A Wee SHOCKtober Wrap Up!

Well, here we are in lame November. Stores are putting away the fake eyeballs and putting up the fake trees. While it's safe to say that most–if not all–of us will continue to indulge in all things horror no matter what the stupid calendar says, it's a sad fact that another SHOCKtober has come to an end. There's only one thing left to do, and that's some good old-fashioned number crunchin' and comparin'.

Let's face it, when it comes to clicking, the world of "2017" is a much lazier place than the "2010" world gone by. People simply do not want to click more than once! We've grown so accustomed to sites like hell Facebook, hubs that allow you to scroll and watch videos and message people and comment and read articles on other sites without ever really leaving the confines of Facebook itself. Had I allowed folks to leave their lists as comments over there, I assure you there would have been a higher turnout. People "liked" my posts but never sent emails–emails are a lot of work! I get it. The Internet and the way we interact with it has changed a shit ton over the last seven years, so I was not expecting 2010 numbers. And I didn't get them! But the turnout was terrific anyway, and I thank everyone who sent in a list of their 20 favorite horror movies. We got another great master list with more variety and--aw heck, let's just get to the numbers.

Total movies on the list: 632 (2017) / 732 (2010)

I didn't keep track of the number of people who submitted lists, but it was far, far fewer this time around. You can't really tell by the total number of films on the list–only 100 fewer!–but the number of votes really gives it away. Still, dang, 632 movies ain't nothin' to sneeze at. SO DON'T SNEEZE AT THEM.

Number of movies released since 2010: 78

A kind reader tallied up that a total of 258 movies appear on the 2017 list that did not appear on the 2010 list. That's nuts! According to my science calculator, 78 films on the 2017 list were released after 2010. That's nuts-ier! Heck, one of those films, It Follows, made the Top 20. I'd say horror is doing just fine, thank you.

Number of women directors: 9 (2010) / 26 (2017)

This is the most telling number of all (and my favorite)–there are more and more women making movies out there! And wow, some of the movies are great! How nice that future lists of " the best horror movies directed by women" won't simply include Near Dark and American Psycho. Gee golly, maybe one day there will be so many women directors out there that they won't be segregated. A Final Girl can dream!

The Top 10s

Now here is where we see how much of a drop off in participants there was from 2010 to 2017: the #10 movie in 2010 received more votes than the #1 movie in 2017! And the #1 movie in 2010 received more than twice the votes than the #1 movie in 2017. But it's quite interesting to compare the Top 10s, no?

10. 2017: Carrie // 2010: The Descent
  9. 2017: Black Christmas // 2010: A Nightmare on Elm Street
  8. 2017: Night of the Living Dead // 2010: Suspiria
  7. 2017: Dawn of the Dead // 2010: Dawn of the Dead
  6. 2017: Alien // 2010: Night of the Living Dead
  5. 2017: The Shining // 2010: The Shining
  4. 2017: The Exorcist // 2010: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
  3. 2017: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre // 2010: The Exorcist
  2. 2017: The Thing // 2010: The Thing
  1. 2017: Halloween (52 votes) // 2010: Halloween (123 votes)

Weird, right? Some flip-floppin', some samey-samin'. In, say, 40 years when my ghost is running SHOCKtober 2057, what will the Top 10 look like? Where will these movies place? I think some recent films are absolutely classics already (hello, The VVitch) and down the line they'll be as revered as the "canon" is. Right? Maybe? I guess we'll have to wait and see!

A fun little question posted in the comments recently: starting at #1, how far down the list do you have to go before you get to a movie you haven't seen yet? I made it to 109–I haven't seen The Final Girls yet. (I know, right? That's some Alanis Morrisette-level irony right there!)

Again, thank you to everyone who participated. Although, again: I am disappointed in every single one of you! Nary a vote for Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes. That's fine, I'll be over here in the corner all by myself talking to the possessed floor lamp.