I’m a Halloween fan.
It is one of the great tragedies that a guy like me can’t get away with going trick-or-treating anymore.
Oh sure, people post “All Costumes Welcome Here” messages on Facebook about how any kid of any age is welcome to come ring the bell and get a fistful of fun-sized Snickers bars.
But that tolerance gets tested when the kid in question is around 50 and, standing under the glare of a porch light, looks like he’s here for the candy and whatever electronic goods you might have lying around in the living room.
I know when I’m not wanted.
These days, I just stick with a big bucket of popcorn and a seemingly endless supply of spooky movies. My tastes are all over the place, but I lean less toward the gore and more toward films full of mystery, dread and overwhelming horror.
This time of year I’m always looking for new ghost stories and movies to make me want to hide in my refrigerator, but I also go back to some of my favorites. A lot of them have held up since I was an awkward teenager burning through my local video store’s entire collection. Others, not so much.
At some point over the next few weeks, I will sit down and watch Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” and maybe follow it up with the surprisingly satisfying modern-day sequel, “Doctor Sleep.” I will try to watch Bela Lugosi in “Dracula,” Chris Sarandon in “Fright Night” and give “Prince of Darkness” another look.
That last film was a favorite for years, but I haven’t seen it since I gave up my VCR.
If there’s time, I’ll dig into the George A. Romero catalog of zombie films, but also “Creepshow,” a collaboration the director did with author Stephen King.
I am a lifelong King fan, and had the poster from the movie on my dorm room wall, which freaked out two different roommates and one girlfriend.
But my best classic film for the Halloween season is William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist,” a story about demon possession vaguely based on news reports from the 1940s.
Released in 1973, the film was blamed for heart attacks and a miscarriage or two, and got the boot in several towns because of how disturbing it was.
After nearly 50 years of homicidal maniacs, hockey masked revenants, knife-fingered nightmares, deranged leprechauns and ever-improving cinema special effects, you’d think that Hollywood would have done demon possession better by now.
It really hasn’t.
The more recent “Conjuring” films do a fair job of adding to the subgenre of horror films, but “The Exorcist” is still as shocking, still as desperate and still as thought-provoking as ever.
Enjoy this one in a dark room with someone you love — or get a big tub of popcorn, a tall cup of orange soda and keep your phone handy, in case you need to call for help.
