Top Ten Horror Themed TV Series

[Retro4Life]

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

[JamesG]

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

[Retro4Life]

Originally Posted by JamesG

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.

[Edison]

Not all the time, but enough...

[JamesG]

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.

[Torgo]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

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.

[Torgo]

Originally Posted by JamesG

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.

[Torgo]

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.

[JamesG]

^ 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.

[Torgo]

Originally Posted by JamesG

^ 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.

[CHERISLAND]

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.

[JamesG]

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.

[JamesG]

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_f...ies_worth.html

[Retro4Life]

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

[Retro4Life]

Originally Posted by Torgo

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.