Retro SPOOKtacles begins with the Halloween Classics theme and Teddy’s pick, Practical Magic, the 1998 witchy romance that took the long road from critical dismissal to seasonal staple. Mitcz watches it properly for the first time expecting to be skeptical and instead discovers why generations of viewers keep returning to the Owens family every Halloween.

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman star as sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, whose family curse, complicated love lives, and very practical approach to witchcraft pull the movie between romance, comedy, grief, horror, and full supernatural chaos. That tonal whiplash confused plenty of people on release, but it also became part of what makes the movie so unusually rewatchable.

Mitcz and Teddy get into the critics-versus-audience divide, Sandra Bullock’s ridiculous charm, Midnight Margaritas, how cable helped turn it into a Halloween tradition, and more. Plus, Practical Magic becomes the first movie placed on the new Zeitgeistometer to measure its place in Halloween canon.

Get your spectacles on and join us!