Halloween Freebee

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

🎃 Halloween Freebee 👻

For the Halloween Freebee, I decided to do my favorite Halloween Books and Movies. 

 My Top 10 Favorite Halloween Books/Movies 

Halloween Books/ Short Stories

1. Coraline by Neil Gaiman- This book is the perfect mix of creepy, whimsical, with a dash of fantastical elements. Neil is one of my favorite fantasy writers along with Terry Pratchett, who also makes it on this list. I still vividly remember when I read this book years ago. 

2. Hocus Pocus: Illustrated Edition- A new book that I just read this year that I absolutely loved. Hocus Pocus has been one of my favorite Halloween movies since I was a kid, and I was really looking forward to this book. Great book with wonderful illustrations. Gris Grimly will always be my favorite illustrator for these types of stories. 

3. The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner- The Okay Witch series is a great little graphic novel series that I am enjoying. I hope that there will be more in the series soon. 

4. Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett- The Witch subseries is my favorite from the Discworld series, besides the Death books. I love Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat’s little coven, which we are introduced to in this novel. Wyrd Sisters is Terry Pratchett’s take on Macbeth and is such a great novel. I will always love Terry’s humor. 

5. Macbeth by William Shakespeare- Macbeth is my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays. I love the overall story, the characters, but most importantly: the witches. My first experience with Macbeth in school was in eighth grade, when we had to memorize the “Double, Double” scene with the witches. Bonus points if we dressed up like a witch. I still have the lines that we had to do from the play memorized to this day. It was so enjoyable and an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life. Later on in eleventh grade, we read the play again and I fell in love with it even more. I have now read the play four times (one time for my Shakespeare class in college and another in my free time years later). It’s the play that I think of most when I think of my love for William Shakespeare and his writing. 

6. The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike- I was recommended this book by a friend in college. Christopher Pike books were a favorite of mine when I was a teenager. I didn't read this one until much later, but man was it a gem. It's probably my favorite of Christopher Pike's books that I have read. 

7. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman- Another Neil Gaiman on the list because I really love his spooky Halloween books. This one was a lot of fun. 

8. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde- The Picture of Dorian Gray has all the Halloween vibes, and it is absolutely wonderful! Also, look at the cover of the Litjoy edition of it. Stunning!!

9. "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allen Poe- My favorite of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories is definitely “The Tell-Tale Heart.” I can still remember reading this story back in eighth grade and being so creeped out by it. Edgar Allen Poe is greatly known for his horror, and this was what got me into his work all those years ago. 

10. The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw- I love witchy books so much, and this book had just the right elements for me. Also, the ending was absolute perfection. 

Halloween Movies

1. Tower of Terror- My favorite Halloween movie of all time is Tower of Terror with Kirsten Dunst and Steve Guttenberg. I love this movie with all my heart. It is one of the movies that I have to watch every single year, along with the next three movies. Love the ghost story in this.     
                                      

2. Halloweentown- Debbie Reynolds will always be one of my favorite actresses because of this movie. I grew up watching this movie at least once every single Halloween. There were definitely years that I have watched this movie even more than that. "Being normal is vastly overrated."                                         

3. Hocus Pocus- Another childhood favorite that I enjoy watching every year. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy are great as the witches. This movie is just so much fun and the jokes never stop making me laugh, even after all these years. 

4. Halloweentown 2: Kalabar's Revenge- This list would not be complete without the second Halloweentown, which I think might be my favorite. I love the time travel aspects and what they did with Marnie's story in this one. 

5. Under Wraps- I have not got to see this movie in years because it is never played on tv anymore, I can't get a DVD, and it's not on Disney+. The story in this one is fun with the mummy that the kids find. It was always one that I watched every year on Disney Channel when I was a kid. Hope to see it again soon. 

6. Casper- My other favorite ghost movie will always be Casper. I have always loved the idea of Casper being a friendly ghost and the nephew of such obnoxious other ghosts. Christina Ricci is very good in the movie, along with Bill Pullman as her dad. I just love a movie that you can have a lot of fun with, and this one is definitely one of those. 

7. Scream- I watched this movie in college for the first time and fell in love with it. Surprisingly, I went into the movie not knowing who Ghostface really was. Great movie. 

8. Beetlejuice- Michael Keaton is so darn good in this movie, along with Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara. I love the music and the effects. It's just a lot of fun to watch and enjoy. "Jump in the line..."  

9. Hocus Pocus 2- I have been waiting for this movie for years ever since it was first announced that they were going to make a sequel to Hocus Pocus. The first movie is one of my favorite Halloween movies ever. This movie was so much fun! I loved the references to the original movie and the way that they took the story this time around. The beginning of the movie with the young versions of the witches was wonderful. Those girls did such an incredible job playing the characters, and they really felt authentic. I’d love to see a movie or show based off of them as young Winifred, Mary, and Sarah. Also, the new girls that they had playing the present-day teenagers were great. Here’s hoping they do something with them in the future. This movie had me laughing so hard in parts and tearing up by the end. It was everything I wanted in a sequel to the original movie and just made me so incredibly happy. I will definitely be playing it on repeat along with the first for years to come. 

10. Interview with a Vampire- I am not a fan of Vampires too much at all, so I was never interested in this movie. In one of my classes, we watched and read a lot of horror stories. This was one of the many movies that we watched for the class and I feel in love with the story quickly. It was one of the best movies that I have ever seen. Also, the way the vampire story is taken was so intriguing. I love that Kirsten Dunst made it on this list twice. She was incredible in this movie alongside Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. Someday, I’m going to read the novel by Anne Rice.