Well, our Holiday Guides were so effective and so popular, that we figured we should do some more of these things. And since Halloween is one of our favorite holiday on record, we thought we'd do something to help you out with reading and watching material for that glorious day of "worshipping the dark lords," or whatever the religious whackjobs want to call it. Hell, re-read the Harry Potter books while you'r eeating your trick or treat candy dressed as a Pokemon. That'll really piss them off.

Ahem. Anyway....

Need a crash course in Lore? Well, Visible Ink Press can help you out. Check out these three veritable tomes that they've put out, covering shapeshifters, vampires and just flat out weird phenomena. With The Werewolf Book, for example, you get a chronology of anything having to do with shapeshifters followed by nearly four hundred pages of A-Z goodness on the subject, plus a filmography and a list of further resources. All manner of info is present, including the fact that a werewolf apparently took home some medals at the Olympics in 400 BCE. Did you know this? Neither did I. The same attention to detail is present in Unexplained!, a book that outweighs the tome about lycanthropes and clocks in at over six hundred pages. Each chapter is dedicated to a different subject of weirdness, such as "Cryptozoo" and "Shapes in the Sky." Even a dedicated Art Bell listener like myself will have much to learn. And lastly, the megadaddy of them all-- The Vampire Book. You get the same encyclopedia action going on, plus a chronology, sixty pages of further resouces (including a section called "cookbooks", naturally). So if you want some serious overview of the subjects at hand, grab these. If all else fails you can bludgeon some evil to death with them--always a plus.

The first name in horror, Anchor Bay, has stepped it up recently with some kickass special editions--every single one of these bad boys is a two-disc set. First up we've got Wes Craven's early cult classic, The Hills Have Eyes, featuring a commentary which includes Craven, a documentary, a special covering Craven's career, a whacked out alternate ending, and the shooting script. And of course, what would Halloween be without Halloween, the original John Carpenter (before he went insane) slasher opus. Here you get a stacked commentary, a feature-length docu and a visit to the original Michael Myers house, amongst other bits. You've also got Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark, which is one of my guilty pleasure vampire flicks. Sure, the ending is a little wonky, but the Aliens reunion is cool and Bill Paxton's spur-usage rocks. Director's commentary, a making-of docu, deleted scene with commentary and, again, the screenplay are the icing on the bloody cake. Lastly we've got Herzog's remake of Noseferatu starring Klaus Kinski as Mr. Undead Guy. You get the English and German versions of the film (Mein gott!), plus a featurette and commentary. Many choices from Anchor Bay, all of them have merit.

Want something a little bit more factual? Well, our first entry here should help you out...it's a bit more non-fiction. Christopher Lee himself hosts this shotgun-style look at Dracula, In Search of Dracula --both in movies and the basis for it all, Vlad Dracul. It's a bit dated, mind you, so don't freak at anything that screams 70s at you. Still, it's amusing to see Lee hosting, in movie footage, and in new footage playing the part of Vlad. And hey, as long as we're going back in time, let's play around with the 1959 Terror is a Man. Is it Moreau Lite? Well, yes, but it comes complete with a bell that the Management of the cinema will ring to warn you to look away--how polite. Then you've got the quite respectable Terror of Frankenstein, which adheres to its source material faithfully, despite bogging down a bit in places. If you wish to flee the usual slasher suspects, these three entries are distinct possibilites.

If you're looking for some bits to perhaps MST3K on the occasion of Halloween, Artisan has released some schlock that is worthy (or unworthy, you be the judge) of your ire. First up is the amazingly unerotic Doppelganger --starring Drew Barrymore as a woman who's haunted by an evil version of herself, which I assume would be her in the pre-1996 portion of her career. Then you've got the campy and somewhat erotic Lair of the White Worm, a Ken Russell classic of B-moviedom that features Hugh Grant before he was Hugh Grant. Then, last but not least, is the decent but moderately silly Waxwork and its sequel. So hey, if you're going to go schlock, make it quality schlock.

First up from Universal, we've got some titles that will go a little easy on you, assuming you like to cut your horror with other genres to make it more palatable. Granted, the films don't suck because of it, we're just saying it's not your straight scare-em-up job. First up is the import Brotherhood of the Wolf, a kung fu western horror fantasy period piece that managed to be the best martial arts flick of the year it came out. That's right, a French flick kicked Jet Li's ass. As long as you can understand the genre hopscotch going on, you should be digging the hell out of it. Next, we've got two Tales of the Crypt flicks, starting with Bordello of Blood. Granted, I'm in the majority for having enjoyed this one as a guilty pleasure, but how can you not enjoy Dennis Miller playing himself essentially and facing down vampires? When he finds himself in a secret room filled with gorgeous women, he proclaims, "I'm in Larry Flynt's id!" Priceless. More successful was Demon Knight, which featured Billy Zane tearing up the screen and swallowing scenery whole as The Collector. Glorying in its own goofiness, it's another guilty pleasure you can get into, if you just allow it. Now, getting back towards real horror, there's always the last of the true John Carpenter classics, Prince of Darkness, which wherein it's revealed the Catholic Church has been keeping Satan in a bottle ("If I could keep Satan in a bottle, the first thing that I'd like to do...") under a church--and of course, hijinks ensue. Some great moments in that one--featuring Alice Cooper's finest cinematic appearance. Lastly, we've got Craven's Serpent and the Rainbow, which is significant, because it is almost guaranteed to make any males within one hundred yards of the film double over and roll around on the floor, groaning. Harsh. I can say no more.

Okay, so, what does MGM bring to the table? Well, mostly some old school goodness. First up, a pair of double feature DVDs. Vincent Price is in fine form in both The Oblong Box and Scream and Scream Again. Between both movie you get dastardly experimentation with body parts, voodoo, insanity--you know, all the usual topics one must needs address. You also get the Sexy Undead Chicks Marathon! Ahem, well, in reality it's Countess Dracula and The Vampire Lovers. Complete with all the original skin, hey, if you find the vintage stuff amusing, it's right up your alley--and the features are nifty as well. Then of course, for you werewolf freaks out there, we've got The Howling, a love letter to lycanthropic horror by director Dante. Lastly, we would recommend the first two seasons of the original Outer Limits, because old school creepy and spooky is often the best.

Here's an idea. If you just want to do a marathon--grab some season boxed sets of Dark Shadows from MPI. The original soap to feature vampires and other beasties--not to mention some whacky time travel--it's got all the schlock you would expect from a good soap, plus, you know--the undead. So what's not to like? Featuring, oh, a good couple hundred episodes among what we have pictured here, you'll be halfway through the Halloween weekend before you finally run out of stuff to watch.

So maybe you want to watch something in the spirit of Halloween, but you don't necessarily feel like scaring the pants off yourself. Well, first up, we appreciate you recognizing your limitations. I mean, you're spineless and weak, but it's okay--we're here to help. First up is the classic When Veggies Attack flick, and snag the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, now in its 25th Anniversary incarnation from Rhino. You get all manner of features including shorts and a commentary. Of course, there's also Troma's release of Cannibal! The Musical, which proves there's nothing like a commentary track that involves much in the way of drinking. Lastly, what Halloween would be complete without some Simpsons? This Treehouse of Horror collection contains four of the specials, which are the epitome of Groening's mad sickness. Favorite bit is "The Shinning" of course.

First up, is, of course, the Romero trilogy. Because nothing says "I love you" on Halloween like Romero zombie horror. Of course, first out of the starting gate is Elite's Millennium Edition of Night of the Living Dead, which is so stacked with extras it's just flat out ridiculous. But, of course, you're not going to have time for those--because you finish with the first film and you move on to Part Two, Dawn of the Dead. Currently Anchor Bay has the best version on DVD, so you'll want to snag that (my personal favorite of the trilogy) before moving on to Day of the Dead-- the third and so far final installment in Romero's series, comes with two commentaries, a new docu, half an hour of production footage, and the original screenplay among other things. Get it and enjoy, because they'll have remade it before we ever get the damn Twilight of the Dead we were promised. I'm not bitter. Then the next one up is Re-Animator, also in an Elite Millennium Edition two-disc mondo set. And lastly, we've got Boyle's zombie entry, 28 Days Later, which is the best zombie flick we've had since 1985. How sad is that? Go and partake and be grateful.

Three entries here for you, ranging from goofy to campy to, ah, campy. the April Fool's Day isn't exactly going to blow anybody out of their seat, but still--it was poking fun at the slasher genre back when Scream was still a twinkle in Wes Carpenter's eye. I think it's a hoot, anyway. Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter is a nice adventure flick with a protagonist who wishes to buckle the swashes of nosferatu who are out to drain the youth from the young. Latter day Hammerness that works surprisingly well. And lastly, speaking of Hammer, there's the last Hammer Frankenstein flick, Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell, featuring Peter Cushing as the good doctor once more. What happens when our buddy Vic finds himself as the head of an insane asylum--well, bad things, of course! Grab the popcorn and enjoy.