In observance of that autumn spell when we celebrate the primal, compulsive instinct of fear, Rainestorm highlights 31 days of spooky scares to season the eerie atmosphere of Halloween.

Reign of terror: 2001

The horror… the horror: Such a rare, rare treat it is that a truly chilling ghost story can be found that eschews lurid and fatuous shocks in favor of unexpected frights and unnerving ambience. Set in post-World War II Jersey, off the coast of Normandy, the film follows war-abandoned mother Grace Stewart and her two children, who apparently suffer from a photosensitive disease called xeroderma pigmentosum that precludes them from exposure to sunlight. With the arrival of three wayward servants, unexpected events begin to happen, mostly to the children. Director Alejandro Amenábar deftly moves the proceedings along, setting up abrupt but genuine scares without telegraphing them, and without the cheat of sudden, screeching bursts from the score, making them that much more heart-stopping. I must admit that the solitary scene between Nicole Kidman and Christopher Eccleston as her husband still has me scratching my head, but it is fascinating nonetheless.

Halloween haunt: The childrens’ affliction assures that everything that transpires with and between them occurs in candle-lit darkness. The over-large house seems to have no end of murky corridors and shadowy rooms. The fog-strewn estate is covered in a constant gloom, which only thickens whenever Grace wanders too far, giving the whole affair a sense of imprisonment.

Tastiest treat: Quite a few to choose from, but I think Grace’s investigation of a piano that seems to play sans pianist is one of the better scenes in the film.

Check the candy for: Amenábar appears as a corpse in a photo-album-of-the-dead that Grace discovers.

Devilish discourse: “Sometimes the world of the living gets mixed up with the world of the dead.”

Goes great with: The Innocents (1961). Both films are based on Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, if The Others rather loosely, and both cover some similar ground. Despite that, they are vastly different in tone and execution. Deborah Kerr is wonderful as the governess who watches over a pair of strange orphans who may not be who the seem.