It's that spooky time of year again. The time of year were people talk about monsters, tell scary stories around a camp fire, and celebrate the magic of pure evil (that last one might just be me). It's also a time to dress up in costumes, go trick or treating, go to parties, and watch a scary movie or two. That last one might be hard if you plan on seeing any horror movies in theaters.
I've noticed over the last couple of years that there really aren't that many horror films that come out in October, if any. For example, this year there really aren't any full on horror films being released this month. "The Joker" is more of a drama/thriller and "Zombieland: Double Tap", while having zombies, is more comedy than horror. The closest thing to a horror film I can think of releasing this month is "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" due to it being about a villainous witch character, but it still comes across more as a dark fairy tale than horror.
Last year the only horror movie I remember being released in October was "Halloween (2018)". Not only that, but most of the big horror films released each year are released at strange times. Both "IT" and "IT: Chapter 2" were released in September of their respective years. Other horror films like "Get Out" and "Us" were released in February and March. I've also seen countless horror films released in January and summer.
It feels odd when horror films come out throughout the year, but the one of the few times when they are scarce it's during the month of October. I don't know exactly why there aren't more horror films in October, but it always feels like a lost opportunity. October should be the best time to release horror films.
I guess people are willing to watch horror films whenever they come out, so there's no pressure by studios to release them exclusively around Halloween time, but that still doesn't mean you can't still release a big horror film during October. Most of the horror films people watch in October are at home on video or on a streaming service. Horror should make a comeback in October, the possibilities are almost endless.
We could see big marketing pushes for several horror films in October, although that could lead to increased competition between several films over the span of a month, which would mean a lower box office gross for each film. Maybe that's why most horror films don't all release during October, because they would all have to struggle to compete with each other rather than spreading out their release dates to maximize potential profit. However, there should still be one or two big horror releases left in October. October is basically an entire month of Halloween and you're telling me that you can't have at least two horror films in the entire month. I find that very hard to believe.
