The 10 Best Things Happening for Horror Fans in October 2016
With Halloween fast approaching, we are currently in the midst of the very best time of the year to be a fan of all things horrific. And rather than counting down to the big day, we’d like to remind you to make the most of this next month. Don’t be so eager to get to Halloween. Rather, we encourage you to enjoy every step on the road to it.
So how do you make the most of the 2016 Halloween season? Well, lucky for all of us, there is no shortage of awesomeness headed our way in the next month. So much of it, in fact, that writing up this top 10 list required us to give the axe to several things we cannot wait to see, experience, and get our hands on.
But enough yapping. Here are the 10 most exciting things headed our way in October 2016!
In no particular order…
1) THE RETURN OF “ASH VS. EVIL DEAD”
Easily the highlight of Halloween 2015 was the premiere of Starz’ “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” which saw Bruce Campbell reprise the role of Ash Williams for the first time since 1992. The show’s blood-soaked inaugural outing was one of the best first seasons we have ever experienced, and we cannot wait to see what Bruce and the gang have in store for us in Season 2. The new season premieres on Starz on the night of October 2nd, and the season kicks off with Ash returning to his hometown of Elk Grove, Michigan. We’re even set to meet Ash’s father, being played by the legendary Lee Majors!
2) PHANTASM: REMASTERED AND PHANTASM: RAVAGER
It’s a damn good time to be a fan of the Phantasm franchise, and oh boy is a whole lot of waiting going to pay off wonderfully this October. On October 4th, the hotly-anticipated 4K remaster of the original Phantasm arrives on VOD outlets alongside brand new series installment Phantasm: Ravager, both joined by HD remasters of Phantasm 3: Lord of the Dead and Phantasm 4: Oblivion. Phantasm: Remastered and Phantasm: Ravager will also hit limited theaters on October 7th. The new film promises to end the franchise on a satisfying note, with Reggie and Mike setting out to put an end to the Tall Man once and for all.
3) “THE WALKING DEAD” SHAMBLES BACK TO AMC
If it’s Halloween, it must be “The Walking Dead.” New seasons of the show have been an October staple for several years now, and the upcoming seventh season of AMC’s hit zombie series may be the most hotly-anticipated to date. Of course, Season 6 ended on a MASSIVE cliffhanger, with villain Negan beating a member of Rick’s group to death with his barbed wire-covered baseball bat… we just don’t yet know who suffered such a brutal fate. We’ve been promised that we’ll find out who Negan killed within the first episode of Season 7, and we’ve got a strong feeling that it won’t be long before other characters we love find themselves on the opposite end of Lucille. The new season is going to be BRUTAL, and we love when “The Walking Dead” is brutal.
4) THE BOARD IS BACK IN OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL
We’re as surprised as anyone that we’re actually excited about a sequel to 2014 dud Ouija, but with Oculus and Hush director Mike Flanagan at the helm, there’s a damn good chance that this year’s Ouija: Origin of Evil will be the rare sequel that’s way better than its predecessor. Apparently unconnected to the first film, the new installment is set in 1965 and centers on a mother who unwittingly summons a demonic entity and grants it access to her young daughter. Origin of Evil begins its theatrical haunt on October 21st.
5) SHIN GODZILLA DESTROYS AMERICAN THEATERS
Toho’s Shin Godzilla (aka Godzilla Resurgence) made waves over in the Big G’s home country of Japan earlier this year, and the good news for those of us in North America is that we’re not being left out in the cold. Funimation secured the rights to the latest Godzilla flick and will be giving it a limited theatrical engagement in both the United States and Canada from October 11th through October 18th. That week will probably be your only chance to see this one on the big screen, so be sure to head over to funimationfilms.com/shingodzilla for theater listings and more information.
6) SCREAM FACTORY MADNESS: THE THING! CARRIE! CHILD’S PLAY!
A week rarely goes by where Scream Factory doesn’t put out a new Blu-ray that we absolutely need in our collection, and they’re damn sure taking care of us in October with a slew of releases that will encourage us to bust out our credit cards and plop our asses on our couches. The October fun kicks off on the 11th with Collector’s Edition Blu-ray releases of Brian De Palma’s Carrie and John Carpenter’s The Thing, and Child’s Play gets the same deluxe treatment on October 18th. And that’s not all. On October 25th, The Exorcist 3 hits Collector’s Edition Blu-ray. You can pay a visit to Scream Factory’s website for full information on all of those exciting releases.
7) SYFY’S 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN
One of the things we look forward to every October is Syfy’s 31 Days of Halloween marathon, and this year’s festivities will include the world premieres of five brand new original horror movies. The most exciting is sequel Stake Land 2, premiering on October 15th, and the whole marathon kicks off with a film based on the same nursery rhyme that inspired The Conjuring 2‘s nightmarish Crooked Man sequence. In addition to the original content, films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Zombieland, The Strangers, The Cabin in the Woods, and Drag Me to Hell will make sure that you’ve always got something to watch every day of the month. Check out an early look at the 31 Days of Halloween schedule.
8) AMC’S FEARFEST BRINGS MORE SCARES TO THE SMALL SCREEN
Not to be outdone, AMC also has an annual Halloween marathon of its own, and that kicks off on October 16th and runs straight through Halloween night. At the time of writing this post, the programming schedule for this year’s FearFest has not yet been revealed, but AMC promises that the two-week marathon will feature plenty of themed-programming and well over 60 different films. The more horror there is on TV in October, the happier we tend to be!
9) NETFLIX PREMIERES I AM THE PRETTY THING THAT LIVES IN THE HOUSE
Netflix isn’t adding all that much new horror content to their streaming service this October, which is kind of a bummer, but what you might’ve missed is that they’ll be premiering Osgood Perkins’ I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House on October 28th. The Netflix Original, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this year, stars Ruth Wilson as a live-in nurse who suspects her elderly employer’s house may be haunted. Osgood Perkins is the son of late Psycho star Anthony Perkins, and we can’t wait to see what he can do behind the camera.
10) FEARnyc BITES THE BIG APPLE
We tried to only list off events and happenings that everyone can take part in this October, but we simply couldn’t leave without mentioning the upcoming FEARnyc film festival that was just recently announced. Taking over NYC’s Cinema Village from October 21st through October 27th, the first-ever FEARnyc looks to be THE must-attend horror event of the 2016 Halloween season, and it will feature 65 films, oodles of cast appearances, and enough special events to make your head spin. The event, paying tribute to Wes Craven, includes screenings of classics like Night of the Living Dead, Psycho, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, as well as premieres of new films and even an Exorcist seance. Yea. It’s gonna be fun. Head over to the FEARnyc website for all the details.
What are YOU most looking forward to this October? Comment below and let us know!
