Yes, we’ve got a bit of a cheat here as I’m recommending a specific stage in a game rather than the entire thing. It’s a slippery slope for sure but by God I’ve lost enough sleep since beginning this countdown at the thought of not including it. To be fair, Banjo-Kazooie is in my top ten games of all time and the entirety demands to be played any time of year. But all of the little details in this Mad Monster Mansion area: From that amazing stage music right down to transforming into a damn playable Jack ‘o Lantern…listen, it really doesn’t get much more Halloween than this.

Except for the #1 entry in this countdown I guess.

Rob and Ray brave the streets of Haddonfield circa 1978 and are here to report back about the infamous “Babysitter Murders” by way of some dude named Michael Myers. Please enjoy listening to us yap about the legendary director John Carpenter’s original classic slasher!

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Psycho II is nothing short of miraculous: It’s a movie carrying around the stones big enough to even attempt the impossible by following up the original Hitchcock classic 22 years later yet *spoiler alert* folks, it manages to succeed in just about every way imaginable. From the beautifully clever and twisty (not to mention twisted) script courtesy of Tom Holland (Fright Night, Child’s Play) to just a flat out all timer of a return performance by Anthony Perkins (Psycho, This One, Psycho III, Psycho IV: The Beginning), this is a sequel that knows it has something to prove. And not only does the movie step up to the plate and point to the cheap seats…

…it swings and knocks the skin off the ball before that thing flies out of the park.

Outlast II is perfect: It is also definitely not for everyone. But for what the developers are setting out to accomplish, the game is just flawless in my opinion. From the airtight controls to the jaw dropping graphics (really pushing Nintendo’s aging little hybrid console and flexing it’s capabilities), here we have a truly terrifying experience with tense mechanics, a beyond unsettling narrative and…

..well, I could just go on and on about this one!

Layers of Fear: Legacy is one of those “psychological” horror games where your mind occasionally “plays tricks” on you. It’s the kind of experience intending to immerse players in an atmosphere where you’re forced to “question” your own “sanity.” Sort of a distant relative of Eternal Darkness for the GameCube in that regard: Plenty of environmental puzzles offered within a spooky setting. It’s also one of very few non first party Switch titles that I burned right through upon starting, compelled to completion amongst a ridiculous backlog of games.

That means I sure liked it!

You couldn’t really go wrong with just about any entry in this series but I’ve chosen the high definition remaster of the iconic remake that originally released on the Gamecube back in 2002 to single out. Actually it was specifically a toss up between either this or the remaster of RE4. But as much as I do love that fourth *ahem* game changing installment, it leans harder toward the action genre than this, the original, the classic, the great Resident Evil.

I find it highly likely that were Tim Burton to continue directing Michael Keaton as Batman in a third installment, Halloween would have featured as a prominent setting. Y’know just like Christmas did in Returns. Unfortunately, we don’t live in the timeline where such a scenario occurred but Batman Forever still wound up being the (to date) only live action Dark Knight cinematic adventure to take place during the spooky season. Isn’t that weird!? Time to join Rob and Ray as we yap about Joel Schumacher’s 1995 take on the caped crusader!

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Released in 1981 (nearly one year to the day after the first film) Friday the 13th Part 2 was yet another big box office success for Paramount Pictures. Once again shot on the tiniest of budgets, the film easily earned well over it’s money back and a formula was now in place. Though it could have been dismissed as a quick cash in project, fans clearly filled the theater seats and wanted more. This is the one that really laid the groundwork for the series moving forward, while also firmly establishing the franchise’s dominance in horror. Rising to the top as an annual must see event for genre fans swimming in an ocean of imitators.

This is the one where Jason arrives.

You could say that around here, there’s a whiff of excitement in the air about there being a Friday the 13th during the month of October. It’s like getting two Halloweens!! With that in mind, you can probably guess what tomorrow’s Friday Night Fright will bring. But until then, I thought I’d share some snaps taken earlier today of the The Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood Jason Voorhees action figure. By far and away my favorite design of the guy from any of the films!

Now that you’ve finished cleaning up that drink you just spat across the screen, yes I know this is a licensed game “based” on a total box office failure. One starring a certain TCruise that was meant to kick off a ahem, Universal Monsters cinematic universe *crickets*. But stick with me here for a second, as the connection to that film is loose at best. Really what this is is a rock solid Metroid-like 16-bit style sidescrolling shooter developed by WayForward (Contra 4, Duck Tales: Remastered, The Shantae Series). And it totally stands on it’s own as a really fun game.

Honest!

Slender: The Arrival has a lot in common with the original Blair Witch Project and first Paranormal Activity. All low budget ventures using a clever, simple concept out of necessity to mass effect resulting in genuine scares. I am a devout fan of this approach, so upon finally getting the chance to play this game which had been around for a while before hitting the Wii U (and eventually Switch), what a surprise!

It actually scared me.

The dynamic chemistry of the cast, needle drops, editing, special effects, dialogue and structure on display in From Dusk Till Dawn are all things that can really do it for a teenager back in the 90’s as well as an…older person here in 2023. So it was clearly the go to inaugural selection for a Halloween themed yap over at Comic Book Heroes Podcast back when we first started recording. Rob and I both have very dear feelings for this film which becomes quite clear, quite quickly!

Click here to listen!