You'll recall that two weeks ago I gave you the latest low-down on Turner Classic Movies horror programming for 2025. As promised, I'm back with the remainder of their Halloween schedule for the rest of the month!
Compose yourself, please.
I had the audacity to complain that the horror scheduling was slight for the first two weeks of October, but as usual TCM has made me look completely foolish as the last two weeks of October are absolutely jammed with spooky movies.
In all of its gaudy glory, here is what you can find on TCM from October 17th onward! First we'll take a look at the 17th to the 27th.
There are some very interesting blocks in here. There's a double feature of Tod Browning movies, Mark of the Vampire and The Devil Doll on October 17th and then a French horror double feature, which includes The Hypnotic Eye and Eyes Without a Face on the 18th. The 18th rounds out with yet another must-see double feature of Universal's Frankenstein followed by Hammer's remake The Curse of Frankenstein.
Early in the morning on the 19th (set your PVR!) there's screenings of Val Lewton's The Curse of the Cat People and Isle of the Dead, followed by the documentary Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows. The night of the 19th rounds out with a Hitchcock combo of Vertigo and The Birds.
I lamented the lack of Hammer in the schedule in the last post, but they are represented quite well this month. Starting at 6 AM ET on the 20th is a Hammer block that runs for 12+ hours, beginning with the 1959 remake of The Mummy and culminating with 1961's Scream of Fear. All of these movies are standouts, but if you want to see what I think is the most batshit crazy of the Hammer filmography, check out The Devil's Bride at 2:45 PM ET. I'm not sure why they listed it under that title, but it's also know as The Devil Rides Out, a Christopher Lee versus Satan flick that doesn't disappoint.
On the 21st there's a great Karloff/Lugosi block kicking off with The Black Cat (the best to feature the two actors, IMO) at 8:00 PM ET and closing off with The Invisible Ray at 12:30 AM ET on the 22nd.
That's not all for the 22nd, where we're treated to a giant monster block beginning at 7:30 AM ET with a Toho triple feature, including Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, The War of the Gargantuas, and Destroy All Monsters! and culminating later in the afternoon with Gojira at 4:45 PM ET.
The next few days feature a spread of horror thrillers, mostly from the 60s. Standouts include, Rosemary's Baby, Dead Ringer, and Psycho. I'd be remiss not to bring up Scanners and Carnival of Souls are in there, as well.
We're in the endgame now...
Kicking off the morning of October 28th is a Lon Chaney block, comprised of his two most famous performances, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera. Sandwiched in between the two silent films is a documentary about the man himself, Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces.
For the rest of the 28th and 30th (I guess they decided to take the 29th off?) there's a smattering of films that don't really appear to have any theme, like Mark of the Vampire, The Swarm, Two on a Guillotine, etc.
There's a Dracula/Frankenstein Hammer double feature on the 30th starting at 1 PM ET, which is followed by an RKO Jacques Tourneur block featuring The Leopard Man, I Walked with a Zombie, Cat People, and Curse of the Demon. Inexplicably, Nightmare is sandwiched in the middle of it.
And that brings us to the big day itself, Halloween!
Things start off in the earliest of hours with a small pre-code horror block that includes Mystery of the Wax Museum and Frederic March in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (the creepiest version, if you ask me). This is followed by a Vincent Price double feature, House of Wax and The Bat.
Throughout the afternoon and into the evening it's the Universal monsters who have the spotlight, starting with The Invisible Man at 1 PM ET and running right up until primetime with Bride of Frankenstein.
I think it's kinda weird, but right in the primetime slot on Halloween, TCM is playing two neo-noir thrillers, In Cold Blood and Who Killed Teddy Bear. I think it's a buzzkill, honestly. If they closed off their horror films for the year with Bride of Frankenstein, I think I could understand, but right after Who Killed Teddy Bear they continue with some more horror heavy-hitters.
For the late night crowd (Halloween is on a Friday this year, after all) there's a cult classic block, starting with Night of the Living Dead at 12:30 AM ET and ending with Vampyr at 7 AM ET.
And there you have it! That's Turner Classic's Halloween/horror programming for the rest of the month. I think it's a nice mix this year. As expected, Hammer and Universal are majorly represented, but I think there are lots of interesting films thrown into the mix, as well. I for one am looking forward to the Toho kaiju movies, that Jacque Tourneur block, and I think falling asleep to Night of the Living Dead on Halloween night might just be the perfect way to round out the season.
Let me know if you'll be catching any of TCM's horror flicks this year! Do you still have cable or a PVR? Or do you think broadcast TV is totally dead and I should just shut up? I'm interested to hear your thoughts.
I've forcibly put myself into a post-Halloween cooldown period, but after a few days I feel like it's time to take a moment and chronicle all the greatness that was Halloween 2024!
I don't think I could possibly write meaningful words about everything that dropped this season, but I want to highlight some of my favourite spooky snacks, events, movies... whatever!
Sodie Pop!
There were some fun pops to hunt for this season. I want to say that Fanta took home the gold. Not because the Haunted Apple tasted the best - it's terrible - but between a bright green Beetlejuice soda and the latest film's branding on their other products, it seemed like this was the biggest chase.
Personally, I missed WTFanta, but I guess with VooDEW being the crowned king of mystery sodas, Fanta decided to sit that one out.
Speaking of VooDEW, Mountain Dew finally brought their popular secret soda to Canada... sort of. Instead of releasing the current flavour that dropped in the US, they gave us last year's American offering. It's not that it's altogether awful, but for a guy that imports these every year, it would've been nice to be on par with our American friends. I still haven't come across a can of the US version, but I'm hopeful I will in the coming weeks.
Things look bleak for VooDEW right now - the hubbub is that this was the last year for it and that Mountain Dew will start offering brand crossover sodas next year, but at least VooDEW officially graced Canada at least once.
My favourite of the seasonal offerings that were new (at least to me) this year was 7-Up Zero Sugar Cranberry. I love cranberry ginger ale and lemon-lime pop, so this was a slam dunk for me. I still prefer Cranberry Canada Dry, but it was nice to switch it up. Also, I do love me a zero sugar!
Bucket List!
This was a big year for buckets! These were the only two I saw available in Canada this year, but I know Dunkin' Donuts did a Munchkins (their version of Timbits) bucket that was very popular.
My favourite was the Timbits bucket. Not only did it come in a spider or ghost variant, but this year it was glow-in-the-dark! I'm not sure when I'll ever desperately need to find my Timbits in the pitch black, but... who am I kidding, we all know I'm sitting in a dark room gorging on fat pills.
The Boo Buckets have been back the last three years and I still appreciate them. This year McDonald's decided to go for something different with all-new designs and honestly, they're pretty great. I'm not going to lie, though. I kinda hope they switch things up next year and bring back Halloween McNugget Buddies and blow the Internet wide open.
Monster Mash!
I knew it was going to be a big year for Halloween when I found Monster Mash fruit snacks on August freakin' 1st. For reference, the Monster Cereal brand has been circling the drain in Canada the last few years. I've been lucky to even find Count Chocula some years.
For 2024, General Mills went all out in the US, with the Monster Cereal characters getting pet marshmallows. Here in Canada we at least got the fruit snacks from last year and finally a new cereal: Carmella Creeper!
It's a bummer we're still getting the same lame boxes with the masks on the back - I'd much prefer the retro-styled ones in the US - but beggars can't be choosers and all that.
Out of the three cereals available, Chocula still remains my favourite. I want to love Franken Berry, but I just find it too sweet, which was mostly how I felt about Carmella. I'm so glad it's there, but it's just not for me.
As for Wedneday, again, I'm elated the cereal found it's way to the Great White North, but I just didn't like it. You'd think cookies and cream would be a solid gold hit, but I wasn't nuts about it.
I'm hoping these all sold well enough, though, and maybe next year we'll finally see another Monster Cereal here in Canada. I'll take Boo Berry at the very least.
Spooky Eats!
There were food promos for Halloween literally left-and-right this year. Honestly, I don't think I could keep up if I lived in the US, that had themed menus at several restaurant chains and cute little Frosty figures at Wendy's.
For me nothing beat the Addams Family Burger King menu. We had Gomez's Churro fries, Morticia's Kooky Shake, and the glorious Wednesday Whopper available in Canadian BKs. I only tried the Whopper, but honestly - that was enough. Look at that beaut!
This was really completely out of the blue as there wasn't a new movie in the Addams Family animated series this promo was tied to, but whatever - anything Addams Family is as hot as Hansel right now.
This seems to be a Canadian exclusive, but for the second year running McDonald's has released a Halloween-themed McFlurry! Last year we had the Trick n' Treat McFlurry, which was black and orange Smarties. This year they kept the same colour scheme with Reese Chipits and Fudge! They dropped the Trick n' Treat name, but they did continue with the spooky packaging, so I'd call it a win.
There were all sorts of other random finds this year, but another I'll mention is International Delight Pumpkin Spice Cold Foam. Tim Hortons, for some reason, opted not to have a Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew this year, so I had to take things into my own hands. I don't think I'd buy it again, but the cold foam and a bottle of Stok scratched the itch.
One big complaint I have is the lack of Reese Werewolf Tracks. Reese (or Reese's, whatever) has been pretty solid in releasing their Halloween-themed treats here every year, including the Frankencups. Heck, I usually find them first thing in August! This year, though, nada. They didn't even have Reese Pumpkins! Of course as soon as we hit late-October I could plenty of those Reese Trees, though. SMH.
Friday, September 13th!
This was the second year-in-a-row that we were treated to a Friday the 13th during the Halloween months. Last year it was in October proper, but September works just as well for me.
I've reached the point where I rarely watch a Friday the 13th when it isn't the actual day (or, what, holiday?). I've just watched them so many times at this point. As a result, it makes the day and the rewatches extra special.
The next Friday the 13th is actually in December of this year! But then we won't see one in the fall for several years, so I'm glad I savoured it and watched the Paramount "Zombie Jason Trilogy". So good.
Making a Scare at the Box Office!
What a year for horror films in general, though! There were so many box office triumphs. These little indie darlings were making big money at movies.
Highlights include the mystery thriller Longlegs, which is making a run at the Academy Awards, Terrifier 3, which is now the highest-grossing indie film of all time, and The Substance which stars Demi freakin' Moore in her comeback era.
I really like Longlegs, except for the ending, and although I'm still not sure about Art the Clown and the Terrifier series, I'm so glad to see horror doing big numbers. You know things are going the right way when a horror icon gets to ring the bell on Wall Street!
TV Tingles!
Let's not forget the (not-so) small screen! With all the UFO talk in the news lately and the resurgence of shows like Unsolved Mysteries, there's been no lack of spooky sci-fi and paranormal shows. In my opinion, these sorts of shows a perfect this time of year.
This season we had a new volume of Unsolved Mysteries, which certainly had plenty of true crime, but actually had episodes on Roswell and cattle mutilations! It felt a bit more like the Stack-era.
Not to be outdone, Disney dropped OUT THERE: Crimes of the Paranomal, which has almost the exact same look-and-feel of the new Unsolved Mysteries series on Netflix, but leans hard into the supernatural.
Speaking of sci-fi and supernatural, probably my favourite horror movie of the year was V/H/S Beyond, which was dropped on Shudder right smack-dab in the spooky season. It's mostly all alien and UFO science fiction themed, which is certainly my wheelhouse. It's honestly my fave in the series. By my estimation this is a series that is actually getting better with age and I hope we get lots of V/H/S for many years to come!
Oh, and one last thing. I picked up the 4K release of A Nightmare on Elm Street, which dropped in October and damn that movie has never looked so good. I don't usually go in for 4K, honestly, but this one certainly sold me on the idea.
Here's to the season!
I can't express to you just how incredible Mother Nature was to us in Nova Scotia this year. Yes, it was uncomfortably hot at the start of September, but honestly the temperatures eventually became quite "normal" for us by the time October rolled around.
We are known for our beautiful autumns here, but in the last few years we've been smashed by multiple hurricanes. As a result, we end up losing most of our leaves far too early and, with that, our fall colours. This year, however, was very mild on that front, which I know is a blessing. For those of you who had to handle extreme weather this year, I feel for you. I don't mean for this to seem like a slight.
Not only did we have beautiful weather, but we were treated with some incredible celestial events. We had several back-to-back supermoons, including the Harvest and Blue moons. I wish I had my telescope prepared, so I could've gotten some proper pictures.
I also got to see the Northern Lights for the first time in my life! I've heard that in some northern and less light-polluted areas of NS that you can see them on occasion, but we had an and incredible showing that was very visible even in the urban areas and it was breathtaking!
I had made a promise to myself last year and this year that I'd try and do more cool outdoor events during the season. While I didn't get to do a haunt that I really wanted to (hard to do with young kids) we did have some incredible days, which included a picnic, hayrides, apple and pumpkin picking, and a jack-o'-lantern carving contest.
That's a (mummy) wrap!
As is typically the case, I did so much, but still had a lot left on the table in terms of things I wanted to do this year. I can't complain, though. This was definitely a Halloween for the books!
As I'm writing this, I know there's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world, but I think it's good to reflect on the things you love and care about: your family and friends, maybe your health, or hell - just a purple burger and a scary movie. Try and find whatever makes you happy and shake the shit out of it.
I hope you had a great fall and Halloween season and I wish you further enjoyment in the coming months!
Although the last entry didn't light the world on fire, I'm here to belabour you with more of the TCM horror schedule for the month of October!
It's really a shame that I haven't updated the TCM schedule since then, but honestly late September and early October were a complete blur around here and the latest TCM offerings didn't exactly blow my mind.
There were sporadic showings that were pretty good, but almost anything worth a damn was aired in the wee hours of the morning or sometime before noon. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind setting my PVR to record. There is something, however, to sitting down to the TV in the evening and being able to catch at least one horror flick.
Things are picking up, though!
Tomorrow morning there's an interesting block of Lon Chaney, Sr. films. These are silent era, so really only for the hardcore, but if you want to see the "Man of a Thousand Faces" at work, you can catch The Unholy Three, The Unknown, and West of Zanzibar. These aren't all technically "horror" films, but they can be creepy enough and seeing the work Lon Chaney did with practical make-up effects in the 20s is really something.
October 25th has some pretty heavy hitters, including a Dr. Phibes block, and then on the 27th TCM is featuring James Whales' Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein back-to-back, followed by Hammer's Horror of Dracula.
October 28th has a really great set of movies, like Chaney's Phantom of the Opera (1925), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) and Val Lewton's Cat People (1944), but these flicks have that unfortunate late-night/early AM time slot again.
Then on Devil's Night, October 30th, we have pretty much a straight shot of horror hits for two days. Some highlights include The Devil Rides Out aka The Devils' Bride (a personal Hammer favourite of mine), Suspiria, Creature from the Black Lagoon, a Universal horror block (re-airing Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein again), and the grand finale at 11:45 ET, October 31st, the Mario Bava classic, Black Sabbath!
So, you might have to rely on your PVR for the next week or more, but on October 30th and Halloween you can feel free to cue up TCM on your TV and just let it ride!
I know that classic horror isn't for everyone and that a lot of folks settle in for the Universal monster movies and don't really go far afield, but I'd urge you to try some different movies out on this list. There are some real gems in here and you might find your new favourite old film.
Whether you actually took the time to read this or not, I hope you're having a great October and Halloween season! As always, the time is creeping up on us and before long it'll be all red and green twinkle lights, so just try and get the most out of these spooky days!
One thing I look forward to every fall is the Turner Classic Movies October schedule.
Once upon a time, if you wanted to watch any sort of monster movie you likely had to turn to late-night television to get your fix. With the advent of video, more options became available, but for the vast majority of horror and sci-fi films, you still had to keep your eyes on your local TV guide.
Those days are most certainly gone. With streaming and so many rare and forgotten films getting Blu-ray releases you can pretty much find anything you want to watch, when you want to watch it.
There's still something about watching an old horror film on broadcast TV that is so appealing for me, though. It's the nostalgia talking, I know. I have lots of black-and-white monster movies on DVD, but I kinda prefer letting TCM do the programming for me!
Also, there are still lots of films that you would think would easily be available on streaming or video that just aren't that accessible, unless you're willing to shell out the big bucks or have a region-free player at your disposal.
And so, every year around mid-September I start frequenting the TCM website to see what offerings they'll have available during October and, let me tell you, they rarely disappoint!
In the years past there have been very definite themes. One year, it was all kaiju films from Japan. For a few years TCM was exhausting the Hammer horror archive, much to my delight. And there have been many, many years that I can recall classic Universal was the focus.
The last few years it's seemed like a smorgasbord of all these films. I've also noticed that they've started including more (ahem) "contemporary" works from the 70s and the 80s.
It's hard to tell what the theme - if any - will be this year, but as of today I was able to view the first few days of TCM's October schedule and I thought it would be fun to share some of the upcoming horror films you can check out on Turner Classics, provided you still have a cable TV package!
Let's consult my handy-dandy spreadsheet. /me adjusts his glasses...
Stylish, I know!
As an aside, let's start with the purple section at the top. Although the focus of this post is the October horror films that TCM is known to offer, I couldn't help but draw your attention to a block of giant bug movies coming up on September 15th! TCM posted a blog about the special theme night, which mentions six films and includes Mothra, but I couldn't find it on either the US or Canadian schedules. That aside, the are some fun sci-fi monster films coming mid-month that you may enjoy!
The October proper schedule shows a veritable dog's breakfast of options and I can't say that I'm upset about it!
We've got a pair of giant kaiju films, some classic Universal, a Hitchcock, a few sci-fi monster flicks carrying over from September, a Hammer Frankenstein, and even some Tony Scott!
At first glance, it doesn't look like there's a cohesive theme here, but honestly there still could be down the line. It may come in the form of nightly blocks dedicated to different production companies, actors, or time periods. We shall have to wait and see!
And I know that unless you're in the Pacific or Central time zones these airings would have to be firmly programmed into your PVR, but there will very likely be more prime time slots dedicated to the horror genre as we get closer to Halloween.
If you're looking for one more little adventure to try during the spooky season, you might find something fun on your TV guide! I find it more and more difficult to find anything in the horror genre freely playing on broadcast TV, but TCM will certainly hold the line this October, if you want to give it a shot!
You can even relive those nights long past of waiting up until the late night monster movie played on TV, while you hid under a blanket and thought up your escape plan back to your bedroom once the movie was over!
