The first thing many people learn about me is that I love Halloween; all of October is dedicated to making a homemade costume, decorating, and watching horror films. The latter is actually more of a year-round hobby, but during October nothing beats curling up with a good slasher and some warm apple cider. And what better occasion for a fright fest than Friday the 13th? Here, I have compiled a list of the best spooky flicks for every kind of movie lover.

1. Hocus Pocus (1993)

Other than Halloweentown reruns, watching this was the pinnacle of my childhood fall festivities. It’s not hard to imagine why, in the heat of July, this movie was originally a box office flop. Over a decade later, it has now become a cult classic to an entire generation of kids and nostalgic adults. With major names such as Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker who, with Kathy Najimy, play the mystic Sanderson Sisters. The evil trio of witches are brought back to life by new kid Max Dennison, his little sister Dani, and love interest Allison. This movie only gets better the older you are; with a campy plot and so many innuendos you’ll wonder how it got away with a PG rating.

2. Young Frankenstein (1974)

This is for those who are always in the mood for a comedy, or aren’t into the scare factor that comes with Halloween. Starring the late Gene Wilder as Dr. Frankenstein, Mel Brooks’ black and white parody puts a twist on the original Frankenstein as it describes the life of the scientist’s grandson. His brilliance is overshadowed by his grandfather’s madness, and after learning that he’s inherited the infamous Transylvanian castle he soon recreates the experiments. At the end of the day, it’s one of the best parodies ever made, with wonky side characters Igor and Inga, that has left its mark on movie history.

3. Psycho (1960)

For those of you who can get down with a black and white movie, prepare to pull out your hair over the “Master of Suspense” Alfred Hitchcock. Many know the infamous shower scene and the flash of a blade coming down on the screaming woman. Centering on a disturbed young man, an overbearing mother and a homicidal motel, it is an incredible psychological horror movie that has stayed at the top of its genre for decades.

4. R.L. Stine’s the Haunting Hour (2010-2014)

Don’t have time for a movie? Sit down and watch an episode of this surprisingly traumatizing kid’s show. If any of you were like me as a kid, as a blossoming horror fanatic I read every R.L. Stine book on the shelves. These 30-minute episodes targeted for children are amazingly fleshed out with many different plots and scares. Whichever episode you choose, you cannot go wrong as each story is different from the last and in 30-minutes beats most full length Hollywood movies.

5. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

If you’re into Paranormal Activity or any of the found footage movies, please sit down and watch the Father of all of those. The Blair Witch Project created a new horror genre that would become the base for many of the new franchises we love today. The beauty of this movie is the unknown casting and the lack of script. The directors purposely got the cast lost, scared them at random intervals and created a genuine atmosphere of fear that is reflected within the film. Most of the iconic lines within the movie are ad-libbed.

6. Pans Labyrinth (2006)

For those of you who don’t mind subtitles this list would not be complete without Guillermo del Toro, as this dark Spanish fantasy movie is a masterpiece. With the perfect combination of psychological horror and gore, I promise this movie will become a favorite. Maybe you’re not that much into horror movies, but this gorey fantasy twist is not only visually stunning, but captivates the audience with a story similar to a Grimm’s Fairytale. Our child heroine, Ofelia, finds herself in a new home during the Spanish Civil War after her mother marries a sadistic army officer. Childish fantasies clash with fascism and the brutality of war, into a cinematic masterpiece as we explore with Ofelia the twisted fantasy world that lives in the maze.

7. The Sixth Sense (1999)

While most of these movies are classics and famous, nothing beats the ultimate feeling of having your mind bent by this movie. I find that movies usually packed with big name stars are trying to overcompensate for something, but the dynamic between child star Haley Joel Osment, and Bruce Willis is unforgettable. Most of you know the famous line, “I see dead people,” which was uttered by our troubled 8-year-old Cole Sear, whose supernatural capabilities have landed him in therapy with Bruce Willis.  You won’t stay awake because of fear, but you’ll be tossing and turning trying to figure it out.

8. The Babadook (2014)

For those of you who refuse to watch any movie before 2010. Lately, good horror movies have been on the decline, with most of them being carbon copies of the last one. Yet, this psychological thriller hones in on the roots of horror. Foregoing the usage of CGI the movie instead opted for a more horrifying classic alternative: puppetry. The story focuses on a grieving widow and her young son, whose acting out frequently gets him into more trouble than a mother can take. When a new storybook appears in his room entitled “The Babadook,” the little family is thrown into a state of paranoia as they find themselves stalked and taken over by the mysterious entity.

Happy binging!