Networks grab onto Halloween

Disney does it gently.

Others do it fiercely.

Either way, the trend keeps growing: Networks, especially the cable and satellite ones, obsess about Halloween.

This is a busy time for the Disney-owned ABC Family.

Its ninth annual “13 Nights of Halloween” begins Friday.

There will be much more right up to Oct. 31.

Here’s a sampling:

TV movies

•”Nature of the Beast.” Preparing for their wedding, the bride (Autumn Reeser) learns the groom (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is a werewolf. Still, she’s ready to proceed. (ABC Family, 8 p.m. Sunday; reruns at 8 p.m. Oct. 24)

•”Roxy Hunter and the Mystery of the Moody Ghost” has a 9-year-old girl discover a world of unsolved mysteries. (Nickelodeon, 8 p.m. Oct. 27)

Big-screen movies

•AMC has its annual “MonsterFest” on Oct. 22-31.

•Turner Classic Movies pulls out older, scary films for all-day marathons on Friday and Oct. 26 and 31.

•ABC Family has the basic-cable debuts of “Boogeyman” (9 p.m. Oct. 23) and “An American Haunting” (8 p.m. Oct. 26). Other offerings range from the light – including “Casper” (8 p.m. Oct. 29) and Eddie Murphy’s “The Haunted Mansion” (9 p.m. Oct. 30) – to the thoroughly serious, such as the powerful “The Village” (8 p.m. Oct. 25) and “Poltergeist” (7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 and Oct. 31).

Reality shows

•”Scariest Places on Earth” is a series that has families stay in creepy places. ABC Family has a marathon from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 27.

•”The Search for the Next Elvira” has the real Elvira, Cassandra Peterson, choosing the person who will share her duties. (Fox Reality, live finale 8 p.m. Oct. 31)

•”Ghost Hunters,” a Sci Fi series, will air live for six hours beginning Oct. 31 at 9 p.m., searching the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Ky.

Documentaries

•”Most Haunted” plans a seven-hour live search of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Calif. (Travel Channel, 9 p.m. Friday)

•”Bloodsucking Cinema” views the history of vampire movies. (Starz, 8 p.m. Oct. 26; 4:35 a.m. and 1:20 p.m. Oct. 27; 9 p.m. Oct. 31)

Animated

•Nickelodeon is airing collections with Halloween themes, including 2-5 p.m. Saturday and a pre-school marathon from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 29.