‘Tis the season to be frightened, and nothing scares better than a good horror movie.

After all, shock flicks are an essential piece of American culture. The theme to “The Exorcist” is our anthem for evil, Count Dracula is our “GQ” model for sexiness and we never ask a man wearing a hockey mask outside an ice arena to give us a ride home.

So in celebration of this scariest time of the year, here is a list of a few great Halloween videos:

“Psycho”

Alfred Hitchcock’s classic tale of a man and his mother makes everyone who watches it think twice before stepping into a shower.

The film may be almost 40 years old, but this black-and-white classic hasn’t lost its spooky edge over time. In fact, the original movie may be difficult to get ahold of after a new version of “Psycho,” directed by Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting”) and starring Vince Vaughn (“Swingers”) as killer Norman Bates, is released in December.

“The Lost Boys”

No horror film screams ’80s hip as much as the “The Lost Boys,” starring Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Patric and Corey Feldman during their teen heartthrob days.

Big hair, punk rock and motorcycle gangs are the modern touches added to this surprisingly classic tale of a young man seduced by the promise of a superior life into the vampire lifestyle.

When Sam (Corey Haim) discovers his brother’s secret life as a vampire, he gives the fearful warning, “You wait ’til Mom finds out!” Who wouldn’t say the same thing?

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”

Whether “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” fits into the category of horror, sci-fi or musical is unclear, but most likely it is a spoof of them all.

“Rocky Horror” is the best-known audience participation movie, and any “virgin” who hasn’t seen the movie on the big-screen is missing out on a completely original viewing experience. For one thing, more cross-dressers can be found at a showing of “Rocky Horror” than in the entire state of Iowa.

It also is the only time people are encouraged by the theater management to yell out loud, throw food at the screen and dance “The Time Warp” in the aisles. And the movie is pretty terrific as well.

Seeing Tim Curry dressed in a red teddy and playing Dr. Frank-n-Furter, a “sweet transvestite, from Transsexual Transylvania,” is an image never to be forgotten.

“Misery”

Kathy Bates proves that even your “biggest fan” can be a monster in the film adaptation of Steven King’s novel “Misery.”

The most vivid scene is when Annie (Bates) discovers her favorite book character, Misery, dies and takes revenge on the “murdering” author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) with a sledge hammer. The movie rates a perfect “10” on a scale of the most hair-stand-up-on-the-back-of-your-neck effects in Hollywood.

Universal’s monster movies

Picture the Wolf Man, Dracula or Frankenstein, and you probably are thinking of the characters seen in the Universal Studios monster movies.

Although movies such as “Dracula’s Daughter” and “Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman” seem a bit dated today, they carry a lot of history. Most were released during the Great Depression and World War II.

The monsters were incredibly popular with audiences at the time, so the studio kept pumping out more sequels until people were sick of them. The best monster movies are “Dracula” and “Frankenstein.”

A few truly corny Universal monster movies available on video include “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” and “The House of Dracula,” featuring nearly every Universal monster in one film.

“Halloween,” “Friday the 13th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street”

These movies established the second generation of horror monsters. Michael Myers, Jason and Freddie Krueger were modern day fright machines, each with a personality all his own.

The best entertainment bets are the first movies from each series, not only because they are what the legends are based upon, but also because the sequels are completely un-scary.

“The Exorcist”

The all-time scariest movie ever made has to be “The Exorcist.” Even ultimate horror movie fans admit to getting a chill whenever they see the movie.

Although the head spinning and pea soup vomiting scenes are shocking, the most unbelievable scenes are when the audience sees Linda Blair’s ever-changing face and hears the voices of pure evil coming from her bedroom. Don’t settle for watching the edited-for-television version of this movie on cable. Rent the real thing and prepare to be spooked for days after watching it.

“The Shining”

Mix a haunted house with “red rum” and what do you get? Jack Nicholson at his absolute best and craziest in the horror flick “The Shining.”

The movie is about a family stranded by a snowstorm in a hotel haunted with the ghost of a killer janitor. The spirit infects Nicholas’s mind, and soon the entire family plots to kill each other.

Audiences are spooked more by wondering just where all the hate and rage Nicholas shows on screen comes from than the movie itself.

“It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”

For a lot of people, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” was the scariest Halloween movie their anti-R-rated movie parents let them watch when they were kids.

Linus’ search for the mysterious Great Pumpkin in the Pumpkin Patch still is great Halloween entertainment. Besides, Snoopy carried every essence of coolness in cartoons way before Scooby Doo copied his act.