6 Horror-Comedies for October, Ranked by How Much They'll Scare Your Uncle
It's the month for being frightened on purpose. These are the films that let you scream and laugh in the same breath, which is cheaper than therapy.
By the Heckle Desk · · 2 min read
October is the one month a year when Americans pay money to be frightened, which is strange, since the other eleven months we do it for free by opening the mail. Some people want a pure horror film. I respect those people the way I respect a man who swims in a frozen lake: from a distance, and with questions.
For the rest of us there is the horror-comedy, a form that lets you scream and laugh at the same time, which is also how most of us got through middle school. Here are six that have aged like a good cheese and smell about the same.
- 01
Young Frankenstein (1974)
Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder took the oldest monster in the movies and made him do a song and dance. It's shot in black and white, like the old Universal films it's teasing, and it still lands every joke like a man who knows exactly where the floor is. My uncle saw it in theaters and laughed so hard he forgot to sneak back into the second feature.
- 02
Ghostbusters (1984)
Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis start a small business, which is the scariest thing in the movie if you've ever started one. The ghosts are great. The paperwork is worse.
- 03
Beetlejuice (1988)
Tim Burton and Michael Keaton made a film about a couple who die and then have to deal with the people who move into their house, which is the most realistic thing anyone has ever said about real estate. It got a sequel in 2024. The original is still the one to watch with the lights low.
- 04
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, directed by Edgar Wright, deal with a zombie apocalypse the way the English deal with everything: by going to the pub and waiting for it to blow over. It is the rare film that's a perfect comedy and a perfectly good zombie film, which is like being a great surgeon and a decent bowler.
- 05
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
Two kind-hearted fellows go to fix up a cabin in the woods, and a group of college kids decides they must be killers. Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine play it straight while the misunderstanding gets wildly out of hand. It's a horror movie where the monsters are manners.
- 06
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi made a mockumentary about vampire roommates in New Zealand arguing over the dishes. It was so good it became a TV series that ran for years, which is more than most of us can say about our own living arrangements.