As Blogtober draws to a close (sad), here is the traditional closing post: A round-up of horror, horror-adjacent, or otherwise October appropriate flicks enjoyed throughout the month.

As JaxKid was introduced to a healthy amount of age-appropriate horror films this year, the rewatch quotient is high, and heavy on key classics we should all have under our boney belts anyway.

It also popcorns around from genre to genre, perhaps more than past lists. Starting with a sci-fi thriller as opposed to a horror movie proper, I started musing. What is horror? Does thriller fall under the umbrella of horror, or vice versa, or are they lateral to one another? Where do we put fantasy, or science fiction? Is found footage its own, separate thing?

All of my marinating on the topic led me to look a little more closely at how genres are actually classified, and I discovered the categories allow for a lot more crossover than I expected. Gone are the days of “horror.” Here are the times of “psychological survivalist action horror thriller drama.”

That said, this year’s watchlist notes the many genres of 31 films, in hopes of expanding your search terms the next time you’re planning a scarefest of your own.

2) ISS–I had to Google this one to remember the plot. It’s another science fiction psychological thriller, this time in space, with the added twist of a nuclear war raging on Earth as the astronauts float around helplessly at the International Space Station.

3) The Craft (rewatch)–This nostalgic favorite just got better for me, as JaxKid has now experienced and loves it– enough to dress as Nancy Downs for Halloween, complete with nineties-era choker and combat boots. Oh, for the record: it’s an “American teen supernatural horror.”

4) The Lost Boys (rewatch)–The late eighties cult classic that gets Cry, Little Sister stuck in your head for a week earned the “comedy horror” distinction, though it was definitely one of the movies that truly scared the sh*t out of me when I was a tween. Alex Winter is terrifying.

5) Practical Magic (rewatch)–JaxKid liked this one, too, and we went to see Practical Magic 2 in the theaters not long after streaming. Classified as “Fantasy romantic comedy drama,” it’s basically all the kinds of films, in addition to featuring witches and a walking corpse.

6) The Titan–Another space-themed sci-fi thriller, this time with a man morphing into a new species and wreaking general havoc. The morphing guy is pretty freaky.

7) Midsommar (rewatch)–One of the best films of the 2010s, this is a movie that warrants multiple watches, in search of some of the countless hidden images and background movement. It’s the only “folk horror” on this list, but I’ll endeavor to include more in the future.

8) Backrooms–A brand new watch for 2026, Backrooms sent me into a rabbit hole once I discovered the internet series that preceded the feature film. I’m looking forward to the next installment, if not still trying to figure out the first, and respect what’s probably the longest genre name we’ve seen yet: “analog horror and found-footage science fiction.”

9) The Terminator (rewatch)–A good example of the why the genre conversation persisted. The Terminator fits into October-viewing just fine with or without the horror moniker–it has killer robots, glowing red eyes, and time travel, and expands science fiction into “science fiction action” to account for all of the running.

10) Clue (rewatch)–The great Tim Curry had just passed away when we cued up this comedy mystery, deeming it murder (and rainstorm) laden enough to fit the Blogtober bill.

11) The House on Haunted Hill (rewatch)–Every year, I love The House on Haunted Hill for its nineties fashion choices more than anything else. Satin, chartreuse pencil skirts with burgundy crop sweaters, blazers as party wear, claw clips…this movie has them all plus some blunt-cut bangs and statement necklaces.

12) Terminator 2 (rewatch)–You can’t watch The Terminator without following up with Sarah Connor’s redemption arc. Linda Hamilton is ripped to shreds, and everyone should be exposed to what, truly, was a cultural buzz moment in 1991. Her arms should’ve been credited.

13) Ready or Not–This 2019 sleeper is a surprisingly pleasant comedy-horror romp, just added to U.S. Netflix on September 1, 2026. Brides wielding axes are always a good time, and the cast includes some notable names we don’t often see in the slashers, including Adam Brody and Andie MacDowell.

14) Trick ‘r Treat–I didn’t mark this as a rewatch because I’m not sure I’d ever seen the full set of shorts in this anthology-style movie in one sitting. Filmed in 2007, it features Leslie Bibb, Anna Paquin, and–I definitely didn’t remember this one–Brian Cox.

15) Child’s Play (rewatch)–We deemed this preteen-ok, and JaxKid was indeed nonplussed by Chucky, who was fricken’ terrifying to me in 1988. Of course, we had a real disconcerting doll on the market at the time and there was always at least one kid terrorizing us with him at recess, so that added to the trauma.

16) Scream (rewatch)–”This movie restarted Drew Barrymore’s career,” we told JaxKid, in hushed tones, as we introduced her to Ghostface. It didn’t rank quite as high as The Craft on her list, but it wasn’t far off the mark and she deemed Tatum (Rose McGowan) her favorite character. Incidentally, Scream apparently fits into the “horror mystery slasher” sub-genre. I feel like “mystery” is a little extraneous, but I’m all for whatever helps us catalog the media.

17) Shaun of the Dead (rewatch)–We hoped this comedy/horror (or British zombie movie, if you prefer) would appeal to JaxKid; she’d already enjoyed Napoleon Dynamite, and they feel somehow in the same universe. She was a fan, but it didn’t resonate quite as much as Tina the llama did.

18) Unfriended (rewatch)–This movie has such a great premise and has some good moments, but in the end, online group chats are just too limited a platform to create any real suspense. Add in that the movie was made in 2014 and the preferred platform was Skype and you’re taken out of the film even more. The genre name is great, though: screenlife supernatural horror film. Who knew screenlife was a word, and that’s what it means? Fun.

19) Halloween (1978) (rewatch)–PSA for parents approaching tweenhood with horror-curious kids: Halloween moves pretty slow for the modern kid, and the slashing isn’t nearly as graphic as you remember. At one point, JaxKid laughed out loud at something that would’ve made us jump back in the day. All this to say, it’s a safer pick (for some) than you might think for a horror entree.

20) Black Phone (rewatch)–A little thin in the plot, but a good watch nevertheless, Black Phone is based on a short story by Joe Hill and puts Ethan Hawke in a creepy mask for 99% of the movie, which is a shame.

21) The Sixth Sense (rewatch)–It was fun introducing this one to JaxKid knowing it was a rare opportunity to watch The Sixth Sense with someone who didn’t know the twist. Plus, Donnie Wahlberg doesn’t get nearly enough attention for his work in this film, and it should’ve led to even more complex, dramatic roles. Hollywood: please revisit.

22) Fright Night (rewatch)–This was another early horror flick that had JaxKid in hysterics–it is indeed pretty camp.

23) Fall–And then, we finally stumbled upon what is scary for the heretofore stalwart JaxKid: “survival psychological thrillers.” Fall follows the story of two young women who decide to climb one of the tallest towers in the country and see what happens, and the tension was not her favorite. Noted.

24) Cabin Fever (rewatch)–This one kind of bored her, too, and it was a little more lukewarm than I remembered it myself. A good one for the flesh-eating bacteria crowd, with a prequel, a sequel, and a remake all at the ready for further viewing.

25) The Amityville Horror (rewatch)–It’s not a lot of people’s favorite, but it’s my favorite. The remake is pretty good, too.

26) Ghostbusters (rewatch)–Always a crowd favorite, Ghostbusters has become an annual rewatch, not unlike The Amityville Horror.

27) Hollow Man (rewatch)–I didn’t remember how misogynistic this movie is. The effects are pretty good, and it’s a good hub film when you’re playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, but proceed with caution: it wasn’t a great look in 2000, and the look didn’t age well.

28) The Abyss (rewatch)–This remains one of my favorite movies of all time, and it’s the first on the list to add “adventure!” to science fiction in its descriptor. It also made me wonder: with The Terminator, Terminator 2, and The Abyss on a watchlist that only covered about a month’s worth of viewing, I might be a bigger James Cameron fan than I thought. I won’t be running to binge the Avatar series anytime soon, though.

29) Paranormal Activity (rewatch)–This is one of my favorite franchises, and pair well with The Blair Witch Project, as they have similar vibes and both showed us things in the found footage realm we hadn’t seen before.

30) Paranormal Activity 2 (rewatch)–I’d call this the “bridge episode” of the franchise, but there is a little more action than the first installment.

31) Paranormal Activity 3–The strongest of the franchise in my opinion, taking the story back in time to the eighties and getting creative with vintage audio-visual equipment.

*JaxKid was not exposed to all rewatches; only those deemed appropriate.