I love horror movies. Always have. From the time I was old enough to watch them (which was a lot younger then I would admit to my parents). As I got older I came to appreciate the classics as well as some of the new ones that came out. However, as a young man I came to the impression that women in these films weren’t good for much more than running, screaming, falling down, and dying. Well, they could take their shirts off in just about every 80’s horror movie out there, but aside from that there were, and still are, a lack of strong female characters.

As a social justice educator I tend to look at horror movies and the women in them in a bit of a different way then I did as a kid. I found something out as an adult, women like horror movies too. And as women, I can only imagine that they have a unique view of the horror genre.

The issue that many people in the social justice fields have, as well as women and men who are devoted to feminism, is the sexualization of violence in horror movies. If you have sex in a horror film, you’re dead. We all know that. It’s the way that the violence immediately proceeds the sexual act or during that has people troubled. It can have psychological consequences for impressionable young people. As I have said, I love horror movies, the gorier the better on some occasions, but I still question the need for the sexualization of it all. The horror movie industry finally caught on to the fact that their R ratings were getting their movies exposed to too small an audience, and so with no TNA and a PG-13 rating the industry opened the door for a whole new fan base. The newer movies have made a positive move away from the sexualization of the violence, which is good.

Anyway, my favorite movies had very little sexualization of violence in them. Dawn of the Dead is an anti consumerism piece. Night of the Living Dead is a statement on human relations and how we treat each other. They still have all the splatter, and the women seem to have more powerful places in the films. The 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead has the heroine cast as a toughened survivor. In the Dawn of the Dead remake the main character is a strong woman. Resident Evil has a woman at the helm.

Which leads me to another subject, that is happily making progress due to not only “girl power”, but feminism too, and that is the role of the woman in the horror film. As I said, growing up I watched countless screaming, running, half naked women get slaughtered by the bad guy. Then one day I sat down with my dad and watched a movie that changed my view of women in horror movies forever. The movie was Alien. (If you haven’t seen Alien, then why are you on a Halloween site to begin with?) If you have, then you know what I am talking about. Sigourney Weaver changed my whole concept of women as leads in horror films. Sigourney Weaver plays Eleanor Ripley. Ripley didn’t scream, Ripley didn’t cower in a corner crying, Ripley didn’t fall down running, Ripley just kicked ass. Ripley didn’t need a male hero to come save her. Even in Aliens, which has a slight romantic interest for Ripley she still put his broken down butt on a ship while she went to save the day. If I want my daughter to watch a horror movie that conveys strength in women I will pop in a copy of any of the Alien titles.

So what to do? Obviously I can’t condone the stopping of watching horror movies. That would be absurd, not to mention boring. What we need to do is educate ourselves on the subject. We can be the responsible watchers of horror movies who understand the consequences of violence against women in our society and demand better female role models in horror films. We need more Ripleys, we need more women in horror films that can kick just as much butt as their male counter parts. If a woman is gonna get snuffed out for being stupid, then the same needs to happen to the men in the story. Why does the man get to go down swinging, while the women has to go down screaming?

With all of the women fans of this genre we need to offer them more. Scream Queens are great, but unless they are giving a war cry while doing battle with the bad guy, is that the message we want to convey? If the guys reading this want their girlfriends/partners to sit down with them and watch more horror flicks with us then maybe we need to demand a horror movie that caters to both of the genders.

In conclusion, I know that there are many people out there who are going to point out examples of horror movies aside from the ones that I mentioned as an example that I am off base. This is what is referred to as “The example illustrates the point.” The fact that you can point out a handful (or if you do enough research perhaps more) of movies that go against the grain just proves that they stand out, or else they wouldn’t be examples. I am certainly not an expert on horror films, or at least not to the standards of many. I do however, have better than a passing knowledge of social justice issues, which is why I wrote this. I still watch Alien Resurrection every time it comes on TV. And my favorite baddie of all time is Freddy. That one can be a bit hypocritical I admit. I actually stood up in the movie theater at the end of Freddy vs Jason and yelled “Oh, bulls***!” With all of that in mind though, I still like to see a woman on the screen who kicks butt. A heroine who breaks through the gender classifications and helps the hero up right before he gets hacked to bits. The Ripleys (Alien movies…duh!), Alices (Resident Evil), and Anas (Dawn of the Dead) are the start of something brilliant. Hopefully we will see more of them in the future. And hopefully one of them will be wielding a sharp instrument with which to decapitate the un-dead. Later.

Since Halloween falls on a Wednesday, we might be tempted to throw in the towel after the last weekend of partying and spend the next few days thinking ahead to other holidays. That’s just crazy talk. We’ve got 3 more days to cram in as many Halloween themed events and entertainment as possible. Memories and inspiration from these final October days will help tide you over when Halloween 2008 is months away. Let’s soak up the last bits of creepy fun before the holiday zombies take over and things get all cheery.

For a really wide variety of events, GooGhoul and Eventful are the places to start. Citysearch and Cityguide are also useful resources, but with these last 2 sites look for “Guides” to Halloween rather than listings for individual events. It’s much easier to actually find a great event that way.

Haunted Attractions range from amateur haunts in your neighbors front yard to huge haunted mazes created by the pros. Major cities usually have a handful of options, but smaller towns also have their share of events, too. Check your options by visiting HauntedHouse.com and HauntedHouses.com. (There are plenty of other directory sites around, but they aren’t as easy to browse and navigate. Lots of them are mirror sites, too, so you will get the exact same results even though the site name and layout look different.)

Real haunted houses are another Halloween treat. Sometimes they get a lot more exciting around this time of year… but is it because the veil between the living and the dead is lifted on Halloween, or because we get wrapped up in the ethereal mood? What do you think?

For families and those seeking fun that also celebrates Autumn, you’ll want to find a pumpkin patch. You don’t even have to buy a pumpkin- we almost never do- to have a good time. There are a lot of outdoorsy activities like hay rides and corn mazes that are worth checking out. Large pumpkin patches or farms will also sometimes have events with music, rides, and food.

Don’t feel like going out? That’s why you pay the cable bill! Get a bowl of popcorn and park yourself in front of the boo tube for the remainder of the scary movies and Halloween episodes on TV. Perplexingly enough, AOL offers free streams of Halloween episodes from years gone by such as the Beetlejuice cartoon and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper. YouTube has a lot of those episodes as well, but usually broken down into 3 different files. For full length movies, Lycos Cinema offers 70 horror films that you can also watch for free.

How will you be spending the next few days? What are you doing on The Big Day?

Blog updates have been a little sporadic lately because we’ve been slaving away in our dungeon creating pages such as the List of Top Scary Movies.

Like we mentioned earlier, October is obviously the month when everyone wants to watch lots of scary movies. We’ve made it quick to find the scary movie you’re in the mood for by breaking them up into easy to scan categories. What are my favorite categories you ask? Thanks for asking. I tend to search through the Zombies and Horror Comedy first, but it’s hard to go through October without watching a few Cult Classics.

This list is big, but by no means exhaustive. We need your opinions on what you think should be added to the list! We will definitely update it throughout the year, so please leave a comment with your suggestions.

October has got to be the most popular month for horror movies. Everyone seems to crave a little scary viewing, even if they don’t identify as “horror fans”. Just try calling your local video rental store and checking stock on classics like The Exorcist, Scream, or Halloween- or just flip on the TV and see how many times those movies are rerun.

Whether you’re a veteran of gore or just want to get a little spooked this Halloween season, director Sam Raimi has a treat for you. You don’t even have to leave the house to rent it or have cable TV! He produced a series of exclusive shorts for FEARnet (a pretty cool horror and thriller website and video-on-demand provider) called Devil’s Trade. The story follows characters who buy a mysterious wooden cross from an online store called Devils Trade, and discover that the item is cursed. And not “fall on your face in public” cursed or even “break a couple bones” cursed. The 25 minute series is rated TVMA for good reason: while tension is its best asset, there’s no shortage of freaky, gory deaths. For such a short series, there’s a good amount of character development so you’ll actually care when each person gets he axe, which has become rare in new horror.

For another free short horror series, check out the new FEARnet exclusive that promotes 30 Days of Night called Blood Trails.

If you’re a fan of the paranormal, you’re going to want to carve out about 7 hours tomorrow to watch Most Haunted Live. Broadcast on the Travel Channel from 8PM EST on Friday, June 1, through 3 AM on Saturday, June 2, the MHL crew will be taking over Eastern State Penitentiary (or E.S.P.). The event will also be extended to the Internet, with multiple streaming webcams located within areas of the ESP.

This is their first US visit (as the show usually takes place in the UK), and they’ve chosen their location wisely. The visually stunning Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA, is considered one of America’s most haunted places, and has a dark and controversial history. It also hosts “Terror Behind The Walls”, one of America’s best loved, most terrifying, Halloween Haunts. (With all profits going towards preservation of the Prison. How cool is that?)

If the show gets you eager to see some real ghosts, there are plenty of Real Haunts located throughout the US. Happy ghost hunting!

Apparently, I’m the last one to know about modifying LEGO “mini figures” (the little dudes and dudettes): there are a lot of sites out there on the topic! If Legos aren’t your thing then you may have missed this phenomena too, but like many subjects, if you add at least a vaguely creepy aspect to it then it’s a lot more interesting. Case in point: A Lego Revivening and some Lego Halloween Monsters at Flickr. Look at those details!

Like the unrelenting undead, many Lego fans just keep barreling forward with their ideas and take the next logical step into making movies. My favorite of the ones I found is All of the Dead, a very short black and white film containing some great zombie chaos and cliches. Another funny Lego zombie shorty is Toxic Waste. Watch for the full sized items in the door barricading scene towards the end. There’s also a very abbreviated Lego Chainsaw Massacre, and a painstakingly shot-for-shot accurate Thriller with Legos. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve watched a Lego guy’s skull get bashed in with a hammer or try to do the Thriller dance.

What other creepy stuff can you do with your little Lego dudes? The evil mad scientists at Evil Mad Scientist Labs show you how LED lights + LEGO Minifigures = tiny creepy Halloween decorations. It’s a dang easy project and makes for very unique Halloween decor.

Have you made or found any creepy Lego projects online? Drop us a comment!