There are a few undead fiends and friends on my list this year but the title isn't about them. It's about me. After a record-breaking, brain-melting, brutal summer and an unintentional, much-too-long break from intentional film-watching (and especially reviewing, commenting, interacting, etc.), I've returned, right around the time for Hooptober to go live. I feel like I've been in hibernation more than stasis, like something has changed more than been paused and restarted. I'm so glad to be back here again.

Companion list:
+ 2023 Spooky Season

Cinemonster's list.

September 15th - October 31st
Progress: 12 of 38 (31%)

Cinemonster's criteria:
+ 31 films
+ 10/6 countries: Australia, Chile, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Mexico, USA
+ 14/8 decades: 1890s, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s
+ 2 post-apocalyptic or natural disaster: Dawn of the Dead, Night of the Comet
+ 1 Robert Englund: Dead + Buried
+ 1 "something is underground" film: The Descent
+ 6/3 Satan/Devil-centered films: Alucarda, The Blood on Satan's Claw, The Devil in a Convent, Play Along, Rosemary's Baby, Satan's Waitin'
+ 1 Amicus film: Asylum
+ the worst Dracula film (by LB rating) I haven't seen and can access: Dracula 3D
+ 1 LGBTQ+-connected film: The Vampire Lovers
+ 5 films from De Palma, Wes Craven, Ken Russell, Hitchcock, and/or Morehead + Benson: Carrie, The Devils, Lair of the White Worm, Rebecca, Swamp Thing
+ 2 Peter Cushing: Asylum, The Vampire Lovers
+ 2/1 film based on a work of or invoking the name of Bram Stoker: Dracula 3D, The Lair of the White Worm
+ 1 film based on a Clive Barker story: Nightbreed
+ 1 film that was released the year I turned 10: Nightbreed
+ 1 Mario Bava: Blood and Black Lace
+ 1 film with an "x" in the title: The Boxer's Omen
+ 1 Tobe Hooper: The Funhouse
+ Hooptober extras: 10 Rillington Place, Shaky Shivers, The Zodiac Killer

My criteria and notes:
+ mini collab with Ethan: Messiah of Evil
+ mini-collab with Min: The Blood on Satan's Claw
+ Around the World Recommendations: Alucarda, Blood and Black Lace, The Boxer's Omen, Brotherhood of the Wolf, The Cat, Enys Men, House
+ Collab Catchup: Blood and Black Lace, The Cat, Triangle, The Wolf House
+ rewatches for films I never reviewed: Cemetery Man, The Descent, Night of the Comet, Nightbreed, Rebecca, The Vampire Lovers
+ extra films to represent every decade of horror: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Devil in a Convent, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The House of Ghosts