I thought about this today and realized there really haven't been a lot of straight horror series on TV. Most of them could fall into the Sci Fi category as well. But I forged on, regardless.

Let me know what you think and add your own if you like.

1) The X-Files
2) The Others
3) Dark Shadows (I'll include it even though it's a daytime drama)
4) Kolchak: The Night STalker
5) Night Gallery
6) Buffy the Vampire Slayer
7) American Gothic
8) Poltergeist: The Legacy
9)Twin Peaks
10) Tales from the Darkside

No "Tales From the Crypt", "The Walking Dead", or "True Blood"?

No "Tales From the Crypt", "The Walking Dead", or "True Blood"?

Don't have HBO so I don't watch "True Blood", and I never had it back when TFTC was on. Caught it in reruns...liked it, didn't love it.

Walking Dead is one I should get into, but right now I'm completely burnt out on both zombies and vampires. Give me a year, maybe the tidal wave will calm down and I'll catch it on DVD or reruns.

Not all the time, but enough...

I forgot to mention it before, but another great horror series was "Masters of Horror" from a few years ago.

Each episode is pretty much a mini movie directed by well-known horror directors like Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter, Dario Argento, John Landis, Joe Dante...



They tried to do a network tv-version of this with "Fear Itself" on NBC but it didn't work.

Walking Dead is one I should get into, but right now I'm completely burnt out on both zombies and vampires. Give me a year, maybe the tidal wave will calm down and I'll catch it on DVD or reruns.

The nice thing about the Walking Dead is that it focuses more on the living, not just the characters fighting the undead but the characters dealing with each other and trying to survive as a group.

I forgot to mention it before, but another great horror series was "Masters of Horror" from a few years ago.

Each episode is pretty much a mini movie directed by well-known horror directors like Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter, Dario Argento, John Landis, Joe Dante...



They tried to do a network tv-version of this with "Fear Itself" on NBC but it didn't work.

I always thought Masters Of Horror was hit and miss...some of the directors shouldn't even be considered as Masters while some who should weren't involved with the show.

Kolchak will always be a favorite, enjoy Buffy and Tales From The Darkside

Some other horror themed shows I like- Friday The 13th: The Series, Darkroom, The Hitchhiker, Monsters, Thriller, Werewolf, Freakylinks.

More recent(or from the past few years)- Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Hex, Kingdom Hospital, Haven, Supernatural(the early seasons before it turned into Angels Vs Demons), Being Human(original British version), Harper's Island.

I remember watching Dracula: The Series in the early 90's, it was on Saturday afternoons with other shows like Out Of This World.

^ Have you seen any of "Freddy's Nightmares"?

I haven't seen much of it to get an opinion on it.

It still hasn't been to DVD.

^ Have you seen any of "Freddy's Nightmares"?

I haven't seen much of it to get an opinion on it.

It still hasn't been to DVD.

I watched it off and on when it originally aired, and have caught reruns here and there(I think Chiller reran it)

There's some really good episodes, and some not so good. Some of them are linked to Elm Street, while others are separate stories.

Need to add the FX original series American Horror Story. It is one of the spookiest horror series to ever air on TV. It has been given the green light for a 2nd season as well even though it has only aired 5 of the 13 first season episodes so far (ratings have been good). Also a big Walking Dead and True Blood fan.

I wouldn't say these are the "best" horror series but there are some other lesser-known vampire series that are worth checking out:


The British/Canadian series "The Hunger" (1997-2000)
The Canadian series "Blood Ties" (2007)
"Moonlight" (2007-2008)




Some other good horror anthology series are:

"Thriller" (1960-1962)
"Night Gallery" (1970-1973)
"Femme Fatales" (2011-present)


Though they were geared towards children I still love "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" and Fox's "Goosebumps".



The short-lived "Werewolf" and "American Gothic" were good too.

Five Canceled Horror Series Worth Unearthing
by Gregory Burkart
12/2/11


In this new golden era of horror TV – with shows like "The Walking Dead", "True Blood", "American Horror Story", "Supernatural" and "The Vampire Diaries" dominating the small screen – it's hard to believe how many decent horror series have had a helluva time taking hold recently, even when they managed to grab high ratings and a serious fan following.

Sure, every series that clicked with audiences then spawned its own imitators, and a lot of those probably deserved to die a quick death... but there were many strong contenders among them that deserved a better chance than they ended up getting.

A few actually showed potential for greatness, but for one reason or another, they were canceled after – or even before – the end of their first season.



I picked out five of the more worthy horror & supernatural-themed shows that could have – and should have, in my humble opinion – stayed above ground a bit longer.

But like any good horror creation, they never truly die, because you can reanimate all of these series for yourself, thanks to the mystical powers of the infernal internet.







1. "Dark Shadows: The Revival" (NBC, 1991)

All the fuss over Tim Burton's upcoming big-screen rendition of Dan Curtis's groundbreaking '60s horror soap opera might have overshadowed Curtis's own attempt to reboot the series for a new generation.

I'll always be a fan of the original, and it deserves massive props for bringing vampires, werewolves and ghosts into the world of daytime TV – in starring roles, no less – but I was also impressed by this sexually crazed remake, which stars the excellent Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire) as Barnabas, vampiric forefather of the Collins clan, and even features horror icon Barbara Steele (Black Sunday) in a recurring role.



Despite high ratings, this one fell victim to wall-to-wall coverage of the Gulf War, and I'm guessing the NBC bosses made the misguided decision that "people don't want to watch horror during a national crisis." (I think that's a ridiculous mindset, but we'll get into that in another article.)

Capturing all the crazy plot twists and campy fun of the original, it's well worth streaming all twelve episodes on Netflix.









2. "American Gothic" (CBS, 1995-96)

While many of executive producer Sam Raimi's non-horror shows like "Hercules" and "Xena" thrived in the mid-'90s, I still can't figure out why his seriously nightmarish horror series didn't put down deeper roots, given Raimi's legendary cred in the genre.

Centering on a troubled boy named Caleb growing up in a small South Carolina town, the show gave us one of television's most ominous villains in the form of the local sheriff (Gary Cole, years before he found a successful niche in comedy), who is able to summon evil forces and manipulate the townspeople to suit his nefarious plans... which include murder, rape, suicide and more.

Add to this the mysterious intervention of Caleb's dead sister, and you've got a steamy, kudzu-crawling nightmare that truly lives up to its name.



The show only made it through one season, leaving many of the show's more chilling mysteries unsolved. If you don't mind being left swinging, you can still indulge in some serious chills by streaming the entire series on Hulu.

(Here's a little trivia: "American Gothic" was created by former '70s teen idol Shaun Cassidy, who also produced another one-season wonder, the sci-fi series "Invasion").









3. "The Dresden Files" (Syfy, 2007)

The cancellation of this series is another sad story: it started as a smart adaptation – although a very loose one – of Jim Butcher's bestselling book series about a Chicago private eye (played here by Paul Blackthorne) with mad mystical skills solving supernaturally-linked cases.

It was one of the first TV series to tap into the popularity of the "urban fantasy" book genre, and despite some rough spots early in the show, it gained a fairly strong fan following on SyFy.



So why did it tank after just a dozen episodes (not counting the unaired pilot)? Some on-the-run tinkering might have played a hand in its demise (several episodes were aired out of order), and maybe the wide arc of the book series didn't lend itself to easily wrapped-up storylines.

Either way, I was hooked for a while there, and subsequently punked when it didn't return. People tend to either love or hate this one, so you be the judge: you can currently watch the whole thing on Hulu, Netflix and Amazon.









4. "Fear Itself" (NBC, 2008-09)

Maybe I'm in the minority here, because I've heard this one called "Masters of Horror Lite" more than once.

As a big fan of Mick Garris's Showtime anthology (most of it, anyway), I was still skeptical going into his tamer NBC follow-up, but I was pleasantly surprised – and even quite creeped out – by a couple of the stories; in fact, I'm betting you'll share my appreciation for the episode 'Skin and Bones', directed by horror auteur Larry Fessenden (Habit), which I'd rank alongside the final chapter of Trilogy of Terror as one of the scariest things ever made for television.

None of the others can match it, but there are still some strong entries, including Stuart Gordon's gruesome serial killer tale 'Eater', Brad Anderson's surreal ghost story 'Spooked' and Darren Bousman's zombie-apocalypse riff 'New Year's Day'.



This is another one that got the boot due to coverage of a major event – in this case, the 2008 Summer Olympics. It's a shame, because it has some truly scary and often funny moments.

All twelve episodes are streaming on Netflix, with restored graphic scenes cut from the network versions.









5. "The Gates" (ABC, 2010)

I'll admit I was more than a little cautious going into this one... I'd never really been interested when the single season of this show aired on ABC, and after watching the pilot episode I imagined a table of network execs trying to figure out a way to toss Twilight and "The Vampire Diaries" into a blender with "The O.C." and "Desperate Housewives".

But I have to give my wife credit for nudging me to watch the next couple of episodes... and I'll be damned if I didn't find myself hooked. The concept is pretty cool: a cozy, upper-class gated community (quite literally gated, in fact) is home to a whole spectrum of supernatural creatures – from the expected vamps and werewolves to a powerful witch and a succubus.

Into the mix arrives a Chicago cop (Frank Grillo) and his family, who begin to suspect that something is amiss. Loaded with steamy romantic sub-plots, a fair amount of suspense and likable characters, this show is actually a lot of fun, and my theory is that it started off on the wrong foot by trying to target too many audiences at once.

Once it gets going, though, it's like opening the proverbial potato-chip bag. See for yourself... it's currently streaming on Netflix.

http://www.fearnet.com/news/b24716_five_canceled_horror_series_worth.html

I'd agree with DS and AG, didn't see the others, unfortunately.

I watched it off and on when it originally aired, and have caught reruns here and there(I think Chiller reran it)

There's some really good episodes, and some not so good. Some of them are linked to Elm Street, while others are separate stories.

Yeah, I've seen it on Chiller. Agree with Torgo, it's hit and miss. Could have been a LOT better if they'd have concentrated on the town and it's background, while keeping Krueger in the shadows. They didn't overuse him in the stories, but I think it would have been neat to have gone with a kind of Twin Peaks vibe.

Hidden Treasures: Five Horror TV Shows You May Not Have Ever Heard Of
by Alyse Wax
12/22/11


Genre television has hit a high in the last two or three seasons. I know that I am covering up to ten genre TV shows a week at any given time, even during the notoriously slow summer months.

Scary TV has been around since the boob tube first flickered to life, but most people only remember the big ones: "Twilight Zone", "Dark Shadows", "Tales From the Darkside", "Tales From the Crypt", "American Gothic", and "Night Gallery", to name a few.

But I wanted to highlight a few lesser-known series - hidden gems - if you will, from my lifetime of obsessive television consumption.









1. "Friday the 13th: The Series" (CBS, 1987-1990)



My absolute, all-time favorite TV show since the age of 10, "Friday the 13th: The Series" had absolutely nothing to do with hockey mask slasher flicks other than the fact that film producer Frank Mancuso Jr. executive produced the series.

The series had three seasons in syndication, running from 1987-1990 before it was abruptly canceled, despite being the second highest-rated syndicated show of the era (behind only "Star Trek: The Next Generation").



The show followed cousins Micki and Ryan as they discover that the antique shop they inherited from an uncle they never knew. Uncle Lewis sold antiques cursed by the devil, and Micki and Ryan, along with wise antiques procurer and former Lewis associate Jack, now spend their days trying to get their hands on these antiques and lock them away from the world.





Of Note: I have many, many favorite episodes, but it is noteworthy that David Cronenberg directed an episode ('Faith Healer') and the show featured a number of now-recognizable actors:

Sarah Polley (Dawn of the Dead)
Fritz Weaver (Creepshow)
Colm Feore (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Chronicles of Riddick, Thor)
Monika Schnarre (Waxwork II)
Kerim Malicki-Sanchez (TCM 3D)
Enrico Colantoni (Contagion)





Does It Stand The Test of Time?: I may be too biased to answer this, having committed more than half of the show's 72 episodes to perfect memory.

Yes, some of the effects are cheesy - especially by today's standards, and some of the acting is a little silly, and continuity was never the show's strong suit, but each episode still enthralls me.











2. "She-Wolf of London / Love and Curses" (syndication, 1990-91)



This syndicated show only ran for 20 episodes, but had some surprisingly high production values, with most episodes shot on location in London.

American grad student Randi is studying in London. She goes camping on the moors and is attacked by a wild animal. The next full moon reveals that that animal was a werewolf. Together with the help of Ian, her professor (and eventual lover), the two search for a cure to Randi's "condition."



The show went through a "re-tooling" for the last six episodes (the British co-financiers pulled out).

Ian and Randi move to her hometown of Los Angeles, set up in a chic beach house with a private dungeon, and now work on paranormal investigation talk show: Ian as host, Randi as producer.

The show changed its title to "Love and Curses" to match the slicker feel. The moodiness of the British episodes was replaced with pure wackiness.





Of Note: Horror icon Mick Garris created the series along with Tom McLoughlin (Friday the 13th VI).

The pair also wrote the pilot episode.





Does It Stand The Test of Time?: I was surprised at how much it did. The DVD set came out a year or two ago, and I sat down to watch it for the first time in nearly twenty years, expecting it to be a roll-your-eyes affair.

But I was impressed that it was still pretty damned good. Of course, I have not had the guts to watch to "Love and Curses" episodes yet.











3. "Eerie, Indiana" (NBC, 1991-92)



Kind of "The X-Files" mixed with "Goosebumps", I remember "Eerie, Indiana" airing in the early primetime Sunday "family" slot.

Marshall is a little boy who moves to a small town called Eerie, Indiana with his parents and discovers that his new neighbors are all... weird. And not really "fun" weird; weird-weird.

The most memorable episode to me was the one where a woman not only sold Tupperware-type products - she and her family slept in them to maintain their freshness and youth.

Other fun to be had in the town were talking dogs trying to take over, Bigfoot, and aliens.





Of Note: Joe Dante was a "creative consultant" on the show, and also directed a number of episodes.

Notable guest stars and "before they were stars" included Vincent Schiavelli, John Astin, Danielle Harris, and Tobey Maguire.





Does It Stand The Test of Time?: Honestly, I haven't seen it since it originally aired in the early 1990s. I grew up loving Joe Dante's movies, so I have to imagine the series would have the same feel.











4. "Forever Knight" (CBS, 1992-96)



Nick Knight is a Toronto cop who also happens to be an 800-year-old vampire. After centuries killing, he was reformed by his guilt and now sticks to animal blood and crime-solving.

The vampires in "Forever Knight" are not so different from the vamps we are all familiar with: super speed, super healing, the ability to glamour people. Knight could not go out in the day, so he claimed to have a rare disorder making him extremely sensitive to sunlight in order to remain on the night shift.





Of Note: "Forever Knight" was originally a made-for-TV movie called Nick Knight and starred singer Rick Springfield.

The series ran in CBS's short-lived "Crimetime after Primetime" block, which ended when the ‘net landed "The Late Show with David Letterman".





Does It Stand The Test of Time?: Another one that I have not caught up on recently, but it has an enormous cult following, so I imagine there is something there.











5. "Carnivàle" (HBO, 2003-05)



Carnivàle is an interesting entry on this list. It is far more recent and it was a well-received show with critical success, high production values, and winning five Creative Arts Emmys in its first season.

The show, set during the Great Depression in the Dust Bowl, followed Ben, a young man who is able to heal with a touch. He joins a traveling carnival and begins to have strange, prophetic dreams.

On the other side of the coin is Brother Justin, a preacher who is having similar visions and begins to realize that he has powers that allow him to manipulate humans and use their sins against them.

"Carnivàle" had a very "Twin Peaks"-feel with a slightly more supernatural bent.





Of Note: The series was intended to run for six seasons, but was canceled abruptly after two seasons, leaving major cliffhangers that were never resolved.

The show was one of HBO's early entries into original weekly series (that weren't porn or children's shows), and "Carnivàle" was a major endeavor for the premium cable network that was still best known for carrying feature films.

Ultimately, the $4 million per episode price needed to be cut in half, but the producers couldn't or wouldn't make it work.





Does It Stand The Test of Time?: I guess we will have to wait another ten years or so, but my guess is: yes.

http://www.fearnet.com/news/b24898_hidden_treasures_five_horror_tv_shows.html

The 1972-73 horror anthology "Ghost Story" aka Circle Of Fear with host Sebastian Cabot (TV's Family Affair)


The pilot that started it all plus 22 amazing episodes. It's released on DVD as a remastered manufactured-on-demand set. Not a retail release but at least we got it after decades of television obscurity.