How Bennington Does Scary, Part III: The Fright Continues
Like a zombie returning from the grave, Bennington's haunting Halloween spirit returns again and again. Get ready for your latest fright, courtesy of Bennington alumni.
1. Twilight Returns to Theaters
The first book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga celebrates its 20th publication anniversary this year. In honor of the occasion, all five Twilight films are returning to theaters from October 29–November 2, 2025.
Melissa Rosenberg '86 brought the series to life on the silver screen, writing the screenplays for each of the five movies.
Whether you're Team Edward or Team Jacob, we can all agree on one thing: CGI Baby Renesmee is terrifying.
2. Monster: The Ed Gein Story (2025)
True crime fans, this fright's for you: Tobias Jelinek '01 plays serial killer Richard Speck in Monster: The Ed Gein Story, the third installment in Netflix's Monster anthology series.
As a bonus bit of Halloween trivia, Jelinek made his film debut as teenage punk Jay in Disney's Hocus Pocus.
3. The Invisible Eye
"A fashion-world insider with second sight chases a covert government program as past lives flood the present-from Manhattan's gloss to Upstate New York's shadows-where science, spirit, and conspiracy collide."
This fall, Seth DeCroce ’98, pen name Sparrow Hall, published The Invisible Eye, a paranormal conspiracy thriller that blends literary and speculative fiction.
4. "The Lottery" Turns 75
First published in The New Yorker seventy-five years ago, Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" continues to haunt readers' imaginations.
"The story was launched into a world still recovering from the shock and devastation of a war in which communities had turned on their own members, offering them up for murder—or, in some cases, carrying out the killing themselves," reported The New Yorker in a retrospective on the story.
The town of North Bennington still celebrates Shirley Jackson Day on June 27, the day the eponymous lottery occurs in the story, which Jackson wrote while living there. Seven Days VT offered a round up on Jackson’s favorite haunts in the town.
5. The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964)
Some frights still hold up! Classic horror buffs, check out The Curse of the Living Corpse, starring Margot Hartman Tenney '55 as Vivian Sinclair. (It'll make you intent on getting that living will notarized...)
Tenney also drafted a script based on the disappearances in the infamous Bennington Triangle that happened in 1945-1950.
6. Ecstasy
LA Times Book Prize winner Ivy Pochoda MFA '11 is back with Ecstasy, a "a deliciously dark horror reimagining of a Greek tragedy." The Brooklyn Rail's Jackie Corley MFA '11 interviewed Pochoda about her latest work and her shift from true crime to all-out horror.
7. The Secret History and more Dark Academia...if you're brave enough.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt '86 has found a new generation of fans who can't get enough of what BookTok has deemed "Dark Academia." Written while Tartt was still a student at Bennington College, the campus's aesthetic permeates the novel.
Loved The Secret History and need to find your next read? Crossett Library has compiled a Dark Academia reading list to get you started.
Need more Bennington horror? Check out How Bennington Does Scary and How Bennington Does Scary, Part II.