Member Since: 5/14/2009
Posts: 34,871
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GooseBumps Returns As "The Haunting Hour"
Tonight:
Quote:
Long before "Twilight" or "The Vampire Diaries" captured the hearts of younger viewers, R.L. Stine was scaring the willies out of readers with his "Goosebumps" books - and then a TV show.
Stine is back with "The Haunting Hour," a series for The Hub, the family-friendly cable network that launched earlier this year. The shows are sure to hit a sweet spot with tween viewers not quite ready for the really scary stuff.
Launching Saturday at 8, the half-hour series (two episodes are shown at a time) is an anthology based on Stine's short stories.
Like most of Stine works, it's built around everyday family matters - life issues, really - that get a special scary twist.
The premiere episode, appropriately, has a Christmas theme.
The setting is a typical suburban home with a family settling in for the holidays. Early on, though, it's clear there are relationship strains between the parents that are being hidden from the children.
Before those can play out, one of the gifts under the tree comes alive, unleashing a creepy being seen first by the youngest child.
"There's a monster in the house," the kid tries to tell his parents, while breaking up an argument.
They ignore him. So does his older brother - until the creature slithers through his bed.
"It's all gnarly and scary and spits acid," the older brother tells their sister.
The monster looks like a miniature gargoyle and chases them through the house. Occasionally, it does spit acid, sort of the same way that Spewy the Alien did in a classic episode of the short-lived Chris Elliott series "Get a Life."
The family quickly becomes tormented by the creature - not to mention a massive snowstorm that has hit the neighborhood.
The story moves quickly, sometimes too fast, with plot points not always making sense.
Without giving anything away, the monster brings the family to a point where the parents are faced with talking to the kids about divorce.
"We're not going camping again," one kid says. "It doesn't feel like a family."
"You guys can tell us if you're getting a divorce," another says.
The parents confirm their problems, in a moment likely to hit home with younger members of the viewing audience whose families have split apart.
But before the moment gets too deep - this is a show for kids, after all - the gift monster is back wreaking havoc.
A note at the start of the episode warns that the show may be too scary for those under 7, and encourages families to watch together.
Likewise, "The Haunting Hour" is not "Masterpiece Theatre" deep, either, which is a good thing.
But it is a holiday episode, so one thing you don't have to fear is that there won't be a positive note at the end.
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I missed the season premiere last night but im gonna watch tha rerun later when it comes on tonight. My childhood has been revived
You can find out what channel it comes on in your area here:
http://www.hubworld.com/channel-locator
It comes on every Saturday @ 8:00PM. Two 30 Minute episodes
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