Greetings, ghoulies! Welcome back once again! It’s time to start preparing for another year of Horror And Son’s annual… well, mostly annual… Halloween Horrors contributor series!

Wait… has it already been a year since our last Halloween Horrors series? Where has the time gone? No, really! Where has it gone? Truth be told, I’ve found myself so focused on just living my life this past year that I’ve admittedly had severe difficulty finding the focus to write posts and/or reviews for this site in that time. That said, I’ve undeniably grown a strong emotional attachment to this series over the years. Reading all of the various submissions that I receive from our contributors each and every year… well, mostly every year… truly does help get me in the spirit of the holiday and amped up for all of the traditions that go with it, and I hope it does the same for you!

Well, let’s not waste any time and get to this year’s Halloween Horrors series theme and rules!

But first…

WHAT IS HALLOWEEN HORRORS?

If, by some chance, you happen to be new to discovering this site, then I guess you’ll probably want some sort of explanation for what this series actually is.

The Halloween Horrors series is a month-long collection of reviews, essays, articles, and opinion pieces that have generously been contributed to the site by horror fans just like yourself. The Halloween Horrors series began in 2015 when I asked a few personal friends of mine, as well as a few of the site’s newly found friends from other sites and Facebook pages to each write a few words on why they loved the Halloween season and which films they watched to help celebrate and commemorate the holiday.

The series proved to be quite successful for the website. More importantly, it proved to be quite fun for all those involved. As such, the Halloween Horrors series has returned each year (minus a 2-year mental health break in 2021 and 2022), growing in numbers from a handful of contributors to over two dozen each year. The theme of the series may change from year to year, but the purpose and spirit of this series has always remained the same.

The Halloween Horrors series is NOT a contest or competition. No one will be winning anything, nor should anyone be trying to “out-perform” anyone else. The only “prize” you’ll receive is being a part of this event and part of our community. (Lucky you!) Instead, think of the series as a “celebration”, not only of our love for the horror genre, but also for our love of the Halloween season. There’s a very good chance you’ll be watching marathon upon marathon of horror films this October anyway, so consider this series as a chance to possibly share your thoughts on either one of your horror film favorites or even a film that you think perfectly encapsulates the look and “feel” of Halloween. With so many other contributors submitting posts on their favorite films, there’s even a chance you might discover a new “hidden gem” or two to add to your own watchlists. I know I have. 

As has always been the case, the Halloween Horrors series is open to all interested participants. Those affiliated with other websites/podcasts/vidcasts/etc. are also welcome to contribute. If nothing else, consider this series as an opportunity to help expose your outlet to the Horror And Sons audience, as well as to other content creators that contribute to the series. 

The Halloween Horrors series officially kicks off on the morning of October 1st. New entries, each from a different contributor, will be posting on this website throughout the month of October, with the hope being that we receive enough submissions to post a new entry each of the month’s 31 days. Links to each submission will be shared on the Horror And Sons Facebook and Instagram accounts.  There will be 28 contributor spots available. Once again, my wife and I will be contributing our own entries to the series. However, as of last year, my oldest son joined the list of series participants and has already claimed his topic for this year’s series!

So, if the Halloween Horrors series sounds like something that you might want to be a part of, be sure to read the rest of this post for all applicable rules. Trust me, there aren’t too many. If the series isn’t for you, that’s fine too! I just hope you’ll join us in October as a reader when the Halloween Horrors series starts in earnest. As for those of you who have contributed to this series in the past, you should already know what to expect. As always, I thank you for your interest and participation, and I look forward to having you be a part of this series once more!

 

“GET TO THE DAMNED TWIST ALREADY!”

To help keep the series interesting for readers, contributors, and myself alike, and to help present a bit of a challenge to our returning contributors, the theme for the Halloween Horrors series changes every year. Previous years’ themes have seen contributors discussing specific characters from various horror films, made-for-television films and Halloween episodes of beloved television series, or even having to pick a movie to discuss based on a random letter that I assigned to them. This year’s series is no different.

“So, what films will be considered acceptable topics for this year’s series?”, I hear you impatiently asking. Well, let’s answer that now.

“Tetraphobia: The Fear of Four”

This year, contributors will be allowed to choose their topic from one of the following two options.

OPTION A: Films released in a year ending in 4. Simple enough, right? To help get you started off on the right foot, here are some titles that would be acceptable topics:

House of Frankenstein (1944) – The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) – Blood and Black Lace (1964)

It’s Alive (1974) – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – In the Mouth of Madness (1994) – Saw (2004)

Annabelle (2014) – The First Omen (2024)

 

OPTION B: Films with a 4/Four in the title. Examples include:

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers – 1408 – The Fourth Kind

The 4D Man – The Four Skulls of Johnathan Drake – V/H/S/94

 

Once again, made-for-TV films would be acceptable topics as long as they meet one of the two above criteria. If you are unsure if your topic of choice would be acceptable, just ask! 

 

CLAIMING A TOPIC (The Fun Part… for me, anyway)

As previously stated, all are welcomed to contribute to our little Halloween series. Well, unless you pissed me off in the past and got banned from the series, but I think that was only like 3 or 4 people. However, in order to officially become a part of the series, you must “claim” the topic that you would like to write about. To do so, email us at horrorandsons@yahoo.com stating the topic/film that you would like to write about. Please use “Halloween Horrors 2024” in the subject line of your email. YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO CLAIM YOUR TOPIC STARTING AT 3PM EST/12PM PST ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST!!! NO CLAIMS WILL BE ACCEPTED BEFORE THAT TIME!! NO CLAIMS WILL BE ACCEPTED VIA FACEBOOK OR INSTAGRAM MESSENGER!!

“Claiming” of topics will happen on a “first come, first served” basis, with emails looked at in the order in which they are received. If the topic that you wish to write about has not been claimed by another person, it is yours and no other contributor will be allowed to write about that film! For example, if you are the first person to “claim” Interview with the Vampire, no other contributor will be allowed to write about that movie.

However, if you were to choose a topic that has already been claimed by another person, I will email you back as quickly as possible to notify you and to allow you to choose another topic. You will be given as much time as you’d like to pick a new topic, but please be advised that a spot in the series is not guaranteed as available spots will be given to the next interested participant(s).

As Horror And Sons is only one person, please understand that there may be delays in responding. I try my hardest to make this run as smoothly as possible, but as previous years have proven, mistakes and oversights can and do occasionally happen. I do apologize in advance for any miscommunications, mishaps, or other technical difficulties.

 

SUBMITTED ARTICLE RULES

All submitted entries must be at least 600 words long, but you are free to make your article as long and comprehensive as you wish. That said, I do recommend keeping your article/review under 3,000 words as articles/reviews longer than that have statistically under-performed in the past.

Please include any images that you would like used in your submitted entry as attachments, otherwise I will supply the images at my discretion. If you wish to have your submitted images placed in specific places within your piece, please notify me when you submit your entry. Otherwise, I will place them as I see fit.

All submissions MUST be received by 11:59pm EST/8:59pm PST on Sat, Sept 28th.  Any contributors who fail to submit their entry by the deadline will be excluded from this year’s series. You will also potentially be excluded from future Halloween Horrors series events. I do apologize if this seems somewhat short-tempered, but as the series does take time to put together and prep for posting, deadlines are imperative.

I will once again be writing intros to all of the submissions received. I do ask that any information that you may want disclosed about yourself be included when you send in your finished entry. If you are affiliated with another media outlet (websites, podcasts/webcasts, social media outlets, whatever), please let me know so that I can not only inform our readers, but also help promote any projects you may have planned/scheduled for the Halloween season as well! You are also more than welcome to not disclose any information at all. Please be forewarned that in these instances, I will be forced to just make shit up about you.

Please be advised that Horror And Sons reserves the right to edit any typos or errors in your submission. However, we do sincerely hope that you make every effort to submit a piece that has little to no need for editing.

COMMUNITY SPIRIT

I originally started the Halloween Horrors series with the hope that it would serve as a “common ground” for horror fans and Halloween lovers to come together and share their thoughts and opinions on what the holiday and horror mean to them and why the two go so well together. In those regards, I do believe that the series has succeeded. As such, I do still ask that all contributors please try to share at least a couple of the entries written by other contributors on their social media accounts. Thank you!

 

Well, there you have it! Again, please contact me if you have any questions! I look forward to another amazing year of the series, and eagerly await reading your submitted entries! Thank you, and let’s have another Halloween to remember 4-ever!