Face it, Halloween just ain’t the same this year. Best to stay in and keep the horror films coming. On Turner Classic Movies, that means a day that begins with Ted Browning’s “Freaks” (6 a.m.) and continues with “House of Wax” (9 a.m.), “Children of the Damned” (10:45 a.m.), “The Bad Seed” (12:30 p.m.), “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (2:45 p.m.), “The Wolf Man” (4:45 p.m.), pictured above, and “The Haunting” (6 p.m.).
In prime time, they’ve got some nuclear terror with “Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (8 p.m.) and “Them!” (10 p.m.), followed by “The Seventh Victim” (midnight), “I Walked with a Zombie” (1:30 a.m.) and “The Body Snatcher” (3 a.m.).
It’s the perfect night for “Eli Roth’s History of Horror” (AMC, 10 p.m.), which tonight studies witches.
Or a better than usual night for a two hour “Ghost Nation” (Travel, 8 p.m.) or “Destination Fear” (Travel, 10 p.m.).
But some networks just don’t know how to celebrate a holiday. Can’t they think of even one Halloween romantic movie? Instead here’s the Christmas themed “One Royal Holiday” (Hallmark, 8 p.m.) and “Candy Cane Christmas” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.).
Here’s an offering with elements of both days; The horror flick “Black Christmas” (HBO, 8 p.m.), making its premium cable debut.