Turn out the lights and turn on the TV: the networks, cable and local stations are celebrating All Hallow's Eve in a big way with programming ranging from classic horror films to camp delights to such holiday favorites as "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
Below is a selected list of Halloween treats you can watch on the small screen this week:
Cable
American Movie Classics
If you love Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney, Rains and the Gill Man, get your VCRs read for AMC's 24-Hour Universal "Horrifying Halloween" Monster Movie Marathon, beginning Thursday at the bewitching hour of 3 a.m. The marathon features horror classics from the vaults of Universal Studios: "Bride of Frankenstein" (3 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.); "Son of Frankenstein" (4:15 a.m. and 7 p.m.); "The Wolf Man" (6 a.m. and 9 p.m.); "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" (7:30 a.m. and 10:15 p.m.); "The Invisible Man" (9 a.m. and 11:30 p.m.); "The Invisible Man Returns" (8:30 a.m. and Friday at 1 a.m.); the 1943 version of "The Phantom of the Opera" (noon); "The Creature From the Black Lagoon" (2 p.m.) and "The Mummy" (4 p.m.). Also on tap: "This Is Your Life: Boris Karloff" (3:30 p.m. and Friday at 2:30 a.m.).
Cinemax
Cinemax is pulling out all the stops for All Hallow's Eve with Chiller's Hammer House of Horrors, featuring horror flicks produced by Britain's Hammer Films: "The Curse of Frankenstein" (Thursday at 6:30 p.m.); "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" (Monday at 6:30 p.m. and Thursday at 4:30 p.m.); "The Revenge of Frankenstein" (Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. and Thursday at 3 p.m.); "The Gorgon" (Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and Thursday at noon); and "The Devil's Own" (Sunday at 3 p.m. and Thursday at 1 p.m.).
Cinemax also is presenting a Witches festival featuring: "The Witches" (Sunday at 9 a.m. and Thursday at 8 p.m.); "Teen Witch" (Thursday at 8:30 a.m.); "Witchery" (Tuesday at 11:45 p.m.); "Witchtrap" (Monday at 8:30 p.m.); and "Love at Stake" (Sunday at midnight and Thursday at 4:20 p.m.).
HBO
The Crypt Keeper is digging into the catacombs to find 12 "ghoul-den" episodes from the hit anthology series Tales from the Crypt for a Halloween marathon beginning Wednesday at 11 p.m. Among the episodes: "The Reluctant Vampire," with Malcolm McDowell; "Top Billing," with Jon Lovitz and John Astin; "Easel Kill," starring Tim Roth; Richard Jordan in "Deadline"; and Kirk and Eric Douglas in "Yellow."
The Discovery Channel
The Discovery Channel celebrates Halloween Thursday with a series of specials.
Mystery of the Full Moon (6 p.m.) attempts to shed some light as to why assaults and other crimes increase during a full moon. Ghosts, Apparitions and Haunted Houses (7 p.m.) examines one of the most haunted cities in America--Chicago.
Invasion from Mars (7:30 p.m.) looks at the terror and panic that swept the nation when America tuned in Halloween eve of 1938 to hear Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre perform "War of the Worlds."
The Nightmare Factory (8 p.m.) chronicles the history of horror films. Legend of the Vampires (8:30 p.m.) finds Bill Burrud searching for the origins of the vampire as a bat legend.
The Disney Channel
Mickey Mouse and friends are presenting 18 hours of Halloween fare beginning Thursday at 10 a.m. Highlights of the marathon include: Raggedy Ann & Andy: The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile (10 a.m.); Disney's DTV Monster Hits (noon), which features music by Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley; The Halloween That Almost Wasn't (2:35 a.m.); Halloween Under the Umbrella Tree (3 p.m.); Bing Crosby narrates the animated classic The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (3:30 p.m. and Friday at 5 a.m.); Casper's Halloween Special (5 p.m.) finds the friendly ghost and a group of orphans having their trick-or-treating spoiled by Harry Scary; Dr. Seuss' Grinch is up to his nasty tricks in Halloween Is Grinch Night (6 p.m.); A Disney Halloween (6:30 p.m.) features spooky scenes from Disney animated films such as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Peter Pan," "Fantasia" and "101 Dalmatians."
The Movie Channel
\o7 Who's on the Movie Channel?\f7
Abbott and Costello.
\o7 What's on the Movie Channel?\f7
An Abbott and Costello horror comedy movie marathon.
\o7 When is it on the Movie Channel?\f7
Thursday beginning at 9:30 a.m.
\o7 And what are the titles?\f7
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (10:30 a.m.); Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (noon); Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1:30 p.m.); Hold That Ghost (3 p.m.); and Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (4:30 p.m.).
Nickelodeon
Are You Afraid of the Dark? (Sunday at 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday at 7 p.m.)--A group of kids sit around a campfire and relate ghost stories.
