Halloween already? Yup, it's time. Two of the tube's biggest celebrations kick off early this week -- AMC's yearly FearFest collection of terror titles (Oct. 18-31 for serious scare freaks) and ABC Family's annual 13 Nights of Halloween (Oct. 19-31 for family fun).
Friday the 13th is the big draw at AMC, where FearFest starts Monday night with a double feature of the first two flicks in the '80s-born slasher cycle (8 and 10:15 p.m. ET), which continues all week long in prime time.
Other biggies in AMC's run of round-the-clock chills include the Halloween films (the first two with Jamie Lee Curtis unreel Oct. 25 at 8 and 10 p.m. ET), Predator titles (Oct. 29 at 8 and 10:30 p.m. ET), and of course the series premiere of the channel's much-awaited adaptation of The Walking Dead (Oct. 31 at 10 p.m. ET) -- check out the show's deep website.
AMC's FearFest web page has all kinds of creepy extras. You can peruse the festival's movies by date or by title. Or watch full films online, from a generous menu of B-flicks -- from Bela Lugosi's 1932 White Zombie to the 1971 biker flick Werewolves on Wheels.
ABC Family isn't quite so terror-tied. The attitude here is one of family fun, starting from its 13 Nights kickoff show -- a Halloween episode of new fave sitcom Melissa & Joey (Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET), with Newhart ditz Julia Duffy as a neighbor who tells a suddenly spooked Joe that a former resident died in the house.
Movie titles for ABC Family's 13 Nights include Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Friday, Oct. 22 at 8 p.m. ET), Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (Sunday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. ET), and Jim Carrey in The Mask (Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET).
Also on tap: Halloween-themed cartoons, America's Funniest Home Videos, and series episodes (That '70s Show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch). Online, ABC Family's website has streaming episodes of Scariest Places on Earth.
Keep clicking FOR BETTER OR WERTS through Oct. 31 for more details on upcoming Halloween treats -- fresh network episodes, Turner Classic Movies' four-day run of fright flicks, Fox Movie Channel's Rocky Horror Picture Show marathon and The Fly flicks, ID's new study of American Occult, live ghost hunts, and essential stack-ups of The Munsters and The Addams Family.