Day 28: Favorite Horror Anthology Series - Nightmares and Dreamscapes

Nightmares and Dreamscapes aired on TNT one summer, probably around 10 years ago, give or take a few. It's inspired by Stephen King's short stories (not all are from that particular collection though). It was 8 episodes long and most were very entertaining. My personal favorites were:

1. The End of the Whole Mess, a story about two brothers and one's attempt to "cure" violence, which ends horribly.
2. Crouch End - A very Lovecraftian tale about two newlyweds who end up in this hellish area.
3. You Know They Got a Hell of a Band - A couple finds a town called Rock and Roll Heaven and soon realizes that the ghosts of dead musicians (including Buddy Holly, which I think is why I really like this episode, if I'm being honest) inhabit it.

But the real standout is Battleground, a story about a hitman who is assaulted by toy soldiers. The reason this episode was so special is because it aired without commercials and I believe it was almost a full hour long. I sat there and watched the entire episode with my cousin, completely engrossed in it, and only after it ended did I say to him, "Hey, was there any dialogue in that episode??" While watching it, I never even realized that not one word was spoken the entire time. It was brilliant. The episode was so well done that you never notice until after it's already over and you have time to think about it.

This is an overall great collection of stories and if you're a fan of Stephen King's work, you would probably really appreciate it.

Honorable mention 1: Alfred Hitchcock Presents - With any long-running anthology series, there are bound to be hits and misses. Most of these episodes were pretty good though, notably "The Creeper" about a murderer who targets blonde women and "The Gentleman From America" about a man who takes a dare to spend the night in a haunted house.

Honorable mention 2: Night Gallery - I said it in a previous post, but Night Gallery is the horror version of The Twilight Zone and if you only ever watch one episode, I highly recommend "The Cemetery" from the series' pilot. This episode is about a painting that keeps changing, becoming more horrifying each time Roddy McDowall's character looks at it. I have a large poster of Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari hanging behind my bed and I'm always reminded of this episode whenever I look at it.

Honorable mention 3: Are You Afraid of the Dark? - This was a kid-friendly anthology series that was downright scary at times and prompted my fear of mirrors. With a wide range of episodes about everything from hungry hounds, to a pinball machine, to an all too real version of Nosferatu, there's something for everyone to enjoy.