Having grown up in New England, my favorite time of year is undoubtedly the fall. Unless you live in the area, it’s a feeling that is hard to explain. There’s something in the air †a crispness, almost †that signals something is coming. The treetops become an amazing palate of oranges, reds and yellows, and the smell of burning fireplaces rides the breeze. And another good thing that comes with the fall †Halloween. As a kid of course I looked forward to trick or treating and gathering as much candy as I possibly could, but when I grew out of that stage I didn’t appreciate Halloween again until I was old enough to start throwing parties. Suddenly, dressing up in costumes was fun again (albeit the alcohol is a factor in that enjoyment.) Honestly, I can’t imagine living anywhere else during this time of year. Being a fan of horror movies and all the things that go bump, this is the time of year when I can really appreciate all there is to offer. American Movie Classics usually runs a block of programming called â€Fearfest†(formerly â€Monster Festâ€) where they show marathons of horror movies, including the Friday the 13th saga, some movies from the Halloween series, and other gems from the 80’s. There’s something silly and addicting about these movies when they come on TV. As terrible as most of them are, I just can’t help but watch. Back when this was called â€Monster Festâ€, they used to skew towards the older movies; now they tend to show a lot of crappy B-movies from the last few years. Still, there’s something comforting about coming home and flipping on AMC and wondering what they’ll show next. For those of you still young at heart (like me) ABC Family shows the â€13 Days of Halloweenâ€, almost a full two weeks of Halloween programming geared towards kids and families. They have been running this marathon for over 10 years now and I’m sure this year will be no exception. They usually show such family favorites as Hocus Pocus, Casper, Beetlejuice, The Addams Family, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride, Poltergeist, and The Haunted Mansion, plus the fan-favorite haunted house exploration series â€Scariest Places on Earth.†These are great to watch with your kids (though they do sometimes show movies such as The Sixth Sense that might be a little too spooky for the little ones.) Sometimes I’ll put on ABC Family in the background just for the sheer atmosphere that all these Halloween movies bring. Now, I don’t get scared of horror movies like I used to when I was a kid, but I do enjoy the nostalgia. And as sad as I am to see summer go (seriously, it feels like it just started), I am definitely looking forward to the change in the weather and the foliage. I hope to also make a trip to Salem, MA this year. Nothing else sums up fall in New England quite like Salem at Halloween time. ABC Family is also responsible for another holiday marathon †â€25 Days of Christmas.†Now I’ll admit, I am not a fan of the snow and ice, but I do love the weeks in December leading up to my favorite holiday. Yes it does seem to be a lot of buildup for ONE day, but the buildup is the fun part. Shopping for gifts, holiday music on the radio †all of these things that remind us that it’s a special time of the year that only comes around once. And despite the commercialism and occasional stress, Christmas is the one holiday that really makes me reflect on simpler times, when I could believe in things that weren’t humanly possible. As someone who wanted to hold on to my childhood for as long as possible, it always makes me a little warm and fuzzy inside to see all the Christmas specials on TV, especially the ones that I used to watch when I was a kid (namely â€Garfield's Christmas Special†and â€Mickey's Christmas Carolâ€, two of my favorites). They start the programming on the first week of December and continue up through Christmas Day. The last few years they have started showing programming that is arguably NOT Christmas themed (for example Harry Potter, Cars, The Incredibles, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) when they should really be focusing on the Christmas specials that we haven’t seen since our childhood. I understand Harry Potter is popular, but they can show that any time of the year. Christmas comes only once! And just a note †I don’t know why I watch the Jim Carrey version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas every time it’s on. What is wrong with me? â€Tis the season, I suppose. Now about that redhead stepchild called Easterâ€.ehhh, never mind. It’s not even worth it. ABC Family can be found on channel 180 on Dish Network. AMC is channel 130. Some other channels of note for both Halloween and Christmas programming would be SyFy (channel 122), the Hallmark Channel (channel 185), and the Disney Channel (channel 172). By: Frank Bilotta
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