the basement.) Grant’s face when his aunts reveal their secret is comedy gold. “Men don’t just get into window seats and die!” “Oh no,” his aunts assured him, “he died first.” And then they hid him in the window seat before their reverend showed up for dinner. Comedy ensues as Mortimer tries to alert the police and keep his fiancé from finding out the truth, all while wrestling with his own inner demons. If you ever thought holiday family arguments are inane, trust me, your family doesn’t argue about the same things that the Brewster family does. Arsenic and Old Lace is a draw because of its comedy (there are several nods in the film to the stage play) and its strong performances from the actors (the women playing the aunts, Jean Adair and Josephine Hull, reprised their roles from the Broadway stage). If you’re looking for a hilarious Halloween story with a happy ending, this is the movie for you.
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury (1962, movie, 1983). Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep, his sequel to The Shining, could be considered a descendant of Ray Bradbury’s story about a carnival whose employees feed off the life force of the townspeople they entrance. This was the first Ray Bradbury book I’d read, and I found it because of the movie. While it was suspenseful and horrific (the spider scene was the worst), I wish I had waited until I was older to read the book. The movie is pretty faithful to the action and themes in the book, but the book’s darker themes are more detailed. Both book and movie do, however, capture a wonderful friendship between two boys, Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway, whose relationship and sense of family is tested when an otherworldly carnival comes to town in time for Halloween, and they find themselves opposing Mr. Dark, the carnival’s proprietor. Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of my favorite movies to rewatch every Halloween. You can’t go wrong with Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark facing off against Will’s father, played by none other than Jason Robards.
Honorable Mentions
The Mammoth Book of Halloween Stories: Terrifying Tales Set on the Scariest Night of the Year, Stephen Jones, editor (2018). I just brought this home from the library as my October read. It was just published last month, and I couldn’t resist the names: Ramsey Campbell, Helen Marshall, Steve Rasnic Tem, and Joe Lansdale are a few of the writers with stories featured in this anthology. Works for me.
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982). It’s difficult to resist Steven Spielberg’s tale of a left-behind alien botanist forging a friendship with an Earth kid. E.T. is an uplifting, delightful film that balances suspense and comedy with optimism and pathos. Elliott & E.T.’s Halloween bike ride has become one of the most iconic moments (and one of the most parodied) in film history.
What are your favorite Halloween stories? Let us know in the comments below and keep the chain going!
Featured image from Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), © Warner Brothers
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