For five nights in October, Palace Barracks will become home to all manner of unnerving tales. There'll be head-spinning stories of possession, demonic children, haunted dreams and more than one person running around with a chainsaw — all on the big screen, of course.

If you're wondering why, the answer is obvious. With Halloween approaching, and the month before it generally earmarked for all things spooky anyway, the Petrie Terrace cinema is getting into the unsettling spirit of the occasion with Palace Encore: The Horror Season. It's a retro movie bonanza, with screenings happening at 8.30pm on Friday nights between October 4–25, then swapping to 7pm on Thursday, October 31.

It all begins with one of the biggest horror movies there is, aka The Exorcist, which has scared people out of their seats for decades for good reason. Next up comes Mia Farrow's pregnancy from hell in Rosemary's Baby, before a road trip goes oh-so-wrong in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. After that, you won't want to fall a sleep in the original A Nightmare on Elm Street, with Freddy Kruger always lurking. Finally, you'll want to grab your boomstick, because Bruce Campbell is fending off zombies in The Evil Dead.