The Halloween season has officially arrived, and as such, many will try to “get in the Halloween spirit.”
This has many forms: whether it be decorating their homes with Halloween decor, or carving pumpkins and eating Halloween candy. By far, one of the most popular Halloween traditions is watching scary movies. A 2024 survey conducted by the New York Post reveals that 84% of respondents saw horror movies as a vital part of the Halloween season.
Some of the first-ever horror movies weren’t released during the spooky season with Nosferatu coming to American audiences on the third of June 1929. This trend of random releases would continue for other classic horror monsters: Frankenstein’s U.S. debut was in November 1931, and The Wolf Man was released in December of 1941.
The success these films received was also apparent with Frankenstein making $12 million worldwide, equivalent to around $255 million in today’s economy. However, there was no direct trend tying these horror classics to the Halloween season.
Horror movies continued to release at dates with little to no correlation to the Halloween season; that was until 1978 with the release of the movie Halloween, coming out on the 25th of October, six days before Halloween. Featuring the now iconic killer Michael Myers slashing people on the titular day, the film sent waves throughout the industry, grossing $70 million worldwide, translating to roughly $350 million in today’s money. The message was clear: Halloween season would be the best time to push out these horror flicks. The Halloween season’s obsession with spookiness complements the scary nature of horror films very well.
Since then, every October has seen a horror movie be released. Some notable films released during the season with moderate to high success are Candyman (1992), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), and Annabelle (2014).
In 2025, the cycle remains unbroken, and horror movies are still being pushed out during the spooky season. This cycle has a clear influence on the populace, as people are now conditioned to expect their annual wave of horror. Jaden Abarca, a 10th grader at James Campbell High School, said, “I’m really looking forward to Black Phone 2; the first one was really good. Weapons too; I heard it was good.”
Although Halloween does seem to be the best time to push for the release of horror movies, the industry does release movies out of season, especially when these films explore different genres beyond the classic slasher or monster. “The only horror movies I like are the thriller kind,” one of Campbell’s Advanced Guidance and Health teachers, Jacob Wong, said, “movies like The Purge, especially the second one.”
Chemistry teacher Jennifer Tang said that, “I like horror movies, but I do have to keep reminding myself to disassociate it from reality. That even though sometimes it is based on real events, the movie itself is not real.”
Horror movies will remain an immensely profitable part of the film industry, but their impact on the Halloween season and the public’s expectations are undeniable. There will never be a Halloween without at least one good horror movie to enhance the season. People can always look forward to gathering with friends and family and enjoying something that can give them a good scare, this Halloween or the next.
