The October Screamathon

HOUSTON

Ashley Artaza

Lights off and volume up. As autumn slowly starts to settle in, Halloween enthusiasts prepare for the most terrifying time of year. But for one tight-knit group of friends, the spooky season doesn’t start on October 31st—rather, it begins on the very first of the month.

“Once a day, every day of October, we try our best to watch scary movies from across the decades,” says Ayinde Roberts, the resident film buff of his friend group. “We try to do a marathon of horror movies of different varieties—from the classic slashers to the more psychological of horrors—leading up to Halloween, where we will watch John Carpenter’s classic and aptly named Halloween (1978).”

What started as a fun reason to get together quickly became an annual tradition. Though Robert’s friend group is made up of a wide range of “weirdos” from different cultural backgrounds, they are dedicated to watching and reviewing the best and the worst of horror cinema history.

Bassy Ali, a long-time friend of Roberts, didn’t grow up with a TV set in his house. “I had to turn to the internet for entertainment, where I passed my time seeking horrifying movies I was definitely too young to be watching,” he says. “So when our good friend cooked up this plan, I was immediately game. Every October for the past three years, we’ve been trying to complete all thirty-one movies, and… we’ve yet to do so. It’s harder than you think.”

The trouble for them is aligning schedules. Most of their friend group work jobs or are full-time students at university, so getting everyone available while they still have the energy to pay attention is challenging.

“By myself? Easy. With others who are super picky? The hardest thing in the universe,” says Roberts. “Disappointing that the real tricks before treats are our adult responsibilities.”

“It’s also hard to agree on what to watch,” says Ali. “And some people aren’t super keen on the over-the-top violence, so we have to really think about what will be fun for everyone.”

Still, these two and their friends love the challenge regardless of their yearly shortcomings.

For Ayinde Roberts, films are more than simple entertainment; they’re the reason to keep pushing forward in life. “It’s hard to explain,” he says. “I’ve always said that going to a movie is a unique experience that is unlike anything else. They’re memorable and exciting events because of the communal experience they evoke. There’s just something about watching a good or laughably terrible movie with friends that can make you feel something you haven’t felt in a long time. And when that feeling is fear? Hoo-boy. That’s a different kind of adrenaline.”

“Seeing your friends get spooked and freak out is the funniest thing in the world,” says Bassy Ali. “But that ain’t me. I’m never scared.”

“He says, like a liar—” Roberts immediately fires back.

In the past, they’ve watched Psycho (1960), Alien (1979), The Evil Dead (1981), and many more historical classics. But what movies are on their list to conquer this year?

“There are way too many possibilities to name,” says Roberts. “A lot of these are rewatches for me, though there are some I haven’t seen in years. But the ones I’m especially looking forward to seeing are Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025), The Invisible Man (2020), and Sinister (2012). Mostly Bloodlines, because that movie is silly! That awful and rotten little kid gets flattened by a piano—the funniest shit I’ve seen in a Final Destination movie.”

“I think we just like sharing the experience most of all,” says Ali. “Sometimes, that’s all something needs to be: just fun to do because you can.”

“Horror movies are always fun,” Roberts says. “They are honestly some of the more visceral viewing experiences you can have. Like the tension from watching two people walking through a room of Face-Huggers in Alien: Romulus (2024), a good horror movie just awakens something in you. They’re so unique, unlike any other genre due to being unflinchingly brutal and violent, yet also having this charm that you can only have when a writer embraces the worst.”

“I think everyone should join our challenge,” Bassy Ali says. “In fact, I dare you.”

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