Short and Scary
Revising My October Horror Challenge
For any horror fan, October is a special month of the year. Your friends start coming to you for recommendations, the urge to rewatch your favourites grows stronger, and all around, there is an atmosphere of appreciation for the chilling and the macabre.
For the past three years, I set a challenge for myself in October: to watch one horror movie every day of the month. My one rule was that it had to be a movie I had never seen before—no rewatches. The initial purpose of this challenge was to catch up on the classics and broaden my understanding of the genre. For as fun as it has been completing the challenge three years in a row, with another October around the corner, I knew I had to make some changes.
I started the challenge in 2022. At that time, I was watching at most five movies a month, so tackling thirty-one was actually a challenge for me, and I felt true accomplishment when I completed it. It opened my eyes to the breadth of the horror genre in a way I had never explored it before, and looking back on my completed list, many of the films I watched that first year are now some of my all-time favourites. When 2023 came around, I was excited to tackle the challenge again. By that point, however, I had become a more consistent movie-watcher, and the challenge felt a bit like a chore at times. Still, I pushed forward and ended up enjoying it again, proud to have completed the challenge two years in a row. However, by the end of the month, I felt quite burnt out, and it got me questioning how many years I would be able, or willing, to do this. Then, October 2024 rolled around, and my friends were asking if I was going to do the challenge again. It had become “my thing,” so out of pride, or perhaps stubbornness, I completed it once more.
Another year has gone by, and I finally have the willpower to call it quits—almost. I’m shifting gears a bit this year. Instead of feature-length films, I’m going to be watching 31 days of horror shorts. The reasoning for this shift is two-fold. For one, it resonates more with the reason I started the challenge to begin with: to broaden my understanding of the genre. These days, I watch on average 10-15 movies a month, with a majority of those being horror. I don’t need the motivation to watch movies anymore. But for all my love of the genre, I’ve only seen a handful of horror shorts, and I want to fill that gap in my knowledge. The second reason is more practical: time. When I started this challenge, I was a student. I had more time on my hands and a schedule that allowed me more flexibility for watching movies. Now that I work full-time, I don’t have the same kind of flexibility. While it would not be an impossible feat, if I want to have a social life this October, completing the challenge again would be difficult and probably more stress than it was worth.
I’m excited for this new challenge and a bit relieved, too. What makes horror shorts so intriguing is that they have to pack a punch in such a short amount of time. You can’t rely on slow-building tension and atmosphere, or rich, in-depth character explorations like you can in feature-length films. I’m interested to see the variety of techniques used to unsettle, terrify, and disturb and how they may differ from, or align with, feature-length horror. I’ll still be watching plenty of feature-length films in October, but without the self-imposed pressure of my original challenge. I already have plans to rewatch some of my favourites in theatres (thanks, Revue Cinema), and now I can do so without worrying about having to watch another film to meet my “new-to-me” criteria.
I’ve slowly been accumulating a list of shorts to watch next month. As many are not available on traditional streaming platforms, I’ve had to do some digging on YouTube and other corners of the Internet to find them. I’m looking forward to sharing any hidden gems I may find along the way. Recommendations are also welcome!
In case you want to join me on this challenge, or are just looking to add a few shorts to your watchlist, I’ll end with some of my favourites that I have seen:
My House Walk-Through (2016): “This is not a horror video. This video was created simply by filming inside my house,” reads the description under the video posted on YouTube. Liminal, unsettling, and labyrinthine. For lovers of House of Leaves and anyone who hated getting out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom as a child.
Possibly in Michigan (1983): A musical horror following two women at a shopping mall who are followed home by a cannibal. Equally disturbing as it is charming. This one will stick with you for better or for worse.
Great Choice (2017): A woman gets trapped inside a Red Lobster commercial. Such a simple and hilarious concept. Like a fucked up Groundhog Day film on fast forward.
Curve (2016): A woman clings to a smooth, curved wall above an endless abyss, hoping to make it to safety just within reach. Tension-soaked and dreadful. The very definition of “so close, yet so far.”
If you partake in any movie-watching challenges, I would love to hear your own reflections on the experience. Why do you participate, and what do you get (or hope to get) out of the experience?