No better way to kick off Spooky Season than with a screening of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and a brunch at Netflix with the legend himself!
Known for his Oscar-winning contribution to the monster f*cker canon, (The Shape of Water) del Toro is back with another young woman who can’t resist falling in love with something not quite human in this adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic book. But, since the movie’s not in theater’s until October 17 and not on Netflix until Nov. 7, I’ll save the deep dive until then. But it did make think of all the best gothic horror movies I have to rewatch this month! October is also Hoodoo Heritage Month, and there’s been increased interest in the closed Black American practice of Hoodoo since Sinners released in April. So, here’s my list of the best Gothic horror and Hoodoo films and shows and where to watch them.
And, as longtime Watchers may know, after two months, free pieces go behind the paywall, but for Spooky Season and Hoodoo Heritage Month, I’m unlocking all of my Sinners pieces from April, as well, which you can find below the list!
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Interview with the Vampire (2022): When I think of gothic horror, I think of Interview with the Vampire—in all of its iterations. But the pilot of this AMC series, adapted from Anne Rice’s iconic books, is hands down one of the great TV pilots in TV history. Titled, “In Throes of Increasing Wonder,” this pilot proves why the TV series, starring Jacob Anderson as Louis, is leaps and bounds above those racist-ass books. The title plays on a phrase Rice uses in the book and elevates it, in the same way that showrunner Rolin Jones takes Rice’s source material of an 18th century Louisiana enslaver with homoerotic undertones and elevates it by making Louis a gay, Creole pimp and saloon owner in early 20th century New Orleans. By adding the intersecting oppressions of racism and homophobia to Louis, (and removing the need to sympathize with an enslaver) we get a clear and devastating understanding for why a man wrestling with God, grief and identity in the Jim Crow South might see vampirism as a logical escape—and live to regret that decision (forever). I will be doing a podcast breaking down the differences of the first two seasons of this incredible show from the book, so stay watchin’ for that!
Watch seasons one and two of Interview with the Vampire on AMC+ and Netflix.
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Eve’s Bayou (1997): Director Kasi Lemmons’s debut film always tops every best-of list for me and this gothic horror coming of age story has absolute everything. Starring Jurnee Smollett, Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Whitfield, and Diahann Carroll, this film gives you Hoodoo and Vodun and unpacks the horrors of child sexual assault and the fickleness of grief and memory.
Watch Eve’s Bayou on Peacock, Prime or Plex.
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Beloved (1998): The ‘90s was such a magical decade for so many things, but clearly some of the best horror happened then too. Adapted from Toni Morrison’s Nobel Prize-winning book of the same name (literally one of the greatest books of all time), Beloved was a commercial flop and has since become a cult hit. Starring Oprah Winfrey, Thandiwe Newton, Kimberly Elise and Beah Richards, this film encapsulates the horrors of slavery that still haunt the soul, even after liberation.
Rent Beloved wherever you stream movies.
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His House: I love a haunted house with political and social commentary baked in, and nothing hits like this Netflix sleeper His House. Starring our Sinners queen Wunmi Mosaku, His House centers on South Sudanese refugees trying to survive and the haunting cost they’ll have to pay to live.
Stream His House on Netflix.
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Nanny (2022): Director Nikyatu Jusu’s directorial debut has been called Get Out for Black women but is much deeper than that. Unearthing the consequences of immigrant mothers who move to America to create better opportunities for the children they leave behind, Nanny centers on Anna Diop’s Aisha, a Senegalese nanny to a rich (and racist) white family on Manhattan’s upper east side. Exploited and paid under the table like so many undocumented caregivers, Aisha embodies the horror of mothering your oppressor’s children while your own are far beyond your reach.
Watch Nanny on Prime.
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Candyman (1992): Director Bernard Rose killed this story about the historic and institutional racism that haunts Chicago’s infamous Cabrini Green projects. Though it’s told from the perspective of a white woman protagonist, its examination of race and racism in the creation of the Black boogeyman known as Candyman surprised me with its depth and attention to detail. The legendary Tony Todd doesn’t quite get his due, but is still fantastic in the titular role; the icon Vanessa Williams steals all of her scenes, and Kasi Lemmons even makes a (too brief) appearance. Legends on legends in this truly scary and gory film that, if you like horror, you should at least see once.
Watch Candyman on AMC+.
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To Sleep with Anger (1990): I’m telling you—the decade begins and ends with nothing but horror hits, and this Danny Glover film features one of my earliest films featuring prominently featuring Hoodoo. Written and directed by Charles Burnett, To Sleep with Anger is uncomfortable in its dissection of Black masculinity under patriarchy. A haunted house with living evil spirits, this classic is just right for spooky season.
Watch to Sleep with Anger free on Tubi.
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The Woman in the Yard (2025): I reviewed this film a few weeks back on an edition of “Your Weekly Watch,” so if you haven’t gotten around to it yet, this is a perfect time to see Danielle Deadwyler do what she does best. In the psychological horror film, Deadwyler plays a mom in grief as she cares—or barely cares—for her teen son and young daughter in the aftermath of her husband’s recent death in a car accident. One day, a woman dressed in funeral attire, a black veil over her face, comes and sits in the yard of their farm. The haunting figure forces buried family truths to come to light. Though the ending is a bit sloppy, the beautifully shot and almost great film is still a worthwhile watch (even for the scaredy cats), as it explores the horrors of grief and mental health when children are depending on a mother’s wholeness.
Watch The Woman in the Yard on Peacock.
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The Craft (1996): Another ‘90s banger, this one featuring teen witches-in-training who form a coven and get back at their school bullies. Classic film that had me saying “Light as a feather, stiff as a board,” every night for like a month when I was 11! Rachel True, you will always be famous, and if you didn’t know, she does Tarot divination out here in L.A. and has a deck of cards and guidebook which I love!
Watch The Craft on Tubi.
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Sinners — obviously! I’ve watched it 12 times now, and I would love for the 13th time to be on October 31 at the Black-owned farm Bloom Ranch here in L.A. where there will be an actual outdoor juke joint that night. Who’s rolling with me?? Watch it on HBOMax, and here are all my Sinners pieces, unlocked, for this month only:
My Sinners movie explainer and review:
My Sinners movie syllabus:
And my genre analysis:
Stay watchin’,
Brooke
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