Set the stage for Halloween with classic horror films

NEW YORK — Horror is in the air come Halloween. For those who enjoy a good fright, watching a scary flick with a bucket of popcorn in hand can be just the trick.

The following films make ideal choices for scary Halloween fun.

• Repulsion (1965): A young, beautiful woman (Catherine Deneuve) is left alone in the apartment she shares with her sister. While alone, she begins to suffer from hallucinations, catalepsy and madness that eventually leads her to murder. This marks the first English-language film for director Roman Polanski.
• Fire in the Sky (1993): Based on a true story, an Arizona logger disappears for five days in a supposed UFO encounter. Featuring one of the more realistic alien abduction scenes in film history, this film may cause fans to glance nervously at the night skies.
• The Amityville Horror (1979): Another movie based on alleged real events, this film tells the story of the Lutz family, of Long Island, N.Y. Newlyweds move into a house where a murder took place and experience strange events that have them running for cover.
• Pan’s Labyrinth (2006): This film from Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro details the strange journeys of an imaginative young girl in an eerie but fascinating fantasy world.
• Dawn of the Dead (2004): Several survivors of a worldwide plague that produced flesh-eating zombies are forced to take refuge in a Midwestern shopping mall to escape impending doom. This is a remake of a 1978 film of the same name.
• The Mothman Prophecies (2002): Richard Gere stars in this film as a reporter drawn to a small town to investigate reports of horror at the hands of a strange, shadowy figure. When predictions begin coming true, the reporter is caught up in bizarre events. This movie is based on a book chronicling supposedly true events from the 1960s.
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984): Freddie Krueger, a deranged child molester who was burned alive, comes back to haunt the dreams of his killers’ children. Armed with a handful of razor blades, Krueger earned a spot alongside horror movie legends such as Michael Meyers and Norman Bates.
• The Fly (1986): An eccentric scientist transforms into a man/fly hybrid when a teleportation experiment goes horribly wrong. Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum star.
• Paranormal Activity (2007): Shot in a single-camera style made popular by The Blair Witch Project, this film features a slow build of suspense, creating a tension that has viewers enthralled by the disturbing demonic presence.
• The People Under the Stairs (1991): A burglary attempt finds a young boy trapped inside a home of a deranged brother and sister who keep “children” under the stairs of their home.
• Cujo (1983): A woman and her son are trapped in a car when a rabid dog terrorizes them, intent on the kill.
• The Hills Have Eyes (2006): A suburban family’s car breaks down while the family travels through a desert area once used for government nuclear testing. But the breakdown may actually be a trap perpetrated by inhabitants of the site bent on creating a gruesome massacre.
• The Sixth Sense (1998): A little boy has unusual powers his mother cannot explain, so she seeks the help of a child psychologist in this terrifying thriller.