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Digging Up October's Haunted Remains: The 'Beyond the Balcony' Round-Up for the Month

There are a few recurring features that I intend to bring back to the site, and the round-up of the month's highlights is one of them. I confess that October did not quite showcase the fresh horror reviews and original articles that I had intended, Instead, it mimicked a TV Network during a 1980s summer with an army of reruns with a sprinkle of fresh pieces.

But it is the month we got, so here is some of the standouts on Beyond the Balcony.

Top Ten Most Viewed Articles in October 2022:

1. The Completely Positive October Preview: This is a feature I did a few years ago, and I now want to make into a monthly piece. It ended up being the most read piece this month, so it seems like something readers find valuable. The strategy is that I spotlight all the major releases of the month, and since I want to go into each screening with optimism, I try to be positive with each preview. For some movies it is a greater challenge than others.

2. Revisiting the Review: 'The Soultangler' Review: Home-Made Horror Version of 'Re-Animator': The plan was to repost a few horror movies reviews to set the mood for several new ones. It didn't quite pan out that way. I did not come anywhere near recommending the movie, but I can find several positives, especially the filmmaker's love for the genre and practical effects.

3. Sight Unseen: An Ignorant Plot Synopsis of Black Adam: This one really took off with some readers. We should note that often the articles making the top viewed list were posted earlier in the month, because they've had weeks to build up an audience. This article was posted on October 21st, so it is has had less than 10 days to connect, so clearly the public demanded Scott's completely fictional take.

4. Revisiting the Collective: 'Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones' Review: A Change of Location Can Be Scary: I wrote this one for Collective Publishing when the movie was initially released. I wanted to put it up here because I had recommended it despite a weak critical consensus and I have been clear about my disdain for most found-footage pictures. I wanted to champion something that worked for me and many may have missed. Clearly, people still want to read thoughts about this series.

5. Shining a Light on a Rising Star: This was a blending of bragging and promoting at the same time, as my son is going to be part of a major production of Newsies Jr. in January, and tickets have gone on sale for the public. It always warms my heart when things about my family actually attracts readers.

6. Modern Day Horror Classic: The Cabin in the Woods: As you can see, this month leaned heavy on the reposts. This was from Scott, who had done a review series on modern horror classics for his original site back in 2018.

7. A Revisit: Modern Horror Classics: This was the introduction that Scott wrote for his series back in 2018, but with a few new thoughts, as he has grown in appreciation for a few horror movies that didn't make his list originally. 

8. Modern Day Horror Classic: The Conjuring: Clearly, there were people wanting to read horror reviews this month, so I probably should have actually given them some new reviews. I should add that my opinion on The Conjuring has changed drastically, and does deserve the status of being a modern horror classic.

9. Revisiting the Collective: Movie Trailers Selling Movies That Don't Exist: I have thought about actually doing a fresh piece about misleading trailers after Halloween Ends being sold strictly as a Laurie Strode vs. Michael Myers movie.

10. Halloween Ends Review: The Big Showdown Whimpers with Bizarre Creative Choice: This review did not originally do the viewer numbers that I had expected when first posted, but it slowly became one of the most read pieces of the month. Who knows how the site could have done if I wrote even more review rather than just reposting stuff from the ancient time of when I wrote reviews on a weekly basis. 

Highlights of October: Here are few articles that weren't the most read pieces of the month, but we think are worth checking out and we're proud we wrote.

Finally, the Force is with the Movie Theatre (Someday):  This isn't a ground-breaking piece written by me, but it one of the few things that wasn't a repost, so I felt obligated to put it here. Plus, it is always fun to write about Star Wars, and I'm excited the chances of seeing a new Star Wars movie in theatres in the next decade has improved.

Sight Unseen: An Ignorant Plot Synopsis of Amsterdam: This is a bit of a fever dream and no where close to what the movie ends up being about, which is why this piece by Scott is a fun read.

Reviews of October: The original reviews that have not yet been mentioned.

REVIEW: Into the Deep: The Submarined Murder Case: There were several other horror movie reviews that were reposted, but this was the only other brand-new review. It is for a documentary that Scott bestowed high praise, so definitely check it out.

The Movie Breakdown: All the episodes that dropped this month.

The Breakdown of 'Hocus Pocus 2', 'Bros', Blonde' and 'The Jazzman's Blues'

The Breakdown of 'Amsterdam', Mr. Harrigan's Phone' and 'Luckiest Girl Alive'

The Breakdown of 'Halloween Ends', 'Rosaline', 'Grimcutty' and Remembering Angela Lansbury

The Breakdown of 'Black Adam', 'The School of Good & Evil', 'The Stranger' and 'The Redeem Team': The last episode of October is normally our horror movie episode, but this time a major blockbuster fell on that weekend. We have the bizarre situation where our horror episode kicks off November.:

That is our look back at the site for this past month. Did we miss anything that you really liked reading in October on Beyond the Balcony?

And is there anything you want to promote that you've published or created this past month? Feel free to leave it in the comments section.

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