AMC is getting us excited (and creeped out) with this trailer for its new series The Walking Dead, from producer/writer/director Frank Darabont and based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book about a zombie apocalypse. The series debuts, fittingly, on Halloween at 10pm as part of AMC’s Fearfest horror marathon. The premiere is 90 minutes; subsequent episodes will be an hour long.
By Elaine Bergstrom
HBO has launched a new True Blood Twitter Microsite that will allow True Blood fans to have live conversations with other viewers while watching new episodes of Season 3 every Sunday. Fans visiting www.bloodcopy.com will find a True Blood-centric destination where they can share favorite moments, view popular topics, win prizes and more.
Weekly “hosts” will be tweeting during each episode, initiating conversations, interacting with fans and facilitating giveaways. During this Sunday’s season premiere, fans will have the chance to win Ultimate Truebie prize packs and unlock virtual badges by tweeting while they watch. Surprise 
hosts for future episodes will be announced over the next few weeks. Other features of the microsite include a customized Trending Topics (“Blood Topics”) of the most popular keywords in True Blood Tweets; the ability to sort, search and categorize the True Blood conversation; full Twitter functionality including sign-in and URL shortener directly from the site; and a spoiler alert pop-up screen warning visitors that crucial elements of the show may be revealed.
HBO.com and HBO On Demand are also airing all the True Blood minisodes. Some are hilarious, others creepy. My personal favorite is seeing Bill fending off the unwanted advances of a wedding ring saleswoman in the video posted here. To be fair, he does have an awfully pretty physique.
Legion is a terrifying vision of the Apocalypse from writer/director Scott Stewart (Priest). As mankind destroys itself in a savage fury, a small group of peple trapped on the edge of nowhere prepare to make a last stand, with the help of a mysterious and powerful stranger. Dennis Quaid, Charles S. Dutton, Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Tyrese Gibson, Adrianne Palicki and Kate Walsh star.
Stewart’s rewrite of the original script takes a “less is more” approach to the horror elements. “The original was a more explicit, ‘we’re going to show you everything,’ way of telling the story, as opposed to, ‘we’re going to keep you in the dark for a while,’” he says. “Darkness is the scariest thing. The anticipation of the scare is better than the scare itself. You want to tighten the screws all the time as a filmmaker and ratchet up the tension.
By Elaine Bergstrom 
Some of my fondest childhood memories were watching the classic Universal Studios horror films of the ’40s and ’50s at the local theater and on Ghoulardi’s late-night horror film screenings. One of the films I saw was the Lon Chaney Jr. classic The Wolf Man, and it was one of my favorites.
Thankfully, the werewolf may have made some smoother and more elaborate transformations thanks to modern special effects, but the tone of the stories – a noble human doomed by a curse and an unfortunate bite – has stayed the same in films such as An American Werewolf in London, Wolf and Universal’s dark, moody and star-studded Wolf Man update, The Wolfman.
By Elaine Bergstrom
Before vampires became really hot again – call it “The Twilight Factor” – there were other fanged heroes whose shows came and went in the time it takes a creature of the night to shift to bat form. Among them was Moonlight, featuring the recently immortal private eye Mick St. John who used wit and his powerful vampire abilities to help the living (is anyone else remembering Angel or Nick Knight?).
Mick was turned 60 years earlier by his bride, Coraline. Unlike others of his kind, he does not view humans as merely food. In Moonlight, he falls in love with a woman whose life he had saved years earlier, leading to deadly complications for both of them.
Moonlight will air Thursday nights at 9pm ET beginning June 3, preceded by encore episodes of The Vampire Diaries.
By Elaine Bergstrom
With the new season premiering on HBO on June 13, the creators have prepared a little snack for fans: a series of six original minisodes. The first one – which pays homage to the audition section of American Idol and, in an odd way to Twin Peaks – features Eric and Pam auditioning exotic dancers for Fangtasia. It premiered yesterday at www.hbo.com (and is posted here as well). HBO plans to release a new online minisode every Sunday night after the 8pm encore presentations of Season 2 on HBO.
“The minisodes provide a wonderful and rare opportunity to take a deeper look into Bon Temps and the characters that live in this colorful town,” says Alan Ball, creator and executive producer of True Blood. ”The scenes are so much fun, and the performances as stellar as always. I can’t wait to share them with everyone, old fans and new.”
“We can’t think of a better way to quench fans’ thirst for True Blood than to give them six, entirely new minisodes that let them step back into the amazing world created by Alan Ball,” said Zach Enterlin, VP of advertising and promotion at HBO. ”The minisodes are a perfect way to reward fans of the series while simultaneously exposing new, interested viewers to the show.”
The minisodes were shot on location by the series’ production team and feature lead characters Sookie, Bill, Eric, Tara, Sam, Jason, Lafayette, Jessica and Pam in all new, original scenes with a nod to past and future storylines. The 3-5 minute minisodes promise to entice “Trubies” as well as potential viewers with scenes that will whet their appetites for things to come.
As one who has delved deeply into vampire lore and who loves the culture of Louisiana, I can’t wait to watch and comment on the new season. In the meantime, a sip of True Blood is a great way to whet the appetite!
Wendell Pierce plays Antoine Batiste in HBO's "Treme"
By Stacey Harrison
It’s usually hyperbole to say that an actor was born to play a certain part, but in the case of Wendell Pierce and Treme, it might just be true.
David Simon and Eric Overmyer, creators of the New Orleans-based drama that debuted on HBO on Sunday and has already been renewed for a second season, wrote the role of Antoine Batiste specifically for the gregarious actor, who is best known for his role as cigar-chomping homicide cop Bunk Moreland on The Wire. A New Orleans native, Pierce knew the rhythms of the city and the characters, and has been intimately involved with helping his hometown rebuild after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Treme tells of the recovery by weaving together a tapestry of characters who are trying to make sense of their new realities and figuring out how New Orleans can live again.
Pierce spoke with me recently about his deep connection with the show, and what Hollywood just doesn’t get about New Orleans:
David Simon and Eric Overmyer said they created the role of Antoine just for you, so does that give you more leeway to forge the character as you see fit, or do you feel more compelled to give them what they want?
Wendell Pierce: We’ve been basically on the same side with the character. But to have someone write a role for you is a highlight for an actor’s career. It’s a great honor. I was flattered and humbled that they would think of me for a role, especially in a show like Treme, which is about my hometown, the city that I love. So it becomes more than a job, it becomes a great responsibility. It becomes this great cathartic moment, especially in this time for New Orleans when we’re trying to recover, and to have this opportunity to bring the character and this show to life while I’m also struggling with developments and trying to bring my neighborhood back to life. In our darkest hour, I feel it’s like a bright, shining light. [Read more →]
By Mike Frey
Before we get started with this week’s recap — which, is already late (sorry) — here’s a reminder that Glee is now on hiatus until spring 2010. New episodes are slated to start airing April 13 on FOX. Also, the show’s second soundtrack, Glee — The Music, Vol. 2, was released this week, so head over to iTunes to download it. Now, on with the show.
Dex and Harry, his real dark passenger
By Elaine Bergstrom
I’m blogging from Cleveland this week where the front news coverage is all about Anthony Sowell, dubbed “The Cleveland Strangler.” Seeing his victims smiling in old photos on the front page of the Plain Dealer and watching the local news cams hovering over the police and the search dogs hunting for more bodies or the prayer vigils being held almost nightly in the community in which Sowell found his victims, my thoughts move to the Ice Truck Killer, to Trinity and to the Bay Harbor Butcher, Dex himself. [Read more →]
Whether you’re looking for hardcore horror, family-friendly frights, or something in between, here’s a selection of some of the shows and movies to get you in a macabre mood this Halloween season. For more detail on the scary movies listed here, and to search for others throughout the month, visit our online movie database.
Goosebumps — Cartoon Network, weekdays at 4:30pm ET through Oct. 29. Episodes from all three seasons of the show that adapted R.L. Stine’s spooky book series for television.
The Othersiders – Cartoon Network, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30pm ET; entire week of episodes Oct. 26-30, culminating in special episode Oct. 30 at 9pm ET. Twelve new episodes of this series, in which five young friends investigate haunted locations, air this month. In a one-hour presentation on Oct. 30, the gang visits the abandoned prison Alcatraz to check out reports of ghostly activity. [Read more →]
