Because "The Notebook" just isn't scary enough: Four movies to get you in the Halloween spirit

Here's another piece that's going to appear in this week's Huntersville Herald Weekly.

Halloween isn't for everybody, but just because you don't want to dress up and gorge yourself on candy doesn't mean you can't at least get in the spirit of things by watching a few movies, and I don't mean the "Twilight" series.

“Evil Dead 2”

Swallow this: “Evil Dead 2” is the greatest horror film ever made. It may not be the scariest horror movie, or even the funniest, but director Sam Raimi cranks the dial up to 11 for 90 minutes and doesn’t let up until the credits roll. Bruce Campbell is a god.

“Shaun of the Dead”



Edgar Wright’s “Shaun of the Dead” is everything that is great about zombie movies, with an added layer of self-awareness that makes it the arguably the best zombie movie ever made. If it isn’t the best, it’s at least the most watchable.

“A Nightmare on Elm Street”



One, two, Freddy’s comin’ for you ... Wes Craven’s classic is everything that was great about ‘80s horror: An outstanding villain in Freddy Krueger, a score heavy on the synthesizers, a pure, angel-faced heroine and Johnny Depp getting swallowed up by his bed. What’s not to love?

“Halloween”



Any Halloween movie list that doesn’t have John Carpenter’s “Halloween” on it is trying to be too cool for the room and should be pointed at and mocked mercilessly. Every slasher movie over the last 30 years owes its existence to “Halloween.” It’s a classic for a reason.