The Spooky Halloween Tag

I found a blog post I started a couple of years ago but never finished so I thought I’d do so this year as I do love a spooky/seasonally appropriate blog post!

1. Favourite horror or Halloween-themed song?

I’ve made myself a Halloween playlist which I love. My favourite is probably ‘Halloweenie IV: Innards’ by Ashnikko, all her ‘Halloweenie’s are so good but that’s my favourite one – it was my top listened to song on Spotify in 2021. I also love ‘Nightmares Never End’ by JT Music which is about the game Little Nightmares 2.

2. Name something you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark forest or in an abandoned building

There are a lot of things – anything scary that’s bigger than me or something that would be fast so like a werewolf. I wouldn’t be able to outrun most things because I’m extremely out of shape so I don’t need them to have any more kind of advantages.


3. Have you ever played with an Ouija Board?

I take Ouija Boards seriously so I wouldn’t ‘play’ with one and was always adamant I wouldn’t do one but when me and my friends went ghost-hunting I did end up doing one at both hunts. To be honest I wasn’t very convinced by either of them but I still wouldn’t fuck with one outside of a ghost hunt – my logic was the people running the event must do them all the time and nothing bad has ever happened to them so I’m sure they know what they’re doing.

Apparently my Dad worked somewhere that he and his mates thought was haunted so they did an Ouija Board and when they asked its name it spelt out ‘Lucifer’. My nephew’s Mum also claims that her friend once got two pieces of paper that said ‘good’ and ‘evil’, put a glass down and asked the ‘spirits’ which they were and the glass swerved straight to ‘evil’. But I’ll never know for sure – I do believe in ghosts but wasn’t overly convinced with my Ouija Board experiences.


4. Favourite horror monster or villain?

Esther from ‘Orphan’, my friends are probably sick to death of me talking about that film but I love her. She only became more iconic after the release of ‘Orphan: First Kill’. Isabelle Fuhrman deserves way more praise for that role, she is perfect.

5. The creepiest thing that’s ever happened while you were alone?

I think I’ve explained both of these on this blog before but I’ll try and do it again. When I was a teenager I used to like having my TV on as background noise but sometimes I’d get bored and want to listen to music instead. So I’d pause the film or TV series I was watching and switch my speakers on. On this occasion the TV turned to screensaver mode but then suddenly lit back up and in the corner a little message saying ‘command not available’ kept appearing as if someone was pressing the remote. The remote was next to me so I picked it up and turned it over so the buttons were against the bed and the moment I did so my speakers cut out. I literally leaped up from the bed and ran downstairs.

The other time was when I got myself some breakfast – I used to eat in my bedroom at the time even though the house was empty so I brought it back up and was getting onto my bed when I saw something fall from the corner of my eye. It was my nail varnish and it fell from a much greater height than the shelf it had been on – and even if it hadn’t, there was no reason for it to have fallen.

When I was a kid I used to catch glimpses of stuff and think that my Mum was calling for me when she hadn’t said anything but I grew out of that so not sure what that was about. I also hated sleeping in my sibling’s bedroom at my Dad’s house when they weren’t around but I slept in that room whilst I lived with Dad this year and the vibe had gone. It was literally only that room, I’d slept fine in my previous bedroom before my siblings moved in and then when I got moved out because my sister Jess left I didn’t have a strange vibe in her room either. Weird!


6. If you were dared to spend the night in a ‘haunted house’, would you do it?

With my friends, yes – I’d cack my pants but it would be funny. On my own, I’m not so sure. In terms of stuff like that I think I’ve gotten a bit braver, for example when me and Jess went to a Scare Maze last year I didn’t insist on holding her hand the entire time. But if I saw anything remotely spooky I’d probably be out of the house immediately!


7. Are you superstitious?

Um, not really. I believe in ghosts and lucky charms etc. but I don’t believe in the rules like ‘no new shoes on the table’, ‘breaking a mirror will give you seven years bad luck’, ‘black cats are unlucky’, that kind of thing.


8. Do you ever see figures in your peripheral vision?

Not since I was a kid – I’ve seen a few things where I’ve been like ‘???’ but I wouldn’t say it’s a regular occurrence.


9. Which urban legend scares you the most?

A while ago I was reading the ‘fire and rescue’ post on reddit and that did really spook me. Also anything about things pretending to be and mimicking humans to lure people away from paths and stuff does freak me out a bit. I would cack myself!



10. Do you prefer gore or thrillers?

Give me a thriller any day – I’m not really keen on slasher or gore movies, I prefer supernatural ones even though I think they’re hard to ‘get right’. I find movies like ‘Hostel’ (which I’ve never watched but did read the plot on Wikipedia) to be like torture porns, I don’t understand why anyone would enjoy those? Some slasher movies are okay like I liked ‘Happy Death Day’ but films like ‘Friday the 13^th’ or ‘Halloween’ etc aren’t really my thing.

11. Do you believe in multiple dimensions or worlds?

Definitely! I believe in the multiverse and that there are other worlds out there.


12. Ever made a potion of any sort?

Me and one of my sisters used to occasionally share a bath and we’d pour in shampoo, shower gel etc and say we were making a potion which must’ve been really annoying for our parents who would have to keep replenishing the stuff we were wasting on our ‘potion’ (sorry Mum). As an adult I haven’t attempted any sort of proper potion.


13. Do you get scared easily?

I would say yes which is a blessing and a curse. When it comes to horror movies, Scare Mazes, stuff like that I do enjoy being scared so the fact I’m easier to scare makes it more enjoyable. It can be a pain though because I’m also scared of a lot of mundane stuff like spiders, thunder storms, turbulence and it can actually be quite exhausting worrying and fretting all the time.


14. Have you ever played Bloody Mary?

No – I think games like that are a bit of nonsense but I still wouldn’t tempt fate!


15. Do you believe in demons/the devil?

I don’t know. I’m a Christian and I believe in God but I’ve never been sure about the devil or demons. Maybe not the devil but I could believe in demons – one of the guys at the ghost hunt said one of the questions they often ask an Ouija Board is ‘did you ever walk this earth’ and generally if they didn’t they’re stronger when controlling the board. I couldn’t say for definite though!


16. You’re home alone but you hear footsteps in your house, what do you do?

I used to hear bangs from upstairs all the time at my Mum’s house – she insisted it was the neighbours but I don’t know. One day I heard loud bangs when I got home from school and it creeped me out so much that I left and walked to my friend Olivia’s house where I hung out until my Mum finished work.

I live in a flat now where I often hear doors banging and footsteps and it sounds like someone’s coming into my flat but they’re not so I think I wouldn’t react to be honest.


17. If you got trapped in one scary movie, which would you choose?

I really don’t know. When me and the girls went camping we did the TikTok ‘Michael Myers’ challenge where we ran to get into Hirst’s car and lock the doors behind us before ‘Michael’ gets us. I absolutely panicked, only just managed to get the car door unlocked and then hopped into the car leaving the key in the door outside. So I wouldn’t survive in ‘Halloween’ apparently.

18. If you could only wear one Halloween costume for the rest of your life, what would you be?

I quite like wearing traditional spooky Halloween costumes, so like my favourite outfit I own is probably my purple witch one so maybe that. I wouldn’t have minded a new outfit this year but I didn’t have the money or anywhere to wear a new outfit really.

If I could only have one forever then yeah it would be like a witch’s outfit.


19. Would you ever go to a graveyard at night?

My main concern with being out at night isn’t the dead to be honest, it’s the living! So I’d like to because the atmosphere would be spooky and cool but anyone living could stumble in and do anything.


20. In a zombie apocalypse what is your weapon of choice?

People that are desperate for a zombie apocalypse amaze me because yeah it’d be interesting to see how I react and if I could survive but I wouldn’t wanna live like that for the rest of my life? I don’t know, I’d probably be useless with any weapon but probably something like a sword to go around slicing off zombie heads.


21. Would you rather to go to a Halloween party or go trick or treating?

I’m not gonna lie, I miss trick or treating and I actually feel like trick or treating has gotten better in the UK in recent years. Halloween has always been more of an American thing but we’re starting to embrace it more over here which I like. I like going to my brothers on Halloween because he lives in a very family-oriented part of town where they go all out so I put decorations out and have trick or treater’s knock which is nice. Now I live in a flat I won’t be able to do that myself!

So yeah, if it was socially acceptable for adults to trick or treat in this country then I would absolutely pick that. Who is saying no to free chocolate and sweets?

22. You’re in a horror movie. Are you the final girl, the first to die, the comic relief, the sceptic, the smart one, or the killer?

Jess J would be the final girl, Becca would be the killer, me or Hirst would either be the first to die or the comic relief, I’m not really sure which way around.


23. Do you have to watch something happy after watching a horror movie so you can go to sleep?

It depends how creepy the movie was and if I set an atmosphere. Last year for Halloween I switched all the lights off, lit candles and rewatched ‘The Descent’ which is an amazing horror movie. I loved my old flat and never got any bad vibes from it but there was a scary atmosphere in there after watching the movie so I did have to watch something childish to lift the mood back up a bit!

It really depends on the movie and how I’ve watched it. I watched a few horror movies with the girls when they came over and didn’t need to counteract it with anything happy/childish afterwards. So it really depends!


24. Whilst watching scary movies, are you the person who yells at the characters, the person with their eyes covered the whole time, or the person who falls asleep?

A combination of the first two depending on what movie I’m watching! I remember me, Becca and Jess yelling throughout the final scenes of ‘The House at the End of the Street’ and being pleased when Elissa actually did what we were telling her to do. At home I’m more of a yeller, in the cinema I’m more of an eyes covered the whole time!


25. Favourite scary book?

I actually haven’t read many scary books, when it comes to books I’m more of a mystery person if I’m heading towards that genre although I am working my way through Stephen King’s ‘Pet Sematary’ this year. I did like ‘Frozen Charlotte’ by Alex Bell. It’s not really a horror book and I wouldn’t really say I ‘enjoyed’ it but ‘Living Dead Girl’ by Elizabeth Scott as well.


26. How old were you when you saw your first horror movie?

The whole way through? I think I was eleven, when my sister put on ‘The Descent’ and assured me there wasn’t much blood. She was wrong, there’s literal pools of it. Even though I was young I still thought it was a good film but back then I hated horror movies. I remember going to a friend’s house and there were a bunch of kids there and one of them snuck up the ‘Saw’ movie for us to watch. I said I was going to get a drink and he said “Don’t tell your Mum about the movie!” so I assured him I wouldn’t. I made my drink and then sat downstairs until my Mum announced we were going. Even now that I like horror movies it’s not my type of film at all so I’m glad I bailed on it.

The movie that got me into horror films was ‘Orphan’ when I watched it with my friend Olivia. She was the one who kept insisting we should watch it one Halloween and I kept refusing, now I’m the one who’s obsessed with it!

27. What was your first Halloween costume?

I’m not 100% sure but I had a black cat costume as a kid so probably that one!


28. What are you going to be for Halloween this year?

Hirst usually holds an annual Halloween party but she’s not this year so I’m not dressing up! It doesn’t matter too much because me and Jess will be in London on the day the party would probably have been held anyway. For mine and Jess’ Halloween YouTube videos I dressed as a witch so I guess I went as a witch this Halloween!


29. If you could have a spooky Halloween pet (black cat, owl, bat, rat), what would you pick?

Definitely a black cat! They’re so cute, I wouldn’t mind getting a cat one day but my Mum is allergic which would mean she could never visit so I can’t get one just yet. I once had a weird dream about owls filling my house wherever I looked so they’ve given me the creeps ever since. Same with bats and rats, I’m just not keen.

There we have it the Spooky Halloween Tag! Please feel free to link me to your answers, I’d be interested to see what everyone else put!

Don’t Worry Darling (Olivia Wilde, 2022)

Please be aware that this review will contain spoilers.

For my birthday this year I spent the day at Resort World in Birmingham and was keen to watch a movie at some point to get the full Resort World experience. When I first saw the trailer for ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ and saw it was coming out a week before my birthday I was over the moon – a thriller starring Florence Pugh, Chris Pine and Harry Styles was right up my street and I was so excited. I’m not gonna get into the details of the controversies surrounding the promotion of the movie other than to say the drama of whether or not Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine was absolutely hilarious.

For those unfamiliar with the premise ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ is a bit of a ‘Stepford Wives’-esque movie about a 1950’s housewife who begins to worry her husband’s glamorous lifestyle and job are hiding something more sinister. We went to the 7PM showing on my birthday and at the end of the film as a group we had mixed feelings with Jess & Hirst who had fully enjoyed the film whilst Becca and I were on the fence.

We’ll start with the acting because that seems to be causing a fair amount of controversy. Florence Pugh acted her absolute ass off in this film and she was amazing, as was Chris Pine. Harry Styles did okay but any scenes where he was angry or upset took me out of the film completely– his acting isn’t to be trashed completely but it definitely needs some work and to pair him with Florence Pugh was always setting him up for failure to be honest. I think also and this might sound stupid but he can’t switch off the face he’s Harry Styles, he doesn’t have the ability. I love Florence but when I watch her in a movie she becomes the character so in this she became Alice whereas Harry was just Harry for me, not Jack. It’s like when we’re watching a period movie and Becca says ‘that boy has definitely seen an iPhone’ Harry is just that type of person who unfortunately doesn’t have the natural ability to fully adapt into a new person.

This is a major spoiler alert but I found Harry’s acting better in pre-simulation Jack when he was a greasy nobody. He did a great job of making that character completely unlikable. But, and again spoiler alert, he kind of ruins the scene where Alice is dragged out of the car. Florence’s acting is so emotional and then Harry does that over the top crying that did make me laugh a little when it wasn’t supposed to.

As mentioned, Harry’s acting isn’t that bad but it was noticeably poor compared to his cast mates unfortunately.

In terms of the plot I absolutely love the idea but I feel like there was a lot thrown in that could’ve been explored more fully when big chunks of the runtime were just kind of artsy shots thrown in that didn’t add much to the overall plot. I would’ve rather spent that time exploring aspects of the film like what actually was the plane that Alice saw, what were the tremors going on through the town that everyone barely reacted to, even just more on how the simulation came to be and more of how Jack got involved or more of Frank’s involvement. So many interesting angles to go down and we didn’t really explore any of them.

I also wish the ending had been a bit longer like if we’d actually got to see Alice wake up and then what she does with her life next, only an extra five minutes or so – it could’ve still ended on a bit of a cliff-hanger, like she could have seen someone from the simulation in real life or something. Maybe Olivia was hoping for a sequel but given the rumours about her and Florence, and also Florence removing herself from the press run I would say that’s rather unlikely – which is a shame as I’d actually love to see more world-building for this.

Overall I’m still on the fence – I absolutely love the idea and it had so much potential but it’s missing something for me and I’m not even sure what. The overall vibe of the movie is great, there’s just something not there that I can’t put my finger on.

I would recommend this movie because it was an interesting watch and it’s one of those that does cause a discussion afterwards which I always enjoy but it’s not one I’d be able to watch over and over again.