Though AMC’s THE WALKING DEAD has horror fans’ pulses racing, eagerly anticipating the season three premiere, fright fans of a younger persuasion have an equally good, far less bloody and downbeat year three premiere to thrill to the night prior. Hub’s R.L Stine-penned series THE HAUNTING HOUR returns for its third season, bringing more dark, scary and disturbing kid friendly terror to the small screen, and its opening episode is a doozy.

The title SINISTER sounds like INSIDIOUS, and the movie was backed by one of the same people and carries some of the same virtues. It also has a number of qualities that set it apart from its predecessor, and significantly above most run-of-the-mill modern horror fare.

Deep in the swamps of Marvel Comics lays a creeping horror so terrifying, so horrendous, that few dare whisper his name. A creature, part human and part monster, forever walking the swamps looking for solitude; he is known only as Man-Thing! Is he here to warn of us of our environmental follies or is he here for something more sinister?

In its cryptic opening scene, THE COTTAGE shows the potential to become a creepy, interesting suburban thriller. However, despite moments of surprising effectiveness, THE COTTAGE is brought down by several problems that often plague low-budget horror films, most prominently the lackluster story developed out of its cool premise.

The Jersey Devil is a fun crytozoological critter to consider, and fortunately, Darren Lynn Bousman’s THE BARRENS (out tomorrow on DVD and Blu-ray/DVD combo from Anchor Bay) has managed to utilize the beast to become something rare these days: an original creature feature that respects both its characters and audience…for the most part.

EXCISION is a very strange movie (in fact, according to writer/director Richard Bates Jr., even John Waters, who has a small part, thinks it’s weird). And it’s perfectly odd and twisted in all of the right ways.

One of the fun things about watching the multipart found-footage horror film V/H/S, for those knowledgable about its various directors but not about who did which part, is trying to figure out who was responsible for which segment.