If you didn’t have a calendar handy, you’d still be able to figure out which month it is based on the top films at the U.S. box office. I mentioned previously that consecutive weeks in which the highest-grossing theatrical release centered on a psychotic clown said something about the zeitgeist. Now, with Smile 2 in the lead this week, that makes THREE weeks in a row where exaggerated, homicidal grins take center stage.

Love them or hate them, horror films often provide a more insightful glimpse at a culture’s psychic, primal condition than other, more reputable genres. Here, perhaps it’s the perception of corrupted innocence, or a growing realization that the superficial joyousness we see on social media is so often a facade. Or maybe that’s reading too much into it: after all, coulrophobia is a longstanding tradition, from Pennywise to Ronald McDonald (yes, he’s terrifying!).

Of course, frightful flicks come in all shapes, sizes, and vintages, and if the sleek, disturbing thrills of Smile 2 or the (by all accounts) hideous, misogynistic gore of Terrifier 3 don’t do it for you, Oregon’s independent theaters have a diverse array of Halloween treats during the runup to All Saint’s Day. I’ve taken the liberty of sorting these multifarious offerings, spread across the state, so you, gentle reader, can seek out exactly the sort of spookiness you desire, and I’ve tried to spotlight the possibly hidden gems among them.

VINTAGE

Some of the most iconic images in horror cinema were devised a century ago, and continue to haunt today—just witness Robert Eggers’s highly anticipated remake of 1922’s Nosferatu, coming this Christmas (for some reason?).

The Phantom Carriage [1921]: Swedish director Victor Sjöström, later a mentor to Ingmar Bergman and star of Wild Strawberries, is best-known behind the camera for this silent milestone. It’s based on a legend that says the last person to die before the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve is fated to take place of the spectral coach driver who collects the souls of the departed. When a drunken reprobate gets in a fatal bar fight, the phantom carriage arrives and he relives his tumultuous life in a series flashbacks. Part ghost story, part morality tale, it’s a film that uses close-ups in classic pre-sound style and employs sophisticated visual effects to depict its ethereal figures. Accompanied by an original score from Corvallis group Sonochromatic. (10/29, Darkside Cinema)

The Phantom of the Opera [1925]: Lon Chaney’s trademark role, with live pipe organ accompaniment from Dean Lemire (10/26, Hollywood Theatre)

Bride of Frankenstein [1935]/Creature from the Black Lagoon [1954]: A double feature of two Universal monster classics. (10/26, Tin Pan Theater)

Nosferatu with Radiohead: A Silents Synced Film [1922/2024]: F. W. Murnau meets Thom Yorke in a presentation that puts a new score (from albums “Kida A” and “Amnesiac”) to a silent classic, as the first effort from a project that aims to continue with other alt-rock overdubs. (10/28, Kiggins; 10/25 & 10/31, Tin Pan Theater)

The House on Haunted Hill [1959]: Vincent Price stars in master showman William Castle’s tongue-in-cheek chiller about five people who are offered $10,000 if they can last one night in a spooky mansion. No word on whether Castle’s famous “Emergo” gimmick, in which a plastic skeleton swoops over the audience, will be used. But be ready! (10/28, Salem Cinema)

Psycho [1960]: It’s almost like Alfred Hitchcock got a load of Castle’s shenanigans and said, “Hold my beer.” This one never gets old. Also the first image of a flushing toilet in a mainstream American movie, if that’s your thing. (10/31, Kiggins)

COMEDIES

Laughter is the best medicine, even if the medicine in question is laced with cyanide. So many horror movies are laughably bad, so it’s nice that some of them agree to be in on the joke.

Psychotronic Halloween Special: Curator Greg Hamilton serves up another witchy stew made from celluloid ingredients (16mm, in fact). Remember Groovy Ghoulies, the short-lived cartoon series in which benevolent versions of Frankenstein’s monster, Dracula, and the Wolf Man live together and form a musical trio? If so, congratulations: you’re old! If not, here’s your chance… (10/27, Hollywood Theatre)

Young Frankenstein [1974]: For my money, and despite the genius of Blazing Saddles, this is Mel Brooks’s (and Gene Wilder’s) finest hour. And it just might be Gene Hackman’s, too. (10/25-28, Salem Cinema; 10/25, Hollywood Theatre in 35mm)

Evil Ed [1995]: In this campy, low budget gorefest, a film editor driven insane by his work on splatter movies escapes from a mental institution and goes up against the SWAT team sent to bring him down. (10/29, Cinemagic)

Ghostbusters [1984]: Ah, to be a 14-year-old boy from a small town in Wisconsin, watching this on opening weekend at the local shopping mall. This used to be a proper country. (10/30, Hollywood Theatre)

KID-FRIENDLY

This is where the obligatory “little boys and ghouls” crack would go if this column possessed less self-consciousness. It’s better to keep the young ‘uns stuck in a movie theater than to expose them to all the pumpkin-smashing mayhem on the streets, right?

The Dark Crystal [1982]: There’s always something unnerving about marionettes, and Jim Henson brought his considerable genius to bear for this fantastic tale with the crucial collaboration of Frank Oz. It’s a close call with Labyrinth, but this is also the creepiest Henson production, with the shambling, unsteady gait of the villainous Skeksis and the Botoxed, fey visages of the heroic Gelflings equally eerie. (10/25-10/31, Academy Theater)

The Witches [1990]: Apparently this is another one that freaks out juvenile viewers, but it never quite hit that hard for me. Maybe it suffers in comparison to director Nicolas Roeg’s earlier work (Walkabout, Bad Timing, etc.), of which your average kid is blissfully unaware. But it’s based on a Roald Dahl book, and it’s always a blast to see Anjelica Huston vamp it up. (10/26, Salem Cinema)

Casper [1995]: After her impressive work as Wednesday in The Addams Family and its sequel, Christina Ricci made her starring debut as the adolescent pal to the world’s friendliest ghost. Director Brad Silberling’s most recent credit is for directing an episode of the new Matlock reboot. (10/27, Hollywood Theatre)

MODERN CLASSICS

The standards. If you’ve never seen them, you need to, if only for your own cultural education. If you have, they’re the ones that continue to draw you back, time after time, as if they’ve somehow possessed your very soul. (Looking at you, Kubrick!)

Pumpkinhead [1988]: Among the small sample size of films directed by famous makeup or special effects artists, this is probably the best. (Some may say that Phil Tippett’s Mad God would like a word, and that’s their right.) Stan Winston, who won Oscars for his work on Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Jurassic Park, served up this imperfect but haunting tale. After his young son is mortally wounded by a gang of bikers, a father (genre staple Lance Henriksen) finds a witch to help him create a vengeance-seeking, gourd-topped monster. (10/26, Hollywood Theatre in 35mm)

Pan’s Labyrinth [2006]: The film that put Guillermo Del Toro on the map, and probably still his best work. (10/25-10/27, 5th Avenue Cinema on 35mm)

A Nightmare on Elm Street [1984]: Fun fact: Wes Craven has stated that part of the inspiration for the character of Freddy Kreuger was the Gary Wright hit song “Dream Weaver.” (10/29, Salem Cinema)

The Shining [1980]: If you tied together all the commentary, parody, and influence of Stanley Kubrick’s legendary Stephen King adaptation (which King hated), you might have a long enough rope to leave behind you as you explore a vast hedge maze in the middle of winter. (10/30, Salem Cinema)

Halloween [1978]: The one that started it all. And by “all” I mean the emergence of slasher movies, creepy earworms, indestructible killers, and John Carpenter’s fertile filmmaking career. (10/31, Salem Cinema; 10/25-10/31, Academy Theater; 10/25-10/29, 10/31, Eugene Art House)

MINDBENDERS

Scary? Or just weird? Or, gloriously, both?? Sometimes the most frightening part of a movie is just trying to understand it.

Abruptio [2023]: Remember about how unsettling marionettes are? Well, the pliable, life-sized puppets constructed and utilized by director Evan Marlowe make the Skeksis look like Care Bears. Yes, life-sized puppets, which interact with cars and the world around them. The story is, if anything, even more disturbing. A hapless 35-year-old, having just been dumped by his girlfriend, is informed that he has a bomb in his neck, and that he must follow the increasingly violent, unhinged commands of the voice on his cell phone or it’ll go off. Latex carnage ensues. (10/25 & 10/30, Cinemagic)

Strange Darling [2024]: Fresh from its brief theatrical release earlier this year, this Oregon-shot (on 35mm, by actor-turned-cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi) thriller is a bizarre cat-and-mouse affair involving a female serial killer and the detective pursuing her. Or maybe he’s a demon. The film’s production designer, Priscilla Elliott, will be in attendance for a post-film Q&A. (10/26, Cinemagic)

Donnie Darko: It’s the end of the world as we know it, and Jake Gyllenhaal doesn’t feel fine at all. In fact, he’s plagued by visions of a seven-foot tall rabbit-headed dude. Plus, George H. W. Bush is about to be elected president. Richard Kelly’s cult classic still impresses, and I encourage fans to check out his unjustly maligned follow-up, Southland Tales. (10/25-10/29, 10/31, Eugene Art House)

INTERNATIONAL

Some fears are universal. Maybe most. But the way those fears are expressed cinematically can vary from culture to culture. Canadian serial killers, for example, are always polite and apologetic, while Japanese terrors always arise from stringy-haired people who crawl out of holes in the ground. Or something like that.

Revenge [2017]: The first feature from The Substance director Coralie Fargeat is a brutal, feminist take on the murderous misogyny exemplified by rape-revenge films such as I Spit on Your Grave. After her married lover’s pals arrive at his isolated desert mansion for a hunting trip, things go from bad to worse for Jen (Matilda Lutz) as she is first sexually assaulted and then left for dead after being shoved off a cliff. But the title of the film tells you all you need to know, and Fargeat (who clearly has a talent for expressing female rage on film) has her heroine more than make up for the violence she’s subjected to. It’s largely in English but a French film, and it serves up both Reign of Terror brutality and Gallic style. (10/25-26, Cinema 21)

City of the Living Dead [1980]: Also known as Gates of Hell, this is a prime example of director Lucio Fulci’s undead auteurism. Italian horror usually comes in two varieties: blood-red giallo thrillers or intestine-chomping zombies, and this is one of the latter. (10/25-10/31, Academy Theater)

Dead Talents Society [2024]: This brand-new specimen of Taiwanese horror-comedy follows a recently deceased teen who gets instruction in her new duties and responsibilities as a ghost. Her instructor is a veteran spirit and celebrity in the supernatural underworld who’s looking for a fresh protégé to spark her own declining popularity. Zany screwball antics mix with genuine existential issues in a weird but fun flick. (10/25-10/28, Cinemagic)

Red Rooms [2023]: The trial of a man charged with the murder of three young women is under way, and a fashion model becomes obsessed, attending each day’s proceedings and researching the existence of so-called “red rooms,” places on the dark web where torture and murder are broadcast to an appreciative audience. This impressive French-Canadian exploration of evil had a brief run in theaters a few months back, so it’s great that it’s getting another look. (10/26-28, Cinemagic)

House [1977]: Rescued from relative obscurity a few years back, this surreal exercise from director Nobuhiko Obayashi has become a seasonal cult staple, an ideal, incomprehensible sensory blast that you’re never sure whether to laugh at or laugh with. As unique as it is, it’s a bit of a shame that Obayashi is known in the U.S. only for House, since he made films for over 60 years and his final output was the amazing meta-cinematic epic Labyrinth of Cinema. (10/31, Tomorrow Theater)