TV Does Halloween

I noticed quite a few Halloween related TV shows this past weekend. There seems to be more and more of that programming now, and though I watch little TV any time of the year, I did see the listings Saturday and they looked interesting to a Halloween fanatic like me. I checked a few on TV and read the synopsis of others. Here is some of what I saw and read.
Movies with scary themes abounded. One on a local channel is called "Scary Movie" (I told you they were scary...). The description said that it was about " a masked killer who terrorizes and murders teens. " Hmmmmm That only seems fair, given how those teenagers terrorize we adults. Another one shown was the classic film "The Exorcist". It's about demonic possession of a girl. You probably think my E mail is demonic, but it's just stupid. You're safe.
In "12 Monkeys" a prisoner is sent back in time to avert a deadly plague. I did not see any of that because I was afraid I might be plagued if I watched. I guess the prisoner was successful, because there are no sign of plagues lately. On the same channel later that day was a film called "Joy Ride". in which "two brothers incur the wrath of a truck driver. Oh...they must have given the truck driver the finger. I am not sure that one would be scary enough. After all, riding on the freeway even in the best of times is more scary than most things.
On the Life Time Channel was a film called "Hush Little Baby". The description said it was about a woman who suspects that her daughter is evil. Ha! What's spooky about that? All parents have those kinds of suspicions. Right after than movie on a channel called IFC (I have no idea what that means) was a film called "Strangeland". Yes, I know my mail is strange, but this movie has nothing to do with that. It is described as horror film in which a psychopath prays on teenage internet users. I think that is the current norm for the internet. Why would is scare anyone?
If you don't like those films, try two bloody ones, "Underworld" in which a vampire protects a medical student (He must have a bad blood type or taste) from the vicious attacks of werewolves that are raving the town where the film is set. "The Headless Horseman" is a variation of the old Icabod Crane classic, but in this one the towns people dodge the horseman's sword by sacrificing teens to him. Those teens sure have a hard time in Hollywood.
The American Classic Movie channel showed several of those Friday the 13th films. One listed was entitled "Friday the Thirteen, Part VII. I have never seen any of those but I think it must be more frightening to think that the producers could find people stupid enough to watch seven of them. Hehe Makes you feel good about the mental health of society, doesn't it?
Even the Cartoon Channel is in the Halloween spirit. It shows Jane's favorite spooky genre, "Goosebumps". Jane has read quite a few of the Goosebumps books, and the cartoon network is showing the film version most of them this Halloween season. There were a couple of Disney halloween movies on too. I saw both with Jane several years ago and enjoyed them because they are light on scary and heavy on cuteness and laughs. There was "Under Wraps" in which a warm and fuzzy mummy is brought to life and befriended by a group of kids, "Halloweentown" is mythical place where witches and weirdo's live in seclusion before coming out on October 31st, and "Hocus Pocus". Hocus Pocus concerns three witches bright back to life in 200 for Halloween night. Better Midler is one of the witches and sara Jessica Parker another. It is funny, the best of all the Halloween films I have seen.
The Family Channel has a Halloween movie for the tiny tots, "Casper". You, know the friendly ghost. But not so tame is a group of movies challenging not teens, but college students. I guess Hollywood has slashed so many teens they need to move to a new level. College students seem to be the new target of monsters. In "Jeepers Creepers" a flesh eating entity pursues several college students. Good! It's about time those college students stop eating everything in the house and are eaten themselves. Fair is fair. Like "Jeepers Creepers", the SCI FI channel had one called "2001 Maniacs" (No I am not one of those maniacs). In that film cannibals terrorize college students. I guess the cannibals had been observing how college students never stop eating, and decided to go to the source for their meals.
There were more Halloween films, but you get the idea. The weekend had Halloween specials on all types of channels. The Food Channel is devoting two weeks to Halloween foods. For instance, Chef Emeril's show was called "Haunted Halloween Treats". He cooked- Sea Creature Soup with Slime Aioli Yummy Mummy Vampire Chicken with "Blood" Braise, Spellbinders with Devil Eyeballs and Haunted Candy House. Another show had this menu for Halloween- Green Ghoulade, Spooky Pizza Pie, Gum Worm Cupcakes, Black Lollipops, Caramelized Pumpkin Seeds, Pumpkin-Cheesecake Petits Fours and Candy Apples. And I watched part of the "Food Network" challenge in which master bakers competed in a "Spooky Cake & Candy Cook-Off". The Bravo Channel has a special on the "100 Scariest Movie Moments", clips of scary classics. The History Channel had specials on "The Dracula Family Tree", and "Cities of the Underworld: Dracula's Underground". History wasn't that much fun when I was in school.
There were more Halloween shows this past weekend and Halloween night every channel will be full of it, including showing the classic old horror films that were made before special effects took over for intelligent scripts. I'll watch those when they "mysteriously appear on my TV screen. It's all in fun and a catharsis from the dreariness of the greatest horror to us all ....reality.