Every Halloween (or thereabouts), there are a few things essential to the time of year and celebration of the holiday. First, fill a bowl with candy corn and those peanut butter things wrapped in orange and black wax paper. Next, take all the elements of your residence’s beds and couches to create the best living room fort ever (make sure it has an opening at the front, like a tent). The most important element to the tradition of Halloween is a huge load of scary movies. Pop those suckers in, take solace in your fort, and work on getting a few cavities. That’s the way to celebr … wait, shhhh, did you hear that?

CLASSIC
Psycho (1960) Long before Wes Craven and M. Night Shyamalan came along, Alfred Hitchcock killed off his main character and concocted quite an end twist for the Ed Gein-inspired killer.

The Exorcist (1973) Audience members passed out, threw up, and reported possessions after seeing William Friedkin’s adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel.

Jaws (1975) Steven Spielberg inspired generations of pre-teens to avoid the ocean at all costs with what is believed to be the first summer blockbuster.

Nosferatu (1922) FW Murnau’s version of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a silent and pulsating piece of German Expressionism, is the greatest of all vampire films.

Night of the Living Dead (1968) Though it wasn’t the first zombie movie, George Romero’s indie flick reinvented the genre and directly influenced every one since.

FRANCHISES
Child’s Play (1988) Despite being nothing more than a creepy doll, Chuckie just doesn’t seem to die. With five movies down (all quite humorous), there’s apparently a remake of the original on the way.

Friday the 13th (1980) The hockey-masked Jason Voorhees is about to see his fourteenth appearance on the big screen, which is funny considering the villain of the original. Ch-ch-ch-ha-ha-ha. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Wes Craven’s “dreamed-up” creation of scarred Freddy Krueger, who starred in eight films, has the perfect combination of gore, comedy, and Johnny Depp.

Scream (1996) This three-film series (with a fourth on the way) started with Wes Craven satirizing the genre he helped create, then unfortunately revived a line of crappy new ones.

Halloween (1978) John Carpenter started the modern slasher genre (though you could argue for Hitchcock) with Halloween, which saw eight sequels and a Rob Zombie remake.