Mondo Kane

Joining in on the shameless plug for vids This (Chronological compilation, 1897-2015) vid is my favorite one I've done and I'll likely do the same again this year.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8Kxzs0UsjvQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

As for TCM's October schedule, they've often done the same pattern in recent years:
30th-Start the day with public domain horrors (They always gotta throw Dementia 13 somewhere in there) Then in the evening-to-late hours, Hammer films would take over.
31st-The Val Lewton films usually owned the morning/afternoon spot and AIP's films with Vincent Price would end the night.

It looks like (This year) they've returned to their mid/late 2000s roots by having The Haunting/House on Haunted Hill on Halloween night. Can't be sure, but I think Poltergeist had a primetime slot last year too.

BTW, don't miss the Black cats and broomsticks short on the 15th. It opens with a shot of 1950's kids in creepy costumes. Undoubtedly, the most spine-tingling thing I saw on last year's challenge!

shadokitty

I got to thinking earlier today that it's hard to believe the Challenge starts next week. It's only a little over a week away. I can't wait and am now counting the days.

Chad

Well alright, somebody took over my cherry-picking job! And they had the good sense to know "The Time Machine" is NOT horror, which TCM lists as every single year. Thanks!

I'll get this and the other updated channel links up on the first post soon.

Done.

Not to my knowledge. I'll definitely be TiVo-ing it.

And I'll use your shameless plug to shamelessly plug the first post where said video is available in addition to lots of semi-updated goodies.

Despite preparing for it for months, the realization has still not kicked in for me. It usually hits me the first day.

rbrown498

I agree with Chad that I don't think that it's ever been shown on TCM before. However, Keisuke Kinoshita's version of the story, The Ghost of Yotsuya, Part I (a.k.a. The Yotsuda Phantom and Yotsuda Kaidan, Part I) been shown on IFC, along with The Ghost of Yotsuya, Part II (a.k.a. Shinshaku Yotsuya Kaidan: Kohen and Yotsuya Kaidan, Part II), both from 1949. I can't tell you exactly when they were shown, but I DVRed them and dumped them to DVD-R years ago.

shadokitty

I was browsing Amazon Prime tonight and discovered that Seasons 1-17 of Dark Shadows is available on Prime, as well as Seasons 1 and 3 of Dark Shadows: The Beginning. There were also 2 or 3 Dark Shadows movies.

MysterioMan007

Anyone got a preference on all of these "Vampire Detective" shows?

Angel
Forever Knight
Moonlight
Blood Ties

The only one I've seen is Angel, but I have a hard time believing the others will be as good. But, they're all reasonably short, too.

clckworang

Besides Angel, I remember watching the first episode of Moonlight when it first aired and thought it was terrible. I haven't seen the others.

cwileyy

Couldn't wait and saw mother! as well, and loved it! However, I didn't think it was really a horror film...


Also couldn't wait and saw It. That one is definitely a horror movie, and a great one at that! Looking forward to discussing it more as more people watch next month!

DaveyJoe

I'm getting flaahbacks to last year's Dark Shadows movie and how hard it was to follow for somebody like me who has never watched the show.

shadokitty

Even though I own it, that is why I didn't watch it. I'd rather watch the series first.

Chad

I remember watching Forever Night years after its initial run as reruns in syndication, but I couldn't tell you a single thing about it.

Trevor

Hope you have a lot of time.....

Chad

Speaking of Dark Shadows, I have a question for those who've watched the entire series.

I'm currently on episode #1,075 right after the "parallel time/dual time-bands" and "1995" storylines. Is it okay to watch Night of Dark Shadows at this point? I was hoping to repeat being able to watch House for last year's since it recycled the original Barnabas storyline.

MysterioMan007

Yeah, I can't be sure, but I think I miht have tried it back when it aired and never watched it again. May give it another show. I have 31 days.

It's the shortest of the bunch, so I may at least watch a few episodes during October.

Ah, Dark Shadows...I have the entire series in that coffin set. It's nice. But, I'm only on disc 3. At this rate, I'll never finish it. I wish I could skip ahead to all of the supernatural stuff, but I have zero knowledge on the show's history, so when I watched that movie last year, I had no idea what was going on, either. Slow and steady...

SterlingBen

I found it to have very little connection to the rest of the series. It's a much later sequel sharing more in common with the Depp vehicle. It's chronological order in the wiki is telling.

http://darkshadows.wikia.com/wiki/Night_of_Dark_Shadows

Edit: "Night of Dark Shadows is a self-contained story and does not share continuity with either the original Dark Shadows television program or the full-length feature film, House of Dark Shadows."

Trevor

Very cool to see most of the familiar faces popping up in the list thread. Not sure how fast it usually populates, but seems like we're on track to hit our usual 100+ participants.

A couple first-time posters in there already too!

SethDLH

For anyone waiting to see Mother in theaters for the challenge (assuming it makes it that long) I think a wildcard would be needed on it... not really a horror film.

brainee

Yes, there's a whole boat-load of Yotsuya ghost stories, aren't there! I think I saw the 1949 version, but I liked the 1959 version more.

The "seasons" breakdown can be confusing since, as an ongoing daily soap opera, it didn't really have "seasons". It looks every 35 episodes is what is considered a "season" for Amazon's listing.

"The Beginning" would be tough sledding for casual viewers and/or those new to Dark Shadows (especially on Amazon Prime with only a fraction of the episodes).

Where it starts being listed as just "Dark Shadows" is the introduction to Barnabas, episode 210 (which is a better starting place for newbies). The DVD set and Sci-Fi channels showing aired a useful "recap" episode that got everyone caught up on the characters and storylines. Still, being a daily soap I don't think it would be hard to get up to speed. They intentionally wanted to make it easy for new viewers to be able to join in and not feel lost (maybe after a few episodes).

Those early Barnabas episodes can still be tough for pacing at times (if you're used to how weekly shows are paced, this will seem outright glacial). By episodes 365, the show seems really to have found its stride. The pacing is much faster, and the show seems to have fully accepted its a crazy horror/fantasy/sci-fi serial with little of what "normal" soap operas would have. It's very cool that Amazon Prime has so many consecutive episodes from the show's prime (from 210 to around 900).

I don't know what it is that Amazon Prime has listed as "The Haunting of Collinwood" and "The Vampire's Curse". Are they reedits of a couple of storylines? Normally it takes dozens of episodes for a major story, but these are only 3 hours long. It does sound like a cool idea, since there has always been a lot of repetition in the regular episodes (since the producers knew some people only watched a couple of time a week). Though the editing would have to be done with some care.

Man, you're almost done! I started last October and now I'm still only at #505:

I'll pop in there right at the start of October. Some people seem to like being on the first page. I like being at the very end ... and I'll typically get rankled by someone that makes a list in mid October, never updating it and robbing me of my last-spot status

Trevor

I think it's listed as horror on IMDb.

MysterioMan007

It is listed as horror on imdb, but I honestly agree with you. That said, I saw it already and don't think I could sit through it again anyway.

indiephantom

Saying hi to SethDLH, Chad, Trevor and the whole gang. One of the few years that I've not been in on pre-game planning. But I will be in on the game for as much as possible. Excited to look over the categories you've ended up with.

Oh, and if there are any open spots for anything, I'll offer my input/picks.

shadokitty

Did you move to Europe? Or are you deployed military?

Trevor

Welcome back indie! I think the themes and subsets are all done and in final formatting by Chad, but come on over to the pre-challenge thread and help us finish up the checklist.

indiephantom

I'm actually in China. I"m under contract for a couple of years, but I'll be returning to Canada for the summers. It's been an amazing experience thus far.

shadokitty

Cool. I have a friend I email who lives in Shenzhen.