Lauren Spear: Hi! I’m Lauren Spear from HorrorFam.com and we update every Friday with a new horror-related article or interview. And this is the first time Halloween has been on a Friday since we started – and it won’t be again until 2031! So, we wanted to do something special.
We’re going to have every person who works behind-the-scenes at HorrorFam.com come on and say who they are and what they do, and what their favorite horror movies are, what their favorite horror book is, and they’re going to give a shoutout to a horror creator who they think deserves more attention, annnnnd what we all like to do on Halloween!
And here… Here we are! *laughs*
Happy Halloween 2025 from Frank Spear
Frank Spear: Hi, Everyone! It’s that time of the year again – Halloween!
My name is Frank Spear. I’m the co-founder of HorrorFam.com. When I’m not helping Lauren out behind-the-scenes, I’m usually working on one of my horror franchise review roundups. So far, I’ve covered Return of the Living Dead, The Purge, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Friday the 13th! And I also contribute to many of our yearly roundup posts.
So, my Top Five Favorite Horror Movies are Return of the Living Dead Part 2, Day of the Dead, The Invisible Man Returns, Abigail, and Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever!
Frank Spear (continuing): For me, what makes a horror movie one of my favorites is when I find myself thinking about it days, weeks, months, even YEARS after I’ve seen it the first time. And all five of those movies have had that effect on me. *chuckles*
So, my favorite horror book series of all time is The Dark Tower by Stephen King. I read this series for the first time when I was a teenager and it’s SO good. Very haunting. It has homicidal trains, werewolf clans, and some really crazy-looking creatures! They actually illustrated some of them in this Volume III…
*holds up The Dark Tower Book III: The Wastelands and flips to an illustrated page showing some crazy-looking creatures* Check this out!! Crazy, right? This thing HAUNTED me. But… *holds a section of the illustration closer to the camera* Look at that face!
Frank Spear (continuing): But, yeah, I read it again as an adult and it’s so good. It more than held up. If you’ve never sat down and read the seven books in the series, I highly recommend you give it a shot.
While we’re on the topic of illustrations and books, I also wanted to add… *holds up Tales from the Crypt: The EC Archives Volume 4* …that I love the 1950’s EC comics! They’re rereleasing all of them in trade paperback on Amazon and so I’ve been picking them up there. And they’re just so good. Classic! And the art’s awesome. It’s a great time!
Frank Spear (continuing): I also wanted to give a shoutout to indie games studio Massive Monster! Their 2022 game Cult of the Lamb is both surprisingly dark AND cute at the same time, which was really interesting to see put together. I’ve played it every year since its come out. Their community is great, and they’re always expanding on what they’ve built. They’re gearing up to release their next DLC called Woolhaven and it’s, allegedly, bigger than the core game! It comes out early next year and I’m really looking forward to checking it out.
And if you’ve never played Cult of the Lamb, it’s probably on sale right now for the Halloween specials, so you should check it out!
Frank Spear (continuing): So, yeah, for Halloween, I absolutely love carving Jack-O-Lanterns… Even though I never know what I’m going to make until the carving knife is already IN the pumpkin!
I also… *holds up DVD of Day of the Dead and a Grimm Tales of Terror comic book* …like consuming as much extra horror movies and TV shows and books that I possibly can.
Frank Spear (continuing): And, because I love to cook, I also like making homemade pumpkin roll! With homemade cream cheese frosting. Good stuff. But, yeah, that’s about it.
Happy Halloween, Everybody!!
Happy Halloween 2025 from Robert Tharp
Robert Tharp: Hi! My name is Robert Tharp and I guess I’m the unofficial “O.G.” for Lauren’s HorrorFam crew.
My articles tend to focus on the entertainments and movies from the 20th Century.
My Top Three Favorite Films, at least for today, are Them!, Aliens, and – of course – Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein!
Robert Tharp (continuing): My favorite horror book is…*reaches for something off-camera* Visual aid! *holds up a copy of Tales of Horror by Alan Riefe* THIS is my favorite horror book. It came out in 1965 and it’s probably been out of print since then, but it’s AWESOME! They occasionally turn up on eBay so, if you can find one, definitely worth the look.
Robert Tharp (continuing): I want to give a shoutout to my favorite creator and that would be… Cathy Tharp! She’s my favorite artist and I like everything that she does.
Robert Tharp (continuing): And, finally, my favorite thing to do on Halloween is to sit at the big table with my family and carve Jack-O-Lanterns! That’s just the best.
So, Everybody out there: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Enjoy. I hope your bags are full of nothing but your Favorite candies! *points to the camera* Later!
Happy Halloween from Isaiah Swanson
Isaiah Swanson: Hi, Everybody! It’s Isaiah Swanson here and I write “Izzy’s Eerie Indies” for HorrorFam.com and I’m also the founder and editor of The Bitter Wolf, which is a website and YouTube channel devoted to promoting the work of independent horror filmmakers!
What are my favorite horror movies? That’s a really difficult question to answer… So, I’m going to pick the movies that represent different categories of films that I personally love.
Isaiah Swanson (continuing): I love Black Christmas. That’s probably my favorite Slasher of all time. Black Christmas and Stage Fright! These are some really unique slashers and Black Christmas, of course, leaves you with such a gut-wrenching feeling at the end of it and I just love that.
The Devils and The Exorcist are my two favorites in the Religious Horror category!
Critters!! *holds up a Critters t-shirt* I truly love Critters! And so does my character, The Bitter Wolf…
*an adorable werewolf puppet wearing a Critters t-shirt appears on screen*
The Bitter Wolf: Ah ha ha haaaa! Hello! Hello!
*Isaiah Swanson appears again, alarmingly close to the camera*
Isaiah Swanson: I love Body Horror too! My favorite Body Horror movie is Society!
So, I would say those are some of my favorite movies right now. But the list is always changing.
Favorite books…? WHY does Lauren make us do favorites? It’s too hard to pick a favorite!
Isaiah Swanson (continuing): This year I read Deorum Abyssi by Angel Krause, who’s a writer out of Georgia. This is an amazing Creature Feature. It’s about a shark cult. An underwater shark cult. So, enjoy!
I love horror creators and I love the horror community. Check out my project on The Bitter Wolf YouTube channel, “The Horror Mosaic,” where I show video profiles of different people in the horror community – filmmakers, writers, actors, content creators, fans, everybody.
Isaiah Swanson (continuing): And one content creator that I think is doing an amazing job – and who did an amazing job in 2024 and going into 2025 – is Mike and Serial! He is THE Found Footage expert in the horror community and he’s currently on Rise from the Dead Podcast as a co-host, he also co-hosts Found Footage Fridays on Voices from the Mausoleum, and he comes onto my channel about once a month and joins The Bitter Wolf panelists to talk about different horror movie things. He makes recommendations for Found TV! So, he’s doing some really amazing stuff right now.
To be honest with you, since I’m a horror fan 24/7/365, I have Halloween in my heart every single day of the year. So, on Halloween, I usually do the exact same thing I do every single day of the year. *laughs* This year, I’m going to watch some movies and I’m going to curl up in my bed and hopefully enjoy the nice weather.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYBODY!! See you on HorrorFam.com!
Happy Halloween from Christi Bandy
Christi Bandy: *appears on screen with a 12ft tall skeleton behind her* Hi, Friends! I’m Christi Bandy and this reeeeeeally handsome, kinda tall, guy behind me is my 12-foot skeleton, Murray. And Lauren asked me to make a Halloween video for HorrorFam.com…
So, I am a writer, obviously, and my passion is writing about horror movies. Primarily newer movies. I really love going to the theater as much as possible. I’d go every week if I could! Just to watch new movies and review them. I really love seeing horror on the big screen, especially with a packed audience with everybody screaming and reacting – it doesn’t get much better than that!
My personal Top Five favorite horror movies… That’s kind of like picking a favorite skeleton and I’m obsessed with skeletons and I have a LOT of them. So, I’ll try to do my best for the day…
Christi Bandy (continuing): Number One will always and forever be A Nightmare on Elm Street! That’s the movie that started my love of horror at age seven.
And, also, the original Halloween, which I never get tired of watching.
And, for newer things, The Devil’s Rejects is an amazing movie. I still think it’s so good. It’s so well done. It’s so much fun.
And, Trick ‘r Treat because… a GOOD anthology? There’s not many things better than that. And that’s a really good example of a really well done one. And there’s supposed to be a sequel, but I don’t know if it’s true. I really wish he would get on that though! It would be amazing.
I also really love Terrifier 2! The Halloween vibes, Sienna being a badass Final Girl, the gore, the effects… It’s just such a good film.
So… My favorite horror book, of all time, has not changed since I was 14-years-old – and it’s actually, also, just my favorite book in general – which is IT by Stephen King. If you haven’t read it, it’s really scary. And, um, I do have opinions about both movie adaptations… But I’m going to leave that for a different video. *laughs*
Christi Bandy (continuing): IT is a really scary book and, the first time I read it, I was so scared that I had to hide the book under a blanket when I went to sleep so I wouldn’t accidentally see the cover in the middle of the night if I woke up! IT terrified me. I still think IT is amazing and, obviously, Stephen King is my favorite writer.
My favorite horror creator would actually be…
I know that Lauren is thinking of writers and things like that, but I’m thinking about The Mystic Museum. Which is in Burbank, California. And I love visiting when I go visit Lauren!
Christi Bandy (continuing): And the owners of The Mystic Museum, Kiko and Erick, are two highly creative, passionate, amazing people who put on these crazy good exhibits and interesting installations! And it’s so artistic and there’s so much passion. So, when you walk through the Museum, it’s always a really good time for horror fans. Lots of fun things to do and take pictures of. They also have a super cute gift shop! And the vibes are just TOP TEIR when you go there and visit, and I can’t wait to go back. I really look forward to going there, every time I visit California. And… multiple times, if I can! *laughs* I think it’s really awesome!
What do I usually do on Halloween? Pretty much the same thing every year.
When my kids were little, we used to dress up and go out. But now that my kids are grown… I’m sad. *laughs* I’d still love to dress up, if I could! But, instead, I usually eat my favorite Halloween candy – which is Twizzlers or gummy bears, something fruity like that; watch movies – Halloween, Trick ‘r Treat, things like that; and just enjoy the day. It’s the best time of the year! It’s the most magical. It’s the most exciting for us horror fans and Halloween junkies.
And I hope everyone has a TON of pumpkin spice lattes, carves pumpkins, walks through the pumpkin patch, listens to spooky tunes, and has an AMAZING Halloween!!
Happy Halloween from AJ Spencer
AJ Spencer: Hi, Everyone! This is AJ Spencer from HorrorFam.com and I write the [column] “AJ’s Recommended Reads” where I recommend a book to you!
I just wanted to get on here and list some of my favorite Spooky Season activities…
Near Halloween, I like to watch some of my favorite horror movies, which include:
John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece, Halloween.
Mike Dougherty’s 2007 masterpiece, Trick ‘r Treat.
AJ Spencer (continuing): Annnnnnnnd some of my other favorites include Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Ernest Scared Stupid, and The Monster Squad!
Those are just really fun ones that I enjoy watching traditionally every year.
It’s really hard to pick a favorite horror book, but if I was going to be forced to give one right off the top of my head… I’m going to cheat a little bit here, but the novelization for John Carpenter’s Halloween written by Curtis Richards is one of my favorite books of all time. It really expands on the lore of Michael Myers and it’s just a really, really well-written book.
AJ Spencer (continuing): Um… Woooo! *visibly nervous about being on camera* Let’s see…
Other Halloween traditions for me include, of course, the treats. The candy! And decorating pumpkins. Jack-o-lanterns. Those are some of the things that I like to do every year.
Um… Real quick shoutout to an Indie Horror artist who I think has done a REALLY good job this year…? I’m going our own Fearless Leader!
Lauren Spear has done an INCREDIBLE job with the website! And she is an absolute JOY to work with. And I will do it for as long as I can!
AJ Spencer (continuing): So, Lauren Spear, YOU ROCK! Keep up the good work.
You can find me online at Instagram.com @HorrorAuthorAJ and I’m “AJ Spencer” on Facebook. And I’m @GrimGravestone on Twitter… I’m not on there as much anymore, but that’s where you can find me there. And I’m also on TikTok @HorrorAuthorAJ
Other than that, I hope everyone has a GREAT and SAFE Halloween! And I will see you on HorrorFam[.com]! Thank you.
Happy Halloween from Adam Page
Adam Page: Hey, Guys! My name’s Adam Page. I’m a writer for HorrorFam since August of 2024. I’m also, as Lauren calls me, HorrorFam’s UK Correspondent – which is a pretty cool title to have!
My Top Three horror movies would be:
Silence of the Lambs, which is Anthony Hopkins first outing as Hannibal Lecter.
Blair Witch Project, which creates an atmosphere of fear and dread the whole way through it.
And The Exorcist. There’s a reason it has been voted “The Scariest Movie of All Time” several times over.
Adam Page (continuing): So, check them out!
My favorite horror novel would be Pet Semetary by Stephen King. And, in it, he creates a family that feels real, he makes sure you care about them, and then he rips them to pieces. It’s a genuinely frightening book that will well stay with you after you’ve put it on.
Adam Page (continuing): For indie horror, I’d like to point out this year — and this was in the same vein as Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, which was released last year — Popeye the Slayer Man by Robert Michael Ryan. And, in it, a group of students search out the mystery of the “Sailor Man” in an abandoned cannery. The kills in it are gory, they’re funny… There’s also a good amount of heart in it! In the UK, it’s available on Prime, so check it out when you can.
Adam Page (continuing): My social media…
On Threads, I’m @Adam.Page.988
And Bluesky is Adam-Page@bsky.social
And my favorite thing on Halloween used to be to dress up with friends and go out; but, these days, it’s a bit more of dressing up the two little girls in this house as princesses and trying to go trick or treat with them.
But, whatever you’re into, whatever you like to get up to on Halloween, have a very, very HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Thanks!
Happy Halloween from Lauren Spear
Lauren Spear: Hi again! Well, once again, my name is Lauren Spear and I am the co-owner and Head Editor and Head Writer for HorrorFam.com! And I write articles, I host the podcast, I run all of our social media accounts, I write our newsletter, I edit EVERY article (even if it’s not written by me it goes through me), and I answer every email, and…um…I…*arms flail as her brain starts to fizzle out trying to recall all of her duties* I do a whole bunch of stuff! *laughs*
And my favorite horror movies are The Monster Squad, The Frighteners, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein!
Lauren Spear (continuing): And, from there, my Favorites kind of change depending on what mood I’m in. Like…*starts listing random Faves off the top of her head* Tremors, The Faculty, Return to Oz, Little Shop of Horrors, Evil Dead II, Dead Alive, Hausu, Matango… *chuckles* And SO MANY others! *30+ of Lauren’s favorite horror films appear visually on screen*
For me, what makes things a “favorite” is both enjoyment at the time and then repeated enjoyment OVER time. Like, my Top Three, I’ve seen… Whew! Over 40 times. Each. So, those are pretty well set in as my Top Three! And then others, like Scream and… *moves hands like she’s trying to grab her thoughts/other fave horror movie titles from the air, but they elude her* …Those are also Favorites and that means I’ve seen them at LEAST 10 times!
And, so, that’s why you don’t always see newer movies on my lists of Favorites. Like, I think Totally Killer and Abigail are going to be on my Favorites eventually, but for right now they’re just Horror Movies That I Love. I just… I need more time with them before they get the “Favorite” classification. *laughs*
Basically, any time that I say – in an article or something – “Oh! This is one of my Favorites!” it means that I not only enjoy it, but I have REPEATEDLY enjoyed it!
Lauren Spear (continuing): And for my favorite horror book… I know that a lot of my teammates are really into Stephen King and, uh… I, on the other hand, am really into Clive Barker! *laughs*
If you’re unfamiliar, a lot of his books and short stories have been made into movies [you may have seen]. Like, “The Hellbound Heart” became Hellraiser, and “Cabal” became Nightbreed, and “The Forbidden” became Candyman, and so on and so forth. And a lot of the stories from his Books of Blood series also got film adaptations like Midnight Meat Train…
But MY favorite horror book – which is by Clive Barker – is actually one of his books for children. *chuckles and holds up The Thief of Always by Clive Barker* And it’s The Thief of Always! And… It is more terrifying than ANY of his books for adults. *laughs*
Lauren Spear (continuing): Essentially, it’s about… *briefly ponders how to talk about the book without revealing plot/story spoilers* how time is marching ever onward and everyone that you’ve ever known or loved will, you know, grow old and pass on while you’re distracted by other things. Annnnnnnd… It’s pretty scary!! *laughs*
And, also, he did a lot of illustrations for it! *flips through pages* So, at the beginning of each chapter, he put in illustrations that he did himself. And I’m going to show you one from Chapter One. Because the others are Spoilers! *holds up illustration of Rictus from Chapter One, who shows up within the first two pages of The Thief of Always* So, there’s one of the illustrations! Annnnnnnnnnd… yeah! This is my favorite horror book. And I think everyone should check it out.
And an indie horror creator that I think deserves more attention is…
Lauren Spear (continuing): Skyla Macy, who runs the Slasher newsletter!
People had been asking us for a newsletter for years, and I kept thinking, “Why would anyone WANT to read a newsletter…?” But then I subscribed to her newsletter and I was like, “OH! I get it. Newsletters CAN be good!” *laughs*
And she sends those out every weekend, and I like to save them and read them on Monday “morning” to start my week off right! She does just wonderful newsletters about horror topics. She’s a great writer and they’re always really fun and interesting. And you never know what to expect! So, it’s always exciting.
But, you should also check out all of the… I’m sure my teammates have said lots of lovely people! And I know Isaiah also showcases indie horror creators on his own show, The Horror Mosaic! And I talk to people on my show, the HorrorFam.com Podcast, so there’s interviews with indie horror creators on there…
And I’m hoping that YOU will write some of the indie horror creators and projects that you love in the comments’ section! Because I’d love to learn about more of them.
Lauren Spear (continuing): As for what I like to do on Halloween…? It pretty much all involves pumpkins! *laughs* I really like carving Jack-O-Lanterns with my family and fri… *remembers nearly all of her local friends moved away in the 2020s* Uh. We used to have friends come over and they would each get a pumpkin and carve a pumpkin too. And I love doing that.
And then my husband makes a really cool, like, pumpkin cake out of the innards. And my mom likes to bake the seeds. And so we have pumpkin cake, pumpkin seeds, and Jack-O-Lanterns.
And we watch movies. Or play board games! Like Horrified or Zombie Dice. *chuckles* And that’s what I like to do on Halloween!
And I hope that YOU have a wonderful Halloween and that you enjoy every moment and that you have a great time! This is the last time that Halloween is going to be on a Friday until 2031. So, make the most of it. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
*outro music starts with simple Thank You for Watching card*
*Tina Spear appears & meows to announce a Blooper*
Frank Spear: When I’m not helping my wonderful wife, Lauren… *pulls in Lauren from off-camera, visibly surprising her*
Lauren & Frank Spear: *start laughing uncontrollably*
*outro music begins again with Happy Halloween card from the HorrorFam.com Team*
