Fall is a season many people have been looking forward to: pumpkin flavors returning, Halloween, and the comfiness of sweater weather. To help kick off the season, here are some movies and shows to get you in the mood for fall.
Starting off with something short and cute, “Over The Garden Wall” is a Cartoon Network special that aired in 2014. With an intriguing and cute animation style, this show follows two brothers who get lost in the woods on Halloween. It shows many different kinds of people, places and creatures they encounter along the way while they try to figure out their way home. With eight episodes that are 10 minutes each, the art style and relationships between the characters can be quickly enjoyed and is the perfect light-hearted watch to get you into the fall spirit.
Any movie written or directed by Tim Burton is a classic choice for when Halloween is near. “The Nightmare Before Christmas” is a film that works for both the October and December season. It follows the pumpkin king, a skeleton named Jack, who decides he is tired of organizing Halloween every year and goes on a mission to steal Christmas. Another one is “Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride,” which tells the story of a man named Victor who, while practicing the vows for the wedding of his arranged marriage, accidentally weds to Emily, a woman who was killed right before her wedding and became part of the underworld. Both are stop-motion animations with creatively designed characters, and relatable emotions expressed through both films. These are entertaining and easily rewatchable movies.
Both “The Haunting of Hill House” and “The Haunting of Bly Manor” are insanely captivating stories. Both Netflix originals with 10 episodes that are 45 minutes to an hour long each. “The Haunting of Hill House” follows a married couple with five kids living in Hill House. The show goes back and forth from this to the kids being adults, showing how having lived in a haunted house still affects them today. “The Haunting of Bly Manor” reuses some of the same actors from Hill House to tell a completely different story. Here we follow a woman who, in an attempt to run from her past, becomes an au pair for the children at Bly Manor; here she meets the rest of the staff who take care of the house. This show has great relationships between the characters and an overarching love story that might even make you cry, all while things at the manor aren’t adding up. Both of these shows have very well-developed characters and turns in the story you wouldn’t see coming, making these plot-driven horror shows a great choice for the spooky season.
“Gilmore Girls” is an obvious choice when you’re starting to feel that breeze in the air. “Gilmore Girls” shows the relationship between Rory and her single mother Lorelai. With seven seasons, it follows Rory from high school, to graduating, to figuring out college — all with the ups and downs of her relationship with Lorelai, and the added relationship of Lorelai’s parents who are paying for Rory’s education. The coloring, small-town feeling, and academic aesthetic all mixed with the early 2000’s fashion gives the show a great sense of fall.
A great go-to would be any Stephen King movie, but “IT” is a perfect choice. Set in a town where kids have been going missing due to a clown that can make your worst nightmare come true, it follows a group of seven friends who become the main target. Needing to overcome their personal fears in order to save themselves, each other, and the other kids in town, the relationship between the characters, intriguing plot, and odd funny moments make this a scary watch with a captivating plot and building character depth.
