Monthly Media Recap - September 2025

 Hey, hey! The Monthly Media Recap is dropping a day early because tomorrow starts the annual, month-long Countdown to Halloween!

 

Linked titles will take you to a trailer. There's a lot to get to, so let's go!

 

 

Gatchaman Progress

Episodes watched this month: 3 

Currently up to: 62

 

Streaming

I didn't watch these all series in September, I just happened to finish watching them in September.

 

Dexter: Resurrection (Paramount)

I thought the end of New Blood was fine and wasn't expecting more but they came back swinging with a vengeance. An absolutely stacked cast and a secret club of serial killers made this a heck of a ride!

 

Alien Earth (Hulu)

My favorite live action Alien thing since Aliens. As much as I liked this, I feel like they crammed too much into it and didn't follow through on some of it. Maybe in season two? Some complained there wasn't enough xenomorph but I really liked seeing the other weird lifeforms and the trans-humanism themes.

 

Blockbuster (Netflix)

Despite not hearing anything good when it dropped, I'd been meaning to get around to this. I will watch Randall Park in anything, full stop. This wasn't nearly as bad as people seemed to think. It's not great but it's a perfectly decent sit-com.  

 

Wednesday (S2, Netflix)

Still loving the show for the most part. While the writers definitely "get" Wednesday, I feel like they're missing the mark on most of the rest of the family, especially Gomez. I'm also not a fan of Thing's subplot this season. The reveal was silly and I don't know why they did it other than the need to have everything tie into everything else.

 

Movies

 

Campfire Tales (1997, Tubi)

A horror anthology that gathers up some urban legends you probably haven't thought about since you were a kid. It's kind of like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark for an older audience. Despite the R rating, it feels a little tame but does an okay job of telling its stories. Having seen it now, I can say this is one of the worst trailers I've ever seen as far as how well it represents the movie.

 

Rating: 6/10

Ben Farthing's The 31st Trick-or-Treater

I've been a big fan of author Ben Farthings "I Found" horror story series and am excited to check out his latest, The 31st Trick-or-Treater.

Last Halloween, thirty trick-or-treaters vanished into the night. This October, they’re coming back—one by one, each day of the month. But every child carries the same chilling warning: something is returning on the 31st. Bob has never stopped searching for his daughter. Now, as the shadows of Halloween grow longer, he must face the darkness that stole her—before it takes everything again.

The 31st Trick-or-Treater is a Halloween advent novel: thirty-one nights, thirty-one chapters, and one final nightmare waiting on Halloween.

 

The book is written so that you read a chapter every day in October leading up to Halloween. I love the idea of this and wanted to spread the word about it.

 

The e-book releases on September 24th and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon (affiliate link). Ben may have physical books up at his website next week. While you're waiting, pick up any of the "I Found" books for a quick spooky read. 

 

Ben has also created a 31st Trick-or-Treater Read Along Facebook group.

Monthly Media Recap - August 2025

 Two months until Halloween! That means the blog will be going into hibernation mode for the next month so I can prepare a post for every day in October. 

 

Linked titles will take you to a trailer and let's get on with the show...

 

 

Shows

 

Twisted Metal (S2, Peacock)

I LOVE this show! It's been filling the hole in my heart left by SyFy's 2017 Blood Drive. Season 2 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger setting up a Season 3. If this doesn't happen I will NOT be happy! I know this is already based on a video game, but can we get a new video game based on the show?

 

Gatchaman Progress

Episodes watched this month: 8 Currently up to: 59

 

Movies

 

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

I guess you could call me a casual, enthusiastic fan of FF comics. I keep up with them because I like the character dynamics and the sci-fi elements. This movie delivered for me on both fronts and definitely had a human aspect to it that made it more than just another superhero movie. I love the art direction and that we're just dropped into it with enough backstory to skip the usual "origin story" tropes. My biggest complaint is that Ben got the short straw in the character development department.

 

Rating: 8/10 

 

 

Clown in a Cornfield (2025, Shudder & VOD)

Yes, it's a silly title but the movie itself has a little humor to it. This has actually been a book since 2020. I frequently see Amazon recommend it to me and just never got around to it. The movie doesn't do anything really new for the slasher genre but it doesn't have to because it's a near perfect specimen with some fun (sometimes funny) kills.

 

Rating: 7/10