What's on Your Halloween Checklist?

Every Halloween season I have a list of things I'm going to do.

Or I say I'm going to do.

And every year there are things I don't get to do.

Time runs out. Priorities change.

But I always make a list to hold myself accountable.

And there are multiple reasons for this:

I want to keep track of what I still want to do.
I want to keep track of what I've done.
And I want to have a value judgement as new things come up. Example: "Do I want to watch a particular movie I've already seen a number of times or do I want to watch a new film that just hit digital this week?"

So I make a checklist.

Usually this checklist exists in a Field Notes pocket-sized notebook.

Old school. Pen and paper. Analog.

But this year, just for fun, I created a digital checklist, BUT it LOOKS like an analog checklist.

Side bar: Remember back in the day when you were collecting cards?

'Could be any cards, and depending on your generation, it could be anything from baseball cards, to movie cards, to Marvel Universe cards, to Pokemon cards, to Magic the Gathering cards, to Riftbound cards--- you get the idea. Inevitably in these card decks you would get a checklist card so you knew what you had and what you had to get.

Welp, I created a Halloween Thing version of the checklist card. Even gave it an out-of-register halftone dot look and some in-your-back-pocket-too-long card-wrinkles so it feels old school.

Don't worry, I created a blank one just for you. Here you go:

Feel free to print it out, or screengrab it, or do a 'save-as' and mark it up accordingly.

There are 31 lines (to correspond with the 31 days of October), but I didn't number them just in case you want to do your own thing.

Here's mine (currently in progress):

I'll take you through my list now so you can see how it works and maybe inspire yourself to fill yours out.

1). Eat some candy corn.

DONE!

This isn't hard for me. Candy corn to me is like a Halloween garnish. I don't crave it, it's more like a sprig of parsley on a meal: it looks nice, I may not eat it, but I'd miss it if it wasn't there. So I always grab a small bag at some point in the season. Also: it looks good as a decoration in a candy dish and, in a pinch, makes a lovely little vanilla-marshmallow-flavored sugar bite from time to time.

2). Watch a 'Set on Halloween' movie.

DONE!

This is a personal goal every year. I NEED to watch a movie that has something to do with Halloween that I haven't seen before and it doesn't need to be a scary movie. Halloween does not immediately equal 'scary.'

So movies like Dark Harvest, Hubie Halloween, The Lady in White, and Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School all have equal weight in completing this task.

Photo: AGFA.

This year, I watched 1991's Scary Movie (not to be confused with the parody franchise by the Wayans' Bros.). It was exactly what I was looking for and the movie as a whole felt like standing in line for a local haunted maze (which, apparently, the director has said in interviews that that is exactly what he was going for).

This is one of many Halloween-themed films I've been watching lately, but more on that later...

3. Watch a Vintage Halloween TV Episode

Photo: Fox Home Video.

DONE!

A few years ago I started making a point of watching the Halloween episodes of old TV shows. Not the usual suspects known for their Halloween episodes like Roseanne or Home Improvement. I like to stray into shows that may have been popular in their time but aren't really in the public consciousness anymore. Past choices were M.A.S.H., Highway to Heaven, and Knight Rider.

By watching these shows I usually get a little slice of nostalgia in the decorations in addition to a Halloween story. Old Beistle decorations may show up. Walk on roles by actors that came to be more recognizable in their later years. It's fun for me.

This year I found out that The X-Files had a Halloween episode in its 1st Season, Episode 7, entitled "Ghost in the Machine." It originally aired on October 29, 1993, and has Mulder & Scully investigating a mysterious murder at a software company where they encounter a malevolent AI that's trying to protect itself.

So... y'know... topical.

There wasn't much "Halloween" in the Halloween episode: a plastic jack o' lantern that an FBI agent swipes a few pieces of candy out of on his way down the hallway, but that's about it. I may try to squeeze in one more (for extra credit?) just to see if I can get one that's a bit more Halloween-ey.

4. Carve a Pumpkin

This hasn't happened yet. Maybe on October 30th this year, but more than likely this is a Halloween-day thing as explained in my 20+ YEARS OF JACK O' LANTERN CARVES post.

5. Roast Pumpkin Seeds

This will happen after #4 happens.

6. ~~Eat a Pumpkin Spice Something~~ Eat a Caramel Apple Something

Photo: Olipop.

DONE!

This entry originally said "Eat Something Pumpkin Spice," but as mentioned previously, I'm a Caramel Apple/Apple Cider guy now. Goodbye Pumpkin Spice, I hope you had the time of your life.

Sure I had THESE WARHEADS SOUR CARAMEL APPLE OOZE CHEWS, but the most recent thing I've enjoyed is the Olipop Caramel Apple soda (pictured above).

Mini Review: they really nail the Caramel Apple flavor. It tastes a bit more syrupy than other Olipop sodas but I attribute that to a very-accurate-tasting caramel flavor. I'm really enjoying the few that I randomly found in a Target.

7. Try a New Halloween Candy

DONE!

Done A LOT, actually. Probably, eh--- probably a little too much this year.

My excuse is usually to pick up one or two new Halloween candies "just to see what's going on out there." But when I started seeing new candies here, and a little there, and next thing I know I've got a drawer full of 10 different candies... and that's too much candy.

There's THESE WARHEADS SOUR CARAMEL APPLE OOZE CHEWS, then there's the SKITTLES POP'D CREEPY CRUNCH, and then there's BRACH'S MELLOWCREME SPOOKY GRAVEYARD, and ---I'm not gonna lie to you--- I've got a few more to post before October 31st. Sooooo, yep. Done-and-a-half.

8. Wear My Halloween Shirts

DONE!

I have a number of these (as I'm sure every Halloween fan does) and some of them I've had for quite some time (example: there's a Misfits skeleton shirt from 1997... and a Threadless jack o' lantern that's at least 20 years old). I find I have to get them out of storage earlier and earlier just to be able to wear them all by the 31st.

I got the bin out of the closet, I unpacked the shirts, I wore the shirts.

9. Watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"

Though the days of tuning in to CBS, watching that spinning "Special Presentation" logo, and hearing the opening notes of "Linus & Lucy" are long gone, my annual watch of this Halloween TV treasure will probably happen late Halloween night. I own it digitally, but may watch an upload of a VHS recording from the '80s that someone put on YouTube. Just to mix things up.

10. A Halloween Craft

I found a number of years ago that if I actually MAKE something during the Halloween season, I feel better. I don't know if it's the flow state I go into, or the satisfaction of bringing something into the world that didn't exist before, but making something --ANYTHING-- is now a staple of my celebrations.

I have not completed this task yet. But I'm guessing that a particular pumpkin spice latte cake that I whip up every year will be making an appearance soon...

11. 4 Long Blog Posts

DONE!

This is specific to me and this blog. Every year I shoot for 31 posts for the month of October and I've already started slipping on that. So either I need to start retro-posting to make up for missed ones, or just stick to this goal with a quantified "four long posts"--- which I've definitely done already.

12. Watch All the Bob's Burgers Halloween Episodes

Almost done with this one!

I just discovered the animated show Bob's Burgers. And when I say "discovered" I mean I have ONLY watched the Halloween episodes of this show. Not one 'normal' episode. Just the Halloween ones.

And I'm delighted to say that they're all pretty great.

Lots of genuine LOLs and a grounded charm that I'm really liking.

I have the 2025 & 2026 episodes left to go...

13. 31 All-New Halloween Movies

IN PROGRESS...

Here's the deal: I'm trying to watch 31 Halloween-centric movies I've never seen before.

That means if it's JUST a horror movie--- doesn't count. It has to have something to do with Halloween. And it can't be re-watch.

This is a reach. I've been trying this stunt for the past few years and it's fun to try.
Now, let me be fully transparent here: there ain't no way I'm getting through 31 Halloween movies starting on October 1st. A movie a night just is NOT happening at this point in my life.

SO--- I start early.

Like--- mid-June.

Last year's goal was 31 All-New Horror Movies (they didn't have to be Halloween-centric).

Making the goal Halloween-centric is a new twist for this year.

I'll share with you my checklist from LAST year as this year's is currently still in-progress.

Here's the key to the icons: a small jack o' lantern pasted on the movie poster means it has something to do with Halloween. A red slash means I watched it. You can see I got pretty close to finishing 31 last year.

(Yes, I HAVE seen John Carpenter's Halloween but I was going to count it because it was the 4K version of Halloween which I have never seen. Doesn't matter--- I didn't even get to watch it last year.)

I built this in Canva to pay homage to the classic paper New Beverly Cinema calendars which I used to love picking up.

Huh. How about that? A checklist within a checklist.

14. Read One Halloween Book

This isn't happening this year.

I'm a slow reader so getting a book done in a month is tough. Like the movie list above, I usually need to start way early to be done reading by the time Halloween night rolls up.

This year, I decided I was finally going to read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It's not that long (only about 280 pages) so I thought I could do it. But some life curveballs, and some re-prioritizing and something had to go.

The book sits in a pile of books to be read so I will get to it--- just not by October 31st.

15. One 'Scary' Beverage

DONE!

The point of this entry is to consume a beverage that has some sort of Halloween tie-in or fancy jack o' lantern label, etc. Often it's some form of Pumpkin Ale, but this year I went with a soda with a horror icon splashed across the label.

The 30th Anniversary of Wes Craven's SCREAM is this year and the marketing and merch has been delightfully ridiculous.

Having no VooDEWs for the 2nd year in a row, I had to find a new 'Halloween soda' to fill the gap. While perusing my local grocery store chain's cooler I spotted the "Ghost Face Punch" and grabbed a bottle. The purple color had me hoping for a 'scary grape' but I knew the 'punch' of the soda's title meant something more fruity.

No official review here: it was good, but not something I would have wanted a case of or even a second bottle.

I consumed it while "Unlocking an Achievement" (which is another entry toward the end of my checklist).

To be continued....

16. Scary Music Playlist

This is an easy one this year. As mentioned in my FAVORITE THINGS OF 2026 POST, Sean Keller and friends have released a new Halloween mix (their 5th!) of all original songs and sound ephemera called "The Killer Sounds of Halloween Rises from the Grave." YOU CAN LISTEN AND PURCHASE THE ALBUM RIGHT HERE ON THEIR BANDCAMP PAGE.

I've been listening to this on repeat since it dropped on October 13th so this album is my 2026 Halloween Playlist this year.

17. Place My Lit Jack o' Lantern Out on Halloween Night

This won't happen 'til #4 and #5 are done and Halloween gets here.

18. Change iPhone Wallpaper

DONE!

I did this back in September and am re-using a wallpaper a graphic artist I know created a number of years ago.

19. Decorate My Desk

DONE!

This is a process that slowly builds as the month goes on. What starts with some small things back in September (a Lego skeleton dude holding a jack o' lantern pail, and a bendy skeleton I cajoled a winery-owner into giving me), culminates in the last week of the month with full candy dishes, string lights, fake spiderwebs, GLOWING JACK O' LANTERN LIGHTS, and more. (I would start earlier but my desk is a constant clutter-fight, so I ramp up the Halloween decorating just so there's room for a keyboard and monitors).

20. Play One 'Scary' Videogame

I should amend this to say "Play One Halloween-ey Videogame." It doesn't need to be scary. It can just have pumpkins, skeletons, etc.

This year I'm picking up a game I got stuck on a few years ago: Halloween Forever.

It's a retro platformer slathered in Halloween goodness (you play as "Pumpkin Man" and you fire candy corn at enemies and bosses). Totally fun and I need to get back into it to try and beat it by Halloween.

21. Clear Out My YouTube Saves

Always in a state of "Almost Done."

The way my Halloween-process works is this: whenever I find cool Halloween stuff to watch on YouTube, if it's not 'the Halloween Season' (which I've mentioned earlier can fluctuate wildly from June through October), I'll save it to a "Halloween Watch Playlist" for watching later.

The list ebbs and flows from season to season and the month of October is usually when I try and whittle it down to a manageable number of entries.

This system works great for me for all the times when maybe I don't have time to watch a full movie or documentary, but I have small pockets of time that allow me to watch a virtual trick or treat bag o' goodies of varying lengths.

Stuff like:

A 4K version of Michael Jackson's Thriller.

SCTV's Monster Chiller Horror Theater sketch: House of Cats (Starring John Candy in "3D?").

Castle Films' Silent "The Headless Horseman" short.

Tommy Lee Wallace Reconstructing the Shape Mask using a Kirk Mask and white spray paint.

You get the idea.

22. Wear My Glow-in-the-Dark Skeleton Apron

Somewhere in this life I made a switch from regularly wearing my Misfits glow-in-the-dark skeleton shirt to wearing my GITD skeleton apron. Adulting, man.

I haven't worn this yet, but I will don it when I complete #10...

23. Watch a Scooby-Doo

It's just not the season without watching one Scooby-Doo episode or movie.

I haven't done this yet, but I have on-deck Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (which I picked up digitally on sale for $2 way back in July). It's a Halloween-themed Scooby-Doo movie and I can't wait.

24. Turn on a Ghoul Log

DONE!

As mentioned in my FAVORITE THINGS OF 2026 POST, I've found this wonderful subculture of YouTubers who make their own 'atmospheric ambiance' videos and I've taken a liking to the channel labeled "SINESTEЯ" who produces hour-plus-long videos of iconic movie scenes.

My go-to as of late has been the Halloween 2 Alley video, where leaves drift down, a jack o' lantern burns in the distance, and Sheriff Brackett's police cruiser drifts by, lights going, while we barely hear the Sheriff and Loomis arguing. It's a cozy ambiance video that allows me to focus and write. I have it going right now while I write this post.

25. Scary Listen

I usually like to throw on a 'scary listen' at some point in the season: an audio-only podcast or stream of an old Halloween sound-effects record, or an old radio show. Great to put on for a commute home, or cooking dinner, or while doing a mundane task (like assembling IKEA shelving).

I found a bunch of old radio shows on YouTube and really enjoyed Inner Sanctum's "A Corpse for Halloween."

I haven't had my 'scary listen' yet this year, but I've got some contenders...

26. Harvest Festival

Most of the bigger festivals near me, I won't be able to make it to for one reason or another. But I'm going to consider this DONE because, while traveling in the west back in September, I went to an actual Pumpkin Ranch with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes, preserves, snacks, pies, all---the---things.

They had 10 different kinds of pumpkins one of which was called "Long Island Cheese" which I found delightful (you can see it in the foreground of the above pic).

27. Halloween Baking

I usually bake SOMEthing for the season. It could be as simple as Pillsbury ready-to-bake ghost cookies or as complex as from-scratch pumpkin muffins. I've also got a pumpkin spice latte cake I'll be whipping up in the next week or so---(see also #10).

28. Go to a Pumpkin Patch

DONE!

Ironically this one had a banner calling itself a "Fall Festival Pumpkin Patch" but I'd say it's more Patch than Fest. I could have double-counted #26 on this one too but, luckily, I also went to a pumpkin PATCH on that same trip. Extra credit because I actually went home with pumpkins (some to carve, some to stick on the porch).

29. Unlock an Achievement

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED (aka DONE)!

This one requires a little explaining.

For those who don't know: a video game 'achievement' is a goal outside the game's usual progress goals. It can be something completely random like "Kill 100 Zombies" or "Squash 16 Goombas" or simply "Died for the First Time."

You'll need to come up with your own weird achievement to unlock, but here's mine for inspiration:

I named it "GHOST FACE DOUBLE STUF" (taking inspiration from a pack of Oreos).

I drank the Fanta "Ghost Face Punch" soda I purchased (#15 above) while watching Scream VI (which is the 1st movie in the horror franchise to take place on Halloween).

Pics or it didn't happen?

Boom. Check out the pic...

30. Watch a Halloween Fan Edit

DONE!

I've seen John Carpenter's Halloween many many many times and, though I still enjoy it, I've gotten to a point where I'm either watching it on autopilot every season or I'm choosing to NOT watch it just to try and keep a little magic in it.

Then I fell down the rabbit hole of 'fan edits.' This is a new thing I discovered.

What is a 'fan edit'?

An example of a more 'famous' fan edit would be the Star Wars De-Specialized Editions (a fan re-cut of the original Star Wars trilogy films that return them to their original theatrical cuts--- removing all the Special Edition additions).

Turns out, there are many fans who create fan-edits of John Carpenter's Halloween.

I just recently watched something called Halloween: The Boogeyman Cut which takes 1978's Halloween and 1981's Halloween 2, edits in all the extra made-for-TV scenes, and stitches both films together for one seamless movie taking place over one night.
It was a great way to rediscover two Halloween movies that I've seen more times than I can count.

31. Do Something That Scares You

Let me explain this one.

When I was reading the outstanding horror anthology October Dreams (which inspired the creation of this Halloween blog), there was a personal essay from author Dennis Etchison (The Dark Country) called "Needles and Razorblades." A scant two pages, it's a bittersweet telling of the excitement of the competition he experienced as a kid on Halloween. In his opinion, part of the thrill of Halloween night is the sense of danger. When the danger goes away, so does the fun. As he got too old for trick or treating, he sought danger in horror movies as a teen, and as a horror writer in his adult years.

I couldn't agree more and I was really struck by this realization. When we do something scary, we feel more alive.

So I started including this entry in my checklist every year: Do Something That Scares You.

This can be something very on-the-nose like going to a haunted maze walk-thru or seeing a horror movie.

Or it can be something more existential:

- Ask that person out on a date.

- Donate blood.

- Take a class.

- Go skydiving.

- Switch jobs.

- Vote.

You get the idea. Of all the entries, this one can be the most creative for you and the most thrilling.

It's also a way to force yourself to experience life and feel alive.

In the words of Fangoria Magazine's EIC Phil Nobile Jr. "... It's later than you think."

In the words of comedian Kevin Pollak, "This is not a rehearsal. If you are not proactive in your own life and career... you are literally wasting your life."

And not to hit you over the head with it but in the words of horror author Joe Hill (NOS4A2) "A day is short, a week is a vanishingly small period of time and--what's the old saying? It's later than you think."

So that's where I'm at with my 31 entries, with only 12 days to go 'til the big day.

What's left on your to-do list?

What's on your checklist to begin with?

I'd love to hear what you're up to in the comments...