An ultimate last-minute guide to Halloween

Films, books, food, beauty and playlists + last-minute costume ideas

Oct 29, 2024

Hi loves,

It’s only two more days to Halloween!! Before we hang up our Christmas wreaths and stockings, let’s bask in the holiday that screams wicked and witchy.

Halloween perfectly captures the transition from autumn to winter. We can still admire the falling leaves and bask in the sunlit days of autumn, but it gets a little colder and darker every day. It’s a mystical time in which we can let our imagination loose and pretend that vampires and werewolves exist.

Here in the Netherlands, we unfortunately don’t celebrate Halloween and skip straight to our December festivities, meaning I didn’t grow up with pumpkin carvings, spooky lawn decorations and trick-or-treating. I used to avoid anything scary so it never was much of an issue to me, but now I absolutely love horror and anything spooky, so I’m ready to start my own Halloween traditions!

This newsletter is a last-minute guide with everything I wish I could watch, do and purchase for Halloween this year. Turn off your lights, grab your blankets and let’s dive into all these films, books, recipes, beauty essentials, playlists, and last-minute costume ideas!

Films

Cosy
Mostly classics but all fun and friendly

Death Becomes Her (1992)
Practical Magic (1998)
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
The Craft (1996)
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
The Love Witch (2016)

Curling up on the couch
Slightly creepy movies but not scarring

The Others (2001)
The Shining (1980)
Coraline (2009)

Keep the nightlight on
Not extremely scary per se but they linger after watching them

It (2017)
Raw (2016)
Halloween (1978)
The Conjuring (2013)
Insidious (2010)
The Witch (2015)
Hereditary (2018)
Terrifier franchise (2016~): the newest one is out in cinemas. This is not for the faint-hearted.

Check out my favourite horror movies here

Follow me on Letterboxd here

TV shows

These are all pretty mellow except for a few AHS seasons

Wednesday (2022)
American Horror Story (2011~)
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
Charmed (1998- 2006)
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018-2020)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
Scream Queens (2015-2016)
Black Mirror (2011~)
Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-2012)

Books

Anything Stephen King (I love the film adaptations but have never read any of his work.

Natalie McGlocklin

wrote an amazing post dedicated to the author and has convinced me that I need to get on them asap!)

Classics

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Cosy horror

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison

Unhinged women

Bunny by Mona Awad
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

Check out my spooky tbr (that I will keep reading in November) here

Follow me on Goodreads here

Stuff you may not need but will want

Lip balms: one can never have enough. I love the Laneige lip masks but there’s a limited edition from last year in Caramel Apple which sounds like perfection
Face masks: it’s the start of dry skin season, so stock up on your favourite mask. Mine is this one (I use it every night as a moisturiser shhh)
An orange sweater that doesn’t make you look like a pumpkin but is just cute: I found this off-the-shoulder one (and it’s on sale too!)
An infrared mask: what’s scarier but also better for your skin than this?
The best creepy mug that’s also the best gift. I got me and my best friend one so we can try not to spill tea over ourselves when we watch horror movies

Food

Pumpkin spiced lattes: nuff said
Boo biscuits: ghost-shaped cookies that you can make from scratch or by decorating your favourite cookies with icing!
Or matcha monster cookies: making these today!
Witch tea: make a wicked brew by mixing loose teas for “medicinal purposes”. One of my favourite mixes is lemon grass with lavender and butterfly pea tea (it turns the water blue!)
Flavoured pumpkin seeds (after carving them of course!): these six flavours all look amazing!
Jack-o'-Lantern Stuffed Peppers: these would be such a fun menu item for a potluck dinner party
Pumpkin bread: who needs banana bread when you can have pumpkin?
Mummy hot dogs: perfect film snack
Halloween cocktails like a Bloody Mary or this Spicy apple cider margarita. I’d also love to try out this Pomegranate mocktail

Others

Pumpkin carving: it’s a must! Plus, you can make some yummy pumpkin soup and roast the seeds
Decorate the house: You can go all out with every Halloween-themed item around or keep it simple with a homemade garland and lots of candles around the house
Candy bowls: get your favourites and stuff them in a jar or basket, it’s as easy as that!
Make boo baskets: fill a basket with snacks and items and gift to a friend
Host a book club about your favourite horror novel
An online course: I’m doing one on horror in theatre tonight!
Buying your favourite (Halloween) sweets: mine are chocolate, marshmallows, hot cocoa, popcorn and sour candy
Holding a spooky film marathon: get your ideas from the list above!

Playlists

Every month I want to make a new playlist to capture the mood of the season, so I’m sharing my most recent two with you here

A cosy witchy playlist:

A final girl trope kind of playlist:

Last-minute costumes

Here are some last-minute, but cute and affordable ideas for your Halloween costume.

Elisabeth Sparkle
You need a yellow coat and some leather gloves for this iconic character from The Substance. You can also try some second-hand stores. If you haven’t watched the movie yet, please do so in cinemas (it’s an *experience*)

Tashi Donaldson
Challengers was one of my favourite movies this year and it’s an easy one to do for Halloween by DIY’ing an “I told ya” t-shirt and bringing a tennis racket

Embarrassment
A purple hoodie and a lot of pink blush for my favourite character from Inside Out. Ennui is iconic too though

Amy and Danny
Beef may have been the best show to air this year. The only thing you need is some beige clothes that can get fake blood on them and Amy’s amazing bob cut