Lost Signals: Eerie, Indiana (1991)

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As the predecessor to Fox Kid's Goosebumps franchise in the mid to late 90s Eerie, Indiana is a belovedly bizarre tv show that starred Omri Katz (who is perhaps best known to most of us here as Max Dennison from Hocus Pocus). Originally developed in partnership with horror icon Joe Dante, the show merged the conspiracy theories of X-Files with the mundane oddities of a subdued David Lynch.

The show begins with Marshall Teller (Katz), who has recently moved to Eerie and finds himself at odds with this new home. Like many kids, Teller sees the world a little differently than most. Thankfully, he's not alone on his journey through the strange with a colorful cast that includes crazy scientists, zombies, cults devoted to corn and John Astin (Gomez from The Addams Family) as the eccentric Mr. Radford. Also of note is Jason Marsden's performance as Dash X which stands out as one of the best in the series. Interestingly enough Marsden and Katz would team up again during Hocus Pocus, with Marsden providing the voice for Thackery Binx.

Though it was short-lived (only 19 episodes aired), the tone of the series was similar to Twin Peaks which had premiered only a year prior. Offering a surprisingly diverse range of mysteries for its pint sized protagonists to solve, the show was perhaps at its best when a touch of the supernatural came into play. Case in point, America's Scariest Home Videos finds Marshall and his sidekick Simon stuck at home on Halloween babysitting Simon's younger brother. When his brother inadvertently zaps himself into a monster movie (and said monster gets zapped out) they boys must find a way to rescue Simon's brother while sending the monster (a mummy) back where he belongs.





This article is part of the Countdown to Halloween blogathon, a month-long blogging marathon dedicated to honoring the Halloween season. For more information and a full list of participating sites, please visit www.countdowntohalloween.com.

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