The Western Howl staff pick their favorite Halloween-themed movies
Compiled by: The Western Howl staff
Chrys — “The VVitch” (2015). My favorite scary movie has to be “The VVitch.” I remember going to see it in theaters when it came out in 2016. This movie mastered the art of atmospheric horror. I can’t sit through this movie without squirming in my chair, and comfort is an impossibility. The film still remains spooky without excessive use of jump scares, which I really appreciate. The cinematographer Jarin Blaschke and director Robert Eggers have created a visual environment that is dark, anxious, and horrifying. Anya Taylor-Joy is truly at her best and her performance really enhances it to all it’s uncomfortable, horrible glory. I would strongly recommend this film.
Contact the author at cweedon16@wou.edu
Caity — “Halloween” (1978). This movie will never not be my favorite horror flick. It set the precedent for what a slasher film would be, and ushered in a decade of holiday-centered horror films that tried to imitate what this classic did. No matter how many times I watch it, the haunting — but simple — score, matched with the heart-racing scenes, are enough to make this the most memorable scary movie I’ve seen yet. Introducing Jamie Lee Curtis, as director John Carpenter’s nod to Curtis’s mother Janet Leigh, star of “Psycho,” the film helped create the scream queen of slasher flicks. While this movie is a horror masterpiece, the sequels don’t even come close to the original, so I’d recommend only watching the first installment.
Contact the author at chealy16@wou.edu
Bailey — “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993). This Disney flick is an innovative story that serves two genres: Christmas movies and Halloween movies. Now a cult classic, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” combines the creative mind of Tim Burton with the musical stylings of Danny Elfman to create a movie that the whole family can enjoy. In fact, there’s even a ride at Disneyland that is made-over with a “ The Nightmare Before Christmas” theme every year. And this year, the lovably misguided Jack Skellington, “Pumpkin King” of Halloween Town, is getting re-released on Blu-ray as a celebration of the film’s 25th anniversary. This funny and frightening tale made over 75 million dollars in the box office, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone.
Contact the author at bthompson15@wou.edu
Kyle — “Hocus Pocus” (1993). During one night of Halloween, three villainous witches made their way back from the dead to bring us the Disney film, “Hocus Pocus.” This cult classic became my favorite Halloween-theme movie when I was a child. It includes the right amount of comedy, horror and music. No matter how many times I watch it, I can never get enough of the Sanderson sisters. It’s as if they put a spell on me. Although meant for children, the director was able to sneak jokes that only adults can understand, so I would strongly recommend this movie to anyone.
Contact the author at kmorden17@wou.edu
Rachel — “Sleepy Hollow”, starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton, is my favorite Halloween movie. It is based on the legend of the Headless Horseman. It’s a gothic supernatural horror film, although I didn’t find it too scary. It’s about Ichabod Crane, a police constable, who is sent to solve the mystery behind the murders taking place in the town Sleepy Hollow. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes dark themed movies, without a lot of scares.
Contact the author at rhetzel18@wou.edu
Ashlynn — “Corpse Bride” (2005). “The Corpse Bride” is another classic Tim Burton animation that is perfect for Halloween. It’s not a scary movie, but it does have the right amount of creepiness to celebrate this spine-tingling holiday. This lighthearted movie is perfect for anyone who is like me and loves a good laugh and a happy ending. It is a sweet story of a soon to be groom who gets the jitters. He unknowingly proposes to a corpse and has to figure out how to reverse what he has done. It’s a spoopy film that I always watch on Halloween and highly recommend to others.
Contact the author at anorton17@wou.edu
Becca — “Hush” (2016). What I liked about this movie is that it doesn’t fall into the usual scary movie tropes of having main characters who make terrible decisions that have you yelling at your screen. The main character in this movie is a young Deaf woman who is being stalked in her house by a killer. Unlike many other horror movies, in this one she actually makes smart, methodical decisions and the movie is full of constant suspense. The ending was also unexpected for me. While I usually find myself leaning towards supernatural when watching horror movies, this one stuck out to me.
Contact the author at rmeyers17@mail.wou.edu
Cora — “Halloweentown” (1998). Witches and goblins and skelies, oh my! No Dylan, we’re not in Cleveland, we’re taking the bus to St. Helens, Oregon, a.k.a. “Halloweentown.” Watch as future head of the Cromwell line, “I’m 13…I’m practically a grown-up” Marnie, stumbles through finishing a spell her not-so-responsible grandmother started (before literally walking into a trap) to reverse the evil magic seeping its way into the heart of Halloweentown. Don’t worry about Marnie being the most inept witch ever, her seven-year-old sister Sophie saves the day; and like a true hero gets none of the credit, leaving community health major senior Keith Mathew to cry “what about Sophie?!” With a dash of 90s radical slang, spoopy Halloween hijinks and a wholesome the “true power is love” moral, “Halloweentown” (and its three sequels) should appear in everyone’s Halloween movie marathon.
Contact the author at cmcclain17@mail.wou.edu
Paul — “Scared Shrekless” (2010). Our favorite childhood meme team is back at it again competing to see who can stay in Lord Farquaad’s old castle the longest by telling spooky stories. This short contains three sections that are told as separate stories. Gingy, our lovely little sentient gingerbread man, tells us about how his tumultuous love life led to him getting eaten by a zombie lover. Our friend Boots then tells us about his worst fear which is too intense to mention in such a short review. Finally, Shrek tells us about his experience with Pinocchio’s demonic possession and the mild psychosis that came along with it. Overall, if you need some fun short goofs with your favorite childhood characters you’ll really enjoy this show.
Contact the author at pfdavis14@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of Paul F. Davis
Humor: Night of the living dead mascots
Lake Larsen | Sports Editor
Western has never been good at commitment. In the 156 year history of the school, Western has been called by six different names. While the name changes actually represented the changes in the school’s curriculum, Western’s changes in other areas show an attempt to try to be “hip” and “cool.”
These were the changes of the mascot on campus. But calling these creatures “mascots” is kind of a disgrace to the term, as Western’s previous attempts at a mascot can best be described as terrifying and hellacious.
Prior to 1980, the only thing resembling a mascot was a stuffed wolf with terrifying fangs. Typically a mascot is cute, fun or strong. Instead, the students at Oregon College of Education were represented by a hellhound that would more likely be seen tearing the face off a child than cheering on a sports team.
In 1981 Western Oregon State College attempted a real mascot. Emphasis on the term “attempted.” The head of the beast named Waldo was made from paper maché and the lost soul of a demon. His body looked closer to a cross between a gorilla and freakishly large dog. Thanks for the nightmares, WOSC.
1987 to 1991 saw the best mascot ever to bequeath the campus in Monmouth. It was a real live Alaskan Malamute. He had two different colored eyes, a gorgeous coat of fur, and, while I didn’t personally know him, can only assume he was the goodest boy.
1988 was the return of nightmare fuel on the WOSC campus. The next version of Waldo looked more cuddly than before and actually had a cute face with light grey fur. However, don’t look too closely into the eyes of this demon in disguise. His eyes are as black as the void and probably are home to the students of past years that never made it out of finals week with their sanity.
1994 took a turn for WOSC and instead of designing the mascot after the embodiment of fear, they went for pure stupidity. Waldo 3.0 had an enormous snout with a foot long tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Looking at the bright red, floppy tongue only brings up one question: “why?”
1999 brought home a mascot that honestly wasn’t awful. This new wolf was still roaming around the campus nearly 20 years later.
However, by 2015 Wolfie had definitely seen better days. His fur looked closer to a shag carpet that had been worn out for years. His eyes were matted over and were as dead as every student in an 8 a.m. class.
2016 was the birth of the current Wolfie. This Wolfie is actually cute, not terrifying. Strong, not stupid. Fun, not horrifying. So, I guess, thank you Wolfie for actually being normal and not a demon or a dunce.
Contact the author at llarsen13@mail.wou.edu
Photo courtesy of Denise Visuaño
Students display their jack-o’-lanterns
Rebecca Meyers | Lifestyle editor
Halloween is here, and for many this means their pumpkins have become jack-o’-lanterns. Western students are no different and have been busy getting creative, making everything from classic spooky jack-o’-lanterns to nontraditional works of art. They’ve drawn inspiration from multiple different sources, such as social media and their passions for art.
Those looking for last minute ideas have similar options as far as sources of inspiration. For senior Michelle Soutar, her spooky jack-o-lantern served to help create the atmosphere for her halloween party. For junior Jackie Shepherd, her pumpkin was a way to use her artistic strengths, which happen to be painting. Others like junior Madison Gaylin and myself simply browsed Pinterest until they found the idea that spoke to them most.
In addition, I’ve assembled a compilation to display their carved creations and hopefully bring more ideas for those still looking for the perfect one.
“Happy Halloween” by Jackie Shepherd, junior, education major.
“I really love to paint flowers, so I saw this as an opportunity to incorporate beautiful fall colours into my favourite subject.”
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Meyers
“Pokemon” by Megan Bricco, junior, education major
“Gengar was just the first thing I thought of.”
Photo courtesy of Madison Gaylin
“Carved Flower” by Madison Gaylin, junior, education major.
“I saw other floral pumpkins that inspired me to make this one.”
Photo courtesy of Madison Gaylin
“Classic jack-o’-lantern face” by Michelle Soutar, senior, communications major.
“I originally wanted to put a fog machine behind it…I saw a similar face done…and thought it was spooky so I attempted it.”
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Meyers
“Bats” by Rebecca Meyers, senior, international studies major.
“I usually do the usual Jack o lantern as a face, so I wanted to change it up this year.”
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Meyers
Contact the author at howllifestyle@mail.wou.edu
Nightmare on Monmouth Avenue: A look at sports that have made it to the Western athletics graveyard
Lake Larsen | Sports Editor
Western Oregon has existed as a school of many different names for 156 years. In this over a century and a half, the school has seen the birth and death of many different sports.
Since these sports departure the fields they called home have since been abandoned and forgotten. Welcome to the Western sports graveyard.
Tennis 1923-1990s
Tennis was first spotted on the Oregon Normal School campus as early as 1923. The program was split into a men’s team and women’s team and over the years these teams saw varying levels of success. There are years with no recorded mention of a tennis team, but its spirit lived a full life in Monmouth, finally seeing its death of an unknown cause in 1990.
Women’s Field Hockey 1925-1980s
The mysterious women’s field hockey team seemed to elude the history books for the better part of the 20th century. Pictures can be found of Oregon Normal School students playing field hockey during the 1925 school year. Skip forward 45 years and women are seen playing again. Their last sighting was in the early 80s, and not much is known since.
Golf 1920s-1980s
Another granny of the campus, along side the tennis program, golf has been spotted on the campus of Oregon Normal School, Oregon College of Education and Western Oregon State College. Perhaps the golfers would rather play a few holes than take a picture as records of the team are hard to come by. Lost on the back nine, the team seemed to fade from existence in the 80s.
Wrestling 1927-1991
Wrestling saw its first official team in the year of 1927. The wrestling team saw years of wins, losses, close-matches and eventually some national championship contenders. Wrestling is the only sport in the graveyard with a true murderer however. The team met a cruel fate after their 1990-91 season with the new Measure 5 ruling that defunded and killed the successful program after 64 years.
Swimming 1927-1980s
Splashing into pools for the first time in the late ‘20s, Oregon Normal School’s swimming team was host to all sorts of aquatic shenanigans. The death of the swimming program is lost to time as the history books have no clear answer to why they never made it out of the 80s.
Gymnastics 1971- 1980s
Blink and you’ll miss it, the gymnastics program was only alive for a short 10 years on the campus of Oregon College of Education. The team never saw much success in the gym, as noted by the Lamron staff never seeming to report on a match that was won. Evidence of the team can still be found on the walls of New PE showing off the teams of yesteryear.
Contact the author at howlsports@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of previous Western yearbooks: “The Norm” and “The Grove”
Say hello to Gritty
Lake Larsen | Sports Editor
Monday, Sept. 24, a date that will live on for all time. The National Hockey League’s Philadelphia Flyers presented their newest addition to the organization. No — it was not a new offensive star; no — it was not the signing of an all-star free agent. It was the announcement of Gritty, the Flyers’s new mascot.
Sprinting through a thick blanket of smoke, the crowd was blessed with this… creature. Dawning a bright orange Flyers uniform, black hockey shorts, and a helmet to match Gritty was a gift to not just hockey fans but every man, woman, and child in the entire world.
Initially he was met with criticism for this long, bright orange scroungy fur, long beard, twisted hair and aggressive googly eyes. However, many quickly came to realize Gritty is much more than just a mascot, he is a hockey hero.
Other mascots simply represent the name of the team. A bear mascot for the Bears, a dolphin for the Dolphins, an eagle for the Eagles. But not Gritty. Gritty is what can best be described as a muppet that was injected with 50 cc’s of adrenaline straight to the heart.
He represents what were once known in the NHL as the “Broad Street Bullies” due to their fearsome play style. And nothing puts fear into your heart quite like a massive, hairy, open-mouthed tongue hanging out creature staring into your soul with his googly eyes.
He sets himself apart from other mascots by being an abomination of a mascot. Some teams want a strong and masculine mascot. Others want something cute and cuddly. Gritty is not strong nor cute. Instead of being strong, he has an enormous beer belly. Instead of being cute, his terrifying stare would make children cower in fear.
That is why Gritty is great — he is a nightmare. Mascots have fun by dancing around the field and getting fans excited. Gritty is instead caught falling on his head at mid-ice during his premier game. Normal mascots take cute pictures with fans, Gritty mimics the Kim Kardashian “Break the internet” photoshoot with a Gatorade bottle and his frightening looks.
In Gritty’s short career thus far, there is one moment that stands out more than others. Within mere minutes of his announcement, the Flyers rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins, responded on Twitter to Gritty.
“lol ok” read the Tweet from @penguins, the official Twitter of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins have a history of league dominance, winning a total of five Stanley Cups. But this did not scare Gritty. His response, from @GrittyNHL, was short, but packed a punch.
“Sleep with one eye open tonight, bird.”
Contact the author at llarsen13@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of @GrittyHNL
Letter to the Editor
From Campus Recreation Facility Supervisors
We have been happy to see all of the students back in the Health and Wellness Center this Fall term. Already this term we have seen over 50 percent of the student population through our doors which is fantastic. Yet, the last thing we want to do is make all these people feel attacked or uncomfortable to workout or be in our facility. Over the summer, staff at Campus Recreation had numerous discussions about how we should enforce, or quite plainly if we should even have a dress code. This is a hot topic of discussion at collegiate gyms all across our country at the moment. For us here at WOU Campus Recreation and most other collegiate gyms, we do not want our dress code to be about what is appropriate or not, we want it to be about the safety and health of our students and peers.
We (Campus Recreation) have researched the topic and are more than willing to sit down with any student or student group to explain the risk factors about skin infections within gyms and recreation centers. An example of this type of skin infectious bacteria is CAMRSA (Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) which is transferred from the skin to any surface. Hypothetically, if you are sitting on a piece of equipment or pad with your skin directly touching it and the person before you didn’t clean off where their skin touched, this can transmit that bacterium to you. Even if you have a sweaty shirt on you still have a barrier to the equipment or pad which has the potential of reducing disease transmission.
Our main thing here is that we want to limit your skin contact with all these gross bacteria. Yes, we try and clean the equipment as much as we can, and we ask that you clean the equipment before and after you use it as well, but you can never be too careful. Of course, we can’t prevent you from sweating at the gym and working hard, but we ask everyone to consider your health and safety when you are choosing what to wear to help us keep everyone healthy. By cleaning equipment, personal hygiene, and wearing proper workout materials that cover your body, (students can take) important (actions) to prevent the spread of germs and diseases.
To clarify, wearing a tank top or razor back tank top is not against our clothing policy. Our only goal is to educate everyone. However, you still need to wear a shirt that covers your chest, abdomen, back and side areas from hip to armpit (including your midsection) at all times while in our facility. All our staff is also working through how to approach this issue, so if you ever have questions or concerns don’t be afraid to have a conversation with us at the front desk or talk to the staff member upstairs!
We want all students to leave as healthy as they were when they came in.
This letter is in response to an editorial titled “The reality of gym dress-codes” published in Issue 2 of the Western Howl.
WESTERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
345 Monmouth Ave. N.
Monmouth OR 97361
503-838-8000 | 1-877-877-1593