Television shows with mostly tongue-in-cheek scary stuff
The Addams Family 64 episodes (1964-66) 30m
Kooky and creepy, this show was one of two gothic sitcoms to premiere in 1964. John Astin and Carolyn Jones star as Gomez and Morticia Addams - presiding over a mansion of weirdos including Uncle Fester, Cousin Itt, Thing and two kids with scary pets (an octopus and a spider). Remains popular in frequent reruns.
A more family-oriented gothic sitcom than its main rival - The Addams Family. The show follows the misadventures of the Munster family consisting of the Frankenstein look-alike Herman, vampires Lily and Grandpa, werewolf son Eddie and Marilyn - the plain one. The humour was somewhat sophomoric, but had wide appeal.
Dark Shadows 1225 episodes (1966-71) 30m
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Gothic soap opera about all sorts of night crawlers - like ghosts, vampires and werewolves. Like most daytime dramas of the time the production values were pretty tacky, but this didn't stop it from developing a legion of dedicated shadowers. A 1991 big-budget primetime attempt to revive the show lacked the original's soul.
The Ghosts of Motley Hall 20 episodes (1976-78) 30m
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Creator Richard Carpenter followed up his successful Catweazle series with this super-supernatural children's sitcom about a dilapidated mansion and its five ghostly inhabitants. When not picking on each other, the spirits would inevitably turn their collective attentions towards scaring of prospective buyers of Motley Hall.
Tales From the Darkside 90 episodes + movie (1983-88) 30m
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Name actors that had seen better days regularly feature in this anthology series boasting scripts adapted from stories by the likes of Harlan Ellison, Stephen King and Clive Barker. Very much in the Twilight Zone vein, modern audiences probably won't find too much that is truly scary here given it was made for TV in 1980s.
Tales From the Crypt 93 episodes + 3 movies (1989-96) 30m
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The rather bizarre EC horror comics from the 1950s provided the inspiration for this fun series. Each week the Crypt Keeper (a puppet) introduces another offbeat ghoulish story that inevitably ends with a twist. Highly successful series that spawned movies, a cartoon series, mountains of merchandise and even a gameshow.
Dracula 21 episodes (1990-91) 30m
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Two American boys end up living in Europe with their uncle, who they learn is a vampire hunter. Of course, the local rich guy turns out to be none other than the notorious Count Dracula himself. The boys join their uncle in trying to put a stop to the Count's evil doings. Short-lived Canadian series that failed to inspire.
Goosebumps 74 episodes (1995-98) 30m
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Based on R L Stine's popular children's books, Goosebumps was a delightful and not-too-scary anthology show where just about anything could and did happen. Green goo goes wild, a toy town is full of horrors - and all sorts of ghosts, monsters and other scary things regularly cause havoc of some kind. Loads of fun for all ages.
