As October starts and the countdown to Halloween begins, everyone will be watching horror movies. From the classics to the slashers and even those good old found footage, I’m here to give you the movies you should be watching this Hallows-Eve.

Starting us off with the most Halloween like movies on the list, we have monster flicks:

Tremors is a fun and light scare monster movie that you watch with your friends while doing homework. It’s not serious and doesn’t make you think, but it’s got a really great monster and can entertain anyone, just don’t watch the sequels.

Next is Fright Night, my personal favorite. This movie has a mix of comedy and horror and stays true to what vampires are meant to be; blood thirsty killing machines. It has some really golden action moments and other suspense driven sense that will have you holding your breath.

The Thing, written by Maine’s one and only Steven King, has been adapted multiple times into film. The 1982 version, as well as the 2011 version, bring the monster to life and create a feeling of suspicion and isolation. Fair warning though, it’s not just a monster movie, in fact, you rarely see the monster in its true form at all. This movie could have easily fit into body horror as it does monster flick.

The leading contender of this section of the list is Alien. Definitely the most popular out of this genera, Alien gives us the meaning to the word monster. It is an unstoppable force of nature that will have you screaming at every appearance. The best part, however, is that all the movies following the first Alien are just as good. This series is one to marathon on a cold October weekend.

As fun as monsters can be, nothing will keep you up at night like found footage. Is it real? Is there something lurking on the dark? Who knows if you’ll ever sleep again:

What I do know is you can’t mention found footage without mentioning The Blair Witch Project. Having started the genre of found footage, The Blair Witch Project had people questioning the truth behind the film. If you turn off the lights and forget about your cell phone, this will really keep you from going into the woods for a few weeks.

Another prominent contender for found footage is Paranormal Activity. The scenes alone don’t scare much, but watching them in context to the other haunting events, your imagination will take doors opening on their own to the next level.

My personal choice for scariest found footage film is Grave Encounters. What starts off as a slow parody of ghost hunters, quickly turns into pee your pants scary. I have never had to cover my eyes in a film as much as I have had to for this one. As long as you can get through the set up and then tolerate the last 15 minutes, this movie will have you sleeping with the lights on.

Bring it down to slow tone horror thrillers, these next movies will make you re-think and question every choice you will have to make in the future:

The Ring, a very well-known Japanese horror flick, will make you think twice before opening a web page or watching that weird link your friend forwarded to you. It will keep you on your toes about anything you watch. Even if you know the plot, watch this movie if you are looking for a good scare and haven’t already.

A lesser known slow toned horror movie is It Follows. Despite several plot holes, this movie makes you paranoid beyond belief. Every person you see walking on the street after watching this movie will scare you. A heads up though, this is definitely not a date movie. It would be a terrible mistake to pick this to watch on a first, or even tenth, date.

Lastly, The Babadook. Its cinematic horror genius that plays not only on your mind, but also on the simple things. Books and knocking will no longer be innocent, and a child’s imagination is shown to the scariest place of all. Seemingly created from a nightmare, The Babadook proves to its viewer that some things are unescapable.