Last school year, right before spring break I wrote a piece just like this one. I gave a ton of normal, basic things everyone and their mom has heard of. So this time will be different. I will suggest one movie, one book, one tv show, and one video game. This time I sought after things away from the main stream. Things that should be new to most of you. All four of these items will reflect the spooky/ fall atmosphere and all of these will be spoiler free.

First up is the psychological horror masterpiece, “The Butterfly Effect.” This movie was widely known but now has entered the world of irrelevance, aka my realm.This movie is about Evan Trebor, a young college student who has the power to alter the past. It gets extremely dark but it is so beautifully written. But this is your trigger warning, the movie is rated R and deals with a lot of dark/ evil stuff. Just do a quick google search for the triggers, because I don’t think listing them here would fly. But the movie is a masterpiece with compelling characters, plot, and it makes you yell “OH MY GOD! I NEVER SAW THAT COMING!” This is the movie that put Ashton Kutcher on the serious actor map. This cult classic is a much watch for this Halloween season. Also apparently it is a trilogy, I didn’t know that until right now, so I guess you can watch the next two if you’re so inclined.

Ransom Riggs is a master of writing creepy books. This is most likely why his book “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” took off how it did. This book is the start of a series, so technically I am suggesting four books (with five and six coming soon). It stars Jacob Portman, a sixteen year old boy visiting some family in London because of a family tragedy. It is here he is led to an “abandoned” orphanage by a mysterious girl. And she leads him to the Peculiars. The plot takes off from here, and goes into directions you would never have guessed. But to make the deal even sweeter, Riggs uses real vintage photos through out the book. None of these crazy photos he uses are staged. The photos just add to the creepy atmosphere he is going for. It is beautiful and unique. It is slow at first but once it gets going, it is beautiful. This is a one of a kind (technically four of a kind) book and it is a great read for the season.

I have been wanting to talk about this show for at least year but never got the chance. I rewatch this every year around this time. Over The Garden Wall is another cult classic show from Cartoon Network. The show is a little over eight hours long aka bingeable in one night. The show follows Wirt and his brother Greg through another realm known as “The Unknown”. In the unknown they meet unlikely allies, travel through out the land, all while evading a being only known as “The Beast.” The colors use ugly/ dark shades and the music is just so beautiful. everything in this show has a dark theme that adds to the overall atmosphere. This is easily one of my favorite shows ever. Plus it has Elijah Wood, what’s not to love?

This final item on our list is the entire reason I’m writing this. This game I finally beat a week ago and I loved it all the way through. If the spring edition was an excuse to talk about Stardew Valley, then this time the excuse is Hollow Knight. Hollow Knight is a 2D, side scrolling metroidvania (meaning a large open world game where you progress by unlocking items/ areas), and it is a masterpiece. The game stars a lone vessel called, the knight. The knight is called back to the kingdom of Hallownest to uncover its past, seal (or destroy) the infection, and save the kingdom. With an amazing cast of characters, beautiful music, perfectly crafted boss fights, masterful artwork, and a deep story, Hollow Knight is easily one of the best games of all time. It’s dark style and creepy atmosphere makes it a perfect time for this time of the year.

I hope you enjoy something from this list, that’s if you check any of this stuff out. All four of these items are the cream of the crop from their respective categories. And all four of these have that spooky, fall vibe. Perfect for this time of year.