Ghosts of Halloweens past return to the screen

It has been 75 years since Bela Lugosi descended that massive castle staircase and announced in no uncertain terms, “I am Dracula!”

It has been 65 years since Lon Chaney Jr. let out his inner wolf and tore up the scenery as “The Wolf Man.”

It has been 40 years since little Linus sat in that sincere pumpkin patch for the first network broadcast of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”; 20 years since Jeff Goldblum went all buggy in the remake of “The Fly”; and 10 years since Wes Craven had a bloody good time making audiences “Scream.”

And they’re all coming to visit this Halloween season. Ghosts of the past will swirl around you over the next two weeks, vying for your attention along with new television tricks and treats planned by network and cable programmers.

Here are some of the things TV is scaring up for you:

““Friday the 13th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan,” today, 7 p.m., Bravo: Jason is the class cutup for this 1989 film about a school trip.

““Ghost Whisperer,” today, 8 p.m., CBS: This Halloween episode puts Melinda (Jennifer Love Hewitt) on the trail of a confused spirit who says he is in the wrong grave.

““Return to Halloweentown,” today, 8 p.m., Disney Channel: Sara Paxton has the lead role in the fourth installment of the family-friendly film franchise featuring teen witch Marnie Piper.

““The Sixth Sense,” today, 8 p.m., ABC Family: Haley Joel Osment sees dead people in M. Night Shyamalan’s horror hit (repeats at 8 p.m. Oct. 31).

““Vampire Marathon,” today, 5 p.m., Turner Classic Movies: A slate of vampire movies includes “Mark of the Vampire” (1935) at 5; “The Return of the Vampire” (1943) at 6:15; “Vampyr” (1932) at 7:30; and “House of Dark Shadows” (1970) at 9.

““Even Scarier Movie Moments,” today, 9 p.m., Bravo: This two-hour special is a countdown to the most chilling scenes in fright films.

““Interview With the Vampire,” today, 11:35 p.m., The Movie Channel: Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise star in the 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice’s novel.

““Scream,” Saturday, 4:10 a.m., HBO: Craven slyly mixes humor and horror in this film that cleverly plays on the established gimmicks in horror films.

““Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed,” Saturday, 8 and 10 p.m., ABC Family: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Linda Cardellini and Matthew Lillard return for the second “Scooby” movie with live actors and a computer-animated dog.

““Monsterfest X,” Sunday-Oct. 31, AMC: The cable channel’s 10-day marathon of monster movies begins at 11:30 a.m. Sunday with Goldblum’s 1986 version of “The Fly.”

““The Initiation of Sarah,” Sunday, 8 p.m., ABC Family: Mika Boorem, Summer Glau, Morgan Fairchild and Jennifer Tilly star in this remake of the 1978 TV movie about a sorority girl with mysterious powers. (Frightening footnote: Fairchild was in the original film.)

““Five Nights of Fright,” Monday-Oct. 27, 5 p.m., Biography Channel: Each night, the channel offers a new spooky profile: Lugosi on Monday, “The Munsters” on Tuesday, Boris Karloff on Wednesday, Linda Blair on Thursday and Carolyn Jones on Friday.

““The Class,” Monday, 8:30 p.m., CBS: The rookie comedy’s Halloween episode gets rolling when Kat (Lizzy Caplan) criticizes the Superman costume worn by Ethan (Jason Ritter).

““CSI: Miami,” Monday, 10 p.m., CBS: With Halloween approaching, the team investigates a case involving voodoo.

““It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” Oct. 27, 8 p.m., ABC: The 40th anniversary showing of the classic “Peanuts” Halloween special.

““Shriekin’ Weekend,” begins Oct. 27, 7 p.m., Nickelodeon: The lineup includes new Halloween episodes of “Mr. Meaty” (8:30 p.m., Oct. 27), “The X’s” (9 p.m., Oct. 27) and “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” (7:30 p.m., Oct. 29).

““Night of the Living Dead,” Oct. 27, 8 p.m., Encore: The zombie classic will be followed at 9:45 p.m. by the film version of Stephen King’s “The Dark Half.”

““Masters of Horror,” Oct. 27, 10 p.m., Showtime: The horror anthology series begins its second season.

““The Omen,” Oct. 28, 8 p.m., Encore: The horror film about a devil of a kid will be followed at 10 p.m. by “Damien: Omen II.”

““Pumpkinhead III: Ashes to Ashes,” Oct. 28, 9 p.m., Sci Fi Channel: The horror franchise gets new life (and death) with this installment starring fright veteran Lance Henriksen (“Aliens,” “Scream 3,” Millennium”).

““Scariest Places on Earth,” Oct. 29, 8 and 9 p.m., ABC Family: Two new episodes follow ghost hunters to the Moundsville prison in West Virginia and a family to Bathory Castle, home of the Blood Countess.

““The House Next Door,” Oct. 30, 9 p.m., Lifetime: Lara Flynn Boyle, Colin Ferguson and Mark-Paul Gosselaar cope with an evil house in this cable film based on the novel by Anne Rivers Siddons.

““NCIS,” Oct. 31, 8 p.m., CBS: The team investigates the attempted murder of a Marine and the apparent kidnapping of his daughter on Halloween.

““Ghost Hunters Halloween Special,” Oct. 31, 11 p.m., Sci Fi Network: The series goes live for a visit to Colorado’s Stanley Hotel.

““Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film,” Oct. 31, 11 p.m., Starz: The Halloween showing of the documentary about the work of Craven and other slasher specialists.

““The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” Oct. 31, 11:35 p.m., NBC: Marilyn Manson makes his “Tonight Show” debut on Halloween night.

““Jericho,” Nov. 1, 8 p.m., CBS: The new show fields a seasonal episode about the isolated town preparing for a traditional Halloween.

““The Simpsons,” Nov. 5, 8 p.m., Fox: The “Treehouse of Horror XVII” trilogy features the guest voices of Dr. Phil McGraw, Fran Drescher and Richard Lewis.