For part two of our Halloween series, we welcome Dodd Alley as our guest writer. Dodd, who provides lots of content at spout.com, is a student at Ohio University, where he’s working on an M.A. in Film Studies and writing a thesis that analyzes the presence of video game technology in contemporary horror films. You can check out his movie review blog posts on his spout.com film blog. - Kristin

Halloween is right around the corner, which means making way for a few traditions. A bowl of candy is sitting on my table ready to be attacked by strange kids in Napoleon Dynamite costumes, and a sloppily-carved jack-o-lantern is glowing on my front stoop, just waiting to be smashed by a girlfriendless teenage boy. Yes, some things about Halloween will never change. Or will they?

I am sure that many of you reading this blog know that Halloween stands for something else: watching films. With every house on the block emitting spooky sound effect from their web-covered windows, it sets the mood for horror. It only makes sense for us film buffs to give in to the magic, by grabbing a bag of Milk Duds and bringing on countless horror titles. It also makes sense that cable television networks should deliver that content directly to us eager viewers. Unfortunately, it seems that most networks no longer appreciate tradition.

It seems like only yesterday that a man named Ted Turner gave me a reason to love horror cinema. The presence of horror movies on television was not an act of selective programming on the night of October 31st. Instead, it was like Woodstock. TV Guide even issued an entire annual issue dedicated specifically to mapping out every horror film on every network throughout the week leading up to Halloween. TBS “Lock Your Doors Week” taught me about The Birds and The Bees, while USA “Up All Night” educated me in the cult of The Evil Dead and Hellraiser. TNT even celebrated the Creepshow films back-to-back. Like a football fan on New Year’s Day, I could only clutch the remote in overwhelming happiness.

This is not to say that horror is impossible to find on television today. AMC is running their annual Halloween marathon, while niche networks such as Sci Fi are sticking to their guns. However, programming choices over the years have dried up throughout Halloween week. While TBS used to clear its entire schedule for non-stop terror, their “We Know Funny” slogan will this year produce reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond. USA has killed “Up All Night” to instead bring us reruns of Law and Order on Halloween evening. As for TNT? They have traded in the great George Romero for a basketball game.

In a time of hundreds of channels, one would assume a massive selection of horror films would be scheduled during Halloween, but this is hardly the case. It seems networks have lost faith in the power of horror. I write this piece as a tribute to a time when television networks felt the Halloween spirit. On the thirty-first, when all avid horror fans stand before a Blockbuster shelf crying at the unavailability of The Howling and Poltergeist, it will reflect a time when watching horror flicks on basic cable was a warm tradition.

Do you think horror films are sufficiently shown on TV, or is the Jeepers Creepers marathon just not doing the trick? I’d love to hear your comments.

Happy Halloween!