The following article was written by Matt Mottl, a Public Services Assistant at the Manitowoc Public Libary.
Happy Spooky Season, readers!
October is one of my favorite months and the main reason behind that is that everyone likes to talk about scary movies. With me being the movie expert at Manitowoc Public Library, I figured, of course, my next Whatcha Watchin program had to focus on everything horror in film.
I wasn’t always a fan of horror movies and I avoided them for so long because I hated the feeling in my gut when I got scared. But, one day, my friends convinced me to see The Conjuring 2 in theaters. I was terrified to go because 1) It’s on the big screen, so 10x the scariness 2) I’m with friends, so they might laugh at me if I get too scared, and 3) Sound is to the extreme, so every jump scare or startling noise will make me jump every time. In the end though, even though I did jump out of my seat several times, I had a great time and it gave the courage to go see more in theaters. I’ve been hooked ever since. I now watch horror movies constantly and love to talk about them with fellow horrorophiles.
My favorite horror movie of all time, hands-down, is The Shining and even though some have come close, I don’t think anything will ever compare to Stanley Kubricks masterpiece. The genres I’ve come to love over the years and gravitate towards are definitely anything to do with ghosts/demons/monsters. Also, an underrated genre that get a bad rep, somewhat, that I absolutely love is the “Found Footage” genre. I’ve seen so many unsettling found footage movies. I wish more were made nowadays.
That’s enough about me! I invite you to join me, and fellow MPL Staff Members, Tim Gadzinski, and Lisa Pike, as we come together to once again discuss movies. This time, the theme—as you may already suspect–is horror, including paranormal, psychological, and slasher movies as the main event. Of course, with great horror movies there are also the ones that are total stinkers that don’t scare us in the slightest, instead making us yawn and roll our eyes. I mean, what movie program on this topic would be complete without discussing the worst of horror, so we will absolutely be discussing that as well. Horror movies nowadays are really slaying the game and we will also be recommending and showcasing some newer and upcoming ones like the horror hit Longlegs and the anticipated upcoming remake of the horror classic Nosferatu.
Seeing as I’m someone who loves surveys, we will also share the results of a small horror movies survey I did with friends to see other people’s opinions and get a wider range of viewpoints on horror.
The program will be, of course, on Thursday, October 31—Halloween night!—from 6-7 PM, exclusively online. We’ll be livestreaming on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/manitowoclibrary) and our YouTube channel. As always, we appreciate comments as the program goes on, so please share your favorite horror movies, recommendations, or anything else you would like to share with us by typing it inyo the “Comments” box on either platform and we’ll get to as many of these as is possible.
Even though we won’t be seeing you in-person, feel free to dress up in your Halloween costume to get in the spirit! Happy Watching! BOO!