(please note: this is a personal opinion piece. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion).

With the release of the 7th instalment in this phenomenal franchise; I had to finally make my list of the best Ghostface killers that have ever graced our movie screens. The moment I witnessed the reveals in the 7th movie, I knew I had to share my list – and why I think they’re more superior than the others.

Let’s get started, oh and I guess a spoiler alert is needed – as I am revealing the identities of the killers.

1. Jill Roberts

Movie: Scream 4

Actress: Emma Roberts

There are many reasons that Jill is my favourite. First off, she was the last one I expected. As Sidney’s cousin, and the formula they were creating from the beginning of the film, she seemed like she was being developed into our new final girl; the one who would take up Sidney’s mantel, and work with her cousin side by side to take out the masked killer. Boy, did they trick me (and many others). Jill beautifully hid who she was, and acted like a victim perfectly; each chase scene, each attack, she pulled it off as if she was actually in danger. Most of all, she had Sidney’s instant trust because of their family ties, and due to that Sidney didn’t expect it coming either. Jill in my opinion, may not have been the most brutal when it comes to the deaths she carried out (don’t get me wrong, some of them were great in brutality), but she was the one who got the closest to achieving her goal. Her goal was to take out Sidney, survive a massacre and become the new “celebrity” replacing her cousin. She almost killed Sidney, almost killed Gail. When she found out Sidney survived she tried to kill her in the hospital, and would have succeeded if Jill hadn’t slipped up and said she and Gail had matching wounds, causing Gail to put the pieces together that Jill was the killer, and sent Dewey to go after her. Gail, who ended up following anyway, wound up saving Sidney’s life, and then Sidney, while Jill was distracted by Gail, took Jill down once and for all. One little slip up of the tongue is what gave Jill away, she was so close to winning.

2. Billy Loomis

Movie: Scream

Actor: Skeet Ulrich

A lot of people have Billy and/or Stu has their number one, because as the saying goes, you can’t beat the original. That is usually a true statement, if it wasn’t for Jill, he would actually be my number one, because guess what, you really can’t beat the original. Now, I had trouble with this one because I struggled to choose between Stu & Billy as both killers were amazing, and their presence in this movie, started the whole franchise, they started the Ghostface craze (now I know Roman – Scream 3’s killer – was technically the start of everything, but at this point we didn’t know that). The reason Billy came on top for me, is because he clearly was the brains behind their operation. Stu was a killer, a ruthless one at that, but he followed Billy’s orders blindly, and it was clear he was not the one running the show. The smarts, the plans, the way everything was carried out, that was all Billy. The funny thing is, I at first guessed Billy, and was like “he’s the killer” but after he was arrested and they “exonerated” him as the killer left my mind. Billy does such a great job of leaning into the “They got the wrong guy, I’m innocent” persona, that you actually also believe that. It helps that when the police release him, you believe that he is actually innocent because Sidney got a Ghostface call (we had no idea there was a second killer!). Then he has Stu stab him, we believe he’s dead, and then next thing you know he’s stumbling down the stairs and for a moment you think, yes he will help Sid, and then it’s revealed he was the Ghostface all along. This movie sure played with my, “I know the killer”, “wait I was wrong,” “wait I was right!” feelings. Plus, this one, even despite Jill being family, affected Sidney the most. Billy was her first love, first sexual partner, and was with her for quite a while before this started, and even watched as she grieved her mother, who he killed.

3. Stu Macher

Movie: Scream

Actor: Matthew Lillard

So, like I said above. Yes it’s true, the originals always have a spot at the top and since Billy won out over Stu, obviously that left for only one option. Stu becoming number three. Stu was not a mastermind by any means, in fact he was the goofy, class clown that you couldn’t help but love. He joked, said stupid things, had a certain charm, and actually seemed like despite his goofy side, was a good guy. Although, he wasn’t. The thing that made Stu scary, was the fact that he was a submissive psychopath. He would do anything that Billy said, and he liked it. Stu was crazy, and his line, when he thought he was going to get caught was “My mom and dad are going to be so mad at me”. Not only does that show he does not care about anything he just did, but that he’s immature, and still just a kid. Him and Billy were teenagers, still kids, and they already had this darkness inside them, and that really hits home for a viewer. You realize that even someone, as seemingly innocent minded as Stu can be completely psychopathic. Also, the one thing Stu had on Billy, was the motive. Billy, while he had sociopathic tendencies, was motivated by revenge, and emotional turmoil (making him a sociopath not a psychopath). Stu was killing for fun, because he wanted to, and that’s what makes him unsteady, unstable, and well quite frankly, a great Ghostface.

4. Amber Freeman

Movie: Scream 4

Actress: Mikey Madison

Amber was one of the most chilling Ghostfaces’. Here is the thing, Amber was a perfect mix of Billy & Stu. Yes she followed Richie (more on him later) and his orders, but she also followed her own path as well, and felt almost as if she had more equal say in her and Richie’s partnership than Stu did in his and Billy’s. She followed a laid out plan, while following her own path, BUT she was also in it for fun. Much like Stu, she just wanted to kill, she wanted to terrorize, draw blood, and she needed that release. The worst part is, once again her reveal takes you completely off guard. She is this meek, quiet girl, who seems incredibly loyal to Tara (since I am a writer, there also seemed to be maybe some romantic tension on her end toward Tara that I picked up) and she wasn’t someone any of the main characters like Sidney, Sam, Tara, Dewey or Gail suspected. I thought she was innocent, and due to her quiet, shy, under the radar personality I kept thinking she needs to be protected at all costs, instead during the reveal, I gasped when it happened. Amber did so well at making sure her friends, Sidney, and other past survivors didn’t know who she was. It turns out, she wasn’t that meek, quiet girl after all, it was just all an act; one that the audience and the characters fell for. Another thing that makes her more superior than most Ghostfaces’, is the fact that she took out a legacy character. Amber killed Dewey, she completed something no other Ghostface was able to do. While others got close to taking out Dewey, Gail and Sidney, nobody was able to succeed until Amber, and she got off on doing it – and used it as a tool to rub in Gail and Sidney’s face. Amber’s downside was her cocky, “I will win this” attitude, which ultimately made her vulnerable in her final fight against Sidney and Gail, who tag teamed her.

5, 6 & 7. Wayne Bailey, Quinn Bailey, & Ethan Landry

Movie: Scream 6

Actors & Actress: Dermot Mulroney, Liana Liberato & Jack Champion

Now, you may be wondering why I grouped them together in one entry – well because they’re all a perfect tie, and to be honest despite the previous Ghostface teams, this one seemed different. Being a family unit and a group who worked hand in hand to orcastrate their plan, made it easy to group them in one written segment. In simple terms, if I had to separate them, Wayne would be 5, Quinn would be 6 and Ethan would be 7; but my brain was like – just lump them all in there. So Detective Bailey technically is the one that is in charge, he is Richie’s father, the killer who Sam (our final girl) killed in Scream 5, and he wanted revenge. He held onto a classic revenge motive, much like our original Billy; but it also shows how messed up that whole family is, as they view what Richie did as okay, and they too, killed with no regret and no shame. While Quinn, and Ethan, were Richie’s siblings, and followed their fathers’ orders, they were quite unsettling in their own right. Quinn buried herself into Tara and Sam’s lives, by becoming Tara’s roommate, and allowing Tara to lean on her, trust her, and befriend her. She even faked her own death so that Tara would not only mourn, but so that Tara and Sam, and their other friends believed she was dead, kicking her out as a suspect. I know for me, I sure as hell didn’t expect her after that. Also, just to add, Wayne does such a good job at “mourning” his daughter, that you truly believe she is dead. Ethan, well he is just in it for the thrill, and for the revenge. The way he smiles after his reveal, the way he goes after tara, and the way he smiles while stabbing her leg, and playing cat and mouse with her, you can see he is doing it because he enjoys it. Together, they make a great Ghostface team, and individually they bring their own.

8. Nancy Loomis

Movie: Scream 2

Actress: Laurie Metcalf

Nancy shared a lot of the same qualities as her son, Billy. She was smart, conniving, and knew how to pretend in order to keep her secret. She paraded around town as a shy reporter, who “admired” Gail, and acted as if she wanted to be her. She was that annoying character that popped up, that you’d just wish would go away, but thought was harmless. Watching the movie, I thought she was just an annoying groupie for Gail, and some much needed comic relief as their interactions were quite funny, on Gail’s end. The last thing I expected was for her to be one of the killers in the film. Not just one of them, but the mastermind behind the whole charade. Much like her son, her whole motive revolved around revenge. She wanted to get back at Sidney for killing her son, and it turned out like mother, like son. While I think some other killers underneath her entry are probably scarier than her, and more brutal (let’s face it, Mickey did most of the kills out of this team), Nancy was composed, walked through her day to day as if nothing else was happening beneath the surface, blended in, and made it hard to suspect her. She was good at averting suspicion and good at keeping her composer, until the final reveal. Going into the film, fans did not think of Billy’s mom, or a parent seeking revenge, especially since he spoke about how his mom left him, and abandoned him, and she was the last person on audiences’ minds. Until Wayne Bailey, she had been the only ghost face older than 30, and the only parent of a killer who wanted revenge.

9. Charlie Walker

Movie: Scream 4

Actor: Rory Culkin

I know Charlie is a lot of people’s least favourite. He was desperate, whiny, not all too bright, but for me, he has higher standing than the Ghostface killers that follow him on this list. Charlie was a desperate character, first his desperation lied with Kirby, but he also was desperate for Jill’s approval and her love. Charlie would do anything to make sure Jill got what she wanted, and in the end, he wound up being manipulated, and killed by his own Ghostface partner. The reason I liked Charlie, was because I liked his love for horror, and his similarities to Randy. This movie was a anniversary celebration, it was the 20th year mark from the first movie; and honestly they did a good job bringing in new generations who did not replace our originals, but caused us to remember them fondly. Charlie was the horror freak, and held so many similarities to Randy that we thought he was going to be the voice of reason, the one to get them out of the mess they found themselves in, and the one who would make all the meta comments. Now, he did two out of the three of those things, and at first he pretended he was on their side, but his reveal was phenomenal. Acting as if he was on Kirby’s side, only to stab her in the gut when she least expected it; and thus telling the audience who and what he was. Gail had thought he was creepy all along, and in the end they thought creepy and harmless, but for once I suppose we should have listened to Gail – even though she is usually wrong when it comes to the suspects.

10. Mickey Altieri

Movie: Scream 2

Actor: Timothy Olyphant

Mickey was much like Stu, and Amber, in the sense of he was the accomplice that joined forces with Nancy Loomis, because he was a psychopath who wanted a chance to kill, for fun. He enjoyed it, he liked it, and he did not shy away from that fact. When he spoke to Sidney during the show down, he admitted the only reason he did it was to kill. The reason Mickey was even scary was because he just liked having blood on his hands. He didn’t care who he hurt, how he hurt them, or what he was doing, he just wanted to feel the rush of the chase and the rush of the kill. Nancy picked up a psychopath, moulded him to her plan, used him, and he didn’t mind one bit. The reason Mickey was so low on my list was because I felt like outside from the reveal we saw a couple of scenes of him with Sidney and her friends, but honestly out of the two killers, he was a little more predictable. But, he did well in concealing his identity until the very end, where after that he acted as if he was a god, and that he was finally going to be the Ghostface that won.

11. Richie Kirsch

Movie: Scream 5

Actor: Jack Quaid

So, as a character, I never liked Richie. Even before he was revealed as Ghostface I felt he was stale, boring, and Sam was definitely out of his league. The one good thing Richie had going for him, was he was the boyfriend of the new final girl, Sam. So how is that a good thing you may ask? Well, it’s a good thing because it made him a tad less obvious. So Dewey mentions in the beginning of the film that the killer is always the boyfriend, only they act as if it’s been played out, and as an audience member you say to yourself, they aren’t going to go with the boyfriend again, they did that with Sidney, surely they won’t do that with Sam. However, they do go there and when they do, you expect it but at the same time, enjoy that they did try to stop you from thinking it was Richie. Richie, while part one of the killing duo, definitely in my opinion, was the Ghostface who left most of the killing to their counterpart. We know Richie killed some, but Amber did the opening “kill” (Tara didn’t die) for the movie to lure Sam back to town, and she continued the brutal kills, and Richie’s were semi brutal, but lighter. Richie was a horror fan, and he resembled both Randy (not a killer) and Charlie (a killer), in the horror fanatic fad. His motive however, was the silliest one (aside from Scream 7), as he was doing it to make a real live horror movie. He went after Sam because she was the illegitimate daughter to Billy, and used her to bring the original Woodsboro crew (Dewey, Sidney, Gail) back into the picture and some of them back to the city in general. He then would make a marvellous real life film, and Sam would be framed as the killer, just like her dad. Only Sam did become her dad during the show down, and took out Richie instead, saving her, Sidney, Gail and Tara. Richie has potential, but sadly he just didn’t hit the mark for me. But he was better than those below him, but not by much.

12. Jessica Bowden

Movie: Scream 7

Actress: Anna Camp

Here’s the thing about the killers in Scream 7, it’s not that they sucked (well not all of them) but the reveal was terrible. I knew/suspected even going into the movie that Anna Camp was going to play the killer, and guess what I was right. That was a let down. However a killer isn’t 100 percent all about the reveal, which is why she herself is not at the bottom of the list, or close to it anyway. Jessica was scary in a realistic way, she is a product of an obsessed fan that has gone into a parasocial, psychotic break. She was a huge fan of Sidney, felt like she related to Sidney because she herself had been through trauma due to an abusive ex. She felt betrayed when Sidney left, and settled in this small little town, and things got so bad she checked herself into an asylum, close by. She recently had been released, and low and behold she started going after Sidney’s daughter’s friends, and Sidney’s daughter to get to her. Here’s the thing, obsession is dangerous, and this delves into that. I was waiting for a movie where an obsessed fan would go after Sidney, and this was it. The down side was the reveal, and honestly Jessica needed more screen time for me to feel as betrayed as Sidney did when she was revealed. The other thing that gave Jessica points was her brutality. This movie had some of the most gruesome kills, and Jessica was to blame for a good chunk of them. Hell, she killed her own son, and it was the most gruesome kill in the movie. It went to show how she is just a psychopath who couldn’t even love her own child.

13. Roman Bridger

Movie: Scream 3

Actor: Scott Foley

Now, from scream fans, I’d probably get pooped on for putting Roman so far down, but I’m sorry in advance if anyone who is a die hard fan like myself, is reading this. Roman did not do it for me, at all. His motive was jealousy, because Sidney got to have the perfect upbringing while he was abandoned by their mom, and given up for adoption. It wasn’t the dumbest motive in the whole film series, but Roman acted like an immature child. He was winy, didn’t understand when Sidney’s reaction was minuscule when he revealed himself, as if she should have known who he was when she didn’t even know he existed, and he acted bigger than he was. Yes Roman is responsible for Billy being pushed toward killing Sidney’s mom, but Billy was already a time bomb waiting to go off and Stu was already a psychopath who would have eventually killed someone. Roman technically started everything, but if he was so great, why didn’t he do it all himself from the beginning? No he waited, and finally struck and by that time, it seemed a little too late. Some people may call Roman a mastermind, he orchestrated two other killers, didn’t get his hands dirty by sitting it out and waited to attack. However, instead I think he was a coward, who only got his hands dirty because he had nothing else up his sleeve. Now, I do give him props for doing it all solo, and being able to orchestrate everything by himself, and having no extra help what so ever – but when I think about Roman I just see a jealous little child, with a immature, “mommy loves you more than me” complex.

14. Jason Carvey

Movie: Scream 6

Actor: Tony Revolori

Scream 6 was the first movie that had five different people put on the Ghostface costume (more on the 5th person later), it was also the first movie that had a Ghostface killer disconnected from the main Ghostface killers who are not after our main protagonist. Jason, was a copycat killer, who looked up to Ghostface and was starting to use the persona simply just to kill. He essentially was a serial killer, who was starting his killing spree. He lured the victim to the bar as a fake date, then got her into the alley and killed her. The kill was the opening in the movie, and the woman killed was none other than a character played by scream queen Samara Weaving. Jason, while a copycat killer, still had potential, but instead of joining the other killers, or providing more kills, he gets killed by Wayne Bailey, for impersonating Ghostface.

15. Marco Davis

Movie: Scream 7

Actor: Ethan Embry

I’m sorry, what was happening with this particular Ghostface. Like what was his purpose, and why was he even involved. He felt kind of useless in the movie, and seemed more like Jessica’s useless (except for his AI skills) sidekick. The best thing he had going for him, was his skill with AI and how good he was at making Sidney crawl in her skin, when he created that deep fake AI video of Stu and taunted her, other than that he was terrible. He was in one major scene (the reveal), and we had met him literally one whole time in the movie before his reveal. The only reason he is not last is because the one below him are more worthless in the world of Ghostface identities. For Jessica’s partner they should have chosen someone more compelling or at least on the same wavelength as her. Someone that was actually scary, and someone we maybe were introduced to a couple of times. His reveal was worse than Jessica’s and I actually knew it was going to be her, so that is saying something.

15. Karl Gibbs

Movie: Scream 7

Actor: Kraig Dane

I’m sorry…what was this? What were they thinking? some random guy, that wasn’t even introduced to us that was in the movie for like 5 minutes and was taken out when Gail hit him with her car…Thank god the movie had other killers….Thank god this happened early on in the film….

Honorable Mentions:

Sam Carpenter: I am sorry, if she had actually become a full fledged Ghostface she’d probably be my number one. Sam is one of my favourite Scream characters (aside from Sidney), and watching her slowly transform into her darker side in Scream 6 was kind of magical in a cinematic way. When she put on her father Billy’s Ghostface outfit, and took out the Ghostface haunting her by stabbing him multiple times, and then took off her mask with a slight smile, I knew she had a darkness in her, we saw a little of it when she killed Richie in Scream 5. Technically a lot of fans, and film creators/producers say there were technically 5 Ghostfaces in Scream 6, if you count Sam as she technically killed while wearing the costume, however since she is the protagonist I could not include her. However, my favourite ending of any scream movie, is hers in Scream 6. When she is holing that mask, debating keeping it or letting it go and Tara, her sister gathers her attention, and then she drops the mask on the ground leaving Ghostface behind was an amazing ending. It shows that what keeps Sam’s humanity is Tara, honestly without Tara, Sam would give in to temptation and become Ghostface. In fact The writers of Scream 7, before the film parted ways with Melissa (which I do not agree with them letting Sami’s actress go), said she would have become Ghostface in the original script of Scream 7, after Tara is killed, she’d become Ghostface to take out the killer and all who stand in her way, and the showdown would have been between her and Sidney. It’s a shame – it would have been amazing seeing Sam fade into her dark side, and a protagonist become Ghostface.

Beth: I did not include her in the list because while she is an official Ghostface she is from Scream: Resurrection a TV Mini series. The Ghostface persona and mask reappear in the VH1 mini-series and bring us back into the world of Ghostface mentality. It’s not part of the cinematic universe, thus she is reduced to an honourable mention. If you are curious where she’d land on the actual list; if she were to be included I’d probably put her at number 8, bumping everyone underneath that down a peg. Beth was deranged, brutal (she set a person and car on fire – and funny enough until Scream 7 was the first Ghostface to use fire as a weapon), and she killed to simply kill. Her motive was to expose our main character’s secret, but really she just wanted an excuse to kill; and she knew she was not mentally well. She admits in her monologue that she’s psychotic, and she’s self aware of her for lack of a better word, insanity.

Jamal “Jay” Elliot: I also did not include him for the same reason as Beth, he is from Scream: Resurrection. He is not my favourite person to wear a Ghostface mask; he lacks energy, and well a personality, however his motive was solid and Tyga was okay in the role, but his performance was a tad flat. If he had been included in the huge list above, he probably would have fallen at 14, pushing the others down a peg.

As someone who struggles with depression on a day to day basis, some days are good and others are rough. Some are black like a sky without a moon, and some are gray with a sliver of sun. It varies day to day.

This year, I have decided to get more involved in bringing forward more education about mental health; and to write about my experiences, as well as help others with the same mental issues as me.

I struggle with ADHD, Smiling Depression (that for the longest time went undiagnosed because as the name states – I went through my days appearing to be happy and smiling – but was actually quite the opposite). I also suffer from social and general anxiety. All mental health illnesses that required multiple doctors visits, therapy sessions, constant daily medication, and admitting to loved ones and professionals that I was “broken”, at least in my eyes.

People since my diagnosed have treated me like I’m as I stated before broken, not normal, some people have told me to get over it, tell me to just put on a brave face but mental struggles don’t work like that. I heard at one point someone say that people who are depressed do it to themselves and just need to get over it, buck up, keep their chin up, and I someone with depression was listening and they had no clue of my mental state (words matter fyi). All those bullshit lines that people say because they don’t understand that it isn’t always therapy will fix you, medication will fix you, being happy will fix you. Depression among other mental health diagnosis’ are illness’ that some people live with their whole life.

I suffer from depression because my brain lacks the right amount of serotonin, as was told to me by the therapist who diagnosed me. Outside factors can attribute to my mood, and effect if my depression is bad that day, or easier to deal with. Grief, Sadness, Rejection, all of those negative emotions can also worsen my depression – but it is not the cause, it is just something that can make it worse. Aside from an emotionally abusive relationship in late high school/early adulthood, intense bullying in high school – bit of which changed me forever; and mild PTSD from a recent loss of a pet a year ago, and the black grief thanks to the loss of a parent, I haven’t faced too many traumatic experiences – some people may say “you had a good life, parents who loved you, you had a roof over your head, were properly taken care of, what do you have to complain about?” The thing is, outside factors can cause trauma and sometimes can start temporary depression. However lifelong depression is due to many different things. Due to chemicals, and the way our brains work. Lifetime depression can be caused by something that also can alter your brain chemistry (extreme trauma – you can see this in soldiers after a violent war).Depression comes in all shapes and sizes. There is fleeting depression who’s usually resolves itself or goes away, or a depression formed by a trauma that usually can go hand in hand with PTSD, there is permanent depression that requires medication all of someone’s life, there is also depression from outside factors (drug addictions, extreme sudden life changes like prison sentences or witnessing something traumatic like death.) All depression comes in different forms, everyone is different but everyone deserves care, and kindness.

All types of mental health issues are unique and one person’s mental health isn’t worse than the other, or should be compared. Everyone has their own unique journey, diagnoses or undiagnosed illnesses.

I have gone through days where I have had to call in to work because I just can’t function, and other days where I feel completely fine (but I am medicated and have the resources to help me). I have had very dark days where life seemed to hard to live, but bright days where I smiled, laughed and enjoyed every second.

With me, therapy helped at first (it’s not something I seek out any longer – I’m not a divulge everything verbally type of person), gathering the diagnoses, understanding what was happening to me. Understanding that all my mental health issues are connected. ADHD is something I was diagnosed with when I was young, and I learned through my depression diagnoses, that people with ADHD are more prone to depression and anxiety because of how their brain is wired. I learned more about myself within my diagnoses than I ever did. I learned that because of my mental illness, I struggle with empathy, and when I do show it – I don’t know the best ways to and it can come out insensitive or for example I laugh at sadness, not because it’s funny but because it’s awkward for me, and my brain does not understand what to do with that emotion someone’s showing. My wife, has helped me as she has guided me through situations, and she has made me see that I feel things in different ways than others and that’s okay. I feel love, sadness, and empathy but sometimes my brain can file away something as “what’s the big deal” because to me, small things are minor because I’m used to heavy intense internal feelings everyday, but others aren’t and to them those small things are huge.

I have grown, and come to understand my own mentality and I grow everyday and still learn lessons on mental health, and how it impacts different people and I really want to delve into that this year, have open discussions and really communicate my struggles, and bring some education to the forefront.

I also want to share some art now and then, representing different disorders to show people a visualization of how a mental illness may make someone feel. And no, the art is not mine and never will be, I am not an artist by any means. I do thank those who have shared it – and made it easy to find on the interwebs.

Thank you for taking time to read this, here is to more blogs like this in the future, and here is to being able to have open discussions about taboo subjects.

Remember: “even on your worst days, when you see yourself in the mirror, and hate the person looking back at you, someone loves you, and sees you the way you don’t see yourself.”

~illbeyourhero

When I was a teenager, The Veronicas had come out with hits like 4ever, When it all falls apart, Everything I’m Not and soon became a huge staple in the pop, emo scene. 4ever came out August 15, 2005; at that point I was a 14 year old girl – soon to be freshman in high school, looking for music that resonated with me in my life. When I entered high school, I was an outcast at the beginning, which was hard for me as I went from a fairly popular, well liked person in elementary school to a nobody who was picked on, made fun of and it drove me into a emo state, with a rebellious streak and The Veronicas were perfect for that time period of my life. Every terrible day, When It All Falls Apart was a great escape, but 4ever was perfect when I wanted to feel better, and a few years later Untouched (not mentioned below – sorry) pulled me through my senior year of high school – however by that time I was more comfortable in my skin, I had more friends, and high school wasn’t as terrible as it started off as – when I actually went to class anyway. The rebellious nature of the Veronicas, gave me a place to feel comfortable in my own rebellion (I wasn’t too crazy – before you get any insane ideas) and it gave me a safe place to land.

While all of that was happening, I was also trying to figure out my sexuality – which I struggled with. I was “in love” (is it actual love that young, or puppy love) with my best friend from 8th grade (7th grade for her), and was heartbroken when we began to drift as she was one year behind me; and soon the distance consumed the friendship and it was gone. Mind you, I didn’t know all of that until after I discovered my sexuality; and dated many guys in the process of figuring it all out. Anyway, the point I was getting to was Jessica Origliasso, or as she is often referred to “Jess” or “Jessie” was probably the first LGBT musician I had listened to (I’m sure I heard others – I mean radio and not a sheltered kid – George Michael, Melissa Etheridge, etc. I’m sure their music played at some point in my life) but she was the first that I followed, and was in my music catalog. She was outed, thanks to tabloids, but she embraced it and explained she had been queer her whole life, and fans embraced her easily, and I instantly needed that representation in my life. Take Me On The Floor was the first song I religiously listened to where a woman, referenced being sexually/romantically interested in another woman. Their music made me feel at home, and Jess made me feel seen, and represented. She was definitely a celebrity crush that I harboured then, and I think will always hold onto.

After the albums The Secret Life Of…. and Hook Me Up came out they just kind of…disappeared. When I was younger music was so fleeting, that I was devastated but moved onto the next thing, and their next album didn’t surface until 2014 – and at that point I was older; and had found other musicians but still checked out their new album, but it just blended in with the other music I listened to, even though You Ruin Me was a masterpiece, I juggled it in with my other music and didn’t allow myself to truly appreciate the art that was the album titled “The Veronicas”, and just as I was starting to get pulled into it – and appreciate the art behind it, their return and of course Jess’ vocal talents…they disappeared again.

They vanished until 2021 when they released their double album Human & Godzilla; now at that point I didn’t realize they had released it until after it had been out for a while, so I was listening after the craze of those new releases had passed, and in 2024 they released another new album. Thanks to Spotify and online listening; gathering all their music, and hearing it all in a new light, when I’m older, and their older, made me appreciate their music even more; and I have never loved them more than I do today.

The Veronicas have a large music catalog; being around for a long time, but I wanted to show my love and appreciation by making a top 12 song blog, listing my top 12 favourite songs by this wonderful Aussie band. There of course as always, will be a blurb about the song, and most likely useless rambling. Maybe you’ll even be willing to listen to a song or two (Yes I know, I say that in all of these posts, I guess I am just trying to convert more people into fans).

1. When It All Falls Apart

Album: The Secret Life Of…

Year: 2005

While the song is about rebuilding yourself after a break-up, after everything had fallen apart, this song is perfect for listening to after a terrible day. I mean, what do you do after everything falls apart, and picking yourself up after you’ve been broken down, is so difficult so as they say “where do I start?”. The first line in the song “I’m having a day from hell.” is a line I belt out, when the day has sucked and I put this song on. This song is a classic, it’s off their first album, an album that just turned 20 this year! even after 20 years this song still hits hard even today! With Lisa’s lower register, and her sultry tone and Jess’ higher register, high notes, and echoing sections of the verses, it comes together so beautifully.

2. Born Bob Dylan

Album: The Veronicas

Year: 2014

This song is beautiful. It’s honestly the first word I think of when I think of this song. This song is about struggling to open up, and wishing it was easy to speak your feelings, and let someone you care about in, and if you let that person in, would they run? As someone who struggles to let people in (who isn’t my mom, or my wife – BUT it took a long time to get there with my wife – I was never one to just peel back everything I was feeling or thinking, she helped push past that) this song really hit home for me. Even to this day I struggle to let people in, if someone (friends, co-workers, siblings, etc.) asks me if I’m okay, what’s going on, why do you seem so distant today, I usually say I’m fine and leave it at that. I, much like the lyrics, wish that I could just get whatever it is off my chest, and just say it without the fear, without the walls, without the anxiety. If there is one song on this whole list I think everyone needs to listen to, it’s this one. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the hooks, releasing crappy day anger, and the nostalgic piece of When It All Falls Apart, this one probably would have been number 1.

3. Revenge Is Sweeter (Than You Ever Were)

Album: Hook Me Up

Year: 2007

This song became an unofficial hit, thanks to the fans who caused this song to skyrocket in popularity. The song, a classic break-up song, mixed with pain, emotion, and most of all the want to scream out your frustration at the person who just broke your heart. Lisa carries the verses, with that familiar lower register, which I grew to appreciate more as I got older, she is talented and can sing, but my love for Jess never allowed me to appreciate Lisa’s talent; until I was older. However, this song shows Jess’ talent the best; she nails the chorus as you hear her voice soar, the notes she carries, and the way she sings it as if she is opening her chest and pouring the anger out, and into the universe. Her ability to pull you into that aggression, that emotion, and the feeling of heartbreak is a talent, that not every musician has. I loved this song for a long time, and even to this day – it hits just as hard.

4. Everything I’m Not

Album: The Secret Life Of…

Year: 2005

Their second hit ever, went toe to toe with their debut single 4ever, and for me, maybe not everyone, it surpassed it. A typical teenage break-up anthem, with a emo twist (especially their cute emo music video), and a pop like hook and it was no wonder it succeeded and The Veronicas didn’t become one hit wonders. Instead it catapulted them to larger success; and I am grateful for that. However, back to the song at hand, I loved this song when I was young; I think we all have that one relationship where you’re like I tried to be what you wanted, but ultimately that is not me – the person you want is everything I’m not, and it’s the end, I’m not changing. Lisa carries the verses, Jess comes in behind her with those beautiful high notes, and swallows Lisa’s vocals on the chorus, and their harmonies are so perfectly done on this track. I fell like this song will always remain in the top part of this list; even when they release new music, because it’s amazing. The song is made better, by the music video that accompanies it as well.

5. 4ever

Album: The Secret Life Of…

Year: 2005

The song that launched The Veronicas into superstardom, not just in Australia, but in Canada, Europe, and soon after America. The song was everywhere at that time, radio, in movies (who else remembers the carnival tilt-a-hurl scene from She’s the Man? Oh just me…okay), music video channels (They had two different music videos for the original song, and one music video when they re-recorded the song in 2009!). As a Canadian, I remember seeing the Australian version of the music video on TV, before the American version crept up, but that doesn’t matter, I am clearly rambling. This song is fun. It’s catchy, it’s an ear worm, it’ll stick in your head and it’s a feel good song about seizing the moment. It’s also currently my ringtone (at the time of writing this blog). I wouldn’t be able to have this list, without 4ever being in the top 5; that seems illegal – making a top 12 Veronica list without it.

6. Cruel

Album: The Veronicas

Year: 2014

Cruel is a break-up song through and through, all the way down to its core. It’s an upbeat, catchy song, with lyrics that are quite the opposite of upbeat. Cruel is about the cruelty that follows a break-up, how cruel it is that the ex treats them like a stranger, that they’ve moved on, that they rub salt in the wounds, cruel that their heart hurts and how it sucks that they can’t be friends or lovers, and it feels like a knife twisting. Cruel how well, cruel the love interest was while also in the relationship. The lyrics are actually quite poetic, and the melodies, the beat, and the way it flows makes for a great hit. Also, as a Jessica fan, I love that this is very vocal heavy for her – with smaller sections for Lisa.

7. Teenage Millionaire

Album: The Veronicas

Year: 2014

Catchy, makes you want to dance, leaves you feeling good – that’s what this song is. This song is a love song, which is rare for their discography, but it’s a great change of pace. The song is essentially about how love makes them feel rich, and young, despite not having/needing either of those things. They weren’t teenagers when this song came out, but that’s the beauty of it because love makes you feel alive, young, and in the moment. With love you also don’t need material items, or money, which the song also explores. You have it all there – in the love itself, and with the love you can get through anything. I really love the song not only because it’s catchy, and their voices of course, but because of what it means.

8. You Ruin Me

Album: The Veronicas

Year: 2014

You Ruin Me, is a song that kind of also will, well, ruin you. It’s perfectly composed, in a sad, beautifully tragic way, and the heartbreak shines through the lyrics as well as Lisa’s voice. This is a hauntingly beautiful song about someone playing someone, morphing them, manipulating them, and ruining a person, breaking them down completely. When they came back into the musical world, after a long break with this song, I was mesmerized. The song was so gorgeous, while also stabbing you in the gut. The vocals are led by Lisa in this song, and to be honest THIS is when I started to truly appreciate her vocals; her raspier, sultry, lower voice was really beautiful in this song, and how she carried most of the song, it gave me a new appreciation for her talent specifically – because it gave me a moment to focus on her vocals instead of Jess’s. Jess doesn’t come in until about 2:40 mark in the song, and she definitely adds to making the song a masterpiece, and takes the higher notes later on, but in this case, this song has to go to Lisa for pure gorgeous talent, and making me feel all the heartbroken feels.

9. Heavily Broken

Album: The Secret Of…

Year: 2005

This song is another break-up song, and has a beauty of its own. The song speaks for itself; it’s about the aftermath of losing your partner, and how heavily broken you feel – and how you have no idea what to do, or how to cope with it. This song though, can be viewed from different aspects; you can even view it as just being heavily broken about anything happening in your life; and it resinating with you on that level – but a lot of people feel like, their drowning and screaming for air (a reference to a lyric in the song) after a heartbreak of any sort. I like this song, because I’ve felt like this before, over more than just romantic heartbreak, and it’s such a relatable song.

10. Biting My Tongue

Album: Human

Year: 2021

Biting My Tongue (Funny enough those words are only uttered once in the song) is about the fear of saying I love you to someone, and the fear of risking everything for them. It’s also about ultimately choosing to give in to those feelings, because you can’t live without the person you love. It was a great comeback song, after being away for a few years; and it was meaningful but catchy. The music video helped aide this song, because it’s like a little film and I just love how talented these sisters are. I don’t really have an emotional connection to this song, but I belt it out when it comes on, and it makes me feel good, and gets stuck in this cloudy head of mine – so It deserves it’s spot here.

11. On Your Side

Album: Human

Year: 2021

The song and music video funnily enough were released separately. The music video & single were released in 2016. The music video was directed by, and starred Jessica’s now ex-girlfriend Ruby Rose (it was a toxic relationship – fans have all heard about it but are happy Jess is in a healthy place now, and with a woman who will treat her right). The song however was not released on an album, until years later in 2021 on the album Human, which ironically had a lot of break-up songs about Ruby Rose, and the emotional abuse Jessica faced while in that relationship. The song however, Jessica’s relationship trauma aside, is about supporting a loved one through difficult times, even after the relationship has ended (I.e. Addiction – which is portrayed in the music video). The music video was actually a great story, and accompanied the song well, but since the release it has since been separated from that music video and released into a new year, and era of their music. The song is also catchy, but has some powerful lyrics, and I’m sure we can all relate to standing by someone’s side, even when you don’t support what they’re doing, because you can’t turn your back on them.

12. Nobody Wins

Album: The Secret Life Of…

Year: 2005

This song is about the destructive nature of a relationship, where nobody is willing to compromise, and nobody wins. The song’s lyrics detail a relationship in a state of constant conflict; and nowhere else to go but to walk away. The lyrics show that the continuous fighting and lack of compromise (mostly from the person they are singing about) results in a no-win situation for both parties involved. It results in heart break, having to say goodbye, and no reason to keep trying – which results in them both losing. It’s actually a cleverly written song, it’s soft yet slight rock tone pulls you in, and it’s beautifully sung and written.

Honorable Mentions:

Not favourite songs, but I don’t skip them when they play (honestly I don’t usually skip any of their songs in my Veronicas Playlist – unless I am not feeling the song that day). I like these songs a lot, and wanted to mention them.

Supernatural Girl: A love song about a girl – that makes everything feel out of this world.

Lolita: inspired by the novel by Vladimir Nabokov and is about the power dynamics in a relationship with a significant age gap.

So, if you do not know who Sofia Camara is – then you NEED to listen to her music, today would be ideal. Sofia is such a talented singer-songwriter. All of her songs are incredibly meaningful, deep, and poetic. She took the world by storm with her breakout ballad “Who Do I Call Now? (Hellbent)” and that was when I fell in love with her music. Her music is more prevalent and popular in Europe and Canada, however she is beginning to break out in the USA, and is starting to show what she is made of. This Canadian singer (who despite her fame, has decided to remain in Toronto where she currently resides) is part of the songwriting process for every song she has released. Her heart and soul goes into every song, and she has mentioned how vulnerable her music is. Her most recent album Hard To Love, is the deepest album she has made, and according to her it’s the album that means the most to her emotionally and she bared her soul in the writing process.

Her first album, “Was (It) Worth It?” garnered some popularity thanks to hits like ‘Here We Go Again’ and ‘Who Do I Call Now? (Hellbent)’ but things really took off when her summer hit Girls Like You received praise from not only old fans, but new fans, the queer community, and it experienced significant radio play compared to her other previous hits. Girls Like You was her first hit off of Hard to Love, and was followed by Parking Lot which was a melancholy break-up ballad.

As an avid follower of Sofia, I grew to enjoy the way she interacted with her fans, how present she is with them, and how down to earth she is. Sofia doesn’t hide the silly parts of her personality, and displays it in full force in interviews, reels, photos and even in her Girls Like You music video; which has her being carefree, and as I mentioned silly as she parades around the streets of Toronto. The Portuguese singer loves to meet fans at tours, shares photos of her with her fans, and has a group chat on Instagram where she talks to her fans and has even allowed them to respond to her and communicate with her. Many artists don’t do that anymore, but she refers to her fan’s as fam, and always says without them, she’d be nowhere.

Anyway, enough about my praising because who knows how long my rambling can go on for; probably way too long. I want to talk about the music. I love all of her songs; in fact out of her whole discography there is not one song I dislike. The only other artist I ever had that with was Fletcher – until Fletcher’s new album came out and I found one singular song of Fletcher’s I disliked – which means Sofia’s discography takes the cake, and stands out as a singer that has yet to release a song I dislike. Due to that, it was difficult to put this list together because all of her songs are stunning and how do I pick just ten? Well after a lot of thought – I did just that. Please continue reading, at least to humour me and maybe take a listen to a song – you might just like it.

1. Girls Like You

Girls Like You is upbeat, catchy and just an all out fun song. It came out in the summer of 2025 – and instantly became my summer song this year. I played it when I wanted a cheer up, I danced around the apartment to this song, and the catchy lyrics were easy to belt out. This song is about being interested in someone (in this songs case a girl) that you know is bad for you, and may not be the safest route to go down, but you can’t help but delve into it. You’ve been through this before, you’ve been with someone that has been like this before, but you can’t help but do it again. As the lyrics say “Against my better judgement. I’m sitting in your car. I’m writing down my number on the inside of your arm” This song is an anthem for anyone that has ever been interested in someone you just know is not good for you. I think everyone has had this experience at least once in their life.

2. Ingrained (DNA)

This song is catchy, with a quick hook and a sing along chorus. This song describes good times/memories that was had with an ex – and how that relationship became a part of the hearts structure. How relationships good or bad, are ingrained in us. They become a part of us – and Sofia describes that so beautifully. She sings about the beautiful memories she had, one of them in particular of driving down the roads, seeing the city, the beauty in one another and being together – which funnily enough ties into Girls Like You – when she sings about knowing what it’s like driving down boulevards with the “bad” girls; which is clever writing. A lot of the Hard To Love album has connections and that was a clever one. I love that this song shows that sometimes letting someone go can be very difficult because they become a part of you. Part of your DNA, so to speak. It’s such a great song.

3. That’s Just How You Feel

This song is gorgeous. The lyrics, the melody, the way it flows it’s a pure work of art. This song is about a relationship that has to end because two people want different things, and want different paths for the relationship. You can hear the grief in the lyrics of losing a partner, losing a friend that that partner was before hand. The song really delves into how it started as what seemed like something causal with a friend, and now it turns into heartbreak of letting that best friend go – and lover – as they both want different things out of the relationship. The lyric that pierces the heart is when she sings “you’re making me let you down” because you must let them go, even if you do not want to, because that person changed the roles, changed the way the relationship played out and now it equals into wanting different things. Funny enough it relates to the song Complicated (which you’ll read about soon) as that song centres on two best friends crossing a line.

4. Parking Lot

This is a deep, personal, and emotional song about the course of a break-up, and the emotions felt. As well as an apology for the way a partner is treated during the breakup. She sings about how she would yell about her partner to her friends, in her friend’s car and call them names and insults that she knew they didn’t deserve and were lies. She sings about how she is the real liar because she’s the one who truly does not want to let the person go, and how she’d rather hate them instead of not having them anymore, because then she would keep them close by hating them and keeping a grudge because it’s all she has left. She apologizies in the beginning for being cold to the ex-lover when they saw one another, and how the pain aches at her as she cries in the parking lot. Holding onto that grudge because as I mentioned it’s how she can keep the ex-partner close. The music video that accompanies the song is so beautiful (and is below and I recommend you watch it). You see her waking up every morning as time goes by after the break-up and watch as she starts off by packing up the partners things (their blanket, their plant, soon their cup, and the last thing their pink toothbrush). You watch as the apartment goes to a place they shared together, to a place she’s emptied as she throws everything out, even some of her belongings and needs to move out and symbolically let’s go of the relationship she didn’t want to say goodbye to.

5. Complicated

This song hooks you the minute the opening chords start; and the way it seeps into your ears and fills your mind. this song is about two friends, that maybe had something more, and they crossed the line and now the’ll never be just friends, and it’s messed up and complicated. She sings the song about how she is Hard To Love, easy to like, and how she has a lot of exes but didn’t intend to have another in her past. She sings about how they have crossed a line and now can’t take it back – especially after the other person dropped three words they can’t take back. The chorus mentions how they promised they wouldn’t catch feelings, and now the rules are broken and it’s all complicated. The hook of the song is the verse where she sings about her and this person being in the kitchen, buzzed, thinking they should go there when they know they shouldn’t and they do, and now she can’t see them un-naked and can’t make it uncomplicated. This song definitely shows the blurred lines between friends and lovers, and as a queer artist this song definitely nails that in the head, as most people in the community have relationships start by getting wrapped up in dramatic relationships with people they thought were just friends. This song is connected to That’s Just How You Feel; as that song can work as a fallout to situations like this.

6. Here We Go Again

This song is so bittersweet. It’s pain, love, not wanting to give up, but needing to give up, all wrapped up in a beautiful poetic masterpiece. In the song, she sings about how she’d give everything she has to save the relationship, but unfortunately it’s a lost cause; because it’s inevitable that they will end as they run toward the end. As the lyrics state “Here we go again, Here we go again, We’re running to, We’re running towards the end
It’s inevitable. Love doesn’t always go as planned” This song is hauntingly beautiful but the pain is there of trying to hold onto something that is doomed because the same patterns keep repeating and no matter what you do; it’s bound to end.

7. Anyways How You’ve Been

This song is filled with different emotions. The song takes us on a journey of a relationship that wasn’t going in the right direction, and was failing/failed; and experiencing the loss of that relationship. It’s about wanting to cut the rope if there’s no coming back, but also struggling to do so. She’s singing about all the things she feels after they parted ways; and how it’s been four month’s since they spoke; and as they run into each other she sings what she wants to say to them – but ends up simply saying to them “Anyways how you’ve been?” It’s a story I’m sure many people have felt in past relationships – the want to tell them exactly how you feel, the want to not cut the rope, and the realism of how it actually plays out when you truly see them, and end up just saying “how’ve you been?”

8. Should’ve Known Better

This song is simple in its meaning, very straightforward but oh so beautifully composed, and sung. She takes us on a ride as she sings about heartbreak, and the pain of losing someone you love, a relationship that meant so much. The song takes us on a journey of missing that person, regret, pain of getting too close to someone only to lose them. Then the end statement of how she should have known better. The beautiful line of “I said forever but I should’ve known better.” The should’ve known better, hinting that she should have predicted the pain, but also the feeling that she knew it wouldn’t work out all along. This song is so relaxing, albeit powerful, that when it comes on it’s hard not to lean back, close your eyes, and take it all in.

9. You Can’t Save Me

When I first heard this song, it was so powerful; and as someone who has been involved in an emotionally/mentally toxic relationship with my first female partner; I felt that I could really relate to this song. This song is about a toxic relationship, a partner who wants the best for their partner, and wants to protect them from the world, from outside hurt, but that person is actually the one causing harm, the source of pain, and the one you may actually need protecting from. It’s about how their care has actually become suffocating control. How that partner wants you to be a specific version of yourself, and claim they’re protecting you. The song reflects a painful irony where the one causing the hurt is insisting they are keeping you safe. It’s about leaving that relationship, and letting go of someone who is not good for you. As the song states “But you can’t save me from you, can you baby?” as she sings that they want to protect her, but the person she needs protecting from is their emotional toxic games, and they very well can’t protect her from themselves.

10. Said It All

This song starts off with a fun beat, a beat that always makes me kinda want to dance. It’s catchy as hell, and really knows how to weasel its way into your brain and stay there. Despite its upbeat tempo, the lyrics are actually not upbeat. The song is about a relationship that ended – and the process of letting them go. She sings about how that person is no longer the one she calls, goes to, reaches out to, because quite frankly they already said it all – and what they had is over. She does mention in the song, that out of habit she will still pick up the phone, but puts it down before making the call because she knows that person will let her down anyway; and that it’s time to just let them go, and close that door.

Canadian Bonus:

I love this song, do I consider it a top 10 no, and this spot isn’t for honourable mentions at all. But as a Canadian, whose newest favourite artist is also Canadian and loves to show her support for her country, as much as I do; I had to share this music video, and share the Canadian Pride. Not to mention this song has such a positive message of never giving up on your dreams.

Stunning Live Vocal Bonus:

I’m not big on live tracks, live albums, or watching live performances. Not because artists can’t perform live, but many of them just lack the same clean tone, and beauty they do in the studio. (Now some artists really can’t sing live – but that’s what editing is for, but I don’t want an artist that can’t sing). Fletcher was actually the first artist I listened to a live album of, and enjoyed front to back because she sounded like Fletcher, same with all her performance videos. That’s why I struggle with going to concerts these days – I want to see an artist that I know can belt it out the way they can on their album. Sofia is one of those artists. She’s doing a hometown show soon, and as a Canadian, I am so bummed that I cannot make it, but her live vocals are stunning and she is absolutely a talent that needs to stick around in the business for a long time to come. I wanted to share her raw talent, with these two videos of Girls Like You Live, and Who Do I Call Now? (Hellbent) Live. Her voice is 100 percent natural tenant and in days like these, where there is so much AI and editing; it’s hard to find that. She also uploads raw, unedited covers of songs on her instagram, TikTok and YouTube and all of it is stunning.

(According to me – also these are based off of horror movies I’ve actually seen – so no Terrifier here – I really need to watch that one.)

Horror is such a broad genre. Horror is at its core a genre, where small mini genres fall under. There’s torture horror, slasher horror, paranormal horror, supernatural horror, body horror, comedy horror, dystopian horror, disaster horror, etc. Of course all of those are taken and shoved under the large title of simply, Horror. If the movie offers up some scares, it’s a worthy horror contender – I do like my horror movies with some jumps in it. But Horror isn’t just about fright. Not every horror movie has a jump scare (not every horror movie has that thing hiding behind the corner that jumps out and gives you a heart attack). Some horror has situations that are psychologically terrifying, that leave you feeling uneasy after a watch. Some horror movies strictly focus on the gore aspect to terrify you (certain Saw films for example). Some horror also blends gore, frights and comedy. Sometimes horror can be great at combining slashers and comedies; a little bit of horror could use a laugh here and there. According to studies about the horror genre and its creation – horror was meant to disturb, frighten, or scare audiences (now not all horror movies in my list are dare I say it scary, but some scenes to certain people may be disturbing thanks to gore, or the concept might be frightening) but for me; I don’t scare easily when it comes to movies. I used to when I was young – The Ring tormented me for a long while, and I refused to never watch a horror movie afterward but my young self got over it and soon after horror became my favorite genre and now I don’t scare easily. The last movie that truly got me was The Bye Bye Man – don’t think it, don’t say it. But it wasn’t the concept that scared me, no it was how they executed that film. Such a great supernatural film – but you won’t find it on here. The scare wore off after 24 hours and now my wife and I joke about the entity that is The Bye Bye Man.

Swinging back around, to keep myself on topic. Sorry I do have ADHD after all. I myself like all different types of horror. I prefer slasher movies – there is just something about them that gets my excitement level rising and my adrenaline pumping. Slasher‘s aren’t always scary, in fact most are predictable and the whole point of a slasher is sometimes seeing who the killer is. But watching the kills and the way the killer does it, is half the enjoyment. Watching what unique way he will strike next. Also, what makes slasher’s a little frightening is when they can be realistic (for instance when the killer is human and not an entity like Michael Meyers or Jason) because it’s just a regular human, killing humans. I like other subgenres of horror as well – my wife on the other hand, she shies away from paranormal horror – but they do deliver the best jump scares…don’t they?

Since October has hit, and Halloween is upon us. I decided to delve into some more opinion pieces. I wanted to do a list on best horror films (according to me), your list is probably different and that is fine. There are no wrong or right answers…well there is if Scream is not on your list…in that case…I don’t think we can be friends. Jokes, I am making jokes. In all seriousness, my opinions are strictly mine but maybe I can broaden your interests or possibly introduce you to a film you have not seen before. By the way, after this there will be a part two to this list – I had to split my large list in half – and a list honouring horror TV Shows (though that may come after Halloween – what not everyone has unlimited time to write – if only). Oh what fun I will be having, and sucks for you if you’re wording because I can rant.

1. Scream

Year: 1996

Type of Horror: Slasher

Starrring: Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, Roger L. Jackson, Drew Barrymore

Scream, the first movie of one of the largest franchise’s in the horror genre, paved the way for many other slasher movies to follow. In a world where slashers had run their course after Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, among others, slasher were losing their appeal. They were becoming generic and predictable and they were losing popularity. Scream however is known as the movie that revitalized the genre. The movie made fun of other slashers, made fun of horror movies, it was clearly meta. But while it was predictable with the identity of one of the killers, at the same time it wasn’t. They made fun of slasher movies by making Billy the obvious choice, but then sidestepped it by ruling him out, making it seem like he was killed off, and then his reveal was like…wait what. Then of course the second killer, added to the excitement. The movie also created Ghostface one of the most recognizable horror villains to this day. The thing that makes Ghostface a solid horror villain is the fact that he is not supernatural (Michael, Jason, Freddy), and he is strictly human. Ghostface is the mask, the icon, but the killer is always a different person and strictly always human. This movie is not only my favourite horror movie, but it’s one of my favourite movies of all time. Ghostface is also one of my favourite things in the world; and I show my love with collectables, watching the movies, posters, plaques. As you can tell below, more than just this addition in the series is top notch for me in horror.

Fact: Scream created a classic horror trope all on its own. You have the biggest star of the movie, used in promotion, used as the star that gets the audience drawn in, and used as the focal point of promos, be the first one killed off in the movie.

2. Scream 6

Year: 2023

Type of Horror: Slasher

Starrring: Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Skeet Ulrich, Courtney Cox, Samara Weaving, Hayden Panettiere, Dermot Mulroney, Roger L. Jackson

There were many movies in this series, the seventh is going to come out in 2026, and many years have passed with this phenomenal series intact, and being added to. None of the other movies could even live up to the original, but 6 – it came very close. This movie did not include Neve Campbell, but that didn’t matter. The movie was able to stand on its own without the star of the franchise, and I found this movie to be the least predictable out of all of them. I enjoyed this from beginning to end; and I truly loved the dynamic between Jenna and Melissa and their characters. This movie weaved every character arc together well, we had the core 4 from Scream 5, Courtney Cox’s Gail Weathers was brought in in a smart manor, as was Hayden Panettiere’s Kirby. The fact that they also brought in Billy in the manor that they did (they did it in Scream 5 – but this addition was done better) – by Sam seeing him, and hearing him, because he’s her father shows their connection – but also shows that maybe our hero’s mental state is more fragile then we thought. Her connection to Billy is shown in the way she becomes a version of Ghostface at the end – but realizes she doesn’t want to be him when she stares at the mask, and drops it to the ground. That scene for me was one of the best scenes ever created in this franchise.

Fact: This was the first movie where there were 3 Ghostface killers in the end of the movie; however this movie had 5 “Ghostface’s” in total. The first Ghostface didn’t make it past the beginning of the movie, and wasn’t linked to the other 3; Then we have the 3 killers who are after our main characters, and Sam Carpenter our heroine, dons the costume and becomes her own version of Ghostface at the end to take out the villain.

3. Scream 4

Year: 2011

Type of Horror: Slasher

Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Roger L. Jackson, Alison Brie (With Special Appearances by: Lucy Hale, Kristen Bell, Anna Paquin, Britt Robertson)

On a popularity scale a lot of fans did not like the beginning of this movie. There were so many “fake openings” because they were Stab movie intros (Stab is a slasher movie in Screams’ universe, based off of the story of Sidney Prescott {so the first movie}). I was the opposite. I enjoyed the fake out, and kept waiting for the real murder and the real twist. It made me realize that this movie was going to be a fun ride. I was not disappointed. I love that Neve Campbell and Kevin Williamson decided to make this movie for the anniversary of the first movie. I like that they didn’t do the first film an injustice and in fact, they did right by it. The killer was quite a shock, and it was the first movie in the franchise that used the final girl – this movie had set up both Jill and Sidney as our main final girls – as the villain. When she turned on Sidney and we saw that Jill was one of the Ghostface killers – my jaw dropped on the floor. Honestly her accomplice I had guessed – but she threw me. I love a movie that throws me when it comes to the killers identity.

Fact: At four instalments, this initially land marked the Scream franchise as being one of the only horror franchises to have both its main characters as well as its director (Wes Craven) return for all of its sequels, until the release of Scream (2022) (AKA Scream 5), and all future films, which features a new director(s) as a result of Craven’s death.

4. Fear Street Part 1: 1994

Year: 2021

Type of Horror: Slasher/Supernatural

Starrring: Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benajmin Flores Jr., Julia Rehwald, Fred Hechinger, Maya Hawk

Fear Street, when it was first announced I was stoked. Growing up R.L. Stine was the biggest author for children’s horror. Goosebumps and Fear Street were huge books for my generation growing up. Upon the announcement of the Netflix trilogy I was excited yet skeptical that it’d be children audience focused and wouldn’t be a decent slasher or scary movie – but I was wrong. Luckily it was made for my generation in mind – the people who grew up with the books who were looking for the nostalgia but a kick ass horror film that would do the stories justice. The film series, which heavily involved R.L. Stine’s involvement blew up on Netflix and to this day still remains some of its strongest original content. The success of the first series sparked hunger for more – a new Fear Street series was created in 2025 (unfortunately that movie did not live up to this movie). Fear Street focuses on two final girls, Sam & Deena who also happen to start the movie off as ex-lovers, and we see their fight for survival as a slasher killer is on the loose. Supernatural elements seep into the story, as we find out the killers are there due to a curse, and they need to stop it. It was a great ride and it was a perfect combination of slasher, romance, and supernatural. The supernatural didn’t overshadow the slasher, and the supernatural elements weren’t over the top ridiculous. Another thing I liked about the movie was that the series was already planned, it was advertised as a trilogy with each movie dropping quickly after the other – and we got the complete story before outside factors could cancel anything, or ruin it.

Fact: The first kill drew from Scream for inspiration and paid tribute to the film. The opening sequence had Maya Hawk (who was the biggest name in the movie) and had her be the first killed. They had her run from the killer in the same manor, and had the killer reach around her to stab her in a very similar way, with minor differences.

5. Fear Street Part 3: 1666

Year: 2021

Type of Horror: Slasher/Supernatural

Starrring: Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Sadie Sink, Benajmin Flores Jr., Gillian Jacobs

This films was the second strongest of the trilogy. It has two stories in one, which I found quite unique. We see the origin of the curse and how all of it began, and we then see the present as Deena is trying to save Sam, and bring the curse to an end in the present. I really like the way they meshed the two together. I also loved that Sarah the “witch” we were believed to be the villain behind the curse, was actually the good guy, and that she sacrificed her life to save Hannah her lover – which resembles Sam and Deena’s love story.

Fact: This is the only movie, where a reference to the titular Fear Street appears.

6. The Babysitter: Killer Queen

Year: 2020

Type of Horror: Slasher/Comedy/Supernatural

Starrring: Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving, Jenna Ortega, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Emily Alyn Lind

This is one of those perfect examples where I said earlier that horror has so many sub-genres under the large monicker of Horror. This movie is made specifically to include the slasher horror trope, with kills, blood & gore, and a horror like concept. However, it is also mixed with quite a lot of comedy and satire making it a perfect blend of comedy-horror. Plus, it also has to do with satanism, a satanic pact, and supernatural curse – which adds a supernatural layer to this horror gem. When I first heard about The Babysitter series – maybe I should mention this is the second film in the series – they looked kind of lame. The trailers made it seem like a spoof movie, not a legitamte slasher movie. But, one night I was bored, found out Jenna Ortega was in it and flipped on the first movie, loved that one, and then decided to watch the sequel. I stayed up until about 1am finishing a back to back of them. Despite the silly satanic, deal with the devil plot, it was actually a great ride. It has some creative gory kills, Jenna brought her Scream Queen glory to the movie, and Robbie Amell really stole the show with his villain (much like the first movie). This movie was fun and entertaining. It’s not nightmare material, not at all, but it was an enjoyable watch.

Fact: Max (Robbie Amell) mentions Camp Crystal Lake – which references Friday the 13th a classic horror film. In the first film he also hummed the Jason kill theme, and repeats that in this movie as well.

7. Child’s Play (2019)

Year: 2019

Type of Horror: Slasher

Starrring: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Hamill, Gabriel Bateman, Brian Tyree Henry

This remake of Child’s Play was the superior Child’s Play (In my opinion – don’t burn me at the stake for that). I know the original is a classic, Chucky is a huge part of the horror world and I would never insult it’s part in cementing slasher status, and Chucky’s status as a horror icon but I enjoyed this version a lot. The storyline and how Chucky came to be in this one was more enticing and honestly more realistic to me. In this adaptation Chucky is a high-tech doll made with artificial intelligence. The line of dolls sweeps the nation in popularity and Karen (Aubrey Plaza) who works in a store brings one home to her kid. That particular Chucky malfunctions and goes on a killing spree. Chucky starts off by protecting its owner Andy (Gabriel Bateman) – only to turn against him when he tries to take him out, and Chucky’s intensity, hostility and murderous nature intensifies. In the end Andy must save his mother, his friends, and his town. The movie has some decent kills, and I find this one a tad more realistic than the original Chucky’s origins (the original Child’s Play was a serial killer who transferred his soul to a doll).

Fact: Andy decides to call his Chucky doll “Han Solo,” a character made famous in the Star Wars films. Chucky is voiced by Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga.

8. Saw

Year: 2004

Type of Horror: Psychological Horror/Slasher

Starrring: Tobin Bell, Leigh Whannell, Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Dina Meyer, Shawnee Smith

Saw brought a whole new shake up to the horror genre. It put a new spin on slasher, and it really brought in a psychological aspect of horror that while exists – it usually isn’t often paired up with a slasher esque backdrop. Now, most slasher movies follow the typical masked killer, stalking our heroes and killing them off one by one. However Saw veers from that simplistic slasher narrative, and shifts into a serial killer – that the media knows as Jigsaw – who is a slasher, but does it without getting his own hands dirty. He kidnaps his victims, sets up traps that if they do not escape will kill them. He goes from victim to victim, setting up these traps, and the Body count climbs and climbs as most people cannot get out of their traps, and wind up being killed. Amanda, the first survivor of Jigsaws traps, spends some of the movie talking to detectives who are trying to find the killer – all while Jigsaw is hard at work with his current mission, the one we are brought into with Adam and Dr. Lawrence Gordon. Lawrence and Adam are shoved in a tiny room, and have to follow the rules and escape the traps before they get killed. The movie is a race with time, while they try and escape, while the detectives try to catch jigsaw, and while another player in the game is tested by handling Lawrence’s family to make him comply. Saw is known as revolutionary series in horror as it encompasses so many layers, and its killer isn’t just a cold blooded person who wants to kill for fun. Jigsaw who is John Kramer kills because he takes humans who need to appreciate life (addicts, thieves, people who try to commit suicide, etc), and tests them to see how much they truly appreciate life as they fight for their life. The best part of the whole movie is the very end. As the audience we wait patiently to know who this killer is, only to meet Jigsaw/John Kramer at the end when the body in the room we thought was dead, gets up, and leaves the room, trapping Adam inside to rot away as he failed his game.

Fact: Directors James Wan and Leigh Whannell wanted to make a film after they finished film school, but they could only afford one room. However, they challenged themselves to create a film that only occured in one room. This film was the product, and it is considered one of the most profitable and successful horror films of all time.

9. The Babysitter

Year: 2017

Type of Horror: Slasher/Comedy/Supernatural

Starrring: Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving, Robbie Amell, Bella Thorne, Andrew Bachelor, Hana Mae Lee, Emily Alyn Lind

The sequel to this movie appeared above, and this one is a solid entry onto my list as well. I mean without this one, the second one wouldn’t exist. While the first one blends the same genre bending rules as the second movie did, I found this one a tad less funny than its sequel. I enjoyed this movie too of course. This movie kicks off our whole adventure as Bee, Cole’s babysitter, is the leader of a satanic cult that wants to make a deal with the devil – and in order to do that they need a sacrifice, which they perform thanks to a gentleman her cult brings into Cole’s home, after he “goes to sleep” and they also need pure blood. As Cole is innocent Bee’s plan is to get his blood. Only Cole doesn’t take the sleep medication his drink was laced with, and winds up staying up and seeing everything. The group then turns on Cole to kill him. The end of the movie is where it shines as him and Bee go head to head, and in the end nobody believes Cole that the whole night even happened. Bee while we think he kills her, her body is missing (as are all the other bodies) and all that remains is a destroyed house, and Cole. It was a very fun ride!

Fact: The characters Max, Sonya, Allison, John, and Bee all resemble Slasher victim stereotypes. The Jock (Max), The Cheerleader (Allison), The Clown (John), The blonde pretty girl (Bee), and the outcast/stoner (Sonya). Only instead of being victims, they were flipped into villains.

10. Saw X

Year: 2023

Type of Horror: Psychological Horror/Slasher

Starrring: Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Synnøve Macody Lund, Renata Ibinarriaga Vaca

Saw X – the final (so far) move in the franchise – is the second best Saw movie and is almost as fantastic as the original. This is John Kramer’s origin story of how he became the infamous serial killer Jigsaw. John just got his cancer diagnoses and he’s desperate and coping with the news and gets told about a trial cure in Mexico. He travels there, and believes he will be cured of his cancer, and is drawn into a medical scam by con-artists who prey on the weak. After he realizes they conned him, he turns the tables on them, creates an elaborate trap to torment them and make them pay for what they did, while also making them choose life or death, and he watches as they choose to escape these traps (which most people fail John’s traps) or be killed trying to escape/running out of the time limit he gives. I found it really interesting to see how Jigsaw started and the origin of how he became the slasher we know.

Fact: This is the First film in the series in which Jigsaw is involuntary placed into one of his own traps.

11. Thanksgiving

Year: 2023

Type of Horror: Slasher

Starrring: Patrick Dempsey, Nell Verlaque, Milo Manheim, Gina Gershon

Eli Roth, a legend in horror cinema broke the bank with this slasher flick. The one downside to this movie was while at first the killer wasn’t obvious, it quickly became obvious and it was kind of a let down when they revealed the killer. The beginning of the movie at the Black Friday sale, which is what starts it off, was gory and well done and gave us anticipation to see how this film was going to play out and how the killer was going to emerge from it. The motive of the killer was actually unique in this movie, as the killer goes after people he believes are responsible for the death of someone he loved at the Black Friday massacre. When this movie first came out it was a huge theatrical success and a lot of people online were talking about it, and it felt like it was everywhere and at first I was like this is going to be stupid. A Thanksgiving killer going around killing people on Thanksgiving? like come on. I originally thought it was going to be a play off of movies like Halloween, and Friday the 13th but it was far from that – and stepped into its own. I look forward to seeing the sequel.

Fact: Eli Roth wanted all the film’s kills to be not only gory but creative, paying homage to the creative kills of golden age slasher films such as the Friday the 13th films, Nightmare on Elm Street series, Happy Birthday To Me (1981), and My Bloody Valentine (1981).

12. The Purge

Year: 2013

Type of Horror: Home Invasion

Starrring: Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder, Adelaide Kane, Edwin Hodge, Rhys Wakefield

The Purge is such a good film. It’s a long franchise and each movie takes a different approach to The Purge night, and shows us different characters and how The Purge affects them because of that it is normally considered an anthology film series – with a connecting main event plot. This movie however started it all and was the best instalment in the series. This Purge night focuses on a home invasion that soon turns south, and it’s about survival in your safe place, your own home, and trying to survive the enemy before they kill you. Let me start by explaining what The Purge is. The Purge is something the government/Founding Fathers have legalized to help lower crime in the country. The Night of the Purge happens once a year, and for 12 hours all crimes are legal – murder, rape, theft, etc are all legal and emergency services are not available during these 12 hours. Our main family in this movie is bunkered down, trying to survive another year of The Purge, only this year they have enemies, and they break into the home and the family must fight back. The reason this movie can be quite fear inducing is because of two reasons. 1. With current political climates (even the messy climates back then when it was made) is making it feel like a Purge night could one day become legal and 2. Home invasions are psychologically taxing, and affect your sense of safety. They put you on edge because of the thought of someone attacking you in your safe place, is quite unnerving.

Fact: According to director James DeMonaco The story of how The Purge story was created is as follows: He and his wife were driving on the freeway when a drunk driver cut them off nearly killing them. After both cars stopped, the other driver’s lack of remorse enraged DeMonaco enough to engage in a fistfight and police eventually had to get involved. After the incident was over, DeMonaco’s wife turned to him and mentioned how great it would be to have one free murder a year. He felt bad admitting this because she’s normally a “sweet woman”.

13. I Know What You Did Last Summer

Year: 1997

Type of Horror: Slasher

Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prince Jr., Ryan Phillippe

This movie came after Scream did (funny enough it was written before Scream), and despite this movie’s slot on my list it isn’t necessarily special. BUT it’s such a cult classic, and despite its predictability and the tropes that it leaned into – I enjoyed the movie. Kevin Williamson was responsible for this film, and he wrote Scream so that was definitely a bonus when it came to this movie. I think that the cast was a huge selling point for me as well. Freddie always nails the boy next door roles, and Jennifer really leaned into her star power in this movie. Ryan played the bad boy, which instantly made everyone like him – and Sarah well I loved Buffy, so I already loved her which drew me in. I think storyline wise, it was a tad predictable with the killer and how it would play out. I like the kills; I thought they were well done, and one of the scenes in horror that everyone talks about is from this movie. Poor Helen (Sarah) was almost safe; almost got away, and just two more seconds and she wouldn’t have been killed – and I think that’s when the reality of their situation really hits the audience. If you’re looking for scary this isn’t the move, but just a good classic horror movie that I’d put in the same category as a lot of classics, then I’d recommend it. Sometimes you just want a good horror movie that will be enjoyable without jumping out of your skin, or without the blood and gore and I feel that works well here. It’s my go to for that.

Fact: Kevin Williamson wrote this script before his screenplay for Scream (1996), but was unable to sell it. Following the big success of Scream, Columbia Pictures immediately bought I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and produced it to capitalize on the newfound horror success. This movie is a modern update of the old slasher horror movie structure rather than a deconstruction of the genre, many critics and fans felt this was a huge step down from Williamson’s more clever and innovative Scream scripts.

14. Hush

Year: 2016

Type of Horror: Home Invasion/Slasher

Starrring: Kate Siegel, John Gallaghar Jr.

This movie is so special. It was a very small budget movie, it starred two actors and took place in a small cabin like house. It had barely anything put into it but it was such a gem. The main character is deaf, which is something fairly new and different to the horror genre; especially since there are a good chunks of this movie where you – for lack of a better word – “hear” the way she does. There are creepy noises yes, but you are put into her state. The killer is talking to her, tapping on the glass, and you can’t hear it because she can’t. There is barely any dialogue. This movie, while not gory and there are actually not a lot of kills – as he kills only two people that come to the home (and he later dies) – it’s such a good horror movie. It’s freaky in its own way. There is no reason given as to why he’s doing what he’s doing, the mask is off putting even though it’s simple. The silence adds to the creepy chill, and the setting really brings you into this all alone with a large threat mentality. The fact that it’s a home invasion also makes it scary. Homes are where you are suppose to feel the safest, and having danger encroach onto your safe place can be so stressful, uncomfortable, and spine chilling. The way the actor plays the killer is phenomenal and Kate did so well in this movie, which catapulted her into Scream Queen status before she was in The Haunting of Hill House, and The Haunting of Bly Manor. Mike Flanagan who is a huge name in horror, the other two shows I just mentioned were his including many more spooky pieces of work, he wrote an amazing horror entry with this film. Kate Siegel also co-wrote the film, making her performance in it stronger. Hush was produced by Blumhouse, who are now one of the biggest names in the world of horror, but Hush’s budget was 1 Million which is quite small for a movie. The movie was also so well received – even without a theatric release as it streamed on Netflix in the USA due to their deal with Mike Flanagan – that Mike created Midnight Mass (the book Kate’s character writes in this movie) into a television show in it’s own right.

Fact: Because the main character is deaf and mute, the film contains less than 15 minutes of dialogue, meaning that more than 70 minutes occur without a single word spoken.

15. Time Cut

Year: 2024

Type of Horror: Slasher

Starrring: Madison Bailey, Antonia Gentry, Griffin Gluck, Megan Best

This film actually surprised me. When I first saw the trailer I expected a rip-off of Totally Killer (which this one was written first – and also can’t we like both movies even though they are very similar?) and a movie with little intrigue. Instead I got a movie that yes was similar to Totally Killer, but it also really stood on its own two feet. Lucy goes back in time to prevent a spree killer from killing her sister and while she saves her sister, she’s also unleashed this killer on a mass amount of students and need to stop him before more of her new friends, and her sisters friends die. She pulled her new friend, and her sister into the whole thing, and together they manage to figure out who the killer is (that was not overly hard to figure it out) and they save everyone. Now this movie does not have many kills – it’s relatively tame for a horror movie and not a lot of gore, and it’s not overtly bloody. In fact I’d consider this a family horror movie – as long as your kid is old enough to deal with the material. That said the story is good, there is a lot of heart, there’s a good sisterly bond we get to see, a good love story, and the whole movie is well done. Sometimes tame horror movies get “kicked out” of the genre, but I think despite its tame nature this one belongs here. Horror fans start with tamer movies at some point in someone’s life, and this a good entry film for someone that wants to give the genre a chance.

Fact: The movie establishes that several branches of a timeline can exist simultaneously, meaning that in the original timeline Lucy disappears and her parents will have lost two daughters on the same date (but in different years) in the same location.

16. Trick R Treat

Year: 2007

Type of Horror: Supernatural/Slasher

Starrring: Dylan Baker, Anna Paquin, Quinn Lord

Trick r’ Treat is such a unique movie. Sam is our antagonist, the killer, however he kills those that do not follow the rules of halloween. There are five main interwoven stories in the movie, and they happen on the same block on the same night which happens to be Halloween. The first story is about a couple who finds out what happens when they blow out a jack o lantern out too early. The second story is a serial killer who is also a teacher contaminates candy and kills kids (including a kid who was smashing pumpkins). The third story is a group of teenagers play a prank that goes too far. A virgin werewolf wants to find her first kill to become her true self. A cranky old man, who refuses to hand out candy, comes into direct contact with an unusual trick or treater (Sam). Characters from other stories are often seen in the background of someone else’s story, connecting them and making the audience know it’s in the same universe. Sam in this movie is a supernatural deity who keeps things essentially in line on Halloween. The fact the killer in this movie is small, a child like creature, makes Sam quite creepy but it’s perfect for the movie. I love Sam as a slasher villain and I am beyond happy that he is finally getting the love he deserves and the merchandise as well. You don’t fully see the deaths take place, as one thing this movie does which is unique for a horror film, is they take place off screen or there is an obstruction blocking the kill itself. This movie in itself is not scary and it can be hard to follow, and not the whole movie is about Sam. The other villains in it (the teacher serial killer, werewolves) are used as well as antagonists. There’s no traditional final girl, no traditional slasher rules. It’s in a league of its own for sure. The one thing everyone can definitely see after their view is that Sam is the centre of the film, and he enforces the rules of Halloween.

Fact: The rules of Halloween in the movie Trick ‘r Treat are a set of traditions that must be followed to appease the supernatural entity, Sam. They include always wearing a costume, always handing out candy, never blow a jack-o-lantern out before midnight. Other rules are to always respect the dead, never hurt the innocent, and leave Halloween decorations up until November 1st, and always check your candy.

Honorable Mentions:

Better Watch Out: This Christmas horror movie that acts as a home invasion (with a twist) was actually a very good film. There are not a lot of horror movies for festive holidays and I found this one an enjoyable watch. I was not expecting the kid she was babysitting to be the one behind the home invasion, and to be the killer.

Happy Death Day: This time loop slasher movie was quite different. it was a unique addition to the horror genre. Blumhouse did a great job with this one. Tree must relive her murder over and over again – until she finds the killer. I had many suspects, but I did not originally guess the killer.

Gremlins: This monster-black comedy-horror movie is like the cutest horror movie ever created, if horror movies have the ability to be cute. It’s definitely a horror movie I’d show my kids, as it’s not that scary. It focuses on the gremlins which are monsters that they need to stop before they keep creating chaos or worse kill someone. By the way Gizmo is adorable.

Music is a lifeline, literally. I feel without music, we’d be truly dead. For me, music has been the thing that has kept me together, has stitched my broken seams, has mended my heart, and most of all – when I was younger and my depression was untreated – it saved my life. Now that my depression is being treated, on particular dark days (Medicine is not a cure all – let me just state that) I feel like my mind would be in some very bad places without music.

Without these bands, I don’t know where I’d be in life. Certain ones have been with me since my darkest teenage days, pre-treatment, and are credited for getting me through the most terrible of days. Others I have discovered midway through and have helped me with loss, sad days, happy days and all around have become permanent aspects of my playlist. And One has been with me since childhood!

Under each band, I’ll give out a little bit of information on the band. I will discuss my favourite songs, and favourite album.

1. Set It Off

Genre: Punk/Pop, Rock

About the Band: Set it off took off in 2008, after Cody Carson – the lead singer had solidified the band. Their first release was the EP: Baby, You Don’t Tripajaharda. The band has had many band member shake ups, and have evolved over the years. They started off their career signed to Equal Vision Records, and once they parted ways with that label they signed to Fearless Records – which their albums Midnight and Elsewhere were released under. After that, they departed Fearless Records, and to retain full creative control, have chosen to continue music independently, as they have 100% say over the art they make. Midnight has since been regarded as Set it Off’s best album, delivering hits like Killer in The Mirror, Lonely Dance, and Dancing With The Devil. My personal favourite album was Duality, however Midnight was also a phenomenal piece of work.

My Favourite Songs: Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing, Skeleton, Killer In The Mirror, Lonely Dance, Stitch Me Up, Dancing With The Devil, Me W/O Us

My favourite Album: Duality

My Connection To The Music: I was a little late to Set It Off’s journey, I was introduced to them thanks to Youtube actually. Killer In The Mirror popped up in my recommended videos, because of other bands I had listened to in the genre and I decided to click on it and give it a listen. I was hooked. At that point Midnights had not come out yet, but that single had, and so I patiently awaited the rest of the album but I listened to Duality first, since it was already on Spotify and I was like I love this, and then I continued to go through their past catalogue and just knew that I was meant to find this band. Songs Like Lonely Dance, has helped me with my anxiety, and when I am having a very bad anxiety day I listen to Why Worry, because it makes me feel better. This band is not just a typical punk pop band, but they have relatable music, and Cody is a very talented singer and song-writer.

2. Simple Plan

Genre: Rock (with pop-punk elements)

About The Band: Simple Plan was formed in Montreal, Quebec in 1999. Their first album No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls was released in 2002. Their first mainstream hit was I’d Do Anything, and Addicted. I’d do Anything featured vocals (and an appearance in the music video) from Mark Hoppus from Blink 182; aiding in their exposure. While those were the first mainstream hits to enter them into stardom – their first hit I’m Just A Kid, received huge resurgence when it was featured in the film The New Guy, and the music video was made for the movie, starring the actors from the film. Their stardom continued to grow, and in 2002 they were tapped to make the theme song for the new Scooby Doo show, What’s New Scooby Doo? The theme song became a hit and soared on musical charts. Since then the band has released 6 full length albums, 3 Extended Plays, 2 Live albums, a Video album, a film documentary on Amazon Prime, and a handful of singles that were not featured on albums – including a Christmas song, and a recent collaboration with Avril Lavigne. Simple Plan is also known for their charity work – Creating the Simple Plan Foundation. The Simple Plan Foundation was originally created to aid troubled teens to prevent suicide, aid with homelessness and battle drug addiction. As of November 2024, they had accumulated 3,000,000 toward the fund. Their foundation donated 10,000 to the 2011 earthquake that damaged Japan, in relief funds. They also donated 10,000 in 2024 to aid with the floods in Rio Grande do Sul. Their single Save You, was released on iTunes in 2008, with all proceeds going to the Cancer Society.

My Favourite Songs: Welcome to my Life, Shut Up, I’m Just A Kid, God Must Hate Me, Perfect, You Suck At Love, Jet Lag, Loser of The Year, Young & Dumb, Perfect World, Addicted.

My Favourite Album: No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls

My Connection to The Music: I was a around 12-13 when Simple plan first released their hits Addicted, and I’d do Anything and back then music videos played on Much Music & MTV, and one day their music video made the rounds and I was instantly hooked – and even thought it came out first, I then heard Just A Kid and at the time, the song hit me in the feels as that’s how I felt. I was pulled into their orbit, had their first album on repeat, and continued to follow their career, and have never wavered from then to now. I have a Spotify playlist dedicated to them, and plan one getting a tribute tattoo in the future, because without this band, my high school years and the depression I went through, may have cause more permanent damage then it did. I credit their music for saving my life when I was younger, and I will always be grateful for that. I have seen them live before, and not only do they make amazing music, but also put on a good live show.

3. Hollywood Undead

Genre: Rapcore, Nu Metal

About The Band: Hollywood Undead is a band that originated in Los Angeles, California – formed in 2005. Their first full length studio album, titled Swan Songs, was released in 2008 to critical acclaim. At the time of it’s release, there were few Rapcore bands (Linkin Park – being the main mainstream band to represent the genre) but they themselves entered the mainstream circuit after the departure of Duece (their original lead singer) and their addition of Danny (as their lead singer – who is still their lead singer to this day) and the release of their second studio album American Tragedy. The band was known for the masks they wore, which covered their faces, and hid their identities for the first couple of years of fame. Now, they mix it up and wear the masks on occasion and in most promotional shoots, but also choose to go without them. They have released 8 studio albums, 1 Live Album, 1 Remix Album, 4 Extended Plays, 1 Christmas Single, and provided their talents on 1 single as a featured artist. The band has named Linkin Park, Eminem, Slipknot, John Lennon, Snoop Dogg, and Wu-Tang Clan as some of their personal influences. Band Member Johnny 3 Tears has explained their band as “a rock band that was influence by hip-hop, rather than a rap-rock band.”

My Favourite Songs: Savior, City, Young, Been To Hell, I Don’t Wanna Die, Gangsta Sexy, Coming Back Down, Pour Me, Dead Bite, Day of The Dead, Believe, Comin’ In Hot

My Favourite Album: American Tragedy

My Connection to the Music: If someone were to ask me “How did you discover Hollywood Undead?” I’d Answer “I have no idea.” To be blunt, I cannot for the life of me remember how I came to be introduced to this amazing band. I do know it was around the time of their debut album, because I purchased it shortly after it came out, on old fashioned physical CD media – and I do remember it being one of my first parental advisory products that I bought on my own in Walmart, and got carded for – and lucky me; I believe I had just turned 18. Back when they carded people for media that was rated R, or had parental advisory stickers on it. Their music shaped the end of my teens, and the beginnings of my twisted twenties. There had been a small time when I took a mild break from Hollywood Undead, around the release of their album Day of the Dead, as in my sole opinion it had been their weakest album and I personally didn’t feel the pull to it, but I waited for more music, and allowed myself to give the albums that followed a chance. Hollywood Undead also has their own playlist on my Spotify, and when I have a rough day, when my depression is so bad I can barely get out of bed, or when I am very angry, I flip them on and they make the day a tad better and as for my anger they have provided a great outlet when it comes to getting all my violent, angry thoughts out in a healthy manor by singing their songs.

4. O-Town

Genre: Pop

About The Band: O-Town was formed on the first season of reality television show Making The Band, in 2000. The boy band released their first self titled studio album in 2001, with chart topping hits like Liquid Dreams, All Or Nothing, and Baby I Would. Unfortunately for O-Town the 90’s and early 2000’s boy band fad started to fade, and they released a second studio album in 2002, title O2, and it hit a little bit of a snag due to the fandom dying out, and the band ended up splitting ways. O2 still held onto some hits, as These Are The Days still charted, and I Showed Her held onto some radio play. Their second album had included more creative input from the band as they had co-wrote 6 of the songs. J Records, dropped the band from the label because the album did not sell to their standards and because of that the band broke up shortly after the release of the album. For a long while the band sat dormant, but All Or Nothing had continued to receive airplay on radios and movie soundtracks. Ashley Parker Angel went on to release solo music, and headed for broadway, while the other band members dabbled in their own music but also focused on their family, and personal lives. In 2013 Eric, Dan, Trevor, and Jacob (Ashley had decided to decline the offer) decided to reform the band and they released their first album in years titled Lines & Circles in 2014. Their Part 1 EP was released in 2017, and their full length album The O.T.W.N. Album was released in 2019. In 2025 the band had faced mild media damage, as they were from the Reality Television show Making The Band, which Diddy (who has now been arrested for sex trafficking) had been a part of. Much to everyone’s confusion – O-Town was on the show before Diddy became involved as they completed their season, and he did not become involved until O-town were no longer contestants on the show. The band had no affiliation with Diddy, his record label, or his career. Despite that hiccup, the band showed their proof, and soon people and fans realized they had no affliction with the disgraced Diddy name. The band is currently on their Pop 2000 Tour, which is a tour they have had many years in a row that centres on the heart of 2000 boy band magic. They are also currently working on a new studio album.

My Favourite Songs: Liquid Dreams, Love Should Be A Crime, All or Nothing, Sensitive, The Painter, From The Damage, These Are The Days, Skydive, Off, Hello World, Giants, Over

My Favourite Album: The O.T.W.N Album (but this was a hard decision because their first album was very very solid)

My Connection to the Music: O-Town was just another boy band at the time I discovered them. It was during the fad of Backstreet Boys, N*sync, LFO, 98 Degrees, and B2k era. Their videos aired on Much Music and YTV’s Hit List countdown which I tuned in every week, because it was my main show and how I discovered music that I still listen to today. I loved O-Town better than most of those bands, because I loved the sultry vocals, the upbeat songs, but I also loved that all their songs weren’t sappy love songs, and focused on heartbreak, loss, but also just fun encounters as well. Ashley and his blonde hair had been my favourite member when the band first started because face it, he reminded me of a wannabe Nick Carter; but as I listened to the vocals and the band grew – Dan soon became my favourite singer of the band with his deep, sultry vocals and his powerful verses. After the band disbanded I was devastated because I loved them a lot but I continued to listen to their old stuff, and even continued to watch their old music videos on Youtube once that became a thing. When I heard their announcement that they were returning I was ecstatic! I jumped on the bandwagon, and was obsessed with Skydive their first single in forever, and I was even more excited when they dropped The O.T.W.N Album and was not disappointed. O-Town came to my hometown as part of a 2000’s music festival, headlined by 98 Degrees and I attended purely to see O-Town and it has since become one of my favourite concerts I have ever attended.

5. 5 Seconds Of Summer

Genre: Pop-Rock

About The Band: 5 Seconds of Summer (often shortened to 5SOS) were formed in Sydney, Australia in 2011. The group to this day has kept its original line-up of band members, Luke Hemmings, Calum Hood, Ashton Irwin, and Michael Clifford. Their first hit She Looks So Perfect was released in 2014 – and peaked number one in 4 countries, immediately shooting the band to stardom. Their self titled album was released in the same year, and dominated the charts hitting number one in 11 countries. In The USA, 5SOS is the first Australian act to have 3 number ones on the Billboard 200 chart. Luke, Calum and Michael all attended the same high school and formed the band while in college, they then met Ashton, invited him to join and the band was formed and completed. The name of the band was created by Michael and wound up sticking. They started by uploading covers on Youtube, and soon the band received interest from record labels. They had ultimately signed to Sony. In 2013 it was announced that 5SOS would support One Direction on their Take Me Home Tour, which catapulted their fame. In 2019 the band announced their creation of Friends of Friends, their philanthropic brand. Friends of Friends have helped Safe Place For Youth, which provides aid to homeless youth in LA. They have also aided Blacktown Youth Services in Australia. Friends of Friends have also helped the Australian Red Cross after the damaging wild fires that occurred in Australia, to help the wildlife. They have also helped with the Black Lives Matter movement and The LGBT movement. 5SOS have released 5 Studio Albums, 3 Live Albums, 1 Video Album, 8 Extended Plays, 7 B-Sides, and made an appearance on 2 singles which they were featured on.

My Favourite Songs: Youngblood, She Looks So Perfect, Amnesia, She’s Kinda Hot, Want You Back, Lie To Me, Ghost Of You, Teeth, Moving Along, Monster Among Men

My Favourite Album: Youngblood (Deluxe)

My Connection to the Music: 5 Second of Summer was a band I discovered after the release of She Looks So Perfect, like most people in the world. Honestly, they first started as a fun band to listen to for me, as their first few singles were carefree songs, that were the type of songs you’d listen to to get in a good move, or during a drive. When Amnesia came out, I was blown away by their serious side, and I was immediately more drawn in. The vocals especially on that song, and the way Luke’s voice cracks, the way they perform each emotional song with such deep emotion; that’s what made me really like 5SOS. They may be fun, but they can also sing about the grit and the hurt and the heartbreak.

6. Why Don’t We

Genre: Pop

About The Band: Why Don’t We, who commonly shortened their name to WDW was an American boy band that was formed in 2016. The band consisted of Jack Avery, Corbyn Besson, Zach Herron, Jonah Marais and Daniel Seavey. They had all met in Los Angeles in 2015, and formed into a band a year later. their first full length studio album titled 8 Letters debuted at number 9 on the billboard 200 chart, and singles Talk, Hooked and 8 Letters came off of that album. in 2019 they went on their first headlining tour titled The 8 Letters Tour. In 2019 they released a new song each month (except for September) and some of those songs consisted of Big Plans, Cold In LA, Unbelievable, What Am I, and many others. Their second studio album The Good Times and the Bad Ones was released in 2021. The band unfortunately entered a legal battle with previous managers due to mistreatment (starvation and locking up food, causing an eating disorder in Daniel, etc.), and harassment. Their label was also brought into the suit as Why Don’t We wanted to be released from the label. The band during the legal battle was forced to go on hiatus as they were no longer allowed to perform or release music during the trials. In 2025 the legal battle came to a close; as they got released from their record contract and they were released from their previous management. In the lawsuit they had lost all rights to the band name Why Don’t We, and if they were to rejoin and make music again as a band (all of them have since embarked on solo careers) they would have to change their name. Regardless, I’d follow them even if their name changed. They may be broken up, but I still listen to the music.

My Favourite Songs: In Too Deep, Trust Fund Baby, 8 Letters, Hard, Fallin, How Do You Love Somebody, Love Back, Grey, Big Plans, Cold In LA, What Am I, Unbelievable

My Favourite Album: 8 Letters

My Connection to the Music: Why Don’t We was recommended to me through Youtube. My connection to the music is simple: enjoyable, good lyrics, good tunes, and each guy has their own unique vocals that add to the overall product.

7. Marianas Trench

Genre: Pop-Rock

About The Band: Marianas Trench is a Canadian pop-rock band from Vancouver. Josh Ramsay originally created the band in 1999, with a completely different line-up, and the band’s original name was Ramsay Fiction. Once the previous band members he had started with left the band, and Matt, and Ian joined – they decided on a new name. After Josh’s other friend left the band, they found Mike and Marianas Trench was officially formed. They eventually signed (after demo hell – and multiple rejections) to Chad Kroeger’s (Lead singer of Nickelback) record label 604 Records. Their first full length studio album titled Fix Me was released in 2006. They have released 6 full length albums, 1 live album, 3 extended plays, and 1 video album. Josh Ramsay has also wrote many songs for other artists, including Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen and songs by Nickelback, Faber Drive, Danny Fernandes and 5 Seconds of Summer.

My Favourite Songs: Lightning & Thunder, I Knew You When, Burning Up, Shut Up & Kiss Me, One Love, Here’s To The Zeros, Pop 101, Ever After, Fallout, By Now, Toy Soldiers, All To Myself, Celebrity Status, Say Anything, Skin & Bones

My Favourite Album: Ever After

My Connection to the Music: Marianas Trench came out my later half of high school, when I was almost done, but they came into my life at the perfect time. I had other bands to help me, and keep me grounded and put together, but there had been something special about Marianas Trench, the way Josh writes songs, the way he performs. I have seen them live many times, I have enjoyed most of their music (I was disappointed with the album Phantoms) and Skin & Bones has remained an anthem for me and my mental health for many years.

8. We Three

Genre: Alternative Pop

About The Band: We Three is a band consisting of siblings Manny, Bethany and Joshua. They were first introduced to the public as contestants on America’s Got Talent, and unfortunately were eliminated in the semi finals of Judge’s choice. They had auditioned with an original song they had wrote called Heaven’s Not Too Far Away – which was written about the loss of their mother to Cancer. All four judges had said yes, sending them to their future. After the show commenced, they proceeded to release their first studio album, which was called We Three. They have since released 3 other Full length studio albums, 1 live album, and 1 extended play. Manny, lead vocalist and lead songwriter has gone public with his struggles with anxiety and severe depression and many of their songs have those experiences engrained in them.

My Favourite Songs: Heaven’s Not To Far Away, Sara, Sweater Weather, Superman, I Wanna Love Somebody, Secrets, When I’m With You, Same Way Too, 3 AM, Confident, Kissin When We’re Mad

My Favourite Album: Dear Paranoia, Sincerely Me

My Connection to the Music: The thing that drew me to We Three were the lyrics. As someone who suffers from depression, it’s not always easy to find songs that talk about depression, being lost, suicidal thoughts, or anything that is a symptom of depression and We Three talks about all of that in a lot of their material. Sometimes their music can get a little heavy, but it is relatable for someone like me. Not to mention Manny’s voice is a wonderful addition, as he can sing quite well.

9. Good Charlotte

Genre: Punk-Rock

About The Band: Good Charlotte was formed in 1995 by brothers Benji & Joel Madden. Their band name was taken from the children’s book: Good Charlotte The Girls of the Good Day Orphanage. Despite their early formation, their first self titled album wasn’t released until the year 2000.Billy, Joel, Paul, and Benji have been in the band since the beginning of their legitamate career, however the band has been through multiple drummers. Their first album produced the single Little Things. in 2002 they broke into the mainstream with their album The Young and The Hopeless, and their release of the hit The Anthem. The Anthem has since featured in numerous movie soundtracks, and has been dubbed one of the biggest hits of the 2000’s. Good Charlotte has had 8 full length studio albums – including the one released this year, 3 compilation albums, 1 Live Album, 5 Extended Plays and 3 Video Albums.

My Favourite Songs: Lifestyles of the rich and famous, The Anthem, The Young & The Hopeless, Hold On, Predictable, The River, Break Apart Her Heart, All Black, We Believe, Secrets, Say Anything

My Favourite Album: The Young & The Hopeless

My Connection to the Music: Much like Simple Plan they had fit into that category for me. A band that made me feel seen, as an outcast myself. A band that understood what I was going through, and was going through the same thing. The Young & The Hopeless song really got me through some tough times.

10. Backstreet Boys

Genre: Pop

About The Band: Backstreet Boys, while not the first boy band to ever exist they are known to be the biggest boy band in the world. They have been dubbed boy band royalty, and most boy bands that have come after them have given them a nod as their inspiration. Nick, Howie, Kevin, AJ, and Brian make up this band that I have listened to them since my childhood. The band was formed in 1993 in Orlando Florida, and their first album, was released in Germany in May 1996 (I was only 5) and it was released in the United States and other countries outside Europe in 1997. They followed those albums up with Backstreets Back, and Millennium. While Backstreets Back was a big success, the single I Want it That Way from Millennium catapulted them into worldwide stardom and that was what solidified their name. In 2006 Kevin had left the band temporarily, and during that time frame the band continued to release albums. Kevin returned to the band in 2012 and has remained with the group since. Backstreet Boys have released 11 full length studio albums, 1 live album and 3 compilation albums. They are currently in the middle of their 2nd Las Vegas residency.

My Favourite Songs: I Want It that Way, Don’t Want You Back, I Need You Tonight, The One, The Perfect Fan, Hey, No Place, Inconsolable, Helpless When She Smiles, Your Can Let Go, Incomplete, Crawling Back To You, Never Gone, Poster Girl, Drowning, Shape of You, The Call, Anywhere For You, As Long As You Love Me

My Favourite Album: Millenium

My Connection to the Music: Backstreet Boys – this is a band that I can 100 percent say I grew up on. I was a child when they first stepped onto the scene, and all I listened to at the time was Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, N*sync, and Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera was soon added to that mix. I used to dance in my living room with my childhood best friend to their music, and put on concerts. They were my first official real concert (not counting the artists directed toward children only before that) and even thought they looked like ants because I was so far away, and even though I vomited on the way there because I was so excited, it was still memorable. I don’t listen to them as often as I once did, but sometimes I get the urges and I can’t help but belt them out when I hear a song pop up on my playlist, or the radio. Because of what they mean to me, and how long they’ve been in my life, I have to keep them on my list – not only because I feel it’d be blasphemy not to, but they still to this day release great music.

11. The Veronicas

Genre: Alternative-Pop, Rock

About The Band: The Veronicas are an Alternative Pop, Rock band from Brisbane Australia. Identical twins Jessica and Lisa formed the band in 2004; and are the only members, as the band is a duo. The band chose their name from the movie Heathers. Wynona Ryder has a line in the movie that says “No, I’m a Veronica” after a guy asked her character if she is a Heather. Since the girls wanted a name that could symbolize something girlie, but not cheesy like their actual names, they settled on adapting Veronica from the quote. When Archie Comics learned of their name, they tried to sue the band for legal action, because of their character Veronica Lodge. However the suit was settled with an agreement to a partnership, and The Band agreed to be used in their comics, and appear as musical guests throughout the comics run, for permission to use the name. They released their debut studio album in 2005, which was tilted the Secret Life Of… Their fame reached high peaks in Australia, as well as Canada. Their hit 4Ever gathered interest in the United States, and the song was used in films like She’s The Man. Throughout their career they have released 6 Studio Albums, 3 Extended Plays, 2 Live Albums, 2 Compilation Albums, and 2 Video Albums. The Veronicas’ Music Video On Your Side, which was directed by Jess’ then girlfriend (now ex) Ruby Rose, their most popular music videos on Youtube.

My Favourite Songs: Invisible, Rib Cage, On Your Side, LA, You Ruin Me, 4Ever, Everything I’m Not, Heavily Broken, Nobody Wins, I Could Get Used To This, Revenge is Sweeter Than You Ever Were, Take Me On The Floor, Cruel

My Favourite Album: Untouched

My Connection to the Music: So when I first heard of The Veronicas I was lured in by that song 4Ever which was everywhere after it released. I enjoyed the sound of the music, their voices, and started following the band. I got both their first and second album, and as times changed I began to shift my listening to Spotify. As they grew, and I grew so did their themes and I loved that. Not to mention, I used to have a huge crush on Jess. After they had been out for a while, and after my crush started and around the album Untouched, Jess came out. She has never shied away from her own LGBTQ status and her fluid sexuality, and her queerness. They have included elements of both Lisa’s straight sexuality, and Jess’s queer sexuality in their music, and I think that’s pretty awesome.

Honorable Mentions:

1. Girlfriends: Girlfriends is a Punk-Rock band that I discovered after listening to their single High Again which was suggested to me via Spotify. Because I have recently discovered them but immediately loved them, I added them to my honourable mentions because I don’t know them well enough yet to add them to my list.

1. All Time Low: This rock band blew up my angsty younger self with hits like Dear Maria, Count Me In and Weightless. I still listen to Weightless all the time.

1. Boys Like Girls: I still enjoy this Rock bands music, and once upon a time I used to listen to them constantly.

1. Dan + Shay: These Country crooners have stunning musical talent, and it shows in the songs they write, and the albums they’ve released.

---

1. Agatha & Rio

Agatha and Rio have a tumultuous past – and it shows as their connection in the TV show unfolds. Rio Vidal, is Death and was tasked with taking their son (confirmed by show runner after show aired, that Nicky was both Rio & Agatha’s son) and caused a huge aching distance between Agatha and herself. Agatha swore she’d hate Rio forever if she did it; Rio who loved Agatha blessed her with the gift of time, so she could get to know Nicholas as long as she could, before he had to be taken away by Rio. Once he was taken, their relationship had never been the same. Agatha stuck to her guns and “hated” Rio, and when she gathered the darkhold, Rio could no longer see her as she was hidden behind that dark magic. That was just a small portion of their past. Their present story, we see unfold as Rio not only – unintentionally – helps Teen (Billy) break Agatha from her spell, as she helps her dig out of her personas that she had in Wandavision, but she ends up being one of the names on Agatha’s coven list. Her name actually appeared as a black heart, but Agatha knew who that was and does not want to face it. Agatha ignores Rio as being a possibility and brings someone else on the Witches Road anyway, however Rio finds herself pulled onto the road, after Agatha and her makeshift coven summon a green witch. We see the tension between Rio and Agatha, and we see how the love and hate they share for one another twists around their hearts, and rages between the two of them. Despite Agatha trying to force a distance between herself and Rio, they still manage to find their way to one another, and something seems to keep pulling them back to one another. As we see their relationship and the pain they both harbour from their past while they’re on the road, their journey soon comes to an end and a final battle takes place between Death and Agatha – as Rio must take either her or Billy, as she is owed a soul. Ultimately they share a passionate kiss – a kiss that means forgiveness, goodbye, I hate you, I love you, and ultimately death. Agatha dies; we see Rio grieve and say goodbye and unfortunately we do not get to see any more of their story – because it was a miniseries with no second season. However, what we did get was some bread crumbs from the creator of the show who shared that Nicky was indeed THEIR child, and that Agatha and Rio had been married.

2. Abby & Mel

Show: Charmed (Reboot)

Happy Ending: No…They did not end up together, but neither of them died.

Actors: Melonie Diaz as Mel Vera & Poppy Drayton as Abigael Jameson-Caine

Abby & Mel’s relationship was the best slow burn on television that I have ever seen. Abby and Mel started off as enemies; Mel is a Charmed One (one out of three sisters, who are the most powerful witches, meant to save the innocent and take down evil threats) and Abby is half witch, half demon and holds the title of The Demon Overlord (The leader of the demons that the Charmed Ones are supposed to kill). They are destined to be mortal enemies, yet Abby worms her way into Mel’s life (and due to that the Charmed One’s lives). Their bickering was quite entertaining – but their strained relationship that consisted of a ‘friendship of convenience’ and was only enacted when either Mel needed help, or Abby needed help started to bring them closer together. When Abby and Mel got trapped together, they began to see each other in a new light – when Mel learned a little bit about Abby’s messed up past with her mother, and Abby learned that Mel’s mother wasn’t all that Mel thought she had been – they have a silent bonding moment, and understanding that started to bring them closer together after that day. Afterward Abby started hanging around more often and Mel while she seemed to be bothered by Abby’s presence, she still stood up to her sister’s about Abby’s presence, still protected her when she was in danger, and enjoyed their back and forth banter, that turned into something more playful. As time went on you could see that Abby deeply cared for Mel, because she’d do anything to protect her, and help her. For example, Abby was dying with a magical sickness (which she ended up surviving) and Mel needed help and Abby helped her without a second thought. When she and Mel went into the future, she found out Mel was destined to die quite soon – and was willing to sacrifice her own future and stay in the future with Mel to protect her – even if it meant dying of her sickness. In turn Mel started protecting Abby from outside threats, but most of all, she protected her from Macy (her older sister) wanting to vanquish Abby several times, and prevented it from happening. She also willing stayed up all night to watch Abby sleep to protect her from what Abby believed was a demon attacking her, and saved her – the demon wound up being Abby herself as her mental state was having an internal fight but that is a different story. Their feelings – Abby’s specifically – became solidified in a canon manner, when Abby admitted her feelings for Mel. In a trial to prove Abby should not be locked away in a magical prison for her misdeeds; Maggie (the youngest Charmed One) uses a truth serum on Abby and asks her why she saved Mel multiple times, when she could just let her die. In that moment Abby and Mel, or what could have been, became Canon when Abby admits her love and interest in Mel. Mel while shocked at the confession, it ends up bringing them closer, and their flirting intensifies and Mel even allows Abby to “joke” that Mel’s future baby, would be hers. Unfortunately due to Poppy Drayton’s (Abby) exit of the show, the show had to go a different direction for Season 4 – but writers and show runners had plans for Abby and Mel to wind up together. I consider this coupling canon, because feelings were admired in the show – and the intention was to have the characters enter a romantic relationship.

3. Clarke & Lexa

Show: The 100

Happy Ending: The hope of a happy ending was dashed by a stray bullet

Actors: Alycia Debnam-Carey as Lexa & Eliza Taylor as Clarke.

Clarke & Lexa were tragic from the beginning. The Skaikru (Sky People) and The Grounders are meant to be enemies. Clarke is the leader of the Sky People, and Lexa is the commander (The Heda) of the grounders, and is the highest-ranking leader of the Grounder Clans. A war starts between The Grounders, and The Sky People and Clarke and Lexa meet, because Clarke wants to make peace to prevent further war. Their bond is actually created through tragedy as Finn (Clarke’s casual partner at that point) breaks the peace treaty and kills over 18 people, in an innocent grounder village. Lexa is bound to bring him in, and demands his death as payment for the deaths of her people. Even though Lexa did not know Clarke on a deep level at that point she was still drawn to her, and decided to allow Clarke to have a final moment with Finn, most likely knowing what Clarke was going to do. Clarke kills him – so that the grounders can’t torment him, and while the grounders want revenge on Clarke for that, Lexa informs them that the deed has been completed, payment has been paid. Clarke and Lexa begin an alliance, and they grow closer as time goes on. Unfortunately, their first kiss comes to an abrupt end as Clarke decided she is not ready to pressure a relationship. Betrayal follows, as Lexa leaves Clarke and her people for dead as she aligned with the Mountain Men to get her people back. While the betrayal causes issues between Clarke and Lexa, they soon move on from that and come back together. Their relationship begins to develop even though they don’t discuss what they are feeling – but when Clarke announces her departure to go back to her people, they share a kiss, and make love for the first and only time. Shortly after their romance ends tragically as Lexa dies from a stray bullet that is meant for Clarke. Even though Lexa dies, their relationship spans the rest of the show, as Clarke is unable to let Lexa go, and continues feeling that loss until the end of the series. The death of Lexa created a huge “bury your gays” movement where people accused the show runner as killing the strongest, gay character on the show. It also spurred a lot of buzz, funnily despite the hate of how it was handled, they became the most famous LGBTQ couple on television ever. The show runner has since released an apology stating he did not view it as burying a gay, but rather having Clarke loose the love of her life – whether it be male or female wasn’t something on his mind – to forward Clarke’s story. He also pleased fans by continuing to give them tidbits of facts about Clarke and Lexa (for example: he has told fans that for Lexa, it was love at first site). He also vowed that fans would not feel betrayed, and Clarke would continue to mourn her because he believes that they were soulmates. He kept his promise, as Clarke may have had intimate encounters to attempt to heal herself, she never moved on, and remained solo while she continued to love Lexa, and remember her fondly.

4. Stephanie & Harper

Show: Gotham Knights

Happy Ending: For the couple yes…the show however no, as it got cancelled due to the network being sold.

Actors: Fallon Smythe as Harper & Anne Lore as Stephanie

Real Life LGBTQ Representation: Anne Lore is publicly Bisexual

Stephanie and Harper fall under one of the best romantic tropes, one that you’ll most likely see alot of on this list. Enemies to Lovers. According to studies in fiction writing, and science in how our brains work, the reason this specific trope is so popular is as follows: it creates high emotional tension, offers compelling character growth, and provides a satisfying “earned” romance. The only probably with this trope is some writers struggle to turn the relationship healthy, and the toxicity can remain. If done correctly however, these types of couples can become quite healthy. Anyway, I am getting off topic. Let’s swing around back to the couple shall we. Speaking of healthy, while Stephanie and Harper start off on rocky footing, they actually become quite a healthy dynamic and it’s a solid example of how good writers can change enemies into lovers, while allowing the toxicity to fade away once they are no longer enemies and develop feelings instead. Harper (Along with her brother, and their friend) is a thief, who is paid to steal a gun from Batman – only instead they go and are set up to take the fall for Batman’s murder. When she first meets Stephanie, it is when they’re in hiding, and Batman’s son, who is also accused of his murder, introduces them and brings Stephanie and her hacking abilities into the group. At first anger at what Stephanie has and jealousy is Harper’s main issue. Growing up poor, with terrible parents, only having her brother has alot to long for. Stephanie, who in people’s eyes have perfect parents, is rich, and has never had to steal a day in her life to survive. Harper, while the Gotham Knights (the group of them) are out trying to find some answers to their questions, they end up taking down a drug bust and Harper saves Stephanie’s life which creates a small bridge between them. With the help of her brother, Harper starts to give Stephanie a chance, and Stephanie ends up proving to Harper that she may seem like a spoiled brat but she is far from it. Stephanie ends up bandaging Harper up after she gets shot, where they bond and have a wonderful moment. After that they grow closer, and Harper goes to speak to Stephanie at her home and overhears her mother yelling at her and witnesses her slapping Stephanie. Harper interrupts, puts Stephanie behind her and stands up for Stephanie, telling her mother that she doesn’t deserve someone as special and amazing as Stephanie. After that, Stephanie leaves with Harper and they develop a deeper bond. The girls eventually head to a dance club where the location of their missing friend has popped up, and to blend in they share an intimate dance, and after they recover their friend, they return back to their headquarters and share a kiss. Their relationship continues to develop and the show ends – with them in a good place.

5. Angel & Buffy

Show: Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Happy Ending: Angel & Buffy part ways, and it broke my heart

Actors: David Boreanaz as Angel & Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy

Giles said it best: a vampire in love with a slayer, it’s kind of poetic. He was not wrong. The reason Angel and Buffy gripped fans was because it was definitely a forbidden romance, which most people cannot get enough of because it brings up so much angst and challenges. Angel was Buffy’s first love, a vampire with a soul. Angel went after the wrong girl once upon a time and was cursed by a group of gypsy’s, who gave him his soul as they believed it would be a curse, because he’d feel all the pain of the people he’d kill. After suffering on the streets for a long while, a demon named Whistler decided he is going to help Angel and guide him toward helping the new slayer. When he first sees Buffy it’s from afar, and he falls in love with Buffy at first site because according to Angel, he sees her heart for what it is. Once Angel inserts himself into Buffy’s life and he starts helping her fight the evil in the world. At one point in the episode “Angel”, she finds out that he is a vampire after they share a kiss. A relationship begins to bloom, especially after she finds out he is a vampire with a soul and is a good person – although wasn’t always a good person. Their relationship does fall apart when Angel loses his soul – which pulls the audience in more because angst, evil Angel, and the whole 180 is such a gripping storyline. When Angel gets his soul back, it is too late as Buffy needs to kill him to stop the demon he awakened, because the only way to save the world is to let Angel die as the demon with a portal to hell with only close with Angel’s blood. It was a tragic step in the relationship and I rarely cry while watching tv or movies, in fact I’m not a cryer period, but his death and that moment did make me shed some tears upon the first watch. It doesn’t anymore, but the first time it felt like a stab in the heart. When season 3 came along, I thought Angel was gone for good but he comes back, and watching Buffy and Angel come back together I was incredibly happy however they split ways, when Angel realizes that he cannot give Buffy the relationship she needs. He leaves Sunnydale, and he works on saving the world from LA. 

6. Jules & Mika

Show: Grey’s Anatomy

Happy Ending: I wish…but what was I expecting it’s Grey’s nobody ever gets a happy ending

Actors: Adelaide Kane as Jules & Midori Francis as Mika

Real Life LGBTQ Representation: Adelaide Kane is publicly bisexual & Midori Frances identifies as Queer.

Jules and Mika started as a breath of fresh air. They were a slow burn, that started off as friends to lovers, with a solid foundation that the show built from the ground up. Of course going into this pairing I was assuming it’d have doom and gloom written all over it, as it is Grey’s Anatomy after all. Their relationship was real, genuine and beautifully written. Jules would be anyone’s dream girl, she is gorgeous, she has such a kind soul, is dedicated to medicine (some of the other doctors and resident could learn a thing or two from her) and would do anything to be there for the person she loves. Jules is one of my favourite characters on TV in general, and Mika and Jules quickly became a favourite couple of mine. Jules and Mika develop a close friendship, and one night after they lose a patient, Mika has an anxiety attack which in earlier episodes Jules helps her with. Jules helps ease the anxiety attack, as she comes down, they almost kiss. That moment starts their relationship, as afterward Mika tells Jules that it was just a moment of weakness, they lost a patient, they were upset, it was nothing and asks Jules if they can be friends still. Jules takes Mika’s hand – that Mika presented to her to shake – and ends up pulling her in for a kiss. They kiss against the lockers in the locker room for the hospital, and while the setting doesn’t seem perfect, their first kiss was perfect for them, and for the beginning of the couple. After they get together of course, issues are thrown their way as Mika’s sister gets ill and she must be there for her and tells Jules they can no longer be together, as she can’t focus on a new relationship. While Jules’ heart is broken she takes it in stride and becomes the friend Mika needs. Mika does finally comes to Jules and tells her she misses her and wants to try again and after they decide to, Mika gets in a car accident as she falls asleep at the wheel, and her sister who was in the car dies. Jules is there every step of the way as she heals, and through the grieving. She and Jules do make love, as Mika wants to feel normal and Jules who loves her, wants to give her that. Unfortunately shortly afterward, Mika decides she needs to leave the hospital behind due to the trauma and unfortunately means Jules as well. Their goodbye is heartbreaking and I was devastated to see the end to a wonderful couple. Jules will remain on the show and I hope she finds love again, and while the actress for Mika has left, she states she may be back. If so, I really hope they don’t bring her back when Jules is finally happy, because that’d be so hard to watch, and it’s be hard to decide whether to supports Jules’ current happiness whatever that may be, or her with Mika.

7. Wally & Maddie

Show: School Spirits

Happy Ending: undetermined, the show is still ongoing.

Actors: Milo Manheim as Wally & Peyton List as Maddie

When I first started watching the show, I could tell that they were setting up this duo for a romantic storyline. I was apprehensive of that especially since they were destined for heartbreak. Wally is a ghost who is stuck in the school, due to a curse on the school but also because he died there. Maddie is a girl who crosses into the spirit word, after an injury in the real world, a ghost was able to possess her and switch spots with her. She is stuck in the spirit world while the other girl, is out in the real world in her body. Only at first, we don’t know that. At first Maddie truly believes she has died, and can’t remember and the first season is about finding out how she died. During this mystery she and Wally get close, and a friendship turns into a romance. Only after she finds out she is alive, both parties know their relationship is doomed as Maddie needs to return to her life, which would leave Wally alone in the spirit world. They continue their romance, and decide to enjoy what time they have left however in the end, Maddie goes back into the real world and Wally is faced with the choice to finally cross over. Since the show is still airing, and that was how the second season ends, we won’t know how they turn out, until season 3 but I have a lot of hope. They are so sweet, so cute, and Wally and Maddie genuinely love one another.

8. Casey & Izzie

Show: Atypical

Happy Ending: They end up together, and you can tell based on the last scene that their relationship will continue in college!

Actors: Fivel Stewart as Izzie & Brigette Lundy-Paine as Casey

Real Life LGBTQ Representation: Brigette Lundy-Paine, who now goes by the name Jack Haven, is queer, and non-binary.

This show was phenomenal on so many levels. The show follows Sam, an autistic young man, his sister Casey and their parents. The shows representation of high functioning Autism was well done, and if I’m being honest Atypical is one of Netflix’s best original shows. Casey starts off the show in a relationship with Evan, who is a sweet, good guy. I actually liked them together, and going into the show I knew she didn’t end up with him, but I wouldn’t have hated it if they never introduced Izzie. Unfortunately for Evan the minute Izzie was introduced myself and the majority of fans started rooting for the two women. Casey transfers to a new school because they have a better track team, and she needs to attract the attention of scouts. She meets Izzie on her first day, who winds up having her claws out right away due to Casey being good at track and Izzie currently being the best in the school. After a fight at practice the principal forces them to have their detention in her office alone, where they will learn to bond and get along before they go home. Luckily for them, it works and they begin to get to know one another – which starts a beautiful friendship. As the season progresses their friendship develops and one night as they are making up after a fight, they almost share a kiss. Afterward that propels them into new territory, and one night they hold hands, while they have slushies together and Casey ignores a phone call from Evan. Soon Izzie confesses how she feels to Casey and it pushes Casey away as she never thought about liking girls before, so it’s scary and she’s worried becoming more will ruin their friendship. As she starts to avoid Izzie, one night Izzie confronts her on the track and as she is crying and explaining that Casey should have at least had the decency to not avoid her, Casey cuts her words off with a kiss. Their first kiss was beautifully written and shot. It was a perfect moment. Afterward Casey breaks up with Evan and tells him what happened. Casey and Izzie while they have their fair share of bumps which the show handled beautifully (their relationship had such great writing) , they have a beautiful relationship and it’s rewarding to watch a healthy gay relationship get through the ups and downs of everyday life and still come out on top.

9. Margo & Sophie

Show: The Hunting Wives

Happy Ending: Things did not look good for them at the end of season 1…but they’re addicted to one another so who knows what is to come in season 2

Actors: Brittany Snow as Sophie & Malin Åkerman as Margo

Real Life LGBTQ Representation: Brittany Snow is Bisexual

There is one word for this couple, toxic. Regardless of being toxic, it is so hard not to like them despite their toxic love affair. The chemistry, the forbidden touch, the angst of the affair, all of it is gripping. While I personally don’t think this couple will receive a happy ending, after all the show started as a murder mystery and their spiderweb of a relationship has already had chunks of it removed. Sophie is the new woman in a conservative Texan town, and Margo meets her and pulls her under her wing. The problem is, Margo’s life is a chaotic whirlwind and soon Sophie gets pulled into it. Sophie and Margo start an affair, cheating on their husbands, and this steamy love affair, the insane chemistry and the love – while a complete mess – they share for one another is convoluted, confusing, but on some level even through the lies and manipulation they develop feelings for one another.

10. Emily & Sue

Show: Dickinson

Happy Ending: A very happy ending indeed, while they may need to be in love in secret at least they have each other, right?

Actors: Hailee Steinfeld as Emily & Ella Hunt as Sue

Real Life LGBTQ Representation: Ella Hunt came out as Queer, and stated she loved both men and women during the Dickinson era.

This relationship was destined to be tragic, filled with angst and I originally believed it wouldn’t last the whole series. First thing against them was the time period, where women commonly had no jobs, men would go to war, women married to have financial stability and women who didn’t marry were considered spinsters, or people think that there is something wrong with them. Sue and Emily had been childhood friends since they were very young children. They grew up side by side, attached at the hip, and Emily had fallen in love with Sue when they were young. Sue loved Emily in return, however when the series starts, her mother had just died and she has no other family and requires financial stability and a place to live. Austin, Emily’s brother, wants Sue to marry him and because of her current situation she agrees, especially since she knew Austin was not a bad guy and would be able to provide for her and keep her life stable. When she confesses to Emily that they will marry, Emily asks Sue to promise that she loves her more, Sue admits that she does and they share a passionate kiss. Their love affair continues throughout the first season, deep conversation, love making, cuddling and speeches filled with love fill their storyline in the first season. In the second season, Sue who is newly married to Austin has become distant from Emily but throughout the season we don’t truly know why, the audiences views Sue as an asshole, but we find out on the season finale of the second season that she was distancing herself because she couldn’t stop loving Emily, and she struggled to let it go to progress her life with Austin. During a yelling match, and Emily ends up pushing Sue and wrapping her hand around her neck, Sue admits to Emily that she loves her and never stopped loving her. They kiss and make love, and we see a montage of loving moments between the two, before Sue admits to Emily that she will ever let her go again. Season 3 was different as they participate fully in their affair, which Austin soon finds out about but as long as he can have his affair, he turns his head and they don’t talk about it. Season 3 ends up with the two in a love making scene, showing us that Sue and Emily end off in a good spot.

11. Buffy & Spike

Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Happy Ending: Their happy ending goes up in flames…literally

Actors: Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy & James Marsters as Spike

Buffy and Spike have such a complicated relationship; and sometimes that relationship can get toxic. In fact, it was probably the first toxic relationship on television that I actually liked. There were so many ups and downs with Spike and Buffy that it would consist of a lot of writing, and well I don’t really have the time to write that much about them and nobody wants to read that large of a piece so I’m just going to say a few things. Buffy and Spike started off as enemies who were first brought to the same side temporarily while they took down Angel and his plot to rid the world into a hell dimension. After that Spike leaves Sunnydale and Returns for one episode in season three, but comes back permanently in season 4. After he gets the chip in his head by The Initiative, he cannot hunt humans, hurt humans and essentially becomes what Buffy calls a neutered vampire. He starts hanging around Buffy’s group, and winds up becoming helpful as he decides he can’t kill people, he might as well kill demons. As they grow closer, Spike falls hard for Buffy, which as first she does not return those feelings however she does start to respect Spike, especially after he gets himself tortured and tormented at Glory’s (season 5’s villain) hand just to protect her sister Dawn. In season 6, when Buffy comes back to life, she and Spike start a sexual relationship as she needs something to make her feel alive since she feels dead inside because her friends had ripped her out of heaven. She soon breaks off that relationship and in the finale – Spike does not understand that no means no and when he realizes what he almost did to her, he takes off and goes to get his soul back. he goes to great lengths to receive his soul and when he does it shatters his mentality. After Buffy helps him, and they get through all of that together, their past is mended and they get closer. They share an intimate night that involves just cuddling before the final battle. In the final battle Spike sacrifices himself and Buffy finally tells Spike she loves him. While he appreciates the gesture he says she doesn’t, but thanks her for saying it. We can tell that Buffy does genuinely have feelings for Spike as she struggles to let him go, but she ultimately does and then when they ask what saved Sunnydale she simply answers Spike, with a smile on her face – she was proud of his last act and the hero he ended up becoming.

12. Lucy & Kate

Show: NCIS: Hawaii

Happy Ending: The show got cancelled, but they were still happily in love at the end

Actors: Tori Anderson as Kate Whistler & Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara

Agent Lucy Tara and DIA/Agent Kate Whistler are the first LGBT couple in an NCIS series – that was not just in passing, or a guest star. They were the first main cast characters to be romantically linked. They were huge for NCIS, and it was amazing with how well they did with forming the relationship, the realism they put into it and the writing. Lucy and Kate start the series with past history, that we do not know about, not right away. Their past is revealed when they wind up kissing, and they pull away and Kate says they can’t go there again. We then find out that Kate and Lucy had hooked up in the past, and hadn’t really talked or seen each other since. However Kate has now been transferred to Hawaii and past sparks begin to fly and soon that one single kiss, develops into a fresh relationship. Only their relationship ends dramatically when Kate’s girlfriend, who in Kate’s mind is an ex-girlfriend however the girl did not view it as such, and Lucy breaks up with Kate and accuses her of playing her. The rest of season 1 was so beautifully angsty between them as Kate tried to win back Lucy, and Lucy tried not to give into her want for Kate to protect her feelings; in the end of season 1 Kate wins her back, thanks to a grand gesture of singing at a party to her, and telling her she loves her. In season 2 we see a much happier version of them as their relationship is fleshed out, and we see Kate go undercover and see Lucy cooperate with that stress. In season 3 their relationship continues and it is obvious that these two characters will end up together and are in it for the long haul.

13. Jean/Diane & Sidney

Show: Gypsy

Happy Ending: It was left open ended because Netflix killed the show after the first season

Actors: Naomi Watts as Jean/Diane & Sophie Cookson as Sidney

I realized upon making g this entry that I believe these ladies, are more toxic than Margo and Sophie, which is saying something. The chemistry is through the roof between these characters but the tornado their connection creates, plows through both of their lives, upheaving everything in its wake. Jean Holloway is a therapist who has a past of getting a little to attached to patients and their distraught lives. Sam is a patient of Jean’s and he mentions this rollercoaster of a woman named Sidney, who leads an exciting, risky life, which unfortunately for him came with excitement but also heartbreak. While she listens to Sam talk about this girl repeatedly in his sessions, she decides that she needs to meet the girl, she claims she wants to see what the fuss is about, but she is secretly pulled into the allure of the girl he spoke about. She seeks Sidney out, and meets her at the coffee shop that Sidney works at, and to avoid Sam knowing she intervened in their life, she introduces herself as Diane Hart. She chooses to see Sidney again, and she finds herself feeling a pull to the mystery enigma that is Sidney and she also finds herself liking the Diana persona she puts on, as it works as an escape from her everyday life of being a therapist, a wife, and a mother. Jean finds out quickly as she begins getting close to Sidney that Sidney likes her in more than a platonic way, and at first she rejects her, but Sidney won’t give up and tells her she is just scared. She decides to go see Sidney and makes a move, telling Sidney she is far from scared. Their smouldering affair begins, and the deeper they go the more Sidney falls for “Diane” while Jane, struggles to find the different between Jean and Diana, and comes to the conclusion that they are both a part of her. Jane is put together, professional and collected. Diana is wild, carefree, and passionate. Along the way, even with Jean’s manipulation, Sidney develops hard feelings for Jean and in her own twisted way, Jean develops feelings for Sidney and even though her husband tells her she needs to stop, she realizes she can’t. Sidney attends a lecture, after she followed Jean there because she figured out her real identity, and watches her give a speech, and at the end they stare at one another, with smiles, hinting that despite the deception, the situation, manipulation, on some level they still have a connection – and that is where the series ends. It’s a shame, I hoped we’d get to see the rest of their story, but Netflix had other ideas and axed the show.

14. Cory & Topanga

Show: Boy Meets World & Girls Meets World

Happy Ending: And they lived happily ever after

Actors: Danielle Fishel as Topenga & Ben Savage as Cory

Boy Meets World is a tv show I grew up on. I loved this show and it was a huge part of what formed me, and it aged with me, and I still enjoy it to this day. Cory and Topanga were the first couple I literally routed for before I even knew what that meant and how many fictional couples were routed for. They were the epitome of true love and let’s face it their relationship, while possible in some cases, is highly unlikely in the real world but was what everyone yearned for. They started off as children who teased one another and dealt with one another because they were in the same class, however as they grew up they started shifting naturally from friends to girlfriend/boyfriend and formed a relationship. They had their ups and downs, and even temporarily broke up a few times, however they mended, got back together and eventually married. Their relationship was continued in the spin-off Girl Meets World, where we see them settled in their family home, with children of their own, and we see that their relationship has lasted all this time.

15. Max & Sophie

Show: Ginny & Georgia

Happy Ending: Not as of yet…there’s hope…right?

Actors: Humberly Gonzalez as Sophie & Sara Waisglass

Real Life LGBTQ Representation: Humberly Gonzalez identifies as Bisexual

Max is by far one of my favourite characters currently on television. She is all I ever wanted to see on television. Growing up I didn’t have a character that was gay, represented my ADHD or the type of depression I have – finally years later, the character I could have used growing up is created. Max is known as over dramatic, too much, and too emotional by her friends – all labels people who are not neurodivergent slap on people like Max. Sophie however comes along and views all of those traits as charming, and is there for Max during her spirals, and her moments that she doesn’t have a definition for. When Sophie and Max were together, they were loving, adorable and great representation for not just sexuality, but for having someone that supports their mental health. The downfall of the writers were breaking them up, having Sophie realize her mistake, come crawling back, being rejected, and their spark still simmering in season 3 – especially after a kiss they share due to a play they are both in. I actually hope we see them come back together in season 4 – and I hope that Sophie is the one that helps Max dig herself out of her mental darkness she has entered.

16. Waverly & Nicole

Show: Wynonna Earp

Happy Ending: They got married ladies and gentleman!

Actors:  Dominique Provost-Chalkley as Waverly & Katherine Barrell as Nicole

Real Life LGBTQ Representation: Katherine Barrell identifies as bisexual, Dominique Provost-Chalkley identifies as Queer – and has stated Wynonna Earp helped her discover her sexuality.

Waverly & Nicole are one of the best lesbian couples on television. I find that the writing for this couple is spot on, a television show that actually showed a functioning couple – close to a real life couple. Waverly Earp starts as the shy sister to Wynonna Earp, who works as a bartender at the towns most popular bar Shorty’s. Nicole is the towns newest deputy cop, who meets Waverly when she walks into the pub when it’s closed. Right away they click and both women feel a connection. Nicole who is already out and proud, understands what that pull is. Waverly who is with a man named Champ, and doesn’t realize she is interested in women as well. is confused and doesn’t get what this pull to Nicole is. As time goes on, she separates from Champ who treats her terribly, and finds herself getting closer to Nicole but insists they stay friends. Nicole gets upset, but accepts it. Waverly soon realizes what she wants, goes to Nicole’s place of work, and kisses her in the Sheriff’s office. As the series continues their relationship grows, and is so natural in the way it progresses, but even their more difficult steps that have to climb over in their relationship is something couples could believably go through; and I feel the writers nailed this relationship. Plus was they also didn’t kill either of them off, they ended the series married, and even in Wynonna Earp’s movie, which followed the series, they have their troubles, but they are still a healthy couple – that they did not ruin and remain stronger than ever.

17. Maggie & Sydney

Show: Saving Hope

Happy Ending: Yes, even topped off with the cherry of classic rom com airport runs!

Actors: Stacey Farber as Sydney & Julia Chan as Maggie

Real Life LGBTQ Representation: Julia Chan identifies as Queer

Maggie had always been known as the level headed, comedic, gentle, kind soul out of the group of doctors that we follow in Saving Hope. Sydney is hard headed, has high walls, tough skin, and feels trapped in her current path of life. Sydney is from a very conservative Jewish family, has been arranged to marry their choice of man, and is expected to follow their practices to the letter. Maggie is open, sexually fluid, and while she has her own beliefs she is very new age, and goes with the flow and faces anything that life throws her way. Maggie changes her focal point in medicine and finds herself working under Sydney, her new attending. She has heard from other residents that Sydney is a tough attending, harsh and very rough. The first day she meets Sydney, Sydney proves what everyone tells her, as she is far from kind, and bosses her around, and does everything in her power not to create a personal connection to her resident. As they begin to develop a working relationship, and Maggie proves herself, and Sydney allows her walls to come down, their connection depens. One day, Sydney kisses Maggie and soon she is not just confronted by Maggie, but by the realization that she is interested in just women, something she has buried because of her parents and their conservative upbringing. Maggie helps her accept herself, and while they do end up sharing a night together, they do not enter a relationship, not straight away. Sydney ends up informing Maggie she needs to leave to accept herself, find herself and escape the pressures of her family. She does leave and when she returns, it happens to be when Maggie gets severely hurt when there is a bombing close to the hospital. Maggie almost dies, Sydney and she share a moment but Sydney must return to her life. When Sydney does come back permanently – she and Maggie decide to give their relationship a chance – finally. Of course there are some twists and turns, an airport chase, and ultimately a happy ending.

18. Cece & Alex

Show: Goosebumps: The Vanishing

Happy Ending: Yes, even with the alien goop

Actors: Jayden Bartels as Cece & Francesca Noel as Alex

Cece and Alex cannot be anymore different. Cece is a good girl, from the “good side” of the tracks and Alex is a bad girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who gets through life stealing from stores, and does not have the best Homelife. Cece and Alex’s lives cross, when Cece steals lipgloss from the store because Alex is going to get caught, and she helps this random stranger that she knows nothing about. After that, Alex finds Cece in their small town, approaches her and not just thanks her, she takes the lip gloss back, throws some flirting in the mix and leaves. Thanks to being part of the world of goosebumps terror, they get pulled into some strange occurrences, and after some turbulence, wrong ideals and mistakes, they start working together to face whatever it is that torments them. their bond deepens and one night as they’re walking a little bit behind the rest of the group, they talk about the fear they have, and share a kiss, because Cece wants Alex to know how she feels in case something bad happens to them. Together, with the rest of their friends, they manage to fight off their enemies and put everything to bed. It ends with Cece’s summer vacation at her dad’s coming to end, and having to return back home to her mom, but despite the distance, she and Alex decide to give their romance a fair chance.

19. Willow & Oz

Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Happy Ending: It’s hard to have a happy ending in a world of vampires, demons and werewolves. If only.

Actors: Alyson Hannigan as Willow & Seth Green & Oz

Now let me start off by saying this. As a Buffy fan, I noticed most people were either Willow & Oz or Willow & Tara. Now, I like both couples. I give a shout out to Willow & Tara (after all they were the first lesbian couple that involved a main character, to be on prime time television – and had the first lesbian kiss on primetime television between two women, while one was a main character) however I adored Willow & Oz. Oz is what most women wanted guys to be, kind, loving, great listener, soft, gentle, attractive and just overall a decent guy. In fact, Oz to me was actually a better guy than Xander was – even in Oz’s worst moments, he was a better man. Willow, around the time she met Oz, had always struggled with dating. Her first crush, Xander, didn’t see her that way, every guy she tried to date, it was a disaster (i.e. the vampire she ended up almost getting killed by). Oz saw Willow, the first time in a full-out covered up Eskimo costume and immediately liked her. His line “who’s that girl?” was born, and while he didn’t get to talk to Willow that night, because just as he was approaching she had to leave, he continued to keep his eye on her. He saw her again on Halloween, in her costume, which yes did show a little more skin, and uttered the words “who’s that girl?” again. They soon actually met, and right away Oz was pulled into Willow’s world. After being involved in Willow’s life, he soon found out Vampires were real, and then of course found out that he himself was a werewolf, and the Scooby gang (what Buffy and her friends called themselves) had to help him, and keep him locked up during the nights that he turned. Oz and Willow were together for a while, but they hit a snag when Willow made an error in judgement and cheated with Xander, but despite her error Oz gave her another chance and they had a beautiful relationship. Unfortunately near the end, Oz’s wolf in him was drawn to another female werewolf and he made a bad judgement in his wolf form and hooked up with her (please note Oz doesn’t remember anything wolf him does). The female werewolf does try and attack Willow later on in the episode, and Oz protects her and kills the wolf in his wolf form; which showed where his heart truly rested. He and Willow tried to work through it, she asked if it was payback for the mistake she had made with Xander, but he assured her it was a genuine mistake. Ultimately Oz decides he needs to control his wolf, and get a better understanding of the monster inside him, and he doesn’t want to hurt Willow again so he leaves and goes to find himself. Willow of course is broken, and we see her cope with his departure. In Season four Oz comes back for one episode, where he meets Tara, and wants Willow back. When he realizes Tara and Willow are together, he wolf’s out (as they call it) due to jealousy and attacks Tara. Willow has to tranquilize him, and once again they decide it’s best just to leave what they had in the past.

20. Robin & Alice

Show: Once Upon a Time

Happy Ending: Yes, simple as that.

Actors: Tiera Skovbye as Robin & Rose Reynolds as Alice

One thing Once Upon a Time always focused on at some point in the show was true love. That true love was sometimes between romantic partners, but not always. In Robin & Alice’s case, they were definitely a romantic representation of True Love. Robin (Robin Hood’s daughter) and Alice (Alice from wonderland) meet in the Enchanted Forest and begin a romantic relationship, unfortunately for them they, along with Regina and other original characters get swept up in another curse that puts them in the real non magical world – better known as America. Alice and Robin become Tilly & Margot in their new lives and because of the curse don’t remember each other nor their relationship. However Margot saves Tilly from getting hit by a car and after that the rest is history. These versions of themselves fall in love and the moment the curse breaks Alice tells Robin, that she told her that they’d always find each other.

21. Nathan & Haley

Show: One Tree Hill

Happy Ending: a high school first love story for the ages, and a solid happy ending

Actors: James Lafferty as Nathan & Bethany Joy Lenz as Haley

Nathan & Haley’s relationship spanned nine seasons of One Tree Hill – which means there is a lot I could write to talk about them, to explain their story, details I could go into but I feel that’d be a long read, and to be honest a long write. Instead I will keep it short. Nathan & Haley are high school sweethearts that end up staying together and lasting well into their adult life. Haley started as a nerd who Nathan would never have looked at twice, and Nathan was a basketball star with a high ego and was the most popular guy in school. Nathan’s basketball career is threatened when he is forced into tutoring to raise his grades or he won’t play and Haley happens to be that tutor. What starts as Nathan getting close to Haley because he wants to drive Lucas, his estranged brother and Haley’s best friend insane, soon turns into real feelings and a genuine love story. They marry in season 1 while in high school, they briefly enter a rough patch in season 2, they overcome it in season 3, they have a baby in season 4, and we see them continue their story in their adult years which encompasses season 5-9.

22. Emma & Sean

Show: Degrassi (aka Degrassi: The Next Generation)

Happy Ending: The writers did us dirty on this one

Actors: Daniel Clark as Sean & Miriam McDonald as Emma

Degrassi had many and I mean many relationships to root for. I liked Fiona & Imogen, Alex & Paige, Claire & Eli, but nobody can hold a candle to Emma & Sean. Sean was Emma’s first love, their first relationship was adorable in the sense of they were just kids in puppy love, they childishly broke up, time passed and they reconnected on a friend level after Sean saved Emma’s life during the school shooting. After that Sean and Emma had a heart to heart when Sean went back home, despite feelings they still had for one another, and then we didn’t see Sean fort a while. Fast forward to season 6 when Sean returns, and Emma leaves her current boyfriend to go back into Sean’s arms. Once again their relationship was beautiful, however the writers screwed it up because they decided to have Sean leave for the army, thus leaving Emma and that was the end. I felt cheated, and at the time I was pissed because I didn’t understand why they even brought him back. Most fans believed Sean and Emma were going to end up together, but they squashed our dreams.

Honorable Mentions

1. Seth & Summer: The OC’s version of Nathan & Haley (The shows premiered the same year). Nerd meets most popular person in school trope. This time reversed. Seth is the nerd. Summer the cheerleader. Their romance lasts, much like Nathan & Haley’s – they were great, but just not as good thanks to the writing.

1. Oliver & Felicity: A couple to root for since the beginning, and the best couple to come from Arrow. Too bad Oliver dies, and Felicity has to go on without him. At least they end up in Spectre (His new persona’s) heaven right?

1. Steve & Nancy: Stranger Things is a little rough with their romances. I liked Steve & Nancy, was sad when Nancy left him for Jonathan. And Steve’s growth every season since, has made me want them together even more. Too bad she’ll never leave pot head Jonathan.

1. Sara & Ava: The Legends of Tomorrow has some quirky storylines, and romances but Sara and Ava had a solid romantic arc, and a happy ending. Not to mention since anything goes in Legends Sara’s new Alien DNA created a biological baby with her.

Hello lovelies. Welcome to my blog. As mentioned before, I love writing short stories. It keeps my brain fresh for longer stories; as well as fan fictions that I write. It also helps get out pent up ‘writing energy’ (the need to write without wanting to write a large piece). I love to stick with my horror, as lets face it, it’s not only a fantastic genre to write, since it gives you so much freedom, but it helps you be bad without well, being bad. I hope you enjoy this short story.

The prompt (writing prompts are when you take a subject from online, or prompt sites- which is basically a plot idea, and make your own story with it) is “write your take on a high school slasher”. This was fun – Scream is my favourite horror movie; and Ghostface is the best villain to ever exist in a slasher movie – so it inspired me greatly for this piece.

Warning: Gore, Mild Swearing, Horror Themes – are all present.

---

Chad was easy. I waited. I watched. Him and a chick named Chloe came out of the pool, and she grabbed her towel and her bathing suit that had been discarded onto the ground. He had been in the shallow end of the pool but dove into the deep end and grabbed his swim trunks. Chad fought with them, but despite the water working against him, he pulled them on and got out of the pool. He was much more self conscious than his girlfriend, and thank god because the last thing I wanted to see was him naked. 

He stood there, near a pool chair and grabbed his pack of cigarettes and wasted no time as he lit one up. I approached quietly and slowly. I had studied enough horror movies; I had played around with random people on the street that nobody would notice if they went missing, or turned up dead. I wanted him to see me, I wanted him to know what was going to happen to him, so I quietly tapped him on his shoulder. He jumped, not realizing someone was there, turned and before he could do anything, my knife slid into his gut effortlessly, like butter. 

I stood there, my eyes focused on the blood dripping from his stomach. I pulled out the knife, slid it back in close to the original wound. I twisted my knife, a weapon I had closely sought out and grew quite attached to. It seemed like the perfect mix of Pamela Voorhees blade in the original Friday the 13th, and Ghostface’s blade. That’s exactly how I wanted it to be. 

Blood dripped from his mouth, and it caused my stomach to flip as the excitement of what was t0 come began to overtake me. With what little strength he had, he reached for my mask but I shifted my head from his reach and smirked underneath the face covering. His chest heaved, I heard a gurgle, a little bit more blood flew from his mouth and then it was over. His eyes glossed over and were empty, and the last thing he saw was my mask and my knife. The last thing he felt was the blade as it dug deep into his abdomen. That’s what he gets. He should have known better than to cross me. I warned him; actually I warned them that they’d regret it. I still remember the day.

---

 Like many days of my high school career, I was sitting at my locker, minding my own damn business when Jason and James came along (I guess their parents couldn’t think of more original names). They kicked my books, which were on the floor beside me. They thought it was funny, kicking them out of my reach, as if they were ten year olds. I had had a rough day, I was still reeling from my breakup, my father had beat on me that morning as usual, my mother was to drunk to give a fuck, and I failed English – the subject I usually ace. James and Jason, with their backstreet boy hairstyles and their cookie cutter smiles, and hearing them laughing at my misery made something inside me snap. Something that had always been there, something I had taken out on others but now they were going to feel the effects of that snap. 

I hurried to my feet and pushed James against the locker. He was a big jock, I was a woman, but that didn’t change anything; martial arts, boxing, hitting the gym every night, made me stronger than him. I did it to protect myself from bullies like him, and to avoid being at home with my father. Before I could utter a word to him, Jason, and a few of his cheerleader groupies pulled me off, hurled me to the floor. I suppose when you have three people trying to take you down, strength means nothing. 

I looked up at them, “You’ll regret this, you’ll regret everything.” I threatened. They laughed, and decided not to take me seriously. But I warned them! 

A couple days later, I was standing at the vending machine in the cafeteria when I had heard it. Jason, James, and three other football players, Craig, Joe, and Chad mentioned a get together with the cheerleaders next Friday – at Jason’s house. A pool party with Casey, Alison, Ashley, and my ex-girlfriend, Lena. My jaw clenched as I watched Lena hang off of Alison, as if she hung the goddamn moon. When Lena and I first started hooking up, I believed she didn’t want to tell anyone because in our small little town, being gay and coming out would have been a challenge for her. After all her father is the pastor of the one and only church in town. It turned out she was just ashamed of me, and using me to get her fix, while she hoped that Alison would give her a chance. 

Lena is the one I hated the most, and in that moment, I knew I’d save her until last. Make her beg. I started to hatch a plan in my head. I straightened my back and headed toward the exit door, I had a lot to do if I wanted my plan to go off without a hitch. They knew better than to mess with me, they should have listened. 

---

I allowed Chad’s body to fall and kicked him once he was down. A little added rage. Before I knew it, I had kicked him several times. Stop, focus. A voice inside my head told me. I took in a deep breath. Right. Next. 

I checked the back door. They were fools. It was unlocked. I slipped in. My choice in outfit; black cargo pants, black combat boots, and a black pullover hoodie, made it easy to maneuver. The mask – a tight fitting skeleton skull – which reminded me of a knock off of Fear Street that had been met with a 90’s halloween design. 

The next few idiots were easy. Joe and Craig ran into me as I came into the house, before they could hang up on me or take me out, I stabbed both of them in the chest, and allowed them to fall to the floor. They rarely caused problems for me, I suppose it was only fair to have allowed them a simple death. 

I shifted through the house, making my way to the closet room. 

Chloe was next because she was in the kitchen alone. She was present when they tormented me, never acted on it herself, but laughed and allowed them to do it. She wasn’t a cheerleader, rather a track star that always followed Chad around like a lost puppy. Regardless, she was here, she deserved it. I snuck up behind her, wrapped my arm around her chest to hold her in place, and slashed my knife clean across her throat. I watched as the blood fell from her, and onto her clothes, and my arm. It dampened my covered arm and pooled on my hoodie, but I liked the way it felt. I didn’t mind a little mess, what was the fun without getting a little dirty. 

Her body fell to the floor. It thumped and I rolled my eyes. I walked away. She wasn’t worth any more of my time. I needed to find the ones that needed to feel the pain they deserved. 

---

People had panicked when Jason found Chloe’s body. I stayed in the shadows, hid, made sure they didn’t see me as I watched them panic. The excitement grew while I watched them putter about, like lobsters that were about to be captured. 

I headed to the basement where I knew the breakers to the house resided. I had cased the place a couple days prior to their party, I needed to have every inch of this residence memorized. I knew my time would come and I wanted to be prepared. 

When I cut the power, I heard Lena scream and it made me smile. She’d get it the worst. She’d regret what she did to me. 

Ashley and Casey were next; they had gone to the basements to check the breakers, according to what they had told the others. Idiots, had they ever watched a horror movie? Jason and James were even more pathetic than I had thought. It was Jason’s house, and he allowed the girls to walk into potential danger, while he shivered in his running shoes. 

Ashley was fun. She walked right over to me, I crept out from under the staircase where a small section to hide had been located, and went up behind her. I reached to the front of her, and my knife connected with that perfect divet in her kneck, between the collar bone. I always wanted to see what it was like stabbing somewhere there and how the knife would slide in, would it be soft and squishy or hard and challenging? I studied my grandmother’s medical equipment that connected to that area when I was a child and watched her in the hospital, after she had gotten a tracheotomy. It Turned out it slid in perfectly – puncturing everything underneath. 

A scream echoed in my ears and my head snapped up; I wasn’t able to revel in the blood, or the joy of the way her body felt in my arms as her life slid away. I zeroed in on Casey, who wouldn’t stop fucking screaming! She started to run and I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see it. In true horror movie fashion, she tripped over the first step as she tried to run up them, which allowed me time to catch up – I hadn’t been far away to begin with and would have caught up to her regardless; but I enjoyed the idiotic accident. 

The basement door flung open and Lena, Alison, James and Jason all screamed when they saw us. The combination of all of their panic caused an anger to bubble up deep within my gut. I wanted them to shut up, their sounds were earsplitting. It ramped me up. Their mistake. 

Jason ran away for a brief moment and I knew he was going to grab the rifle that his father had nestled away in their bedroom closet; sucks for him. I had been there first when I broke in a couple of days ago. While Jason was gone, Casey tried to climb up the stairs but my gloved hand wrapped around her ankle and pulled her down. Once I got my hands on her, it didn’t take me long to plunge my knife deep inside her chest. The idiots above, (who stood and watched, instead of either helping their friend or running away) screamed yet again. I wondered if they had been trying to drive me inane, because it was starting to work. 

Jason returned with his gun, tried to shoot, but nothing came out. “What the fuck!” James yelled. 

“It’s not working!” Jason’s voice grated on my nerves as he opened it up and checked for bullets. He should have checked before he counted on the weapon as being his safety net.  

no bullet, poor thing. You’re welcome. I wiped my knife off with my glove, and enjoyed the way the material squished against my hand when it came in contact with the blood. 

I had considered stealing the gun all together but I wanted to give the idiots some sense of false safety and it worked. Jason looked as if he had peed himself and threw the gun at me, but I dodged it and it toppled onto the ground below the stairs. 

“Run!” Lena said, as if she was the smartest person in the room. I used to think she was. 

I walked up the stairs toward them, and smiled as they tried to get out of the house. I had made sure all the doors were unable to open, by blocking the outdoor side. As for breaking the windows, they could attempt it but I’d catch up. They looked so scared, so lost. I loved it. I needed more of it. 

---

After the blood bath that had been James and Jason; I impatiently waited to get my hands on Lena, and Alison. I saved them for last on purpose. 

James had attempted to escape through the living room window; while Lena and Alison had already run off to hide, and god only knows where Jason had hurried off to. As he broke the glass I crept up on him, running as fast as I could so I could capture him before he slid through the window. It worked; I balled up the back of his shirt in my hand and smiled wide. He deserved this. 

“Let me go!” he screamed; but his words were soon silenced as I pushed his neck down into the broken glass that littered the bottom of the window frame. There was a sharp piece that had remained sticking up; and it slid into his jugular. I tortured him farther as he gurgled and fought for breath. I brought my knife up to the top of his back; right underneath his head, and sliced deep and rough. I watched as his back began to bleed. I heard footsteps upstairs, and quickly finished playing with him, and hurried upstairs. 

Jason had tried to escape me. He was running around like an idiot, not even attempting to be quiet. I had found him, and followed him out a window, that led onto the angled roof top. I loved a game of cat and mouse, especially when I knew I’d win. I captured him once, but he managed to fling me away, I forced myself to fall, without rolling off  because I wanted to make him think he had won. Idiot. He made it to the eavestrough, and was calculating how to get down when i snuck up behind him, and pushed him off. His body was plastered against the pavement, his head split open. Blood surrounded it. It had been such a beautiful site; I barely had to lift a finger. I licked my lips and smiled. 

---

Everything else happened so fast. Capturing Alison and Lena; knocking them out, it was challenging as both women clawed, bit, and kicked, but I ultimately came out on top. I kicked my foot into Alison’s head hard, knocking her out. The syringe I pulled out of my pocket caused Lena to scream and struggle, but the moment I slid it into her neck, she collapsed. I chose a chemical compound that would leave no trace in the blood stream, exactly what I wanted. 

When they woke up, they were both tied to a chair in the living room, facing one another. Every time they tried to move their hands, the rope I used, dug in and caused their wrists to bleed. 

They looked at each other, and then looked at me as I clicked my tongue and shifted my knife from back and forth; the tsk tsk motion made both women look at me. Alison was crying, and Lena forced herself not to. Two different types of personalities. It was quite scientifically interesting really, how each of them reacted to the situation. 

“What do you want?” Lena asked. I could hear the nerves in her voice, but she managed to keep the question strong and direct. If I didn’t hate her, I’d be proud of her. 

I looked at her. My head in her direction and I slowly slipped off my mask. My blonde hair fell over my shoulders; as the hood of my sweater fell down. I shook my head and smiled at her. I dropped my mask and brought the tip of my knife to my lips. 

“Aubrey…” her voice was barely a whisper as her words got caught in her throat.

Alison wailed, and tried to get out of her chair. Instead, she just continued to piss me off. I wanted to draw this out – but she would not allow it. 

---

I wanted to torment Lena. I wanted her to watch as I carved up her girlfriend. The whore she cheated on me with – the woman that got to have her heart in public, while I had gotten scraps and was treated like trash. Every time I stabbed Alison, I did it slowly, steadily, and loved the way it felt. God, it was delicious. Sparks filled every inch of me inside and I knew this was what I was destined to do. Every time Lena looked away, I twisted the knife, making Alison scream out in pain which forced Lena to open her eyes, forced her to watch – to prevent hearing her girlfriend’s cries. I had stabbed the girl five times, each time in a spot that wasn’t vital but the blood loss would be damaging. I walked behind Alison’s chair and smiled as I leaned down, my chin lined up with her ear. I brought my knife to her throat and gently leaned it against the skin. 

“Please!” Lena yelled, and shifted in her seat. Cute, she wanted to save her. Alison’s breathing was shallow, she was barely hanging on, exactly how I wanted it. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! please don’t hurt her.” 

“Hmm” The first noise I made out loud all night. I swallowed, and spoke, my raspy voice filled the room. “Apology not accepted.” I dug the knife into Alison and sliced from one side to the other, ear to ear. Lena cried out in anguish and her sobs bounced off of the walls. I wished she had felt that strongly about me; if she had she wouldn’t be in this situation. Oh well, sucks for her. She’ll live her life out in prison while I roam the streets free. 

Setting up Lena had been a multi-day job. The minute I found out about their gathering I had planned everything to the letter. I planted fake journal entries on Lena’s computer – that was easy. I skipped class, snuck into her locker in the change room and I had known exactly where her journal was located on her laptop. Idiot should have changed her laptop password. I wrote in the journal application, about the plan, about how she wanted to make them all pay for tormenting the love of her life, Aubrey (myself). How she’d kill Alison to prove her undying love to Aubrey – how if she didn’t give her another chance, she’d even kill Aubrey herself. 

I bought some bipolar medication off the street, same as hers, and planted some in Lena’s bottle, so it appeared she was missing doses. She had had outbursts before, sometimes violent. Not homicidal no, but anything could tip her over the edge; they’d say that as they investigated. They’d blame her mental state. They’d blame her. 

I had it all planned out. I had more up my sleeve, the fact that the police will ultimately find me on the door step; as if I was escaping the home. The fact that her last phone call was going to be to me. How her last text to me, was asking me to come over because she needed to talk to me. I had gotten her phone after I broke in, and had already planted it. 

I kicked her knee hard, more than once, and she screamed in pain as I continued until I heard the bone crack. I didn’t stop until I hundred percent shattered the bone. Easy explanation, as I escaped I kicked her. I took off my glove, and scratched her cheek, hard, placing defensive marks on her skin, showing them i was a fighter. She was crying now, yelping, and fought in the chair. Even if she had gotten loose, bitch wouldn’t be able to walk. 

I watched her teary eyes widen as I slid the knife into my stomach, avoiding all major organs. 

“You’re insane.” She managed to say through her pain, her voice breathless. 

I ignored her words. Maybe I was, maybe I wasn’t. It didn’t matter, because I was smarter than her. I shook off the pain, and rubbed my blood over her hands. 

I slid my knife through her rope, setting her free. She tried to stand, screamed in pain and fell to the ground. I smiled down at her. Her eyes fluttered and I could tell the pain was too much to take, and decided to give her a little extra. I stepped on her shattered knee, and she screamed and I watched as her body gave up, and she passed out. Lena had never been good with pain, pathetically low pain tolerance. I knew her body would give up. I hoped she’d pass out. That’s what i needed. 

I hummed to myself as I placed my knife in her hand, using my still gloved hand of course, gathering her finger prints and then tossed it close to her hand. 

I could feel myself get a tad woozy as I headed toward the door. I pulled out my phone from my pocket, and dialled 911 but kept my voice quiet, as the dispatcher kept asking if someone was there, if I could hear them. Once I hit the walkway that led to the door I laid down, stomach against the pavement so that it looked like I passed out while running away. I closed my eyes, and waited, my phone loosely held in my hand by my side. My own blood loss started to affect me and my eyes fluttered shut, and just before I allowed myself to slip under, I heard the sirens. 

---

My heels clicked against the concrete floor as I walked through the woman’s penitentiary. It had been a complete year since the tragedy at Jason Mill’s house. It was the anniversary, and I felt like it deserved a small celebration. The guard motioned toward the seat, and I sat down. 

Lena was ushered toward the glass that separated us, her bright orange jumpsuit had a small amount of blood near the collar, and her lip had been busted open. I suppose she learned to fight, if that’s all she received. She limped as she walked over; turns out I had done quite the number on her knee. 

I watched her neck as she swallowed and studied her hand as she picked up the phone. I smirked and picked up my phone. Despite the phone in our hands, and against our ears, we remained quiet and stared at one another. 

~End~

One of my first full length blog posts was “My Favourite TV Shows”. Of course none of those have changed, they’re still my favourite’s, still number one – and I still watch them frequently. Mt First List included: Buffy, Merlin, Slasher, Dracula, Supergirl, Nancy Drew, Etc. https://illbeyourhero7home.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=39&action=edit

However, since that post I have begun to watch more shows, as that is one of my favourite things to do. Write, and binge watch – what can I say? Since I started watching more shows, new and old, my list has grown, encompassing these wonderful TV Shows as well.

I’m sure as time goes on, and I continue to binge watch more shows – there will eventually be a part three; but I decided until then – I’d make a part two and share it with you. Making this list for me is just fun, and I love introducing people to new TV Shows, so maybe you’ll see something you want to check out – and you’ll wind up liking it.

(I tend to watch a lot of shows, many different types of genres, and unfortunately not all of them are worthy of a favourite title, but these ones managed that. Hope you enjoy getting in my head, and reading my rambling. Here we go.)

1. Agatha All Along

“It was Agatha All Along!” Right? I fell in love with Agatha Harkness in Wandavision; and I was originally upset that we didn’t get more of her, I mean she’s hilarious, steals every scene she is a part of, blunt, sarcastic, rough around the edges, and of course she’s a villain. I happen to usually like the villains. I. find villain arcs more compelling than the heroes, and if I find them attractive – then you can bet I’ll have a crush on the fictional character – that’s where Rio Vidal comes in. Although Rio isn’t exactly bad, just the natural order of things, but she does have bad girl energy or to quote Agatha “What can I say, I like the bad boys.” Once again I have started rambling; well you chose to read the post so, deal with it. Anyway, Agatha All Along was that little engine that could. I went into it, not expecting much. I had pretty much lost a lot of interest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Except for Spiderman & Venom), and the Marvel Television Universe, because it was the same thing over and over again, and I started to just view the projects as them attempting to make money. But then I watched this show, and it surprised me. The writing was beyond amazing; the way Jac Schaeffer hid such small tidbits in the script, and how everything tied together from Wandavision, and how we delved into Agatha’s world, how dark and delicious it was. Having Kathryn Hahn return as Agatha, and having Aubrey Plaza (who is known as a scene stealer due to stealing every project she is ever in – this is no exception). These two actresses work off of each other so well, and their chemistry is electric, and as you’re watching Rio & Agatha’s love story – past and present – you can feel the sparks, feel the yearning, feel the hatred, but also feel the love they have that remains. This show is so well acted, well written and it’s Marvel’s best work. At first, I was shocked to see a queer character leading a Disney show, but was very proud of them for embracing it. The audience was large, and it’s become a cult classic in such a small time. Returning back to my first list, if I had to place it on the original – it would go smack dab underneath Buffy. Not to mention, Lilia was a wonderfully written character as well – and the seventh episode in the series was beautifully acted by Patti LuPone.

I could continue writing about the show, about my opinions, the summary of the show – which I realize I did not really dive into, all the small beautiful details and how wonderful it all turned out, but instead I will share the summary from IMDB (which I’ll do for every show), and move to the next show on the list.

IMDB Summary: “When a new series of tragedies strike the city of Westview, the infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power when a suspicious goth teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches’ Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what they’re missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road.”

2. Goosebumps (Disney+ Series)

Goosebumps is something I grew up on. I used to read the books, I used to watch the old Canadian TV Show; I developed a passive aggressive relationship with dummy’s thanks to Slappy, who is one of the best villains of all time. It’s been a huge staple of my childhood, adolescence (as I kept reading the books, and of course, thanks to the Fear Street Novels from the same author – even thought that is not part of Goosebumps – had to give a shout out), My twenties I was addicted to the mobile Goodebumps game, and A a while ago I delved into the world again with theJack Black movies they released, which were more comedic than scary – yet they worked – and now my thirties with this wonderful show. When I heard Disney was coming out with a new show, I was excited and looking toward delving into their take on this wonderful fictional, spooky world. When I was a child the book was scary, when I was a pre-teen the original tv show seemed spooky, of course I am older now, and don’t find the original material scary, but it’s still worth my attention. I went into the show thinking it was going to be like the books, tame and little scare, however I was wrong. I originally thought they were going to make a Goosebumps series that was as cheesy as the one I loved, directed toward the new generation of kids, and would only be worth watching for nostalgic reasons, however once again, I was wrong. The show is an anthology, meaning every season is its own story, and none of them are connected. Season 1 delivered the jump scares, the supernatural elements, the classic stories from the books (Slappy, Cuckoo Clock, Haunted Mask, etc.) but they did it in a phenomenal way, that brought a lot of paranormal freakiness. Would I say it scared me? No. It was still tame for horror – but I enjoyed it, and yes it did get me a few times with the jump scares. Justin Long, the big name in the first season, returned to his horror roots and did a phenomenal job portraying a possessed human, and having that inner battle between identities. Of course we were gifted with Slappy, the most famous villain in the franchise – that everyone knows, even if they never read the books. The young cast did well, but I found as great as the first season was, we were missing something.

That something came in the form of Season 2; which is my favourite out of two. Season 2 reigns over season 1. It pulls from the books once again (The blob, references to stay out of the basement, the haunted car, etc.) and gives us that nostalgic feel; while also delivering more scares then the first one. Season 1 was rated TV-PG, but they amped season 2 up to TV-14, which made me instantly know that season 2 was going to have more scares, more gore, more adult themes, and it did. It delved into teenage angst more, as well as relationships, but the monsters, the mild gore (not bloody – more just death, and exploding aliens and blobs), and the edge of your seat suspense was ramped up. All In all both seasons were a phenomenal watch – and now I am gutted that Disney decided to axe it. Please enjoy the summaries I got off of IMDB below. Go Watch it, even if horror is not your genre, you will like this one.

IMDB Season 1 Summary: “Goosebumps” is a horror series telling the story of a group of high school students who unleash supernatural forces upon their town and must all work together thanks to and in spite of their friendships, rivalries, and pasts with each other in order to save it, learning much about their own parents’ teenage secrets in the process.

IMDB Season 2 Summary: Goosebumps Season 2, titled “Goosebumps: The Vanishing,” features a new story with David Schwimmer as a botanist named Anthony, whose twins, Cece and Devin, become entangled in a mystery surrounding his brother’s disappearance 30 years prior.

3. Gotham Knights

Gotham Knights is another DC TV show, that was originally going to become part of the Arrowverse in its later seasons, but did not make it that far. Since its cancellation, it has now been considered part of the Arrowverse, but on a different earth. Honestly besides Supergirl, this is the best DC TV show to have been made, and it’s a shame that The CW got sold, thus ending the future for this show. The journey of Turner Hayes (A skilled fighter) as he deals with protecting the city, and his adoptive father’s (Batman) death. He’s joined by his friends, who happen to be misfits & trouble makers – Cullen Row (Also a skilled fighter), Harper Row (Superhero – Bluebird), Carrie Kelley (Superhero – Robin), Duela Dent (Who begins the series as “The Jokers Daughter” only to end the series finding out Harvey Dent AKA Two-Face is actually her biological father), Stephanie Brown (Superhero Spoiler). They are an unlikely group, especially as Duela, Harper and Cullen start as thieves that are framed for Bruce Wayne’s murder, and yet they take Turner Hayes under their wing to hide him and protect him after he also gets accused of his adoptive dads murder. We watch as they protect Gotham, but at the same time, solve the mystery of who killed Bruce Wayne/Batman. It was an intriguing show, as all of these opposites come together, and develop a friendship, despite their differences, and how they form a group of superheroes and grow to rely on one another. The writing was well done, and arguably the best (Besides Supergirl – sometimes I think it’s writing is just a little higher) in the Arrowverse. All CW shows have their downsides, as they are CW shows but I throughly enjoyed this one. I was gripped beginning to end, and I loved the darker undertones that were brought into it, because Gotham and Batman’s story itself was always nitty and gritty, and the show did so well keeping that feel. All the characters were easy to like, and you wind up rooting for Duela and Turners romance, as well as Harper and Stephanies romance. Duela and Turner start as an opposites attract trope, and Harper and Stephanie have the classic Enemy to Lovers trope, and seeing both couples bloom was also a positive aspect of the show. While romance is not everything, and not every show needs those arcs, I felt that it strengthened this show instead of weakening it. I loved that all the characters were fleshed out, and all had intriguing back stories and that you wanted to root for all of them, even the ones that toyed with their bad side like Harvey Dent, and Duela. The main cast consisted of many unknown actors, but they proved their talent, and Misha Collins (The big name in the show) made his return to CW after ending Supernatural, with this show his talent shines as he tackles Harvey Dent, and his personality disorder, and his struggle with his mentality, his good side, and his bad side.

The show isn’t as heavy on the action as other Arrowverse shows, but it definitely makes up for that in mystery, character development, and likeable characters that you cheer on.

IMDB Summary: Bruce Wayne is murdered and his adopted son forges an alliance with the children of Batman’s enemies. As the city becomes more dangerous, these mismatched fugitives will become its next generation of saviours, known as the Gotham Knights.

4. Ginny & Georgia

When Ginny & Georgia first came out, I did not originally jump on the band wagon of the show. I heard about it, it was plastered all over all #1 lists, it was talked about, and I was told it was one of the best new shows. I initially hesitated because as much as I enjoy dramas (I loved them as a teenager, One Tree Hill, The OC, Degrassi, all of those angsty shows) but sometimes a lot of dramas have similar themes that are over done, over used, and tiresome. I thought Ginny and Georgia was going to be the same thing, with a sprinkle of Mommy issues thrown in. However, the more I kept hearing about it, and learning about the characters and the storylines (thanks online spoilers) I knew I had to give it a chance, after all I needed to know what all the fuss was about. It turns out that the show was worth the binge, and worth every second I spent watching it instead of sleeping, or rushing home after work to play the next episode. The characters are far from two dimensional and the writers really delve into things that teenagers deal with on a mental health level, instead of running to the sex, drugs, and pregnancy storylines that are overused and drawn out (not saying this show doesn’t have that – it’s just different). Instead we see Georgia, a mother who holds dark secrets (Murder, Manipulation, Victim of child and domestic abuse, teenage pregnancy, etc) and will stop at nothing to protect her kids. She’s flawed, poor (until meeting the mayor- it was nice to see a main character not be rich with a pool side house, on an LA beach…just saying), unpredictable, sarcastic, a criminal, and brutally honest. She has so many things going on in her mind, and definitely struggles with PTSD – which is a mental illness that you don’t see depicted very often in television – except for tiny story arcs in cop or military shows – but they’re usually not fleshed out. We then have Ginny. She’s kind (most of the time), has a good heart, loves her brother, very protective of her family, yearns for more time with her father, hates being the new kid – constantly, but has a lot of pressure on her, and feels lost in the gift called life. She struggles with everything she has been through with her mom – relocating, terrible relationships, helping raise her brother, and knowing her mother killed her ex-husband. She struggles with self harm, a mental illness that usually happens when you feel out of control in life, and need control. Then we have Marcus. Marcus and Ginny are one of the central relationships on the show, and as much as I love them – they are so incredibly bad for one another, at least for now while both are struggling. Marcus has depression, and it worsens throughout the series, and soon ends in him becoming an alcoholic and going to a treatment centre for both his mental state and his addiction. Then we have Maxine (Max as her friends call her), it was because of her that had me stick around the most. We see her ADHD and what is known as Smiling Depression (Definition: Smiling depression, also known as high functioning depression, is a term used to describe individuals who experience symptoms of depression but maintain a façade of happiness to the outside world. They may appear successful, engaged, and even cheerful, while privately battling feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness) and we see it take its toll on her as we continue her arch. I yearned for a character like Max all my life – as someone who has ADHD, as well as Smiling Depression, I needed that person that represented me, that I could connect with. Add in Max’s lesbianism, and omg I was connected to a fictional character in a way I never had been before. And for other characters we see Bulimia with Abby, Narcissism with Press, Bulimia and desperate want to be accepted with Samantha, and many other characters who represent mental illnesses and their struggles with those illnesses. The gripping storylines are also another reason to watch, but my reason will always be the fact that a show can finally tackle mentality and gave me a character like Max.

IMDB Summary: Angsty, awkward 15-year-old Ginny Miller often feels more mature than her 30-year-old mother, the irresistible, dynamic Georgia Miller. After years on the run, Georgia desperately wants to put down roots in picturesque New England and give her family something they’ve never had: a normal life. But it’s not all carpool and Kombucha; Georgia’s past threatens her family’s new lifestyle, and she will do anything to protect her family.

5. The Hunting Wives

Affairs, sex, drugs, booze, love, hate, conservative politics, hunting and…murder. All of those are included in this delicious, devious, mystery. Sophie (played by the fabulous Brittany Snow) moves to conservative Texas where she meets Margo, who pulls her into her chaotic but perfectly curated life, and the deeper Sophie gets the more secrets she unearths and a steamy affair also kicks up between the two. All the while, the shows main mystery “who killed Abby” has you on the edge of your seat, as you wait for the answer and the reveal. While certain aspects of the show were predictable (I.e – the killers identity and Margo & Sophie’s steamy affair), other portions were quite unpredictable and definitely left my jaw hanging open. When I first saw the trailer for the show, I wanted to see it right away, because I love Brittany Snow, but it also looked good. However it was one of those shows that were either going to be terrible and just look good, or be a stunning masterpiece – nothing in between. It turned out to be the ladder. It was such a great work of fiction. As soon as I finished the first season, I wanted more. The writing was quite good – character’s were written well and the acting was on par. This show isn’t for the easily offended. It has conservative views present in some characters because it’s set in Texas, and politics are a high plot point – but a lot of the themes are not conservative; so don’t get the wrong idea going in. If you are not open minded, you still won’t like the show. If you like tame shows, it also won’t be the show for you. Nudity, sex, language and murder is heavy in the show, so if it bothers you, I’d steer clear but despite those things, the storyline is fantastic and Sophie and Margo’s crash course of an affair is addicting.

IMDB Summary: Sophie O’Neil moves to deep East Texas and succumbs to socialite Margo’s charms. Her life is soon consumed by obsession, seduction, and murder.

6. The Haunting of Hill House

This spooky, horror, roller coast ride of a show had its fair share of eerie scenes, jump scares, twist and turns. Mike Flanagan, horrors mastermind, was behind this masterpiece – and while he had other shows on Netflix before this; this show shot him into worldwide fame, and cemented his name in the horror genre. There are many different aspects to this horror story. The haunted house that distorts their world, is the obvious backdrop – after all it is in the title. The tragic death of Nell Crain, and what it meant for the rest of the family, the mystery behind what actually happened, and the connection her death had to Hill House – their childhood home. The five siblings love each other, but are disconnected in many ways, due to Hill House and what happened in their childhood, as well as Steven publishing a novel loosely based on their experience, causing a rift. The death of their mother, their estranged father, and the haunting moments they shared growing up, unite them yet pull them away from one another at the same time. Not to mention, Theo Crain (Played by Kate Siegel), steals the spotlight as her storyline captures your heart, and your attention and it claws its way front and centre. Theo struggles the most out of the siblings (followed by addict Luke) as she shares a power that her mother had; when she touches something she can feel what they feel, senses things, “sees things”, and she spends most of her time with her hands gloved and covered (as her mother taught her when she was young that it helps keep everything at bay). She does however use her powers for good in her job as a child psychologist, which we learn when she saves a young girl from her father, who molests her. Shirley Crain (Played by Elizabeth Reaser) is the eldest girl, and she also has the calmest inner spirit after all of the events, but she is still secretly tormented as well, but her siblings will never see that side of her, until later on when they all band together to take down Hill House for good, and find out the truth behind Nell’s death. Spoiler Alert (stop reading if you plan on watching the show). Nell’s death, and the shock factor, that she had been the bent neck lady (a ghost that haunted Nell when she was younger) was the ultimate twist, and was talked about for a long while in media. It has since gone down as one of the best twists in horror television. This show had me captured after the first full watch through. I had actually watched Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Bly Manor first, despite this one coming out first, and I enjoyed it – and that led me to watching this masterpiece. I could see why everyone spoke so highly of this show, why it is referred to as a must watch in horror television, and why it lingers, even after you watch it.

IMDB Summary: Explores a group of siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on to become the most famous haunted house in the country. Now adults, and forced back together in the face of tragedy, the family must finally confront the ghosts of their past, some of which still lurk in their minds while others might actually be stalking the shadows of Hill House.

7. School Spirits

This show was an underrated gem when I first tuned in to watch it. I turned on Paramount Plus to see if the streaming service had anything good on, and I saw this pop up. I read the summary and instantly knew it’d be worth a watch, because it was my kind of show. When I tuned in, it was well worth the binge watch that I went through to complete the first season. If anyone ever says that nobody has any original ideas in Hollywood anymore, then direct them to this show because it definitely felt like it’s one of a kind, and it’s it’s own type of tragic, dramatic, and supernatural masterpiece. Maddie gets hurt in the school, and finds herself in the spirit realm, stuck in her school, and alone. Soon however, she meets a group of other spirits, trapped on the school grounds, after their deaths – which took place on the premises. Wally, who died during his football game – is a sweet boy who is her main love interest in the show – and you want to route for them but know it will be tragic in the end. Charley, died having an allergic reaction in the cafeteria. Rhonda, who was killed by the guidance counsellor. Those spirits make up a group, that bond with Maddie and help her solve the ultimate mystery. How did she die. As the story unwinds, multiple mysteries not only unravel but are created the more they delve into Maddie’s question. In the real word Maddie’s friend Simon, who can communicate with her, is trying to solve the mystery of what happened to her on the side of the living. Once they find out – spoiler alert- she is not actually dead but when she got hurt, a ghost shoved her into the spirit realm and took over her body to get out of the stuffy school spirit realm. Afterwards it turns into another mystery, and it just keeps unfolding and the whole time it has you gripped to your seat. I am thankful this little show ended up picking up more popularity during the second season, because we have been graced with a season 3 renewal.

IMD Summary: High school can feel like an eternity. For some students at Split River High, it literally is. Maddie, a 16-year-old girl, is newly deceased and finds herself trapped in afterlife-limbo at her high school, where she discovers that she’s stuck with those who have also died in the school over the past 100 years. For some reason she’s the only one who can still communicate with the living, so she uses her new-found abilities to help investigate her own murder.

8. Wednesday

When Wednesday was first announced I was unsure whether it was going to be good. I never disliked the Addams Family growing up, I used to watch re-runs of the old shows, and it was enjoyable enough; but I was unsure how a show that focused on Wednesday – the monotone, sarcastic, dark natured character was going to work. I was nervous it was going to be too dark, not gripping enough, and of course, feared that whoever was cast as Wednesday would not hold up to my Wednesday which was Christina Ricci. Jenna Ortega was cast, and I was instantly more interested. I knew she’d give a good performance, as someone who loved her from the Scream franchise, I knew we were getting a good actress. I was correct, and she pulled Wednesday off better than any other portrayal before her. The friendship between Enid and Wednesday brought some light to the dark show, and her romance with Tyler (even though he was not my first choice for her) showed that Wednesday is capable of love, and genuine feelings. The mystery, which I won’t delve deep into or it spoils the whole show, because everything is carefully tethered together was beautifully executed. I had no idea who the villains were, until the reveal and the mystery kept me coming back for more. I have not watched the second season yet, as I am waiting for it to drop part two so I can just binge it all at the same time, but I am confident that it does not disappoint either.

IMDB Summary: A sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago – all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.

9. The Haunting of Bly Manor

Mike Flanagan was the name on every horror fan’s lips when this show premiered. He followed up his other Netflix projects with this show. While this show follows The Haunting of Hill House, they are not connected. The thing they have in common is that they were lumped into a Mike Flanagan haunted house series. The characters do not overlap, and while they both take place in haunted homes, they are not connected, and are anthology series. The haunting of Bly Manor kicks off with a grown woman narrating the story of a haunted manor, and the people in it, to a young couple who had just married. We learn about the woman in the lake, the antagonist of the show, who attached herself to Dani, and slowly taking her over. We learned about the other staff in the home, their connected to it, and which residents of the home were dead, and which ones had been real. The woman who narrates the story, delves into Dani’s story, and how she came to the home as a nanny, without a second thought, without knowing what was going to happen. Dani had her own personal demons to face down at first. She was haunted by the ghost of her ex – who she blames herself for killing – because they got into a fight in the car when she told him she was gay, he got out of the car, and while he was yelling, got hit by truck driving by, and died instantly. That haunted her for years, and the ghost of him that she sees is all mental, which was the first twist. That ghost was not real, but the others are. Unfortunately for Dani, when she saves the girl she was hired to take care of from getting pulled into the lake, she gets pulled into the woman of the lake’s grasps and they soon have a connected that cannot be tethered. Eventually Dani will cease to exist, as the lady of the lake will one day take over her soul completely. While she waits, she delves into a romance with Jamie, a woman who was a gardener for the Manor, and who she fell for the minute they connected. When they leave Bly Manor, to attempt to put space between Dani and the grounds, so the take over would take longer, we see their lives and see them love one another. They are together, until Dani must sacrifice herself to the lake, when she realized she is losing control and the lady of the lake is taking over, when she almost murders Jamie when she sleeps. The show ends tragically, with Dani sacrificing herself to the lake and Jamie screaming in the water as she swims down to try and save her, and only finds Dani’s body. After that scene takes place, we flash back to the older woman who is telling the story – we find out that the person telling the story (spoiler alert) is Jamie, grown up, and living life missing the love of her life. The girl who got married, tells Jamie that she does not believe it’s a scary story, and that it’s a love story. Which is the perfect description for the show. While the show does have its moments, at its core it is a love story. The end of the show, shows older Jamie in her home, filling her sink with water – in case Dani visits- and leaving her door open a crack, with her chair in front of it where she sits/sleeps, waiting for her love. She’s always done that in case Dani comes back. The final frame pulls away, and audiences see that as Jamie sleeps, Dani’s hand is on her shoulder – and she never truly left. While the ending was tragic, and they were ripped apart from one another, the show escaped the bury your gay trope, as fans of the show thought it was needed as part of the story, because the story was always meant to go there. And while one half of a sapphic couple did die, their love never died, and remained the focus of the show.

IMDB Summary: A young governess is hired by a man to look after his niece and nephew at their family country house after they fall into his care. Soon after arriving at the Bly estate, she begins to experience strange occurrences and a grim history starts to unravel.

10. Shameless

This show gathered my attention because while browsing Facebook, I kept seeing reels of Mickey and Ian; and then started seeing reels of Fiona, and they started gripping me and I told myself “lets do it, lets watch it”. This show is a remake of a UK show, and I have not seen the original, but the US show is so well done. It is not censored, and holds a lot of profanity, sex, drugs, mental health issues, among other things, but sometimes an uncensored show is for the best – because life is messy, life is not censored, and life can be hell. This show shows that perfectly. Shameless follows the Gallagher family, and their struggles. It’s definitely heavy on drama, and heavy on a lot of serious, intense topics, so if that is something you cannot do – the show wouldn’t be for you – but personally I have always loved the heavy, nitty gritty. Sometimes its the best part of a show, and it may require some breaks in between episodes to come down from, but life is so crazy, and sometimes it’s nice to see someone else’s life be worse than yours, to realize that yours is pretty good. All of the actors do a phenomenal job, while Frank is annoying and a character that I cannot really stand, William H. Macy does very well playing the part; you can tell he is bringing his all to the role. While Fiona wasn’t always the best character morally, Emmy Rossum played this character to perfection; especially all the emotional scenes. Not to mention Jeremy Allen White (Lip), Cameron Monaghan (Ian), and Noel Fisher (Mickey) had phenomenal performances as well.

IMDB Summary: A single father of six who spends much of his free time drinking at bars. The Gallagher children – led by oldest daughter Fiona, who takes on much of the child-rearing responsibility due to her mother’s absence – manage to raise themselves in spite of Frank’s lack of parenting and unusual parenting style when he does choose to act like a father.

11. Saving Hope

Saving Hope was a show I was unsure of at first. I hadn’t heard much about it, all I knew was it was a medical drama, with a supernatural element. I liked Erica Durance, because I like Smallville and she was Lois Lane – in fact she’s my Lois Lane; no other actress who played Lois Lane compares for me – and her being in this show definitely helped draw me to it. I saw it in my recommended on Netflix, and one day when I was trying to find a new show to binge, I clicked on it randomly, watched the little Netflix trailer and thought, ‘okay this looks odd but good’ and I ended up delving in. The one other thing I knew about this show going in was its LGBTQ representation – with Maggie and Sydney, so that was a definite pull as well. At first, I was worried it was going to suck. I mean a doctor, who falls into a coma, is able to see dead people/dying people. in the hospital seemed a little out of left field for a medical drama (a supernatural fantasy show – sure – but medical drama, didn’t expect that). It wound up being a very good show; and as I started watching it, I kept watching it. Whenever I had a free moment, or a day off, I shoved on the next episode because I became addicted and needed to know what happened. I streamed all 5 seasons quickly, and enjoyed it; I thought this show did a very good job at combining the medical with the personal drama, sometimes shows become to soapy and focus less and less on the ’emergencies/medical’, which is what the show started as – this show doesn’t fall victim to that. I feel like Charlie seeing the ghosts, helps keep it grounded in the medical aspect because then he has to help find the resolution. I love Erica Durance, but funnily enough my favourite character wound up being Doctor Maggie Lin, and no not just because her character is bisexual, but because she was the heart, the comedy, and she is the character that grounded everyone else, in a chaotic profession and messy hospital atmosphere. She had her own fair share of problems, and I loved watching her go through them, but her character really stuck with me. My hope, is one day to get this tv show in physical DVD form – and yes physical may seem outdated, but I enjoy owning all my shows on physical media. What if internet dies? how else would you watch them?

IMDB Summary: A supernatural medical drama that centers on the lives of the doctors and nurses of Hope Zion Hospital.

12. Pulse

First, let me start off by saying I am so mad at Netflix for cancelling this series after one fabulous season. You’d think I would learn my lesson when it comes to Netflix axing all their original shows that I’ve enjoyed (First Kill, Teenage Bounty Hunters, Everything Sucks – just to name a few others). However, despite that usually happening, I decided to give this new show a chance and I am glad I did. In a sea of medical dramas out in the world, many of them get shadowed by Grey’s Anatomy, and unfortunately I think that’s what happened to this one – which saddens me because the first season was amazing, it ended with a cliff hanger, and it had so much potential to go further. If given the chance, and a little more marketing I think it would have blown up – and hit it big.

IMDB Summary: Follows the personal and professional lives of doctors and staff at a busy Miami trauma center.

13. Wheel Of Time

Fantasy shows are usually hit or miss with me. Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Drama – those are my main genres – but once and a while a fantasy show comes and sweeps me off my feet (BUFFY!, Merlin, Game of Thrones did it for a while – until the 8th season knocked it off it’s pedestal). Wheel of Time swooped in, and did exactly that. It started off a little slow, but soon I was invested. Invested in their journey, invested in who this mysterious dragon was, and of course mildly pulled to Moiraine; her mystery, her magic, her aura, and her beauty – Yupp I was sold. Everyone loves a kick-ass, strong, female lead…right? Not to mention the beauty of the scenes, the landscapes we see, the magical special effects, the filming angles, everything makes this show beautiful. The storyline in itself starts off strong, as Moiraine continues her journey to find the potential Dragon (the person who will save the world against their biggest threat) when she arrives at the town, and finds a group of potentials, she’s not the only one who finds them. She protects them from monsters, catapults them into a dangerous journey, and at the end of the first season – we find out who the dragon is. Based off of the first season alone, I knew this show was special and deserved to be on this list. I look forward to continuing it. However, I am devastated that Amazon has chosen not to renew it for a fourth season. Producers are shopping it to other streaming platforms, and fan campaigns to save the show have taken over the world. I suppose we shall see what happens – but shows are rarely saved once they are axed, so I am not holding my breath; for now I will enjoy what we were given.

IMDB Summary: The lives of five young villagers change forever when a strange and powerful woman arrives, claiming one of them is the child of an ancient prophecy with the power to tip the balance between Light and Dark forever.

Honorable Mentions:

1. The Purge (Season 1 Only): The film series is one of the best horror series ever created, somewhere behind Scream. It’s unique and scary because it can actually happen. The TV show continues the movie series legacy. The first season was amazing; thrilling, and the unique love triangle was entertaining. (a love triangle between two girls and guy, only the girl and guy, are in love with the same girl. -different then your typical triangle). Despite its amazing storytelling, parts of it drug on, some aspects didn’t seem to need to be included. It’s still a fun, enjoyable watch.

2. Stranger Things: Another fantasy series that captured my heart. I grew attached to the characters who are in their twenties, Steve, Robin, and Nancy and out of the kids Dustin – the under dog was always my favourite. The show is great; however it remains a mention because I feel that it can get too convoluted and we have to wait twenty thousand years between seasons.

3. First Kill: A Shakespearean love story. A Hunter falls in love with a Vampire, the very creature that she is supposed to kill. The premise alone excited many Buffy, Twilight (still hate it), Vampire Diaries and The Originals fans. It was a great addition to the vampire supernatural genre, and it had very strong momentum, and something going for it. And seeing the lovers were both women, was a nice touch. Downside is – the one main lead (Cal) couldn’t seem to follow her heart without being annoying and sometimes Juliet deserved better. Plus Netflix cancelled it before it was just about to take off!

4. Heartstopper: Before Joe Locke was stealing people’s hearts as Teen in Agatha All Along, he was stealing everyone’s hearts as Charlie. This show is a great representation of life as teens in the LGBTQ community, most main characters land someone in the community (Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian, Transgendered, Asexual, etc.) and it really shows you the struggles teens can experience as they are just trying to be themselves.