Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, and it’s easy to see why. I mean, what other holiday has activities such as the carving of pumpkins, dressing up in costumes and most important of all, spooky movies with friends?

This Halloween season, my friends and I created a new Halloween tradition: to watch through one of the best horror movies around “The Conjuring.” The movie is set in the 1970s and follows paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren. They are asked by the Catholic church to travel to the home of Carolyn and Roger Perron to investigate claims of poltergeist activities.

Once the Warrens arrive, they quickly realize that what they are dealing with is demonic in nature and begin to experience first-hand the wrath of the demonic entities. The entities only continue to grow stronger with the Warren’s arrival and eventually attach themselves to Carolyn as the demons attempt to possess her to kill her children. 

The whole story reaches a climax when Ed Warren finally attempts to remove the entity from her through an exorcism and is met with harsh resistance.

The movie sets itself apart from others because it does not overly rely on the use of jump scares, which is something horror movies tend to do. Instead, the film uses atmosphere and tension to create truly eerie moments.

One of the scariest parts in the movie for me is when Lorraine is doing laundry outside. What could be scary about that right? Well, a lot. As she puts the laundry on the drying rack, an entity emerges and shows itself to her. This moment in the movie made me jump out of my seat because of how unexpected it is. The movie has a lot of other moments that are cause for panic, but not in a way where it feels like a cheap scare. 

At the end of the movie, I found myself genuinely spooked. I know what you’re thinking: why would someone who has anxiety want to get scared for fun and watch a movie series about possessions … are you crazy? Well to answer that question simply, yes. But in all honesty, it’s never really about the movie itself or how scary they are. The important part to me is to create a new tradition with friends and attempt to make up for the time COVID-19 has stolen.

Something so simple as gathering with friends and watching a movie that scares the shit out of me seems much more valuable now that I have experienced Halloween during a pandemic. Never again will I take for granted the feeling of gathering with friends to watch spooky movies. With that being said, even if you are someone like myself who is scared easily, get outside of your comfort zone and invite some friends of your own to watch a spooky movie. College is a time to build friendships and make memories, and Halloween offers one of the best times to do so. Whether you start with “The Conjuring” or not, one thing should remember is: don’t be afraid to let out a scream and jump out of your seat because that’s all a part of the season.