10 Horror Films to Get You in a Spooky Mood for Halloween

Halloween is coming (sort of, I mean it’s August. I’m giving you two months to prepare). I live in Australia so literally no one cares about Halloween, but personally, I am a Halloween hag. I love it. So I’m trying to encourage my fellow pals to get in the spooky mood with me by compiling a list of the top 10 horror/thriller/spooky movies (in my humble opinion).

Quick disclaimer: These are movies that are, in one way or another, available to us in Australia (so they’re most likely available to everyone else). For some reason, Australian Netflix likes to deprive us of a large amount of great films. It literally doesn’t even have Harry Potter. But I digress.

Number 1: Creep (1-2)

As the title obviously suggests, this is one creepy film. This is filmed in the style of a handheld camera, from the perspective of one of the main characters. A videographer travels to the cabin of man who claims to have terminal cancer. He wishes to have a video filmed about him and his life that he can give to his unborn child for once he passes away. The lack of a music soundtrack makes this film even creepier, and there is genuinely good quality acting in this one. The sequel has the same sort of premise as its predecessor, however with a new videographer and a new cause for a home film to be made. In this, a female protagonist comes to film the “creep”, and he admits to her that he is a murderer. She is a struggling film-maker and sees the opportunity to create a film about the secret life of a serial killer; an exciting and unique angle that she thinks will proper her career. This has so many twists and turns, particularly at the end, and they are some of favourite eerie films.

Number 2: Get Out

This one is probably one of my favourites of all time. A horror film that tackles major issues like racism? Yes please. I sat in silence during the credit scene just going over in my mind how incredible of a film it was. An African-American man goes to meet his girlfriend’s new parents and it takes a huge turn that I did not expect. If you take away anything from this list, I hope it is that this film will go down in history as a masterpiece.

Number 3: The Shining

This is a classic. Jack Nicholson and his eyebrows blessed us all in this one. A writer and his family move out to this desolate old hotel so he can write some new content and boy, oh boy… You’d hope this film turned out good, especially since there were scenes that they filmed and re-shot almost 150 times; and it most definitely is.

Number 4: Carrie (the original)

Carrie is pretty creepy and disturbing honestly. And if you haven’t already seen it, I won’t spoil the big surprise for you at the end. Just a heads up though, some parts in this film are a little outdated, but it’s definitely a good one to get you in the spooky mood. Just wait until Carrie gives you the look. You’ll know it when you see it.

Number 5: Veronica

This one is in another language, but please hear me out. All you need are subtitles (which it has). This one actually scared the crap out of me. It also involves a Ouija board which instantly ups the spook factor, in my opinion. Plus, it gets bonus points for the fact that it is apparently based on a true story.

Number 6: Blair Witch Project

Ah, the first horror movie I ever saw. I think I was 13, and I didn’t get a restful sleep for about a week afterwards. A group of friends go into the woods together with handheld cameras to make a film about the legend of the Blair Witch. They get lost, and literally everything goes wrong. It basically made me permanently terrified to go on a hike in the woods ever again.

Number 7: Train to Busan

Like ‘Veronica’, this is also a foreign film, but it is from South Korea! This one is set on a fast-travelling train during a zombie outbreak, and will have your heart pumpin’ like you just ran a marathon. According to the good old internet, this film is the 8th highest grossing domestic film to come out of South Korea, so it’s definitely worth watching.

Number 8: The Silence of the Lambs

“Hello Clarice”. Iconic. Hannibal Lector has gone down in history as one of the eeriest characters, and also one of the most emotionally confusing. He’s a cannibalistic murderer, but also super likeable? Jodie Foster with a wonderful southern accent is the main protagonist in the film, where she works for the police and is trying to prove herself as worthy in the force. She is given the task of tracking down a serial killer on the loose: Buffalo Bill (this sounds like an ice cream we have here in Australia, but please don’t get them confused). It’s filled with juicy quotes like, “It rubs the lotion on its skin”. Good stuff.

Number 9: Shaun of the Dead

This one is for the people who still want a good dose of humour while they watch people get eaten by zombies. There has been a zombie apocalypse and the two main characters are hilariously oblivious to the fact for a fair chunk of the film, and when they do find out, they try to survive in the most hilarious ways possible. This one will have you laughing and sorta grossed out at the same time.

Number 10: Scream (1-4)

I couldn’t make this list without including some campy ones. The acting in these are not Oscar-worthy, but it’s fun, semi-predictable and not going to keep you up all night in a terrified sweat. With the super iconic Scream mask, it’s definitely a series to binge-watch before October 31st.

Now let’s get spooky.

5 Tips to Get Yourself Out of Your “Funk”

We’ve all been there.

I don’t wanna get out of bed. I don’t wanna brush my hair. Sorry, I can’t come to lunch, I’m really busy. 

And in reality, *this* is what you mean by “busy”.

This is what I like to call, a FUNK. If you feel like you’ve been in bit of a funk lately, this article is for you. I’ll be providing you with some juicy tips on how to make your funk feel a little less… Funky?

1: Reward yourself for doing things out of your comfort zone.

Sometimes it seems impossible to do the things that are a little out of your comfort zone, especially when you’re already feeling a little out of sorts. For example, going to a party or even just leaving the house. Sometimes, it can make it a little easier to have an incentive to look forward to. For example, if you’ve just gone to a social gathering that you weren’t too excited to go to, treat yourself but having your favourite food when you go home. Or maybe, taking the next night off to watch a movie by yourself? A clever idea is to have a jar, and put a certain amount of money in there for every time you do something out of your comfort zone, and once you have enough money in there, treat yourself to something special. This can help to relieve some anxiety, and subconsciously get you out of your funk.

2: Don’t hate me for saying it but… try a little bit of exercise?

I know, I’m sorry. I’ve had so many people tell me this and I’ve rolled my eyes, but it really does help to just go for a relaxed walk every now and then. It’ll help to clear your head from all the clutter that is most likely in there, and the exercise itself will actually help to make you feel a little better about yourself. You don’t need to become a power lifter or a CrossFit champion; just do whatever you are comfortable doing, and what you are likely to stick to. Exercise releases endorphins as well and will boost your mood.

3: Do things that you know you typically enjoy!

We all have things that we know we enjoy. For me, I know that laying in bed and watching a movie with my favourite foods makes me feel good. Taking time out of my busy schedule to do something simply for myself is really important in order to get myself out of a slump. It helps to stop me from feeling overwhelmed and reminds me that my own wellbeing should always come first. Whether it be bike riding, painting or researching astronomy, anything that makes you feel good is worth doing.

4: Surround yourself with positive people and delete the toxic people.

This is an important one. It is possible to get yourself out a slump without cutting out negative people, but it is a lot more difficult. It also is a lot easier to slip back into a funk when you’re surrounded by toxicity. This can be difficult if the toxicity relates to people from your workplace (aka, people that are hard to avoid), but if this negative energy is stemming from people in your friendship circle, you should take some time to reconsider that relationship. Your mental health will thank you for it. Life is too short to spend our time catering to people who make us feel terrible.

5: Take a technology hiatus to reset your mind.

Finally, this is one of my favourite tips. We are surrounded by technology and social media so incessantly that it can become easy to get swept up in the doom and gloom of things. Sometimes, taking a step back from Facebook or Instagram can be exactly what you need to get back to your old self. Now, I’m not saying that you need to delete your accounts permanently, but rather, not checking them as much or deleting the app off of your phone so you’re not tempted to scroll through your feed constantly. I think you’ll find that after a few days, you will feel lighter and a little more present.

Hopefully these tips will have you feeling less funky and more *fUnKy* in no time.

IMPORTANT:
If you do feel like you’ve been in a funk for an extended period of time, please seek help. You deserve to feel good, so take the first step and contact someone to help get you on the right track.
Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800

Mental Health and Wellbeing Resources at University

The topic that was chosen to research is the relationship between university students and student wellbeing resources available on campus. To ensure that this was a relevant topic worth exploring, two sources were analysed; an excerpt from the Journal of Adolescent Health (Hunt and Eisenberg, 2009), and an article from ABC titled “One in Three Students Consider Self-Harm and Suicide” (Vukovic, 2018).

In a study conducted by the American College Health Association, results showed that only 24% of college students that had been diagnosed with depression were receiving treatment (Hunt & Eisenberg, 2009). This evidence is further solidified in the context of a university student in Vukovic’s article. It states that 35% of students have had self-harm or suicidal thoughts in the last 12 months (Vukovic, 2018). These sources confirm that the mental health and emotional wellbeing of university students is suffering, and through my primary research, my aim was to find out what universities are doing to counteract this and how students interact with these resources.

To conduct this research, a six-question survey was distributed to 24 members of the BCM212 cohort, and the results provided me with insightful information into how students feel about these resources in their university. As it is a sensitive topic, a waiver was provided prior to commending the survey, informing the prospective participants that it was not compulsory to engage in the survey, and they may leave at any time.

One of the strongest findings that presented itself in the results of my primary research is that majority of survey participants (include percentage) were unaware of how exactly to access these resources. Almost 80 percent of participants were aware of the fact that there are resources on campus specifically to cater for students who are struggling, but alarmingly, it was only 41% of surveyed students that knew where or how to access them, this being a prominent reason people haven’t utilised them in the past (Appendix 1.2-1.3).

Almost 55% of participants responded “No” or “I’m not sure” when asked if they would use the available resources if they were struggling (Appendix 1.4). When asked why, respondents stated that they had a fear of criticism or judgement, they felt others needed the resources more than them, and they simply don’t want professional help (Appendix 1.5-1.5a). This raises another issue; there is such a stigma surrounding this topic in society, and perhaps the reason so few people are seeking help is because they don’t want to be judged for their struggles.

Majority of participants proposed that more advertising should be done to make students aware of what is available to help them. Results also showed that some felt the feedback they received when they reached out for help was generic, unhelpful and took a long time to reach them. One participant made a suggestion that I agree with, which is ensuring all university officials such as lecturers and tutors have been trained and are equipped to deal with students who may be struggling.

It can be seen that the information and findings are relatively strong, and they support the statement found in the Journal of Adolescent Health (Hunt and Eisenberg, 2009) that the large majority of students in further educations are not currently seeking out further treatment or help resources. The basis’ of my secondary sources focused more on the statistics about the mental health of students, as opposed to the resources available on campuses, however, I do feel that findings from both secondary and primary research link and correlate.

Limitations of my research are that only students from one subject at one university were surveyed. Surveying students from universities nationwide or internally would provide much more data that may differ from the implications of my current results.

Ideally, its desirable for these findings to leave a lasting impact on universities, encouraging them to invest more time into marketing and exposing these valuable resources to the students. My recommendation if that strategies such as emailing students with information on what help options are available, more visible posters or flyers on campus, and signage showing students where to go if they wish to visit or access the resources would be beneficial in this plight. It is also hoped that this research highlights to students that these resources do exist and are there to help them, as well as breaking down the stigma surrounding mental illness or emotional hardships. Finally, I believe further training should be provided to professionals at university to assist them in dealing with students who are struggling.

 

*This post will be removed within 6 months, destroying all information and evidence found through primary research.

BCM212 Reflection

Reflecting on the process of undergoing my research project for this class, there are many things I would do differently. In this post I will be very transparent about places where improvements could be made, and how I found the whole process of researching to be.

Research is intense, and it requires so much attention and patience to get valuable information that is worthwhile using. I found that gaining primary research was easier than analyzing my secondary research sources. Many of the relevant secondary sources were extremely lengthy journal articles with difficult jargon and vocabulary within them, and I found myself losing focus whilst reading them.

In regards to primary research, I’ve learnt that there are so many ethical aspects that need to be considered before surveying or engaging with any participants. It can seem quite exhaustive, but ultimately is so important for the project in the long run. Something I encountered though, was that I was lacking participants. There was a miscommunication within the class about where to find other students’ surveys, and unfortunately I had very few responses for quite a long time, which left me with a less than ideal amount of time to analyse my results from the survey. I also found that students said they HAD completed my survey, when in fact, they hadn’t, and this just solidified in my mind that people can be unreliable in situations such as this.

I am also a chronic procrastinator, and unfortunately this assignment was no different. If I had the chance to do this again, I would try to follow a proper schedule to ensure I wasn’t in a rush to get everything done. I was lucky in the sense that I did choose a research topic that is something I am genuinely interested in, and I feel that if I had chosen something else carelessly in order for the assignment to be easier, I would have struggled even more to finish on time.

There are valuable lessons I have absorbed from undergoing this research project, and these are lessons that I will take with me into the workplace in the future.

 

University vs. Mental Health

This semester in University, I have been given the task of composing a small research report in relation to the ‘university student experience.’ I am aware that this is such a broad topic so there should be many pathways I can take, but still, my mind has been completely empty in regards to what I should choose to study. So I thought to myself, “what is something that has affected ME as a university student?”

Mental health. As a university student, certain aspects of this lifestyle can and have taken a toll on my mental health, and I am confident that I am not alone in this. But just how many students are experiencing this?

What I am aiming to find out through my research is what specifically about university is the main cause of peoples’ stress and decline in well-being? Is it the struggle of balancing their social life? Juggling work with study? Crippling debt? Or is it simply the university environment? I also aspire to discover what actions and resources the university providing to counteract these statistics. In regards to utilizing reflexive research techniques, I will take into consideration and be aware of my own experience and position on this topic. Any feedback is wholeheartedly appreciated and welcome.