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Waiting for your favorite time of year can be trying in the best of times and downright torture at the worst of times.  Sometimes new events are produced to tide people over until their coveted holiday, while other times, waiting is the only thing to do.

Thankfully, your Monster Mama has just discovered a glorious celebration to take the edge off until Fall hits. Some of my monsters may already know of this wondrous new tradition, but for those of you who don’t, let me introduce it to you.

SUMMERWEEN!

But before we dive any deeper into this post, might I draw your attention to this conveniently located “hiring” sign? Yes, that’s right, Myths & Mischief is looking to welcome new faces to our crew of creatives. If you’re an artist, writer, social media maven, coding genius, or graphic designer who prefers to work remotely, we’d love to meet you!

Now, where were we? SUMMERWEEN!

There is nothing further from the sweetness of cool fall nights tinged with bonfires and eerie hauntings than summer. Summer is hot, uncomfortable at times, and far too bright to enshroud the masses in spooky darkness the way autumn can. Yet in 2012, an episode of Gravity Falls brought the idea of Summerween into the world (1).  

In 2024, the idea began to gain traction, and over the past few years, more and more interest has taken hold in the U.S. (1).

For a Halloween lover such as myself, celebrating the spooky season in the dead of summer, when I also happen to celebrate my birthday, is almost better than the real thing.  Almost. Key word, almost!

Nothing can replace the pleasure of colored leaves falling and shadows playing at the edges of your peripheral vision. A thrill of fear shoots straight up your spine, and then the frigid chill in the night air anchors it at the base of your skull. Oh yeah… that’s the stuff.

So, how does one get that same rush in the midst of summer without a cool breeze in sight?

The answer is rather simple. Horror doesn’t exist only during the fall; there are plenty of films and spooky traditions that happen year-round, and summer has some perfect ones.

Setting the Mood:

What do most people think of when they think of summer? Maybe freedom from school,vacations,or road trips?!Yes, please!

 

There are more, of course, but most of our memories from childhood are wrapped up in getaways, scorching days at the beach with week-long sunburns, and hot summer nights lying out under the stars. Each of these is a perfect catalyst for horror.

 

And I have a few movie ideas that will get your Summerween started off right.

 

Keep in mind this list can grow, and should! Drop your ideas below for more Summerween films! For now I’ll stick to what I know and provide a jumping-off point for a night of horror.

 

Jaws.

 

What’s more scary than a summer down at the beach with a rogue Great White shark eating residents and vacationers alike. Jaws doesn’t discriminate; everyone is prey. From young ones to fully grown adults who have spent their life at sea, no one is safe from the wrath of this shark.

 

Please keep in mind that Great Whites are not mindless killing machines. They are in need of protection, in fact. But for a film villain, Jaws ranks as one of summer’s top horror machines!

 

If you haven’t seen it, surely you have heard the two-note score that has plagued many a watcher for decades. To this day, I have a hard time looking into dark, deep water without wondering, is Jawsdown there?

 

I Know What You Did Last Summer:

 

 

No, I’m not talking about  the new one. Maybe it’s good, but I prefer the original. It was 1997, and four of the hottest young stars were cast in a movie about a trip gone wrong!  As careless and reckless as most well-to-do teens are in movies, these four got into an accident and ‘killed’ someone— or so they thought.

 

What ensues is a karmic balance of terror and survival to see who is the victor: the victim-turned-killer, or the killers-turned-victims.  

 

This film gives you a dose of spooky horror down by the seaside in the middle of the hot summer months. Maybe summer vacation isn’t actually all that safe?

 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre:

 

 

Pick the one you want!  This is road-trip horror at its grittiest! We’re talking miles of hot Texas highway, redneck towns where the police are just a suggestion, and deep, dark secrets waiting to tear people apart. Oh, and don’t forget about the cannibals. There have to be cannibals to give it that edge, you know? This is gore and terror at its finest, where monsters are made and unleashed on unsuspecting victims.  Here’s a list!

 

From IMDB:

1. 1. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)  – this is the original, and most originals are far less gory than what audiences see today.
   2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
   3. Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
   4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1994)
   5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) – This is where I started on my TCM path, and it doesn’t disappoint.  It’s not for the faint of heart.  If you don’t like gore, do not watch it.
   6. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) – following up on the heels of 2003’s TCM, this film delves deeper into psychological horror and gore by keeping viewers on the edge of their seats. Everything about this is unsettling because you know people are going to die. You just don’t know how.
   7. Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013): This was a fun and rather refreshing addition to the franchise. Of course, we have Leatherface and a few unsuspecting victims, but there is a great twist that reframes our psychotic murderer and gives him a bit more humanity.  Check it out, it’s worth it.
   8. Leatherface (2017) – Who doesn’t love an origin story!  Leatherface wasn’t always a raging psychopath hellbent on killing people, in fact, most people aren’t born that way;they are made. Definitely check this film out if you want to see how Leatherface became the monster who tormented travelers who are making their way through Texas. For my psychology nerds, you will appreciate it quite a bit.

1.  

2. The Hitcher (2007):

 

I believed this was going to be a subpar horror film with gratuitous violence that didn’t serve a point.  Boy, was I wrong! What I think helped the film so much was casting a fantastic actor as our terrifying murderer.

 

You all know Sean Bean, right?  Boromir? The Stark patriarch from Game of Thrones (I didn’t watch it—don’t hate me).He was also in National Treasure with Nicolas Cage, so he’s played a bad guy before.  But The Hitcher was on another level entirely.

 

Here’s this handsome, charming man who needs a ride, and two young people who willingly comply—foolishly, we soon discover. 

What starts out as a good deed turns into a road trip from hell where survival is fought for tooth and nail. The acting is fantastic, and I cannot stress enough that having Sean Bean in the role of an unapologetic madman is movie gold. He adds a haunting element to the film because he looks so trustworthy…until he isn’t.

 

A Quiet Place (2018)

 

 

Now that we have had our fill of gore, fright, and psychopaths, let’s turn to something a little offbeat.  The glory of horror is that not everything has to be in your face. Anticipation of the unknown does eighty-percent of the job of scaring people. Our minds often conjure the terror before a bad guy even needs to show up on screen (Jaws!  I cannot stress it enough!  Go watch the film!)

 

A Quiet Place definitely leans into that unseen terror where everyone knows the world isn’t safe and death is literally around every corner with one wrong move. There are three entries into this franchise, and each one is worth the watch. tarting with the first is a must.

 

What makes A Quiet Place so special is that there is no one coming to save the characters.  Their survival relies solely on wit and chance because the foe they are fighting is bigger, stronger, and clearly superior in countless ways. Dread settles into the watcher’s mind for the duration of the movie. There isn’t a moment’s peace. John Krasinski gave the world a one-hour-and-thirty-minute masterpiece.

 

What now?

 

 

Now you pick a few nights during the summer—preferably those with a thunderstorm brewing—and start your celebration.

 

Dress up if you feel so inspired! Cook some spooky-inspired or witchy food, and pop on a good summer horror flick to set the vibe. Grab a couple of friends and turn it into a sleepover!

 

Enjoy this fan-made holiday to its fullest.I certainly plan to do so. It should tide everyone over until October.

 

Monster Mama hopes you have a gloriously haunting Summerween!

 

If you want to see more content like this, don’t hesitate to follow and like!  As always, if there is something specific you would like to see, drop us a comment below!

 

Bye bye, little monsters.

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Sources:

1)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summerween

All Movie information was taken from IMDB.com