If a Western Pa. “Scariest House” wasn’t enough Halloween-spirited TV for local viewers, on Sunday two supernatural-themed shows debut, both spin-offs, though one is significantly better than the other.

‘It: Welcome to Derry’

A prequel to director Andy Muschietti’s 2017 “It” and 2019 “It: Chapter Two,” HBO’s eight-episode “It: Welcome to Derry” (9 p.m. Oct. 26, HBO, HBO Max) goes back to the 1960s to revisit the story of an entity that haunts the sewers of Derry, Maine.

Aspects of the series, particularly the school-age characters, are reminiscent of another Stephen King classic, “Stand by Me,” but the first “Welcome to Derry” episode, directed by Muschietti, plays like a prologue for what’s to come. And it’s a doozy.

Multiple set pieces feature creepy creatures and effective jump scares. (I’m glad I watched this one while the kids were at school because they’d have nightmares for weeks if they wandered in while “Derry” screeners played. Parents: You’ve been warned.)

While the show is effectively terrifying for viewers as it terrorizes its characters, often with fears that manifest from their personal histories (a dead dad here, a dead mom there), “Derry” also creates a whole world of the town and isn’t afraid to populate it with period appropriate, racist characters who antagonize two of the show’s core families.

Air Force Major Leroy Hanlon (Jovan Adepo) moves to town with wife Charlotte (Taylour Paige) and son Will but Hanlon fails to get respect from some of his Air Force underlings.

As “Derry” episodes unspool, its world expands to include a Shining-infused Air Force operation, an Indian tribe that’s in-the-know about those supernatural goings-on and eventually Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) reveals itself.

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It’s not just the supernatural stories that make “Derry” watchable. The ‘60s production design is gorgeous. The use of period music, especially theme song “A Smile and a Ribbon” by Patience and Prudence, is so sickening as to be scary in the context of “Derry.”

Developed for television by Jason Fuchs (“Argylle,” “Wonder Woman”), “Derry” dribbles out character details episode-by-episode through five (of eight) episodes made available for review, routinely connecting seemingly disparate characters. That “Stand by Me”-meets-“Stranger Things” vibe of the first episode returns in episode three, thankfully, since it’s the show’s most potent element.

However, unlike “The Penguin,” which told a completely different kind of story in the Batman universe, “Welcome to Derry,” follows the same basic contours as every other iteration of “It” we’ve seen as a group of kids face off against Pennywise.

‘Talamasca’

There are moments when “Anne Rice’s Talamasca: The Secret Order” (9 p.m. Oct. 26, AMC, AMC+) springs to life: Whenever Elizabeth McGovern (“Downton Abbey”) is on screen as Helen, a Talamasca boss; when Daniel Malloy (Eric Bogosian) and Raglan James (Justin Kirk) show up from “Interview with the Vampire” to hint at buried secrets.

But unlike the gothic horror of AMC’s “Interview,” too often “Talamasca” is just a show that follows characters who are following other characters (or being chased).

When there are deaths, they mean little because we’ve barely gotten to know the character over the course of this six-episode first season.

It doesn’t help that the show’s lead character, Guy Anatole, is played by a British actor, Nicholas Denton, with an unconvincing American accent.

Helen recruits Guy to join the Talamasca, a secret society that monitors and protects humanity from the supernatural world. But soon he’s torn between maternal Helen and creepy Jasper (William Fichtner), head of Talamasca’s London Motherhouse.

There’s a ton of back-and-forth over who are the true heroes and it gets tedious fast.

‘Boots’

I didn’t get a chance to watch Netflix’s “Boots” before it premiered earlier this month but I watched almost the entire first season on a recent 10-hour flight and it looks like I was not alone in catching up: The show doubled its audience in its second week of release. “Boots” is a well-made YA series regardless of what some might have to say about it.

Set in the ‘90s, “Boots” focuses on closeted gay teen Cameron Cope (Miles Heizer, “Parenthood”) as he follows best friend Ray (Liam Oh) into the U.S. Marine Corps.

Created by Andy Parker (“Tales of the City,” “Imposters”), executive produced by the late WWII vet Norman Lear and based on retired Marine Sgt. Greg Cope’s memoir “The Pink Marine,” “Boots” proves to be a smart, empathetic, character driven drama that explores coming of age in a time when Cameron can’t be his true self while also showing the toll repression takes on another character, conflicted and similarly closeted Sgt. Sullivan (Max Parker).

Kept/canceled/ordered

“Pop Culture Jeopardy!” was renewed for a second season that will jump from Amazon’s Prime Video to Netflix.

“Project Runway” will return for its 22nd season on Freeform, Disney+ and Hulu.

Food Network’s weekend talk show “The Kitchen” will end after more than 10 years with its Dec. 13 (11 a.m.) installment.

MGM+ ordered another “Bosch” spin-off, prequel series “Bosch: Start of Watch,” starring Cameron Monaghan (“Shameless”) as a young Harry Bosch.

Channel surfing

The family of the late KDKA-TV personality Jon Burnett, who died in February of suspected CTE, revealed last week that he did have CTE as well as several other neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s. … In commemoration of the seventh anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting, WQED-TV will re-air several programs Sunday afternoon, including “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life” (12 p.m.), “Tree of Life: A Concert for Peace and Unity” (1:30 p.m.) and “Violins of Hope: Greater Pittsburgh” (3 p.m.). … On Nov. 1 Miles Teller hosts NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” with musical guest Brandi Carlile; Nikki Glaser hosts Nov. 8 with sombr, Glen Powell hosts Nov. 15 with Olivia Dean. … Apple TV secured rights to Formula 1 live races effective next year. … “Palm Royale” returns for its second season on Apple TV on Nov 12. … HBO Max will raise its prices immediately for new subscribers and by Nov. 30 for existing customers with Basic with Ads going up $1 to $11 per month; Standard goes up $1.50 per month to $18.50 and Premium will rise $2 to $23 per month.

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