As promised, here is the remainder of the TCM October 2026 TV schedule!
Things get a little sparse between October 10th and the 29th, but there are a few gems!
First off, we have a hefty Hammer block on the 16th, which includes staples like The Brides of Dracula, Horror of Dracula, and The Curse of Frankenstein, but also has interesting films like Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, which is actually adapted from a lesser-known Bram Stoker story.
There are some fun blocks scattered through these two weeks, as well. Throughout the month of October, TCM is pulling up some of the best spooky-themed Looney Tunes cartoons and dropping them in 30ish minute blocks here and there.
There's also a few Godzilla kaiju blocks, including the Japanese version of Godzilla Raids Again. And a few other Japanese horror films sprinkled around, as well, with heavy-hitters Kwaidan and the cult classic Hausu.
Lastly of note is a documentary titled Carl Laemmle, obviously about the man behind Universal's horror classics, followed by a solid block including Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and The Black Cat: some of the best that Universal had to offer in the early 30s!
Before I continue onto the end of October, I should add that there are a ton of old crime films included in this month's offerings. Many of them don't fit the horror bill in my book, but there are several Hitchcock films that some people would consider Halloween fodder, so you might want to look into that if you're a lover of film noir.
And now we're in the home stretch!
There's a wide array of zombie, supernatural, and some horror sci-fi to kick off October 30th. I think the standout is the 1955 documentary Black Cats and Broomsticks, which is all about superstitions.
The next and most noteworthy block, in my opinion, is dedicated to the late, great Vincent Price. Similar to the recent Exorcist II documentary in the previous post, this all kicks of with the brand-spanking new documentary about the man, Vincent Price:What Keeps Us Alive and is followed by some of his best movies, especially those he did with William Castle.
Then on Halloween proper is when things get really fun! Starting around midday there's a mix of 30s horror classics, like Dracula, The Mummy, and Bride of Frankenstein all interspersed with more Looney Tunes spooky classics, most of which feature Bugs Bunny himself!
Then, to end the big night, there's a some fun 1970s takes on the classic monsters, with Frank Langella's Dracula from 1979 and Phantom of the Paradise from 1974.
If you still haven't had enough, you can enjoy an RKO Val Lewton block of Cat People, The Seventh Victim, and The Leopard Man throughout the wee hours of November 1st.
And that's that! Another great year of "free" horror films from Turner Classic Movies, supposing you still have an active TV subscription that carries the channel. I know my PVR gets stogged with all sorts of vintage horror thanks to TCM each year, which is why I try to spread the word.
Whether you bother with watching TCM at all during the month of October or not, I hope you give some of the horror of yesteryear a try! I find they hit perfectly leading up to Halloween.
I actually thought I might finally give up the ghost and stop posting the Turner Classic Movies October schedule this year. I know linear TV is dying a slow death and most people don't even have access to this channel, but I just can't help myself. I make this list more for myself than anyone, but why not share it?
Here's what we have for the first two weeks of October on TCM:
Kicking things off are a few creepy crawler features with Them! and The Swarm just past midnight on October 1st.
What is probably the most notable block during the first two weeks is dedicated to Lon Chaney. Starting on October 2nd in primetime is the 2000 documentary about the man, Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces. This is followed by Man of a Thousand Faces, which stars James Cagney in the title role and tells the story of Chaney's life in film. From there we have four of Chaney's films, including He Who Gets Slapped, Laugh, Clown, Laugh, and The Blackbird. It's unsurprising to see The Phantom of the Opera in here, but I can't recall the last time I saw TCM play any of these other Chaney classics.
This all followed by a short "... of the Damned" block and a smattering of fun movies to watch this Halloween season, like The 'Burbs and The Howling.
I think the next thing of note would be a very cool Exorcist II night. I love this, because this sequel doesn't get enough love. There's a documentary about the making of the film, Boorman and the Devil at 8PM Eastern, 9PM Atlantic on October 9th followed the Exorcist II: The Heretic. I'll definitely be tuning into that! If I'm not mistaken Boorman and the Devil only just released in August and you have to pay to rent it, so it airing on TV is really cool.
That's it for the first two weeks of TCM's October schedule. Check back in a few weeks time when I drop the last two weeks leading up to Halloween. Things should really heat up by then!
The other day I was scrolling through old episodes of different paranormal TV shows, as I often do. I can't tell you how relaxing it is for me to throw one of these shows on in the background and play some Minecraft before bed.
I somehow ended up on an episode of In Search Of..., which is fine by me. It's one of my favourite shows. I typically have the DVD set of the Leonard Nimoy episodes sitting on my desk just in case I'm in the mood to throw one on while I'm working.
This particular show was centered on The Abominable Snowman and the opening moments took me aback.
When I tell you I've watched this series several times, I do mean it. So why I can't recall watching this particular episode, I can't say, but as I took in the cold open I was warped to my parents' basement in the late '80s, staring at the TV through slitted eyes and huddling under a blanket for safety.
Pretty well three years ago I actually wrote a thread on X/Twitter about it, which you can read here. I even went through the trouble of encoding some of DVD clips to include in the story.
The thing is, even though I went through all that trouble to grab scenes from the show and write the post, I was writing about the wrong episode.
As I watched the Abominable Snowman scene on my phone the other night, all the memories came flooding back to me. There's no question, this was the first episode I had seen of In Search Of... when I was like five years old.
I always had a memory of craggy snow-capped mountains and a Bigfoot running along the slope. I guess I just assumed that In Search Off... only had one episode about giant, hairy human-like creatures. It turns out they did separate features on Bigfoot and The Abominable Snowman! I just got mixed up.
I guess this is my final thought: memory is weird.
I read once that each time you recall a memory, you're not really remembering back to the initial event. You're remembering the last time you remembered it. Kind of a mindbender, but I think it makes sense. Each recollection might result in small losses of information and over time the whole thing can get pretty skewed.
When you're a person like me who is always trudging through nostalgia and days past, it certainly isn't hard to believe that things will get muddled up now and then.
Or maybe it's just senility? Please don't be senility...
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.
If for no other reason than keeping the custom alive, I figured a good way to kick off October 1st is with my annual breakdown of the spooky happenings on Turner Classic Movies!
I know most folks don't read these posts and couldn't care less, but I still like to hold onto the belief that there's something special about traditional, broadcast TV and I think it's pretty cool that during the month of October, TCM breaks out the bats and cobwebs.
As of writing this, I can only see the schedule up to October 13th. I should be able to see a little further into the month, but TCM.com has been down a lot lately and I currently can't bring up the site. Anyway, here's what we have to look forward to so far. Get ready for my expert spreadsheet skills!
I hate to say it, but there isn't that much to report about in the first half of the month. It opens tomorrow night with a "of the Damned" marathon, which is pretty cool. After that there's a random smattering, which does include Poltergeist.
On the 4th and 5th, there are some horror science fiction flicks including The Brain That Wouldn't Die. Soylent Green might be a stretch, but I'm counting it on account of "kinda cannibalism". There's a nice little Hitchcock double-feature to round out the 5th, too, featuring Rear Window and Spellbound.
It's a bit of a dog's breakfast after that, but there are some heavy-hitters like The Haunting, Cat People, and House on Haunted Hill. The 13th also notably has Haxan, which although it's a silent film from the 20s hold's up and is creepy AF.
The lack of Universal and Hammer flicks is a little surprising, but hopefully TCM is just holding their fire for later in the month.
That's all there is to report so far! Hopefully I'll remember to post another update before October 13th with the rest of the month's offerings, so you can tune in or set up your PVR... you know, supposing you still have a cable package!
I've mentioned this in the last few months, but I've been trying to get back into media archival.
A few years back I scored a backup VCR for free (my current main unit, actually) and the guy threw in a bunch of tapes he had kicking around with it.
One of those tapes was a Maxell 6-Hour T-120 that I immediately wanted to peruse. I quickly discovered it contained a TV recording of A Christmas Carol, featuring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. It aired December 1997 on CBC.
Is it possible to get high on old Christmastime TV bumpers?
I desperately wanted to mine the tape for any and all Christmas commercials that it might contain, but like many of my personal projects it was pushed to the background for a few years.
I finished a big assignment at work recently, which freed up some of my time, so I decided it was nigh time to digitize that tape!
A quick note on the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol - it's a decent movie, but a little darker than some of the other versions you might come across. You can find it on a lot of streamers and it often airs on TV this time of year. It's worth a viewing if you wanted to switch it up from your usual favourite.
Now, with that out of the way, let's talk about some of the classic commercials that aired alongside the film, back in '97! Honestly, there were so many good commercials on this tape, so I'm likely to return to this well later in the season. For now, let's stick with five (but really six or seven).
THAT Kellogg's Cornflakes Commercial
Oh, you know the one. This juggernaut of an ad started airing in 1990 and I'm fairly certain it ran, although edited slightly here and there, until the early 2000s. It's honestly right up there with the Hershey Kisses ad, which I'm fairly certain is still airing to this day.
The warm, earthy tones, dulcet music, soft-spoken actors, and perfectly lit scenery depict the ideal Christmas. Also, their kid-logic tracks: after a night filled with cookies and trying to squeeze down chimneys, wouldn't Santa like a brief reprieve and enjoy some healthy cereal? Makes sense to me.
I know this commercial has been encoded and uploaded about a million times on the web, but hey - what's one more?
Connect 4 and Guess Who
Alright, it's already time to cheat and break my own rules!
Not only am I including two commercials here, but neither are actually Christmas ads. So why are they on the list?
As I watched this tape, one of the things I had the hardest time grasping was it's recording date; December of 1997. The late-90s had a very distinct feel on TV. Everything had to be edgy and slightly obtuse to catch our attentions. Most of the commercials on this tape felt so early-90s.
And it's because the majority of them, much like the aforementioned Kellogg's ad, aired for like a decade. These days ad campaigns or mostly just related to focused ads on social media and YouTube and they completely disappear from social consciousness in a matter of minutes. Back in the 90s, 30-second ads on TV were the prime way to get a potential customer's attention and the companies that produced these ads went for broke.
In the case of these two commercials for Guess Who and Connect 4, there is no question in my mind that if you were a frequent TV watcher from 1990 to 2000 you have them emblazoned in your brain.
Throughout the duration of this tape, they played on almost every ad-break, back-to-back. It must've been a big year for Milton Bradley or interest in these games was lacking and they decided to throw big money at the problem. I can't speak for everyone, but I can say that it worked on me, because I wanted and owned both of these games as a kid (I was especially a fan of Guess Who) and I received them both as Christmas gifts, so I'm adding them to this list. If you don't like it... well I guess I'm sorry then? (Please keep reading my blog)
Disney Home Video
How's that for wholesome?
This is a commercial that distinctly feels like something from the early-90s, but I know for an absolute fact that it's from 1997, because not only is Disney hocking their other classic movies on videocassette, but they took this opportunity to push their latest Christmas flick, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.
Most folks my age ruminate about the lack of quality in the Disney direct-to-video market, but you just know these tapes sold like freakin' hotcakes.
It's not mentioned in this ad, but the pallor of Disney's false scarcity tactics clung to all of these video releases, so you had to get them before they went "back into the vault"! Not only did it likely sell a lot of movies during the holidays, but to this day resellers seem to think their old Disney tapes are worth your firstborn and probably a few limbs for good measure.
Sobey's Christmas
This is a commercial that will hit much stronger if you're a local Atlantic Canadian.
Sobey's is a grocery store chain that during the 90s would've only existed in a few provinces, like Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and PEI. I don't even think they were in Newfoundland, but I could be wrong. These days, I think they have stores across Canada.
In the early 90s they had a smash hit commercial called "Songs of Christmas" that featured all sorts of holiday wholesomeness to the tune of a children's choir singing what amounted to a very long Sobey's jingle. That ad played on local TV for years and years and I'd dare say if you spoke to anyone from this area they could sing you at least a few bars if not the whole song.
In the late 90s, Sobey's decided to try and catch that lightning in the bottle again with this ad, which I believe ran for a few years, but didn't have near the same impact.
Still, I do love this commercial and have fond memories of it. I'm not sure exactly when it started airing, but it had to be mid- to late-90s. I think they even used some of the imagery and music from this commercial in the rest of their "regular" advertisements that ran during Christmas.
It sounds nuts, but some of these big production holiday commercials sort of felt like TV specials in a way. I'd actually look forward to seeing them on the tube every year and they were an important part of the holiday!
Local Season's Greetings
If you watched any low budget local TV (does such a thing exist any more?) you would've seen ads like this from many local businesses, sending season's greetings to any current or potential customers watching at home. I can recall when there'd be one minute (or more) solid blocks with Christmas-y backgrounds adorned with the fanciest of fonts sending warm wishes from many local businesses.
If you were a small TV station that needed public money and advertisement to keep afloat, I'm sure this was easy money during the holidays. I actually used to love these when I was a kid. It was this weirdly small, solemn moment that felt so calm and Christmas-y, even if you were in the middle of watching a TV airing of Alien or something.
The Coca-Cola greeting at the end is a particularly lavish affair, that even includes a few seconds of Coke's massive commercial with the Christmas lights on their 18-wheeler delivery trucks. La-tee-dah.
Christmas Day on CBC
I thought this was fun, so I decided to throw it in.
Every Christmas my family would go to an extended family get-together on Christmas Day. We'd gorge ourselves on delicious food, open presents, all that good stuff. Come the evening of Christmas Day, it was wide open. I'd usually play with my new toys and video games and my parents would have friends over for drinks and visiting.
I can't say I watched much TV on Christmas Day, because I was busy, but another reason was that it always seemed like blackhole. Nowadays it's become a tradition to air movie marathons and tons of Christmas specials, but back when I was a kid there was lots of religious programming, and old black-and-white movies I didn't yet have the appreciation for.
Case in point is the programming block for CBC on December 25th, 1997, which included back-to-back-to-back Christmas classics from the 40s, capped off a musical special from Canadian royalty, Tom Jackson.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of this, but when I was a kid there is about a -1000% chance I would've watched one second of this on Christmas Day.
And there you have it! Just a few of the wonderful Christmas commercials I mined from this tape. I'll hopefully make another post soon with some more of the cool stuff I found on here, but if not I hope you enjoy these clips and the warm fuzzies they bring!
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!
I've made this spiel in the past and I don't want to beat a dead horse, so I'll keep this brief.
/me stands on his soapbox
During the month of October, Turner Classic Movies airs a bevy of amazing horror films! Check your local listings!
And yes, yet again I have tabulated a handy spreadsheet with all of the films on the schedule.
I still try my best to use broadcast TV and, honestly, some of the movies that TCM plays this time of year are hard to find even on DVD or Blu-ray, let alone on streaming. Heck, there are some films I don't even bother trying to buy, because I just sort of rely TCM to play them for me every Halloween.
So dust off your DVRs if you have 'em or just make sure you tune in! Here are all the films I deemed spooky from TCM's October 2024 schedule - all times in Eastern (with all the colourful Excel flair from prioryears!):
I'll take a moment to highlight some of the programming blocks I think you should look out for.
Unfortunately, since I'm posting this a few days late, it looks like a Bela Lugosi block aired on October 2nd. I'm willing to bet, however, that most of those films get a second airing later in the month.
There's a short back-to-back Roger Corman block with Little Shop of Horrors and A Bucket of Blood airing early on October 6th, starting at 7AM.
There's an English horror block airing in the wee hours of October 18th that looks really interesting, which includes The Wicker Man, The Lair of the White Worm, The Reptile, and The Plague of the Zombies. It starts at 12:45AM!
I'm mystified by this block, which has some more contemporary stuff, but only airs once starting at 12:45AM on October 25th. You'd think these flicks would air during primetime, but you'll either have to be a night owl or set these for record: Demon Seed, They Live, The Hidden, and The Shout.
On the 27th, there's a short Val Lewton block starting at 7AM, with Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, and then a documentary on the man himself, Val Lewton: The Man in the Shadows.
There's another solid English horror block with some Amicus and Hammer films starting at 8:15AM on Devil's Night, October 30th, which features From Beyond the Grave, Dracula A.D. 1972, Frankenstein Created Woman, The Mummy, Horror of Dracula, and The Curse of Frankenstein.
This is followed up closely with a serial killer block, starting at 9:00PM on October 30th with Psycho, Peeping Tom, Blue Velvet, and The Strangler.
Then on Halloween, you can enjoy lots of classic Universal horrors, like The Bat, The Wolf Man, The Black Cat, Dracula, Frankenstein, and Bride of Frankenstein beginning at 12:30PM.
There you have it! If you're into old black and white scares, TCM has your back this Halloween. I always suggest you check out the Hammer and English horror films they feature every year. They are excellent and I find those in particular are difficult to get on physical media for a decent price.
So, instead of staring at Netflix for an hour trying to pick something to watch, pop the popcorn and let your TV take the wheel for a change! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
This is kiiiind of a weird post for October 1st, but I think it fits.
I ran into something I just had to share. This is a news program produced by CBC Saskatchewan in 1996.
I just love any sort of paranormal TV show from back in the 90s. I started watching shows like In Search Of... well before The X-Files first aired, but you can't argue that the popularity of the latter resulted in UFO and alien specials being produced en masse by just about every network.
What I wanted to point out is that you couldn't even escape these sorts of reports in the news! Just throwing on your local TV station on a random weekday would lead to a spooky little story, complete with eerie music and sound effects! And especially leading up to Halloween.
So, if you're into this sort of thing I'd suggest you give the video a watch. It's a trip! I do want to warn you, though, there are some images of mutilated animals that could be disturbing to some viewers. Viewer discretion is definitely advised!
Secrets & Mysteries was an American television series that syndicated from 1987 to 1989. It was a paranormal magazine show, often compared to In Search Of... which ended it's run five years before Secrets & Mysteries premiered.
Although the topics were similar in nature to In Search Of..., and Secrets & Mysteries certainly released around the same time, it appears great lengths were taken to separate the two shows. Secrets & Mysteries incorporates bumpers hosted by Edward Mulhare, which show him using all sorts of gadgets and pseudo-futuristic technology to help display information throughout each episode.
I'm not certain what TV stations aired Secrets & Mysteries during it's syndicated run, but the show appeared to make its money on video. Tapes were sold in different formats from the late-80s all the way to the early-2000s. Each episode was released individually, there were several sets that had four episodes to a tape, and there were even two Blockbuster Presents editions, each with two episodes on each tape (one of which I'm highlighting here). The show was never released on any other format, nor is it available on streaming.
During its video run, it seems the title of the series was changed to Secrets of the Unknown. This isn't entirely consistent, though. For instance, on the Blockbuster Presents: Secrets of the Unknown: Bigfoot & Witches tape, the "Bigfoot" episode is presented as Secrets & Mysteries on the intro and outro, however the "Witches" episode uses the Secrets of the Unknown title for the intro (which interestingly runs at a different speed than the Secrets & Mysteries introduction) but then uses the Secrets & Mysteries title in the outro. Having watched a few different episodes of this show on tape, there seem to be all sorts of inconsistencies with how the episodes are presented.
You can find out more information about the series on Wikipedia.org.
You can find video clips of the intro and outro segments on my video archival channel, VHYesterdayS.
I've also uploaded the full videos for both the "Bigfoot" and "Witches" episodes on the Internet Archive for archival purposes.
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!
