As summer becomes fall and we travel into the October country, Drake and I thought it would be fun to run a series of entries here on our favorite horror films. We use the term “horror film” loosely, since we believe the meaning has changed over the decades and, when it comes to the definition, we are not interested here in splitting heads or hairs.

Scary movies have been part of our culture for over 100 years, and we intend to discuss the evolution of imaginative films and choose our favorites a decade at a time. We won’t both have entries for every decade – there’s not a lot to choose from at the beginning – and sometimes our favorites may be the same movie, so on a few you’ll get a “his and hers” perspective.

And don’t be surprised when you find that many of the selections are decidedly romantic, especially many of the selections from the first half of last century.  There is some logic to this connection of affection and fright – both are strong, visceral emotions, and both drive us to very unique ends.

If you like horror films, some or all of these titles you may have enjoyed yourself, and if not, we hope that our selections may steer you to some new selection or that we will, at least, make you curious about them.

These are our dreams, the delightful nightmares we share together in the dark.