With the warm weather of summer behind us and daylight growing short, Halloween is here once again! If you don’t have the energy for another ghost walk around the block, a couple scary movies might get you in the Halloween spirit! Look no further than Kanopy, one of the Mullen Library’s digital resources! From classic films to documentaries on the horror genre, explore Kanopy’s Fright Fest (if you dare) to find plenty of spine tingling videos to keep you up at night. Below is a brief history on Halloween and some eerie examples for your viewing pleasure (or horror…..).
History of Halloween
Halloween’s origins can be traced to a pagan Celtic holiday known as Samhain. Practitioners would sacrifice offerings to to obtain their gods’ favor. In the Middle Ages, the holiday became All Hallow’s Eve or Halloween when it became associated with the Christian feast day All Saint’s Day or All Hallow’s Day. Despite widespread conversion to Christianity, residents of the British Isles would continue leave food and drinks and carve vegetables to ward off what they believed were evil spirits (Santino, 2011). Immigrants brought their traditions and practices to America. By the the mid-20th century, dressing in costumes and trick or treating became a regular practice within the United States (Jackson, 2025).
Kingdom of Shadows: The Birth of the Horror Cinema (1998)
Narrated by Rod Steiger, Kingdom of Shadows is a haunting, sometimes shocking documentary that explores the evolution of horror in world cinema — a danse macabre of religion, science, carnivals, nightmares, monstrosity and death. More than fifty thrillers (the best-known as well as the most obscure) are surveyed, including Nosferatu, The Golem, Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, The Student of Prague, Electrocuting an Elephant, The Phantom of the Opera, Dante’s Inferno, The Bells, Waxworks, Warning Shadows, and Leaves from Satan’s Book. -Kanopy
A chilling documentary about the origins of the horror movie genre. Shocking clips of early horror films from the early 1900s onward make this documentary well worth the watch!
Scary Stories (2019)
Explore the history of one of the most controversial works of modern children’s literature: The best selling teen classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which scared a generation of readers and became one of the most banned books of modern times. –Kanopy
A fascinating documentary on a children’s book that faced continuous library bans over the years. The series’ ban history is serious enough that The American Library Association (ALA) recently hosted a watch party for the documentary. If you are interested in a classic book from your childhood or banned books in general, look no further than Scary Stories!
In Search of Edgar Allan Poe (2024)
This definitive documentary tells the poignant story of the poet, short story writer, and critic Edgar Allan Poe. It recounts how he invented the detective story, pioneered science fiction, and shaped the horror tale, yet was beset by many personal demons. -Kanopy
This two part documentary covers the life of Edgar Allan Poe and his writings. If you are a fan of Edgar Allan Poe and his works, this documentary is a perfect watch! Living a tormented life and suffering from alcohol, lost loves, and a desire for self-destruction, the documentary discusses his mysterious death. The documentary ends with a list of Poe’s titles and the writers, scientists, and their masterworks. For example, Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket influenced Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, and Jules Verne’s An Antarctic Mystery.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
A disparate group of individuals takes refuge in an abandoned house when corpses begin to leave the graveyard in search of fresh human bodies to devour. The pragmatic Ben (Duane Jones) does his best to control the situation, but when the reanimated bodies surround the house, the other survivors begin to panic.
As any semblance of order within the group begins to dissipate, the zombies start to find ways inside — and one by one, the living humans become the prey of the deceased ones in horror legend George A. Romeros’ first film. Chosen for preservation by the National Film Preservation Board, USA. -Kanopy
A horrifying film about average people desperately trying to fend off hordes of the undead in 1960s America. Will they survive? Stream the film to find out!
Nosferatu (1922)
An unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, NOSFERATU is the quintessential silent vampire film, crafted by legendary German director F. W. Murnau. Rather than depicting Dracula as a shape-shifting monster or debonair gentleman, Murnau’s Graf Orlok (as portrayed by Max Schreck) is a nightmarish, spidery creature of bulbous head and taloned claws — perhaps the most genuinely disturbing incarnation of vampirism yet envisioned. -Kanopy
Though the film is over one hundred years old, Nosferatu is still a terrifying film about a blood sucking monster bent on finding tasty prey to feast upon. Definitely another morbid watch for Halloween night.
The Blob (1958)
A cult classic of gooey greatness, THE BLOB follows the havoc wreaked on a small town by an outer-space monster with neither soul nor vertebrae, with Steve McQueen playing the rebel teen who tries to warn the residents about the jellylike invader. Strong performances and ingenious special effects help THE BLOB transcend the schlock sci-fi and youth delinquency genres from which it originates.
Made outside of Hollywood by a maverick film distributor and a crew whose credits mostly comprised religious and educational shorts, THE BLOB helped launch the careers of McQueen and composer Burt Bacharach, whose bouncy title song is just one of this film’s many unexpected pleasures.-Kanopy
A classic horror film that evokes trepidation even with graphics that are a touch old. Another frightful movie to keep you up at night.
If these options interest you, check out our other spine tingling options in the Kanopy database. Be sure to check them out along with our other databases on the library website. Just be sure to leave the lights on or you may be in for a fright!
Charles Gallagher is a Research and Instruction Librarian at The Catholic University of America Libraries.
References
Jackson, L. (2025). WVU Experts Unmask Halloween’s Long, Haunted History. WVU Today. Retrieved October 28th, 2025, from https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/media-center-blog/2025/10/22/expert-pitch-wvu-experts-unmask-halloween-s-long-haunted-history
Santino, J. (2011). The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows Eve. Clarksville Online. Retrieved October 28th, 2025, from https://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2011/10/23/the-fantasy-and-folklore-of-all-hallows-eve/