Pop Culture: Halloween Television

Hello, my name is Slay Belle, and I am a Halloween-o-phile.

I’m sure this comes as no surprise to anyone who’s read my pieces for Persephone. They are heavy on the vampires and zombies and witches and occasional mentions of the family funeral home I spend holidays in. I like getting dressed up and giving out candy and buying obnoxious decorations for my house. I top my Christmas tree with a giant black Halloween bat. I operate under the nom de plume of Slay Belle. I anxiously await the first of October to roll around every year. Because more than anything else, I really, really love the horror genre and October is basically a viewing goldmine for me.

Movie studios and television producers pack their schedules with all sorts of “scary” stuff to coincide with the big holiday on the 31^st.  A lot of it is junk, but it’s popcorn junk, and some nights there’s nothing better than curling up with some snacks and watching a Lifetime movie about ghosts haunting some unsuspecting soul while the lights are turned down low.

Slay’s Guide to October Television:

American Horror Story

This FX series is getting a lot of buzz on the Internet right in advance of the show’s premier on October 5^th.  While the words “created by Ryan Murphy” gives me more pause than they might have if I hadn’t seen season 2 of Glee, the visuals released so far are absolutely stunning.  Haunted houses, creepy dolls, a housekeeper who appears differently depending on who is looking at her, Jessica Lange as scenery-chewing next door neighbor? Yes, please. I’m not so sure how I feel about the much buzzed about gimp suit that is either 1) a ghost or 2) a sentient rubber outfit, but the thing looks so damn creepy, that I’m willing to not write it off as “overused representation of deviant sexuality” right away.

Catch the first episode Wednesday, October 5^th at 10 p.m. on FX. Watch the first five minutes:

 

The Walking Dead: Season 2

I’ll be back this season recapping season 2 of The Walking Dead. Season 1 left the survivors in a precarious place after their one hope for safety, the CDC complex, went up in a ball of fire in the last episode. I feel confident in predicting that season 2 will be full of zombies, zombie killing, running from zombies, and the determination of hope and sanity in the face of an unrelenting, unstopping force.  So excited.

If you want to catch up, my recaps (which started with episode 2) are here: Tell It to the Frogs, Vatos, Wildfire, and TS-19 plus Hattie’s wonderful post, Who Wants to Talk About The Walking Dead?

Season 2 premiers October 16^th, 9pm on AMC.

Season 2 trailer:

31 Days of Halloween:

SyFy is running their 31 Days of Halloween promotion, which means they’ll be running a ton of horror movies this month, as well as the new season of Sanctuary (October 7^th) and the return of Scare Tactics (October 10^th). But for me, the scheduling standout is the all-day Friday the 13^th: The Series marathon on October 13th. In the late ’80s, TV decided to capitalize on two huge horror franchises, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13^th with the television series Freddy’s Nightmares and Friday the 13^th: The Series. Freddy is a series of horror shorts that were loosely based on the Elm Street world and hosted by Freddy (like Tales from the Crypt).  The 13^th show ditched any semblance to the movies (good) to focus on two cousins who inherit an antique store and must hunt down the cursed objects sold from there by their deceased devil worshipping uncle. I liked that show so much I wrote that synopsis from memory.

And let’s not forget, the beloved, the classic, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. (ABC has not listed an air date as of this writing.)