October is over, and I will miss the horror movie marathons.

I have been a fan of the genre since I can remember.

I dashed for the horror section whenever I visited the movie rental store and watched everything from “The Howling” to “Scream.” I even managed to get a hold of those movies I was initially banned from watching, such as “Halloween” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

Coincidentally, it is my self-education in horror movies and love for the genre that fuels my disappointment with the current fodder that is parading through movie theaters. I find overdone franchises like “Saw” and time wasters like “The Unborn” that placate audiences with cheap scares to be a plague I cannot escape.

Each time I go to a horror movie, I go with my hopes up, looking for a good jolt, only to emerge dissatisfied and annoyed. They just don’t make horror movies like they used to.

That being said, I wish I could tell the Hollywood filmmakers what they are doing wrong so they could fix their mistakes. I want to remind them about what made movies like “The Exorcist” and “The Shining” masterpieces that still scare watchers today.

Suspense is the first device a horror movie should invoke.

String instruments blaring when someone taps the protagonist on the shoulder is not scary. That is, unless the movie has done its work building tension beforehand.

It’s a mistake to show the monster in the first five minutes. “Scream,” which I consider a recent classic, was thrilling because you didn’t know who the killer was until the end. And what was even more unnerving, the murderer was the person closest to the protagonist.

This brings me to my second point. It is not outrageous gore or over-the-top monsters that scare people. It is those situations closest to reality that scare people most.

“The Shining” was creepy because it incorporated the suspense and tension of a secluded hotel with a woman at the mercy of her insane husband.

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” was horrifying because everyone has to sleep and deal with nightmares.

“Rosemary’s Baby” was scary because it played into the anxieties and fears every woman has about giving birth.

Horror is reality twisted slightly, where you can barely tell what is amiss at times.

It is the reality in a horror movie that sticks with you after you leave the theater. It sneaks up on you when you have to participate in the activity that sent the protagonist on his or her terrible adventure.

A good horror movie makes commonplace activities like dreaming, taking a walk or driving home after work unnerving.

Furthermore, a horror movie should speak to the important issues in society just as a heavy drama does.

It should shine a light on the real-life horrors that exist in the world and encourage us to face our fears and defeat them. That is the best tactic a scary movie can use to set itself above the rest and cement itself in the annals of movie history.

Unfortunately, today’s horror movies don’t seem to incorporate suspense, creepy situations or reality at all.

They just throw 25-year-olds who look like teenagers into a string of scenes filled with annoying orchestra music, cheap scares and nudity that make the watcher laugh at the stupidity rather than jump with fear.

On a positive note, movies like the recent “Paranormal Activity” show promise for the horror genre. It won’t exactly prove to be an iconic classic like movies of the past, but it does incorporate reality and tension to great effect.

Perhaps Hollywood won’t get it wrong forever.

But, until good horror movies are released consistently, I suggest everyone boycott the many duds coming out until filmmakers get the message.

I’m ready to see horror movies made in the spirit of the classics that received Academy Award nominations and continue to scare us decades after their creation.