Horror History: Wednesday, December 14, 1983: “The Hitchhiker” episode “Split Decision” premiered

Season 1 Episode 3

John ‘Jake’ McElhaney will do anything to make a sale, absolutely anything. Faced with losing his job, he decides to make his next sale really count, and thinks he has it made when he signs on to work for the Packard twins, two women who have problems sharing and so split everything directly down the middle. Frances makes it clear straight away that she likes Jake, but Jake also plays up to Priscilla, hoping to not only sell the house for the two women but sell each of them homes as well. Unfortunately, the bond between the sisters is stronger than any bond they could form with him.

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Horror History: Friday, December 2, 1983: Michael Jackson’s Thriller premiered

A night at the movies turns into a nightmare when Michael and his date are attacked by a hoard of bloodthirsty zombies – only a “Thriller” can save them now.

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Horror History: Wednesday, November 30, 1983: “The Hitchhiker” episode “When Morning Comes” premiered

Season 1 Episode 2

Bob is a married advertising executive who enjoys picking up women throughout his travels. After picking up a hitchhiker, he runs into a beautiful blonde who he ends up spending the night with. After hearing a report on the radio that there is an escaped blonde mental patient named Ann Marie Brown on the loose who enjoys slitting men’s throats, Bob becomes convinced that the woman he picked up is really the escaped mental patient, but things are not always as they seem.

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Horror History: Wednesday, November 23, 1983: “The Hitchhiker” episode “Shattered Vows” premiered

Season 1 Episode 1

Jeff Boder marries a much older woman to get at her fortune, but finds himself falling for her beautiful step-daughter. He uses a mysterious statuette he received from his grandmother to get rid of his wife, only to find that he must also pay the consequences for his actions.

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Horror History: Friday, November 18, 1983: Sleepaway Camp was released in theaters

After a terrible boating accident killed her family, shy Angela Baker is sent to Camp Arawak. Shortly after her arrival a series of bizarre and violent “accidents” begin to claim the lives of various campers.

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Horror History: Friday, November 11, 1983: The Beyond was released in US theaters

Italian horror master Lucio Fulci of supernatural horror. A remote hotel, built over one of the seven gateways to hell becomes a malevolent abyss that begins devouring both the bodies and the souls of all who enter in a frenzy of gory crucifixions, chunkblowing chain-whippings, eyeball impalements, sulphuric acid meltdowns, flesh-eating tarantulas, throat-shredding demon dogs and ravenous zombies.

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Horror History: Saturday, October 29, 1983: “Tales From The Darkside” episode “Trick Or Treat” premiered

Pilot

A rich and spiteful old man named Gideon Hackles whose obsession for documenting and exploiting debts owed to him, annually offers trick-or-treaters the chance to search his house on Halloween night for their parents’ IOUs, only to terrify them with animatronic “ghosts”. In the course of this night’s events, Mr. Hackles finds himself terrified by real ghosts… or in this case, demons. Guest starring Barnard Hughes as Gideon Hackles, and Max Wright, written by George A. Romero.

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Horror History: Friday, October 21, 1983: Boardinghouse was released in theaters

A man with telekinetic power inherits a big house with a horrible past. He opens the house up as a boarding house and very quickly becomes inhabited by a group of gorgeous women. Soon the long sleeping evil supernatural power inhabiting the house starts killing off the tenants one by one.

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Horror History: Friday, September 23, 1983: Pieces was released in US theaters

A psychopathic killer stalks a Boston campus, brutally slaughtering nubile young college co-eds, collecting body parts from each victim to create the likeness of his mother who he savagely murdered with an axe when he was ten years old.

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Horror History: Friday, September 9, 1983: Nightmares was released in theaters

AN ANTHOLOGY OF TERROR! A pack of cigarettes, a video game, a pick-up truck and a stately colonial home all become key elements in four terrifying tales of terror in the anthology film, Nightmares, directed by Joseph Sargent (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, White Lightning). A chain-smoking homemaker (Cristina Raines, The Sentinel) insists on going out for cigarettes even when an escaped madman is on the loose in “Terror in Topanga. “, J.J. Cooney (Emilio Estevez, Young Guns), a video game hot-shot, dares to take on a strange challenger (though it may cost him his life) in “The Bishop of Battle. “, A troubled priest (Lance Henriksen, Aliens) seeks to find the faith he has lost on the road, but instead he finds someone (or something) in this desert is trying to drive him out of his mind in “The Benediction. “, Claire (Veronica Cartwright, Alien) hears rats in the walls. Her husband (Richard Masur, The Thing) believes he can take care of the problem with a few rat traps, but this problem is only going to get much bigger in “Night of the Rat.”

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Horror History: Friday, September 2, 1983: Mortuary was released in theaters

Christie Parson has been having terrifying nightmares ever since her father drowned in a swimming pool, which causes her to re-evaluate the circumstances surrounding his death. Her boyfriend, Greg Stevens, sees a sinister hooded figure in the town’s mortuary, sparking a series of bizarre and terrible occurrences that lead Christie to discover the ghastly truth behind her father’s death

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Horror History: Friday, August 12, 1983: Cujo was released in theaters

While Donna and Vic Trenton struggle to save their rocky marriage, their son Tad befriends the loveable 200-lb St. Bernard who belongs to their mechanic. But what they don’t realize is that a bat bite has transformed Cujo from a docile pup to a vicious killer.

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Horror History: Friday, April 29, 1983: Something Wicked This Way Comes was released in theaters

One of Ray Bradbury’s most popular and intriguing novels of good and evil comes to life in this spine-tingling motion picture. On a grim and gusty October day, two young boys encounter a distressed man who foretells of danger blowing their way. Soon after, the town is visited by a seductive stanger named Mr. Dark and his Pandemonium Carnival. Terrifying things begin to happen when the adventurous boys stumble onto the carnival’s deadly and destructive secret!

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Horror History: Friday, April 8, 1983: City of the Living Dead was released in US theaters

The Seven Gates Of Hell have been torn open, and in three days the dead shall rise and walk the earth. As a reporter (Christopher George of Pieces) and a psychic (Catriona MacColl of The Beyond) race to close the portals of the damned, they encounter a seething nightmare of unspeakable evil. The city is alive – with the horrors of the living dead!

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Horror History: Monday, March 14, 1983: Mountaintop Motel Massacre was released in theaters

Welcome to the Mountaintop Motel. Remote, secluded and private. All the fresh air you can breathe. And the best views that money can buy. You can check in any time you want. But you can NEVER leave!

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Horror History: Friday, February 25, 1983: One Dark Night was released in theaters

Famed Russian occultist, Karl Raymar is found dead in his home, with the bodies of six dead women, and no real explanation. This mystery stresses Raymer’s daughter Olivia and causes her to have strange visions. Meanwhile high school student Julie Wells is at the final step of being initiated into an exclusive club, to be initiated she must spend a night in the town’s mausoleum…

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Horror History: Friday, February 4, 1983: Videodrome was released in theaters

David Cronenberg’s (Scanners) diabolical invader is a television show that seduces and controls its viewers. James Woods as a cable programmer looking for the ultimate in viewing thrills who becomes caught up in the horrific television reality.

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Horror History: Friday, February 4, 1983: The Entity was released in US theaters

A woman, beaten and raped by an unseen presence, goes to parapyschologists for help. They find she has become a magnet for an evil supernatural force that seemingly can’t be stopped.

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Horror History: Friday, January 21, 1983: The House on Sorority Row was released in theaters

Seven sorority sisters throw a graduation party and play an innocent prank that goes horribly wrong. Winding up with a dead body, they panic and try to hide it. But someone witnessed the crime and begins to stalk and murder them, one by one, in this cult classic.

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Horror History: Friday, November 12, 1982: The Slumber Party Massacre was released in theaters

A high school student’s slumber party turns terrifying as an escaped mental patient with a drill decides to crash the party.

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Horror History: Friday, November 12, 1982: Alone in the Dark was released in theaters

With the area quickly descending into riots and chaos, the innocent few must fight for their lives when they’re left terrified, cornered and alone in the dark.

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Horror History: Friday, November 5, 1982: Piranha II: The Spawning was released in US theaters

A Caribbean resort is suddenly beseiged by the ravenous fish as the result of a government experiment. A diving instructor and a biochemist seek to destroy the mutations and save the resort and the tourists from the murdering creatures.

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