Top Ten Horror Themed Series
You may recall a while ago that I did the Top Ten Horror Anthologies. Now I have decided to follow up with the Top Ten Horror series. We have quite a few good horror shows on now and I have high hopes for the newest, Fear Itself. These are the horror themed shows that have linear story lines (for the most part). Basically they aren’t anthologies. Some of them did great things to bring horror to the mainstream and some of them were just fun. So here they are:
Top Ten Horror TV Shows
10. Dark Shadows (1966-1971) - This show follows the story of the Collins family of Maine. Although most are familiar with the name Barnabus Collins, his character didn’t show up until the second season when he arrived in Maine from England as the cousin to the Collins family. Though dry (almost to the point of being brittle) at times, this series showcased many elements of horror as a sort of dark soap opera and was a fan favorite. I would love to put it higher on the list out of respect, but the show really wasn’t as good as the others here so I had no choice. It enjoyed a brief resurgence in the early nineties, but I am afraid that by that time, the magic was gone.
9. Werewolf (1987-1988) - It may have been short-lived and most of you may not even know what the hell I am talking about but this was a great show. Being the werewolf lover that I am I had no choice to put it here. Perhaps there were better shows that lasted longer, but this one was a favorite of mine that I watched religiously. In this series, Eric has been bitten by werewolf but he can’t go for that. In order to end the curse, he must kill the originating werewolf. So in the style of The Fugitive, he travels from place to place in search of his own “one-armed man.” Oh yeah and he has to try to keep from wolfing out and killing people while simultaneously keeping hunters from killing him. And you thought you had problems.
8. The Addams Family (1964-1966) - Okay if you have never heard of The Addams Family, don’t tell anyone. And I am not referring to the Christina Ricci film even if it was pretty decent and funny. If you were unaware, that movie was based on a dark little comedy from the sixties. Hey I love it so much I have 3 cats named Fester, Wednesday and Pugsley. Let’s have a sing-a-long…They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re altogether ooky…The Addams…you know the rest.
7. Forever Knight (1992-1996) - Cop, vampire, cop, vampire. Nick Knight is a cop who is also a vampire. He is attempting to regain his mortality by being a homicide detective righting wrongs for his own redemption, all the while doing his best to keep his vampiric nature a secret from everyone else.
6. Dexter (2006-Current) - Speaking of redemption, this guy sort of forces it on people in really nasty ways. A Showtime original that has since made its way to network TV, Dexter follows the daily grind of Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter expert who happens to also be a serial killer. But he only kills other serial killers so its all good. You must love him and want him to win, that’s just the way it is. Plus he really fills out his Henley “killing uniform.” Mmmmmm
5. Supernatural (2005-Current) - As long as we are talking about hotness, here are the brothers Winchester. I am a Dean fan myself. These boys go around offing all sorts of nasty creatures while at first trying to find their father. They almost jumped the shark in season 2 by slipping into a rather heavy storyline with no foreseeable way out but they have since recovered nicely. This show made me happy by bringing back good old fashioned monster hunting to prime time.
4. Millennium (1996-1999) - This Lance Henrikson, Terry O’Quinn vehicle was created by Chris Carter of X-Files fame, but I happen to think this was a better show. Dark, brooding and downright vicious at times, Millennium traced The Millennium Group who are former law enforcement officers. They have now dedicated their lives to solving the ever mounting crimes that have begun to crop up near the close of the millennium…hence the title. See how they did that? Clever. I think this series was highly underrated and the perfect way to show off the creepiness of Henrikson who gave the show its perfection.
3. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) - This show was a surprisingly good series modeled after a mediocre (if not fun) film of the same name. Sara Michelle Gellar is Buffy and she slays vampires. But this series included some excellent writing (thanks to Joss Whedon) and some memorable characters (thanks to the above as well as Seth Green and Alyson Hannigan to name a few). It was dark, yet fun and lasted a long time due to the enormous cult following it managed to pick up. Seth Green’s lovable werewolf character was one of my favorites. See if you can guess why.
2. Friday the 13th The Series (1987-1990) - It has absolutely no relation to the film series of the same name. It may surprise most of you that this show is as high on the list as it is. But it has a sentimental hold on me. The story is simple. A curio shop owner had some nasty dealings with the devil, now all the items he sold are cursed. It falls onto his niece and nephew (along with Jack Marshak) to reclaim all the items before anyone else dies. The kicker is that the cursed items all offer the owner some special power in exchange for innocent lives. You can imagine these people were rarely willing to just hand them over. It used to air late at night along with Monsters and Tales from the Darkside. That was the perfect Deadly Triumvirate as far as I was concerned.
1. Kolchak: The Nightstalker (1974-1975) - So I happen to not only be a big Darren McGavin fan, but this show is just fun. He is a reporter investigating strange occurrences involving the likes of werewolves, vampires and such. And as you would probably guess, his editor never believes him. Good times. Apart from being one of my favorite shows, I believe this show did a fantastic job of bringing horror elements into the everyday. And we can use all the good props we can get.
Honorable Mention:
The X-Files - I’m sure to catch Hell because this didn’t make my Top Ten but so what? I give it an honorable mention because (1) it was really more sci-fi most of the time and (2) it really wasn’t my favorite. I loved the first few seasons when they were doing some hardcore monster hunting, but the convoluted storyline of later seasons lost my interest. Just gimme the monsters. The end.
Reaper - I really, really, really wanted to put this in the ten, but I just couldn’t make it fit, damn it all. I love this show so much but I guess I can justify the HM because it is really an outright comedy. I fear for this show because the ones I love never seem to last too long, but it has two seasons under its belt so we shall see. Who knew working for the devil could be so much fun? And I have to add that if I ever did encounter the Prince of Darkness, I hope he is as wry and charming as Ray Wise. He almost makes an eternity of suffering seem not so bad.
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[…] And I am not referring to the Christina Ricci film even if it was pretty decent and funny. If you were unaware, that movie was based on a dark little comedy from the sixties. Hey I love it so much I have 3 cats named Fester, … Source: Top Ten Horror Themed Series […]