THE THREE STAGES OF HALLOWEEN

Its that time of the year again - the nights are drawing in, the pumpkins are ready to be harvested and everything's starting to take on a decidedly spooky tone... Halloween aka Spooky Season is here.

Something I've come to notice is that Halloween isn't actually one season - it's THREE - or rather it has ASPECTS of three seasons secreted within it.

First you've got September which is still partially a Summer month - you get the final days of warm weather, the final night's when you can still sit outside and watch the sunset. Increasingly Halloween fans have started to describe the late Summer as being "Summerween" - it's even now got it's very own icon - the "Jack O Melon" (because...why not ?).

Then there's the big month. The main event. The one you've all been waiting for... OCTOBER. Actual honest to God HALLOWEEN (and if I have to explain what THAT is, then there's really no hope left in the world)...

After that we then get that weird transition point - November - the month that starts out still being partially Halloween but is also the point at which Christmas starts bleeding into proceedings (that's if you discount bloody Christmas decorations being on sale in shops in the middle of June that is)

 By the time we hit November it's really starting to feel like Winter. November is when we Brits celebrate Bonfire Night (an ostensibly kid oriented event that celebrates an aborted terrorist attack by burning effigies of said terrorist on a bloody big fire - that's a bit creepy and macabre right ?). November is also when our American cousins celebrate Thanksgiving day (which is a sort of weird hybrid of Halloween and Christmas really).

 So yeah...One season that has elements of three, naturally contained within it.

The horror genre, of course, has movies which fit into all three of these vibes, and THIS is where we come in...

Throughout spooky season this year I've decided that I want to reflect in my reviews this three-in-one ambience. In short form that means September = Summerween movies, so basically that's horror films with a summer vibe - so expect Summer camp slashers, beach party horrors and lots of sun kissed horror in-between.

For October it's going to be traditional autumnal horror movies - so expect seasonal slashers, terrible trick or treaters and other terrifying fare.

Finally, for November we'll cover movies that reflect that end of year feel of Autumn going into Winter - Bonfire night, Thanksgiving, any horror film that has that end of an era feel to it before entering into full-on festive fear.

So join me in the Back Room for an Autumn of spooky surprises.