Horror has been on television ever since the latter's inception. Before its invention, horror was a thing the viewer had to seek out at the theater, but television brought horror into the home. Even before any of the classic shows emerged, there were teleplay productions of DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN and other classics. Horror hosts began to emerge on those few local channels. The history of horror on television is in many ways the history of television.
Interestingly, TV is also where horror has been most forgotten. Even more than film, TV horrors tend to fall through the cracks, be they shows, made-for-TV movies, or especially specials that only aired once and never again. The goal of this page is to highlight shows, specials, you name it, from both the classics to things that have virtually disappeared.
There are, of course, so many great series that only lasted for one or two seasons. Sometimes they didn’t even get that. There are others that seemed to go on forever. There’s room here for both the titans of horror TV like THE TWILIGHT ZONE, DARK SHADOWS and TALES FROM THE CRYPT, as well as shows that don’t get talked about as often, like MONSTERS, DRACULA: THE SERIES and WEREWOLF. Anthologies, long-running horror dramas, horror hosts, you name it. From TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE to BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER to MONSTERVISION and USA UP ALL NIGHT, I’m down to celebrate TV horror history both beloved and barely remembered.
As you can see, there’s much work to be done on this section. So as I begin to build it, STAY TUNED!
