10 Best Hidden Gem Halloween Horror Movies

4. The Houses October Built

The Houses October Built
Image Entertainment

With creepy 'haunted' attractions doing big business when Halloween season rolls around, 2014's The Houses October Built is a found-footage offering that finds a group of curious sorts wanting to explore and document the more extreme of these attractions.

Of course, when the attractions they explore prove to be a little too mild for some of this crew's tastes, they find themselves chasing after more intense, unnerving haunts. Most notably, the hunt is on to discover the ominous, almost mythical Blue Skeleton haunt that takes place at a mystery location, supposedly features real criminals as the actors, and allegedly includes very real torture.

From director Bobby Roe - who co-wrote the picture with Zack Andrews, Jeff Larson, and Jason Zada - The Houses October Built is fantastic in how the audience and our core characters question what's real. Just when you think what you're watching is legitimate, it's revealed to all be part of the act... and just when you think something's part of the act, maybe it's a little more real than you initially believe.

Also, adding to the overall terror of The Houses October Built, some of the haunts' actors have some impressively disturbing character designs.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.