|
The Best Documentaries and Specials for Halloween Viewing
 The
Haunted History of Halloween
 Over the years much has been written
and televised regarding the history
and origins of Halloween. From books to television
documentaries and many web sites,
people have tried to offer explanations for this long
lived celebration, usually with biased opinions and blatant
inaccuracies.
This changed in 1997 when the History Channel produced a
well researched and unprejudiced documentary titled, "The
Haunted History of Halloween".
Host Harry Smith leads us on a three-thousand year old tour through the history of the
quintessentially pagan holiday which has survived to become one of America's most popular
cultural holidays where on October 31, when pint-sized ghouls and goblins knock on
doors, they're actually carrying on a tradition that goes
back thousands of years to the Celtic tribes of northern
Europe. For centuries this night has celebrated mystery and
chaos, a time between summer and winter, a time between life
and death.
You will discover how trick or treat originated in ancient Ireland's
harvest festivals, when food and sweets were offered to
entice the dead to stay in the spirit world. See how
Christianity tried to co-opt the celebration by turning it
into All Saints Day. The Haunted
History of Halloween is a delicious journey into the
enchanting past of the spookiest night of the year. History
Channel - Original Airdate: 1997.
The
Real Story of Halloween
Halloween began centuries ago as a pagan holiday that
honored the dead that warned of a netherworld of spirits and
ghosts. Today, Halloween has morphed into a day for breaking
rules, pushing boundaries and wearing disguises. But
Halloween remains a time for us to deal with our own
mortality. Our modern Halloween traditions have ancient
roots – people were going door to door and begging for
treats on Halloween night as far back as the Middle Ages.
We may think our Halloween celebrations are crazy, but those
in the past
have been wilder and more dangerous than they are now.
During the depression, Halloween became so violent and
destructive that civil authorities had to step in and
prevent wide-spread vandalism in cities across America.
Their solution, the ritual of "trick or treat," now
generates $2 billion dollars in candy sales each season. And
these days adults get dressed up for the holiday almost as
much as kids do. But no matter how many jack-o-lanterns get
carved or kids yell "trick-or-treat!" Halloween is still all
about the "scare." Two thousand years and counting, and we
still like to be scared on the night of October 31. History
Channel - 2010
 Modern
Marvels: Halloween Tech
Here come all the scary, gory, and sugary things that make
Halloween a $6 billion powerhouse. Get a behind-the-scenes
look at Knott’s Berry Farm’s 35th annual Halloween Haunt.
See the manufacturing of Hollywood-caliber monster make-up
and learn how to apply it like the pros. Watch scary latex
masks cranked out by the tens of thousands and get a sneak
peak at the hottest costumes past and present.
Every year we nibble on over a billion kernels of Candy Corn, carve over 400
million pounds of pumpkin for the most extreme jack-o-lanterns
ever made, watch how hundreds of
gallons of fake blood get manufactured, and visit a haunted
house with an annual attendance of over 50,000 that’ll have
you screaming for mercy. History Channel - Original Airdate:
2008
Halloween
Crazy
From a terror Mecca to a Zombie Prom, flip through pictures
of the biggest and most shocking of what Halloween has to
offer including the Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati, the
Darkness haunted house in St. Louis, the Philly Zombie Prom
and San Jose’s Psycho Donuts. First part of a three year trilogy. Travel Channel -
Original Airdate: October, 2011
Halloween
Crazier
Just when you thought it was safe, Halloween’s getting even
crazier! We’re exploring the attractions and events that
take this haunt-filled holiday over the top. Get ready to
brave a freaky mental hospital on the open sea, compete in a
pumpkin racecar derby and flee from zombies through an
insane 5K obstacle course! No matter how you celebrate, one
thing’s for sure: these Halloween favorites will leave you
screaming for more! Travel Channel - Original Airdate:
October 07, 2012
Halloween
Craziest
This special features the most terrifying, extreme and
absolute best of what Halloween has to offer. From America's
scariest, no-holds-barred haunted house in San Diego, to
British Columbia's pumpkin drop celebration, each
destination is more frightening and fun than the last!
Travel Channel - Original Airdate: October 13, 2013
Halloween
Tricked Out
From California to West Virginia, Florida to New Jersey and
back again, Halloween Tricked out visits the most amazing
haunts and homegrown Halloween installations in the country.
We show viewers unique ways to spookify their spaces,
increasing their scare-factor a thousand times over.
Whether it's a man in West
Virginia that carves three thousand pumpkins to display around his
home, a dairy farm in New Jersey that features a terrifying
haunted hayride like no other, a Halloween-lovin' couple in
Florida that go all out when decorating the interior of
their home, a backyard haunt that boggles the mind in
California, or a scream-worthy haunted corn maze in North
Carolina, these Halloween features are sure to both inspire
and astound. HGTV - Original Airdate: October 2012
 Truth
or Scare
The True Story of Halloween
The television series it self chronicles famous hauntings,
spooky legends and paranormal phenomena from around the
world. It is hosted and narrated by actress Michelle
Trachtenberg. Presented for younger viewers, but fun for any
age.
In this episode, host Michelle Trachtenberg describes the
history of Halloween and traces modern-day traditions such
as trick-or-treating and bobbing for apples back to their
Celtic roots. Discovery Kids network.
America:
Facts vs. Fiction - Trick or Treat and The Real Edgar Allan
Poe
We don't always know the truth behind what scares us. On this episode of America's Facts Vs. Fictions, learn that
today's version of
Halloween isn't all that ancient and in segment two, that
writer Edgar
Allan Poe was not the madman that others have made him out to
be. AHC - Original Airdate: 2013
Halloween's Most Extreme
Every
autumn a frightening fever sweeps the nation from its
biggest cities to its smallest towns. It's the annual
opening of eerie exhibitions: Haunted houses, creepy mazes
and frightening fairs. Abandoned prisons and decrepit cruise
ships re-create scary scenes and tales of terror for chill
seekers to enjoy. Each year there are new trends in the
business of fear, including live performances by actors
trained to terrify even the toughest customers. These
attractions have morphed beyond the neighborhood haunted
house and have become popular tourist destinations across
the country. They showcase huge record-breaking pumpkins and
take you through the world’s largest Halloween superstore.
From big to just plain bizarre, our whirlwind tour of
“Halloween’s Most Extreme” continues with a glimpse inside
the most unique customs around the nation, including
Halloween weddings, coffin racing and underwater pumpkin
carving. Travel Channel - 27 October 2007
Halloween...The
Happy Haunting of America
This 1997 documentary contains interviews with various horror
movie icons and pokes fun at the horror movie industry and
the horror culture in general.
Hosts Daniel Roebuck and Bob Burns take the audience on a
ghastly and entertaining tour of some of the greatest
haunted houses around the country. It features 40 of the
greatest horror attractions in America and is a mix of
laughs and screams. Original Airdate: 1997
The
American Scream
 A Chiller Channel original documentary,
the American Scream
centers around a small town in Massachusetts where the community
takes creating their own haunted houses very seriously. An
look at the Halloween cultural phenomenon of
homemade haunted houses and the enthusiasts behind them.
Filmed in the sleepy enclave of Fairhaven, MA, The American
Scream follows the creative minds behind three local
homemade haunts and their passionate - and sometimes
harrowing - efforts in igniting their town's Halloween
spirit each year. Original Airdate: 2012.
Playboy:
Hef's Halloween Spooktacular
Join Hef and friends at the world's greatest Halloween party
- Hef's Halloween Spooktacular - at the Playboy Mansion. See
how Hef turns the Playboy Mansion into the most haunted
house in America one night a year. Meet the Playboy
Playmates, Hef's girlfriends Holly, Bridget & Kendra and
celebrity guests as they party all night in costumes that
will blow you away.
Get ready for a naughty-licious,
ghoulish romp at The Playboy Mansion Macabre! Join Hostess
Elvira, the mistress of the dark, and a host of celebrity
guests. There are a bevy of Playmates in eye-popping
costumes that mysteriously begin to disappear. Boo! Contains
some nudity. Original Airdate: 2005
|
