SHOCK it to me

EDITED TO ADD: Sorry my y'alls, the deadline done passed! No more lists, please! Thanks to all who have submitted.

It's been a while since I posted here and boy, that while sure was somethin', ain't it? It was and it continues to be! 2020 sure is a pile of nothing good...but then I probably don't need to tell you that. Unless you are maybe one of the billionaires who has gotten billionaire-ier during pandemic times? The billionaires are fine. We should eat them.

Anyway. The point is, we are going through it! Pandemic, the fall of democracy in America, climate catastrophes, Kyle Richards getting the villain edit on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills...the hits just won't stop coming! And while everyone is talking about how Halloween is a year-round mood and Halloween is a way of life and Halloween, like the groove, is in the heart. But let's be real, that whole plague thing is really going to put a damper on the spooky celebrations this year. It's getting to be that time of the year when I should be browsing aisles and marveling at the fake eyeballs and fake severed hands and rubber spiders and glow-in-the-dark skeletons, but this year the only thing I'm browsing is Shudder (which I will browse for 35 minutes before deciding that there's nothing I feel like watching). So I guess it's up to SHOCKtober to make this year's celebration a little more...well, a little more of a celebration.

SIDE NOTE: Lately I've had a really weird urge to re-watch the two Rob Zombie Halloween movies. I wonder if time will have tempered my feelings about one or both of them. Surely there are better ways to spend my time? Someone talk me out of it before I do something we'll all regret!

In the interests of "lifting" "spirits" (or at least giving everyone a distraction for ten minutes), I'm going interactive with SHOCKtober this year and I'm bringing back the stunt of SHOCKtobers past, the reader Top 20 lists!  This is the stun where you--yes, YOU--submit a list of your 20 favorite horror movies. Not necessarily the ones you think are best or classics or films everyone should see before they die or whatever...I wanna know your favorites.

Then I'll get out my science calculator and tally up those lists and make a super huge megalist. During the month of SHOCKtober I'll count down that list from number whatever to number one. John Carpenter's Halloween earned the top spot in both 2010 and 2017...will it be #1 again this year? I'm on the edge of my seat already! There have been a shitton of great horror movies released in the last few years (or, like, three at least), and I'm curious as to how the list will or will not differ from the last two go-'rounds.

But! One cannot submit a list all willy-nilly like. There are rules for this grand experiment and they must be adhered to lest I go mad. Here they are! Please heed them!

SAID RULES

• email me a list of YOUR TWENTY **FAVORITE** HORROR FILMS at stacieponder (at) gmail (dot) (c) (o) (m)
• put "my list" or "list" or "list-o" or something in the subject line so I know what's up
• DO NOT submit your list here in the comments or via Facebook message or Facebook comment or any other social media or anything like that. EMAIL ONLY BLESS YOU THANK YOU
• Remember, it doesn't matter if these movies are considered the "best" or classics, they just have to be your faves. Final Girl is strictly a NO JERKS ZONE, and I don't truck with making fun of peoples' loves. Not in my comment section, buster!
• Unless you indicate otherwise, if there is more than one version of a film I will assume you mean the original. So if you mean The Fog (2005) and not The Fog (1980), please tell me.
• Honestly I would be shocked if anyone preferred The Fog 2005 to The Fog 1980, but that is your business.
• If you write something like "The Saw Series," I am just going to include Saw. Specificity is better!
• No short films and no TV shows, please! Feature films only. Made for TV movies are a-okay!
• You don't have to submit a full list of 20! Maybe you only have one favorite horror film. Again, that is your business. But 20 titles is the max.
• The list order doesn't matter! You don't have to rank them.
• You don't have to comment on any of your choices, unless you want to! But they're always welcome and I like to read 'em.
• The deadline is the end of Wednesday September 23rd. After that, submissions will go directly in the ol' cybergarbage, sorry.

That's it! This is harder than it sounds; I started making my list and after writing down six or seven movies right quickly I have a big pile of others I need to whittle down to round it out. Pro tip: put on your best thinking wig for this task. I look forward to your lists! Yeah SHOCKtober!