Well kiddies, it’s Halloween time again, when all of us love to get creeped out, grossed out, and hopefully even scared a bit. Here’s a pseudo-scientific poll taken of three horror afficionados, randomly chosen off the streets of a town near you, whom I hardly hang out with at all.

From Mike Mayo, co-host of “The Movie Show on Radio” and author of VideoHound’s Horror Show and the fresh-off-the-presses VideoHound’s DVD Guide:

Jack Be Nimble (1994). New Zealand gothic horror has been compared to Stephen King’s work and to Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures though it’s much darker and frightening. Siblings Jack and Dora are separated as children. She goes to middle-class suburbia; he goes to a rural hellhole.

The Johnsons (1992). This Dutch horror film has a well-earned cult reputation. It’s intelligent and surprising. The complex story revolves around a photographer, her teen-age daughter, an anthropology professor, the Mahxitu Indians, and the end of the world as we know it.

The Untold Story (1993). Infamous Hong Kong import is guaranteed to offend or gross out just about everyone. The plot, based on a true story, concerns a mass murderer. The mildest element is cannibalism. The rest is so graphic, revolting, and grotesque---especially the demented rape scene---that it’s almost impossible to watch.

Deranged (1974). Midwestern gothic Grand Guignol is based on the horrors of famous serial killer Ed Gein. Roberts Blossom is spookily good as the childlike murderer who tells his unbelieving neighbors what he means to do. Directors Jeff Gillian and Alan Ormsby, along with makeup master Tom Savini, mix graphic gore with indescribable humor.

From Mike Canich, video clerk, head of Detroit-based not-German-at-all German hardcore--wannabe band Fire Engine Red, and man of few words---even these few sentences had to be beaten out of him:

Island of Lost Souls (1933). First big-screen adaptation of H.G. Wells’s Island of Dr. Moreau is still the best. Strange and creepy.

The Exorcist (1973). William Friedkin’s mean-spirited classic is an easy pick (and so am I), but damn it’s scary! Avoid the William Peter Blatty cut at all costs.

The Devils (1971). Ken Russell’s classic about witch-hunting in 17th century France is one of the most evil films ever made. Of course, all those burn-’em-at-the-stake films are.

Okay, this last batch is from me, with whom I have grudgingly had occasion to socialize:

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974). Directed by Jordi Grau, this is one great living dead flick---almost too cool for its time. An experimental sonic pesticide causes birth defects and, naturally, flesh-gobbling innards-munching zombies. AKA the appetite-enhancing Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue, and the more direct The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue.

Black Sunday (1960). AKA The Mask of the Demon (La Maschera Del Demonio). For overall creepy atmosphere, it’s hard to beat this black-and-white Mario Bava gem (that can be said of just about any Bava film). In the 1700s, Princess Asa Vajda (Barbara Steele) is condemned for witchcraft and put to death having a spiked mask hammered into her face. Two centuries later, she’s back, pissed, and looking for revenge.

Spider Baby (1964). AKA Cannibal Orgy or the Maddest Story Ever Told. Lon Chaney, Jr. is the chauffeur/protector of the Merrye family who are cursed with a syndrome that causes them to mentally regress past the prenatal stage where the become cannibalistic psychopaths. Just hearing Chaney sing the title song is more than enough to get you in the (goofy) Halloween spirit.

There you have it! This is it! The ten movies that you must see this Halloween. Go to your favorite video store, and if they don’t have them all, trash the joint (unless they happen to be located on Main Street in Clawson).