In addition to my focus on feminist horror films for my 31 Days of Horror film watching (which you can find here), I thought I’d offer some other recommendations in honor of the best month of the year, October, and my favorite holiday, Halloween. October is the month when everyone is a horror fan (for some of us it’s a year-round thing). If you’re looking for some must read or watch, check out the list below. (Note: None of the films I’m featuring in my Feminist Horror #31DaysOfHorror will be on the below list.)

First, I’d be a bad scholar if I didn’t recommend my own book, so check out Gender in the Vampire Narrative (2016) edited by U. Melissa Anyiwo and me.

To Read
Non-Fiction

• Race in the Vampire Narrative (2015) edited by U. Melissa Anyiwo, to be transparent, I have a chapter in this book as well
• Horror Noire: Black in American Horror Films from the 1890s to Present (2011)by Robin Means Coleman
• Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (1992/2015) by Carol Clover
• A Companion to the Horror Film (2017) edited by Harry Benshoff

Histories of Haunts and Halloween

• Treat or Treat: A History of Halloween (2012) by Lisa Morton
• Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places (2016) by Colin Dickey
• Halloween: A History of America’s Darkest Holiday (2016) by David Skal

Fiction, Comics, and Graphic Novels

• Fledgling (2005) by Octavia Butler
• The Gilda Stories (1991) by Jewelle Gomez
• The Haunting of Hill House (1959) by Shirley Jackson
• My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris
• Minion (Vampire Huntress Legend Series) by L.A. Banks
• Harriet Tubman: Demon Slayer (2017) by David Crownson
• Akata Witch (2011) by Nnedi Okorafor

To Watch
Must Watch Contemporary Horror Films

• Get Out (2017, director Jordan Peele), available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
  • Also check out the Get Out Syllabus by Dr. Crystal Boson
• Train to Busan (2016, director Sang-ho Yeon), available on Netflix
• The Devil’s Candy (2015, director Sean Byrne), available on Netflix
• The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016, director André Øvredal), available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
• The Purge: Election Year (2016, director James DeMonaco), I would recommend the entire series but Election Year was particularly poignant in light of our current political climate, available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
• The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014), director Adam Robitel), available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
• The Innkeepers (2012, director Ti West), available on Amazon Prime and Shudder
• Stake Land (2010, director Jim Mickle), available on Netflix

Must Watch Classic Horror Films

• Ganja and Hess (1973, director Bill Gunn), available on Amazon Prime
• Dracula (1931, director Tod Browning), available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
• The Night of the Living Dead (1968, director George Romero), available on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube
• The Exorcist (1973, director William Friedkin), available to rent on Amazon and Vudu
• Tales from the Crypt: Demon Night (1995, director Ernest Dickerson), available to rent on Amazon and Vudu