Many people feel that it is blasphemous, or at least tacky, to start celebrating Halloween any earlier than October. However, there are others who hail the arrival of spooky season long before the first leaf of autumn has hit the ground: there are no major American holidays during the months of August and September, so some people like to jump ahead to the biggest holiday after the Fourth of July and start celebrating Halloween months before the actual holiday. Fathom Events is evidently Team Summerween, as the Fathom Fright Fest has already begun! Participating theatres will be showing a wide range of horror films, from classics to brand new releases. The frightful festivities started with showings of the 2009 creepy claymation film Coraline yesterday (August 28) and today (August 29), and will continue every week until late October. Check out the full lineup below!
Sunday, September 3 & Wednesday, September 6: John Carpenter’s They Live (1988)
Sunday, September 10 & Wednesday, September 13: John Carpenter’s Christine (1983)
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of this film, showings will feature an exclusive intro from director John Carpenter.
Thursday, September 21: Sung Kang’s Shaky Shivers (2023)
Sunday, October 1 & Wednesday, October 4: William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973)
Theatres will be playing the 50th Anniversary version of this film, which is 12 minutes longer than the original theatrical version.
Sunday, October 8 & Wednesday, October 11: Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
As with Christine, showings of this film will feature bonus content from the director.
Thursday, October 19: Andrew Bowser’s Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023)
Sunday, October 22 & Monday, October 23: Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963)
Saturday, October 28; Sunday, October 29; Monday, October 30; Tuesday, October 31 & Wednesday, November 1: Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away (2001)
Just like last year, this film is technically part of Fathom’s Studio Ghibli Fest and not the Fathom Fright Fest, but the whimsical nature of the movie as well as the timing of the showings coincides well with the lineup of creepy movies.
