Channel surfing, skin crawling

TV networks brew up spooky Halloween episodes

"Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula" stars Rudolph Martin out for blood

NEW YORK -- Are those cackles coming from the TV?

It's five days until Halloween, and the networks have scared up some must-scream TV for your chilling and thrilling pleasure.

The Fox Family, ABC and the USA Network are just a few of the networks unveiling creepy specials in the days leading up to October 31.

For the kids, there's the Disney original movie, "Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire," starring Caroline Rhea and Charles Shaughnessy. It has a plot with teeth: A brother and sister set up mom up on a blind date with, well É a fellow with some odd dietary needs.

SCHEDULE: • 'Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire,' Disney Channel, October 28 at 3 p.m. ET and October 29 at 9 p.m. ET • 'Scariest Places on Earth,' Fox Family, October 27 at 9 p.m. ET • 'Two Guys & a Girl,' ABC, October 27 at 8 p.m ET • 'That '70s Show,' Fox, October 31, 8 p.m. ET • 'The World's Scariest Ghosts: Caught on Tape,' ABC October 28 at 10 p.m. ET • 'Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula,' USA Network, October 31, 9 p.m, 1 a.m ET

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The Fox Family Channel is airing "Scariest Places on Earth," a week-long special hosted by a certain someone familiar with head-turning sights and frights -- Linda Blair. Yes, that Linda Blair, who turned from darling to demonic in 1973's "The Exorcist."

Blair gives her terrorizing travelogue a thumbs-up. "There are things that I saw on the tape that I thought were pretty unbelievable," she said.

Bad luck abounds over on ABC, where the featured stars in "Two Guys & a Girl" make the mistake of banning an acquaintance from their Halloween bash. She responds with a curse - the real thing, not an epithet.

"That '70s Show" on Fox pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock with an episode that owes more than a bit of inspiration to "The Birds" (1963), "Vertigo" (1958), and of course, "Psycho" (1960).

But if you're serious about your ghosts and goblins, tune into "The World's Scariest Ghosts: Caught on Tape," on ABC. Narrated by actor James Coburn, the show boasts video and still pictures that the network claims are all kinds of poltergeists, apparitions and other-worldly things flitting about.

On the USA Network, blood-sucking fans can catch "Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula," starring Rudolph Martin as the fanged one. It also features rocker Roger Daltrey of The Who, who puts down his guitar in place of a crown as a Turkish king.

Will mom get a terminal case of love bites? Will the two guys and girl escape that curse? Are those spooks hovering around in your TV?

And those cackles; are they really coming from the TV?

Tune in.

CNN Correspondent Gloria Hillard contributed to this report

Evil in the air, evil on the screen
October 27, 2000

Disney Channel Program Guide
ABC: Two Guys & a Girl
USA Network: Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula
Fox: That '70s Show

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