Book Cafe’s Top 5 Bookish Halloween Movies
As avid book readers, our favourite time of the year is coming up… AUTUMN! With the beautiful, crisp, leaves-changing-colours, and sitting-by-the-window-with-tea-in one-hand-and-a-book-in-the-other weather, there’s really nothing quite like it. Except for our second favourite time of the year, WINTER! But since Autumn is coming, lets talk about the things we’re most looking forward to at the Book Café.
Halloween Movie Nights!
You might be thinking, “But Halloween isn’t for another 3 months!” Well, our reply to that is, “Not in this household!” For us, Halloween season starts at the end of August, which is only 2 weeks away. As kids, the only thing we loved as much as books, were movies. So what better way to spend ones time than watching Halloween movies based on books, which can also get us out of our reading slumps? Without further ado, here is a list of Book Cafe’s top 5 movies to watch this Halloween season.
1. Coraline
Coraline is an all time favourite Halloween movie. Based on a novella written by Neil Gaiman published in 2002, Coraline creates the perfect setting for a bookish move night. The story follows young, 11 year old Coraline Jones who has just moved into a new place with her parents. Feeling some frustrations with her parents, Coraline begins exploring the new house, only to find a bricked up door. She soon realizes she is able to open the door as she steps into the Other World. The Other World seems much better than her own, and the Other Mother is much more fun than her own mother, and even looks just like her… except she has button for eyes. Soon Coraline realizes that the Other World and its inhabitants are harboring a much darker and eerie secret.
2. Practical Magic
Although this movie was only given a 22% by Rotten Tomatoes, it 100% has a special place in our hearts. The film, based on a novel with the same name written by Alice Hoffman, features Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as two sisters who were brought up by their aunts in a small town in Massachusetts AS WITCHES. I must add however, that this one of those very rare(rarer than a unicorns tears), moments where we enjoyed the movie more than the book. I know, I know, FORSHAME, but it is what it is. We don’t know why the movies ratings were so low on Rotten Tomatoes, but one thing we do know for certain: “Always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Add pepper to your mashed potatoes. Plant roses and lavender, for luck. Fall in love whenever you can.”
Image source: IMDB
3. The Nightmare Before Christmas
In our personal opinion, there is nothing better than a Tim Burton movie. And what better way to celebrate Halloween than to watch a Halloween Christmas-y movie. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a children’s book written by Tim Burton himself. The movie follows Halloween Town’s Jack Skellington who finds the door to Christmas Town. Tired of terrifying the world, Jack kidnap’s Santa and takes his place. However, instead of bringing joy to the world, he delivers creepy and scary toys while spreading fear instead of Christmas cheer. This movie is a classic, made in 1993, and is still going strong! So dish up your Snake and Spider Stew and press play!
Image Source: IMDB
4. The Shining
Considered a cult classic, The Shining is also a Halloween favourite, here at the Book Café. The film, directed by Stanley Kubrick, begins with Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) becoming a winter caretaker in an isolated hotel in hopes of curing his writers block. However, living in an isolated hotel makes Jack slowly lose his sanity as the film goes on. When thinking about the Shining, the iconic line “Here’s Johnny,” comes to mind, which is one of the most eerie and creepy lines that has been etched into our brains. Nonetheless, it makes the movie that much more fun to watch during Halloween.
Image Source: IMDB
5. Frankenstein
Last, but certainly not least, it’s not Halloween if we don’t do an honourable mention of one of the most famous, most commonly misnamed monster, Frankenstein. Written by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and published in 1818, the book tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who plans to re-create and re-animate a dead body. However, once his ‘monster’ gets created, all sort of different emotions encapsulate the scientists, and his short-comings turn into a tragic yet eerie story. Come for the compelling story, stay for the amazing black and white classic! Check out the trailer down below to see just how cool this film is. Just a word of caution, there may be scenes in the trailer that may not be suitable for some audiences, viewer discretion is advised.
Give us a shout if you want to talk about your favourite Halloween movie, or if you watched a Book Café recommendation you enjoyed!
The Book Café 