Happy October!
Today, we’re introducing a new monthly series of Media Picks! These will include recommendations from us, your editors, of primary movies, books, and songs for the month!
This month, we’re kicking off spooky seasons with SEVERAL recommendations of thrillers and horror, along with a few recs of fall warmth as it starts to get cooler on campus. Enjoy!
Lola’s Picks:
Books -
The House Across the Lake
By: Riley Sager
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Published: 2022
Length: 369 Pages
Goodreads rating: ☆3.59/5
Goodreads Synopsis:
Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.
One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession, and how looks can be very deceiving.
With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy surprises, Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake unveils more than one twist that will shock readers until the very last page.
The Paris Apartment
By: Lucy Foley
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Published: 2022
Length: 360 Pages
Goodreads rating: ☆3.67/5
Goodreads Synopsis:
Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less-than-ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.
The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.
The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge
Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.
Black Chalk
By: Christopher J. Yates
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Published: 2013
Length: 354 Pages
Goodreads rating: ☆3.21/5
Goodreads Synopsis:
It was only ever meant to be a game played by six best friends in their first year at Oxford University; a game of consequences, silly forfeits, and childish dares. But then the game changed: The stakes grew higher and the dares more personal and more humiliating, finally evolving into a vicious struggle with unpredictable and tragic results. Now, fourteen years later, the remaining players must meet again for the final round. Who knows better than your best friends what would break you?
I Have Some Questions For You
By: Rebecca Makkai
Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Literary Fiction
Published: 2023
Length: 438 Pages
Goodreads rating: ☆3.66/5
Goodreads Synopsis:
A successful film professor and podcaster, Bodie Kane is content to forget her past—the family tragedy that marred her adolescence, her four largely miserable years at a New Hampshire boarding school, and the murder of her former roommate, Thalia Keith, in the spring of their senior year. Though the circumstances surrounding Thalia's death and the conviction of the school's athletic trainer, Omar Evans, are hotly debated online, Bodie prefers—needs—to let sleeping dogs lie.
But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn't as much of an outsider at Granby as she'd thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.
If We Were Villains
By: M.L. Rio
Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Literary Fiction
Published: 2017
Length: 354 Pages
Goodreads rating: ☆4.20/5
Goodreads Synopsis:
Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail - for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he's released, he's greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.
As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingenue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.
Films -
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Duration: 1h 47m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Thriller/Horror
IMDB Rating: ☆8.2/10
IMDB Synopsis: Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, starts treating a young boy, Cole, who encounters dead people and convinces him to help them. In turn, Cole helps Malcolm reconcile with his estranged wife.
Signs (2002)
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Duration: 1h 46m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Thriller/Sci-fi
Where to watch: Max, Hulu
IMDB Rating: ☆6.8/10
IMDB Synopsis: A widowed former reverend living with his children and brother on a Pennsylvania farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields, which suggests something more frightening to come.
The Village (2004)
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Duration: 1h 48m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Thriller/Horror
Where to watch: Hulu
IMDB Rating: ☆6.6/10
IMDB Synopsis: A series of events tests the beliefs of a small isolated countryside village.
Fall (vibes) Favorite -
Pump Up The Volume (1990)
Directed by: Allan Moyle
Duration: 1h 45m
Rating: R
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Where to watch: Max
IMDB Rating: ☆7.2/10
IMDB Synopsis: Mark runs a pirate radio station and causes an uproar when he speaks his mind and enthralls fellow teens.
Scent of a Woman (1992)
Directed by: Martin Brest
Duration: 2h 36m
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
IMDB Rating: ☆8.0/10
IMDB Synopsis: A prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.
Myka’s Picks:
Films -
Midsommar (2019)
Directed by: Ari Aster
Duration: 2h 28m
Rating: R
Genre: Psychological Thriller/Horror
IMDB Rating: ☆7.1/10
IMDB Synopsis: A couple travels to Northern Europe to visit a rural hometown's fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.
Us (2019)
Directed by: Jordan Peele
Duration: 2h 1m
Rating: R
Genre: Thriller/Horror
Where to watch: Peacock
IMDB Rating: ☆6.8/10
IMDB Synopsis: A family's serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them.
Nope (2022)
Directed by: Jordan Peele
Duration: 2h 10m
Rating: R
Genre: Horror/Sci-Fi
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
IMDB Rating: ☆6.8/10
IMDB Synopsis: The residents of a lonely gulch in inland California bear witness to an uncanny and chilling discovery.
Hereditary (2018)
Directed by: Ari Aster
Duration: 2h 7m
Rating: R
Genre: Horror/Indie Film
Where to Watch: Hulu, Max
IMDB Rating: ☆7.3/10
IMDB Synopsis: A grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.
Coraline (2009)
Directed by: Henry Selick
Duration: 1h 55m
Rating: PG
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Horror
Where to Watch: Hulu, Max
IMDB Rating: ☆7.7/10
IMDB Synopsis: An adventurous 11-year-old girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.
The Menu (2022)
Directed by: Mark Mylod
Duration: 1h 46m
Rating: R
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Where to Watch: Hulu, Max
IMDB Rating: ☆7.2/10
IMDB Synopsis: A young couple travels to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.
No One Will Save You (2023)
Directed by: Brian Duffield
Duration: 1h 33m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror/Sci-Fi
Where to Watch: Hulu
IMDB Rating: ☆6.3/10
IMDB Synopsis: An exiled anxiety-ridden homebody must battle an alien who's found its way into her home.
Hellraiser (2022)
Directed by: David Bruckner
Duration: 2h
Rating: R
Genre: Horror/Supernatural horror
Where to Watch: Hulu
IMDB Rating: ☆6.0/10
IMDB Synopsis: A take on Clive Barker's 1987 horror classic where a young woman struggling with addiction comes into possession of an ancient puzzle box, unaware that its purpose is to summon the Cenobites.
Carrie (1976)
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Duration: 1h 38m
Rating: R
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Where to Watch: Hulu, Max
IMDB Rating: ☆7.4/10
IMDB Synopsis: Carrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.
The Addams Family (1991)
Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld
Duration: 1h 39m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
IMDB Rating: ☆6.9/10
IMDB Synopsis: Con artists plan to fleece an eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long-lost uncle.
Kylie’s Picks:
Films -
The Shining (1990)
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Duration: 2h 26m
Rating: R
Genre: Horror/Drama
Where to Watch: Max
IMDB Rating: ☆8.4/10
IMDB Synopsis: A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
A Quiet Place (2018)
Directed by: John Krasinski
Duration: 1h 30m
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror/Drama/Sci-fi
Where to Watch: Paramount+
IMDB Rating: ☆7.5/10
IMDB Synopsis: A family struggles for survival in a world where most humans have been killed by blind but noise-sensitive creatures. They are forced to communicate in sign language to keep the creatures at bay.
The Conjuring (2013)
Directed by: James Wan
Duration: 1h 52m
Rating: R
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Where to Watch: Max, Hulu
IMDB Rating: ☆7.5/10
IMDB Synopsis: Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Directed by: Henry Selick
Duration: 1h 16m
Rating: PG
Genre: Family, Fantasy
Where to watch: Disney+
IMDB Rating: ☆7.9/10
IMDB Synopsis: Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.
Fall (vibes) Favorites -
Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)
Created by: Amy Sherman-Palladino
Rating: TV-PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Where to watch: Netflix
IMDB Rating: ☆8.2/10
IMDB Synopsis: A dramedy centering around the relationship between a thirtysomething single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Directed by: Peter Weir
Duration: 2h 8m
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama/Teen
IMDB Rating: ☆8.1/10
IMDB Synopsis: Maverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Duration: 2h 6m
Rating: R
Genre: Drama/Indie film
IMDB Rating: ☆8.3/10
IMDB Synopsis: Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
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