Horror and science fiction have always been a part of the television canvas, and constant attempts have been made over the years to produce classic entertainment. Some have fallen by the wayside, while others became mainstream phenomena. With “TV Terrors,” we take a look back at the many genre efforts from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s, exploring some shows that became cult classics, and others that sank in to obscurity.

Aired in 1990, 1991, and 1992

Aired on WPIX

“A Live Audience! This is going to be reeeaaallly scary!”

One of the things I miss most about old school television is the novelty programming. A lot of times during the weekends you could find some kind of novelty program airing, whether it was a magic show, a talent show, or a stand up comedy presentation. One year there was a martial arts awards show, and yes, there was even “The Horror Hall of Fame.”

Long before the “Fangoria Chainsaw Awards,” and the “Spike TV Horror Awards” came and went, “The Horror Hall of Fame” was the place to be for horror buffs to celebrate all things horror and fantasy for a few hours. As a kid who ate up everything horror related, watching these ceremonies every year before Halloween was an absolute treat. Being seven at the time, I was never allowed to read “Fangoria,” so I got my fix by watching some grue and gore, and learning about some of the greatest horror masters that ever lived through these specials.

One of my fondest Halloween memories was in 1991 when my mom recorded the airing of “Halloween Hall of Fame II” on VHS the night before. Shortly after school, she allowed us to watch the recording, and then we darted out immediately after for some trick or treating fun.

“The Horror Hall of Fame” was long before the internet would become a common function for every household, so not only did “The Horror Hall of Fame” take time to honor the greats, but you also came to get educated in classic and contemporary horror. “The Horror Hall of Fame” fancied itself as something of a horror version of the Oscars, where everything horror and fantasy was celebrated, with none of the snobby judges and elitism. Anything from classic Universal to gore masterpieces like “Re-Animator” was fair game, and the ceremonies were orchestrated by none other than MC and master showman, Robert Englund.

Considered an all star celebration of terror, “The Horror Hall of Fame” was held at the Universal Studios back lot in Florida and did a bang up job of invoking the feeling of a genuine awards ceremony. “The Horror Hall of Fame” aired for three years in the nineties, and every time we were given a unique experience that explored all mediums of the genre from comic books, magazines, and novels, to (mainly) cinema. And yes, there were also some cheesy gags, here and there.

There were genuine award statues handed out to many horror masters, and the presentations were always top notch. Roger Corman presented an award to Sara Karloff, honoring her father Boris Karloff, and Danny Pintauro along with Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) presented Russell Streiner and John Russo with an award for “Night of the Living Dead.” Believe it or not there was even an examination of foreign horror presented by Chucky in a tuxedo. One year Big Bob the Spider from “Arachnophobia” accepted the award for Best Film!

In the following ceremonies, there were also tributes and retrospective for EC Comics, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Bela Lugosi, Alfred Hitchcock, Universal Studios (presented by Elvira!), and Freddy Krueger, who’d “died” in 1991. “The Horror Hall of Fame” never took itself too seriously, which is what contributed to the fun. One moment we’d watch a ten minute dissection of “The Exorcist” and its cultural influence (as narrated by Robert Englund) with the award accepted by Jason Miller; the next moment we’d watch the show close with a dance number by the Crypt Kickers to Bobby Boris Pickett’s “The Monster Mash.”

The second “The Horror Hall of Fame” opened to Robert Englund cleverly transplanted in to the famous playground scene in “The Birds,” and who can forget the much celebrated Special Effects Segment with Jeff Johnson and wife Linnea Quigley? Those segments stuck with me forever as they were hilarious, morbid, and introduced me to Quigley. They also truly revealed the artistry behind special effects, as Johnson showed off some of his more elaborate stunts and also showed audiences how to create their own effects at home with household products.

The final ceremony in 1992 was much less fun and much more based around promoting brand new horror films in theaters and on VHS. Englund shared hosting duties with the Cryptkeeper. Although Englund swore that we’d be seeing a “Horror Hall of Fame IV” very soon, Universal never delivered and the ceremonies became rare, distant memories for nostalgic horror fans.

It’s sad, because we needed “The Horror Hall of Fame.” And it goes without saying, since the Oscars often snub the horror genre entirely, that we still do. “The Horror Hall of Fame” took every opportunity to grab what we loved about horror and put it out there for both hardcore horror geeks and a broader audience looking for a late night Halloween treat; it was a true celebration of the genre, on the grand stage for all to see. And it’s dearly missed.

Is It On DVD/Blu-Ray? With rights issues as they are, I highly doubt we’ll ever see HD releases on DVD or Blu-Ray, but you can find the shows over on YouTube.