Presenting the TOP 25 HORROR TV SERIES OF ALL TIME!

As promised some weeks ago, at long last I bring to you my ultimate endeavor to determine the greatest horror-themed television shows of all time. Long-time readers will remember that years back, The Vault presented a series of "Best Of" lists covering topics like "The Greatest Horror Films of All Time", "The Greatest Horror Literature of All Time", "The Greatest Foreign Horror of All Time", "The Horror Canon", and "The Greatest Contemporary Horror Films".

Yet, I specifically avoided covering horror television series. The reason for this was that I (naively) didn't really think there were enough truly high-quality shows to warrant an extensive list. However, in the past four years certain things have changed: For one thing, horror on television within the past few years has improved noticeably. Also, I admit that my awareness of great horror television has broadened thanks in large part to working on The Vault all these years. And so the time came to revisit the concept.

As before, I enlisted the help of some of the best and brightest online horror writers/bloggers out there, the group once (inflammatorially) referred to as "The Cyber Horror Elite". Elite or not, these excellent thinkers and superfans were asked to send me their personal top 10 horror TV shows of all time. Only ongoing, regular series were eligible, meaning made-for-TV movies and miniseries were excluded (For the record, they were actually eligible for inclusion in the Greatest Horror Films of All Time list--only Salem's Lot made the cut.)

Once I received everybody's lists, I ranked them on a points system--ten points for a number-one choice, nine points for a number-two choice, etc. Then I compiled a master list of the top 25 scoring shows, which I now present to you.

So here it is--the Top 25 Horror TV Series of All Time, as voted on by the horror blogosphere:

1.       The Twilight Zone (1959-1964) CBS

2.       The X-Files (1993-2002) FOX

3.       Tales from the Crypt (1989-1996) HBO

4.       Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974-1975) ABC

5.       Twin Peaks (1990-1991) ABC

6.       Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) WB

7.       Dark Shadows (1966-1971) ABC

8.       The Walking Dead (2010-present) AMC

9.       The Outer Limits (1963-1965) ABC

10.   American Horror Story (2011-present) FX

11.   Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1970-1973) NBC

12.   Are You Afraid of the Dark? (1991-2000) YTV/Nickelodeon

13.   Tales from the Darkside (1983-1988) Syndicated

14.   Dexter (2006-present) Showtime

15.   Supernatural (2005-present) WB/CW

16.   Boris Karloff's Thriller (1960-1962) NBC

17.   Friday the 13th: The Series (1987-1990) Syndicated

18.   Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1965) CBS/NBC

19.   Millennium (1996-1999) FOX

20.   Masters of Horror (2005-2007) Showtime

21.   True Blood (2008-present) HBO

22.   American Gothic (1995-1996) CBS

23.   Goosebumps (1995-1998) YTV/Fox Kids

24.   Monsters (1988-1991) Syndicated

25.   The Hitchhiker (1983-1991) HBO/First Choice/USA

Other vote-getters worth mentioning included: Being Human (UK), Angel, The Kingdom, Brimstone, The Addams Family, Werewolf, Fringe, Riget, The Munsters and Gareth Marenghi's Darkplace.

More than with any other list, this time out, the number one choice was quite literally a mandate. Not only was The Twilight Zone included on nearly every single list submitted to me, it was at or near the very top, every time. As a result, it scored a full 50% higher than the second-place show, The X-Files, and was head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. 

Speaking of X-Files, that show, along with the #3, Tales from the Crypt, and #4, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, received a general consensus as well, appearing on most of the lists submitted. After the top four, there was a noticeable drop-off as individuals' personal tastes came into play and a multitude of different series were selected. But it's worth noting that the group in general gave a very solid stamp of approval to those top four shows, which is not really all that surprising.

Decades Breakdown:

1990s: 9
1960s: 5
2000s: 5
1980s: 4
2010s: 4
1970s: 2
1950s: 1

In the event of shows airing in two different decades, I went with the one that contained the vast majority of the seasons (1990s for The X-Files, 1960s for Twilight Zone, etc.). Shows that were fairly evenly aired in two different decades were counted for both (Alfred Hitchcock Presents for both the 1950s and 1960s, Buffy the Vampire Slayer for both the 1990s and 2000s, etc.) It's very interesting to note that the most heavily represented decade is the 1990s, which was by far the least represented decade for horror films. I guess most of the best horror that decade was confined to the small screen!

By Network:

ABC: 4
CBS: 3
HBO: 3
Syndication: 3
NBC: 3
FOX: 2
WB/CW: 2
YTV: 2
Showtime: 2
And one each for AMC, FX, Nickelodeon, Fox Kids, First Choice and USA

In addition to the three syndicated shows, 13 of the shows were aired on broadcast TV, and 9 were cable programs. Certain programs were run on more than one network during their run, and so were counted for both.

Other Interesting Facts:

• All shows were American productions, with the exception of Goosebumps (Canadian), as well as Are You Afraid of the Dark? and Friday the 13th: The Series, which were American/Canadian co-productions.
• Five of the 25 shows on the list, or a full 20%, are currently still running on television (Dexter, True Blood, Walking Dead, Supernatural and American Horror Story). I'd say that says a lot about the current state of horror on TV. Either that or the importance of short-term memory.
• Despite that last stat, only one of the top seven shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, was in production during the past decade. And five of the top ten shows aired more than 20 years ago, with the top five all airing at least a decade ago or more.
• Six shows on the list ran for only two seasons or less. Some shows only get their due later...
• Four of the top ten shows were aired on ABC.
• The longest-running show on the list is the original Alfred Hitchcock Presents, which ran for 11 seasons.

As always, I'd be remiss if I didn't give credit to the many knowledgeable individuals who contributed their personal picks for this list. Thanks to you all!

BJ-C of Day of the Woman
Heidi Honeycutt of Planet Etheria and Planet Fury
John Morehead of Theofantastique
Unkle Lancifer of Kindertrauma
Dr. Gangrene, horror host and writer of Tales from the Lab
Dod March of The WGON Helicopter
John Kenneth Muir, literary/film critic and writer of Reflections on Cult Movies & Classic Television
Rondal Scott of Strange Kids Club
James Gracey of Behind the Couch, Fangoria contibutor, author of Dario Argento
Chris Hallock of All Things Horror
John Cozzoli of Zombos Closet of Terror, majordomo of the League of Tana Tea Drinkers
Christine Hadden of Fascination with Fear, Fangoria contributor
The Lightning Bug of The Lightning Bug's Lair
Bryan White of Cinema Suicide
Stu Conover of Buy Zombie
Nate Yapp, formerly of Classic-Horror.com
Nia Edwards-Behi of the Abertoir Horror Festival and Brutal as Hell
Jeff Allard of Dinner with Max Jenke
The Mike of From Midnight, With Love
Melissa Yearian, formerly of Chickapin Parish
Michelle Moricola of Fright Skool
Ryne Barber of The Moon Is a Dead World
Pax Romano, formerly of Billy Loves Stu
Jose Cruz of Grim Reader
The Divemistress of The Avod podcast
The Monster Scholar of Monster Land
Emily Intravia of The Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense
Matt Suzaka of Chuck Norris Ate My Baby
And yours truly, of course.

There you have it. Digest. Discuss. Debate. Distribute.

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Stay Tuned for the Greatest Horror TV Shows of All Time...

Some years ago, I made a bit of a stir with a series of posts gathering together a veritable cornucopia of illustrious horror bloggers and other online critics from far and wide to help me determine the best of the best in the horror genre. With tongue-in-cheek flair, I called our little group "The Cyber Horror Elite". Here are the lists we collaborated on back then:

The Top 50 Greatest Horror Films of All Time
The Top 25 Greatest Horror Films of the Modern Era
The Top 20 Foreign Horror Films
The Greatest Fright Fiction of All Time
The "Horror Canon"

One category I left out in those days was television series. In my naivete, I just wasn't sure there were enough quality choices to make for a captivating list. But these days, there is just so much quality stuff on TV, horror and otherwise, that I was led to reconsider my position. And so I reassambled the once vaunted Cyber Horror Elite for one more ride.

As we speak, I'm tabulating lists submitted to me by some of the coolest online horror scribes around, trusted friends and colleagues all. They have until Monday to get me their personal lists. From there, I'm putting together our definitive list of the Greatest Horror TV Series of All Time, which I'll be posting next week. So keep your eye on this space in the days to come, Vault dwellers. This one's going to get you talking...

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Hump-Day Harangue: Did American Horror Story Really Go Too Far?

A few weeks ago, an editorial was run regarding American Horror Story on the very popular celebrity gossip blog Oh No They Didn't (yes, I already became annoyed due to the name of the site.) I immediately took interest, since FX's American Horror Story has held me as willing captive since it debuted the last month. You can read the article here, but the gist of it is that ONTD took AHS to task for the November 9 episode, in which a Columbine-style school shooting was depicted.

The reason for the taking-to-task was that apparently the show went "too far" in featuring such a starkly realistic and reality-based event. The author of the piece, who goes by the nome de blogue of Paris Dior Chanel, felt that it hit far too close to home, and was just too heavy for a show of this nature. Ms. Chanel believes that reality and horror really shouldn't mix, which immediately pegs her as someone who is just not very familiar with the horror genre. Particularly, she seems to find the show to be campy, silly fun which shouldn't get bogged down in real life:

American Horror Story is, despite all of its silliness and overly manufactured mood, an undeniably entertaining show. It's campy and creepy and doesn't seem to take itself too seriously, as it shouldn't. It's not the kind of horror thing that demands we imagine ourselves in the situation in order to be scared, which would require the show to exist at least somewhat within the bounds of the real... It's fun!

Now, I know "fun" horror. In fact, it's become my preference in recent years. I do not find American Horror Story to be "fun". Nor do I find it to be campy. In fact, I'd say one would have to be decidedly jaded and/or cynical to interpret the show in that fashion. Chanel seems to dismiss the show as disposable cotton candy entertainment.

In my estimation, American Horror Story is the best-written horror TV show to come down the pike in years. It's smart and thrillingly executed, filled with brilliant characterizations and real depth of feeling. It's the kind of horror show that is so well-written, in fact, that I think it would still work and be entertaining even if all the horror elements were removed. It is sinister, dark and challenging. True Blood is campy. AHS is not. Yes, Jessica Lange's Constance character does enter into camp territory in the grand tradition of former leading-women playing crazy old ladies in horror films (think Bette Davis and Piper Laurie), but that's about it. I think there may be some preconceived notions here on the author's part, perhaps owing to the fact that the show comes from the creators of Glee?

AHS is gritty, unflinching horror that delves into the human psyche and goes places we're not necessarily comfortable going. That's what it's supposed to do. It's not The Munsters. As such, it is will within the realm of acceptability for Ryan Murphy and company to incorporate real-life tragedy into the mix. As opposed to what Chanel asserts:

Was last night's opening scary? Of course. It was tense and awful. But it wasn't the right kind of scary for this dopey show. The chief (if perhaps initially unintentional on the creators' part) product of this show should be laughter... That's the kind of silly, ultimately empty scare that American Horror Story is best at. A school shooting is not that. That's far too real, far too much of a downer for a dumb Wednesday night.

Clearly, Chanel is viewing the show from a very different perspective from mine. So her opinion of the shooting storyline obviously draws from a very dismissive opinion of the show. If one considers AHS to be silly and dopey, than I suppose I can see how it would be out of sorts for truly disturbing material to be included. Yet I, and many others, find the show to be anything but silly, and its scares to certainly be anything but empty.

There's nothing dopey about botched abortions, mutilated babies, people burned alive and hit-and-run accidents. How about the home invasion and torture depicted in the opening of episode 2? Why did that fit Chanel's limited view of AHS, and not this? As for the scares, they come from places deep and dark; places like parents' fears over protecting their children, the anguish of secrets that won't stay hidden, and existential angst and insecurities common to us all. Empty? Campy fun? Are we watching the same show?

American Horror Story was well within its domain featuring a school shooting. Not only should Murphy and the gang not shy away from such subject matter, but I urge them to keep it coming. I can appreciate light-hearted horror, but that's not what AHS is. The show should remain true to itself, and keep challenging us. If I wanted silliness, I'd have gone to see the Abercrombie & Fitch vampires and werewolves at the movies last weekend.

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A Groovy Afternoon with Ghoul-a-Go-Go!

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity, thanks to my good pal Kevin Maher (of Kevin Geeks Out fame), to take my progeny out to the ass-end of Long Island and experience the unique, retro, monster-kid style public access cable show known as Ghoul-a-Go-Go. It was a one-0f-a-kind day--I had a blast, the kids got to dance up a storm, and it took place amidst an aura of kitschy horror hipness that was impossible not to enjoy.

A favorite of the B-52s Fred Schneider and even the late, great Lux Interior of the Cramps, Ghoul-a-Go-Go is something that you have to experience to fully understand. It's like a journey back to the glorious heyday of monster mania on the boob tube, those halcyon days of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Your hosts on this journey are the sinister Vlad and the hideous yet lovable Creighton. There are live performances galore from bands like the 5,6,7,8s (the group behind "Woo-Hoo", that song from Kill Bill and those cell phone commercials), and tons of dancing.


But in the grand tradition of the old school horror host TV shows that Ghoul-a-Go-Go works to replicate, the dancers are all kids. And that's that one extra detail that pushes Ghoul-a-Go-Go over the edge from interesting artifact to bona fide pop culture gem. Watching a bunch of little kids and a gargantuan hunchback dance on stage using such classic moves as the twist, the monkey, and even the vaunted Bat-oosi, is something that cannot really be done justice in mere words.

Since Ghoul-a-Go-Go needed some kids to come out and dance, and my buddy Kevin had the hookup, I was more than thrilled to bring out little Zombelina and Wee-Sol to take part in the Cold War-era shenanigans. And boy, were they ever excited to step on to the stage and ham it up with the Ghoul-a-Go-Go gang, strutting their stuff to some vintage horror-themed rockabilly tunes (where did you guys dig up some of that stuff??) Think Romper Room, crossed with Tales from the Crypt, and you have the general idea of what Ghoul-a-Go-Go is all about.


I was very proud of my little ones for letting their inhibitions go, and not showing any fear at all in the face of the afternoon's gruesome hosts. Of course, they are my children, which means they've been exposed to enough that it would take quite a bit to spook them out. Anyway, the name of the game was fun, and there was much of it to be had by all before everything was said and done.

I have to applaud Vlad, Creighton and the rest of the crew for putting together a top-notch show, and if you're not privileged enough to reside in Suffolk county, that's OK, because you can see what Ghoul-a-Go-Go is all about on the show's YouTube page, and official website. If you're anything like me, and enjoy your horror with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek fun, then you should really seek it out. The buzz has been growing in recent years, and I was honored to finally cross paths with these guys, whom I had heard so much about for so long.

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Check Out Footage from Sunday's True Blood Finale NOW!

HBO's vampire drama True Blood has been building all season to a fever pitch, and even managed to reel me back in after apathy had begun to set in during some of the earlier episodes. And now, the premium cable network has made some brief video clips available which give some hints as to what we might expect this coming weekend, when the last episode of Season 3 airs.

First, we get some indication that there may be more to that whole fairies/aliens comparison than we originally suspected. Then, we've got a soap-operatastic scene between Tara and Sam, in which Mr. Merlotte seems to be on the verge of revealing a very important detail about himself. And finally, Hoyt's momma continues her overbearing ways, made even worse upon the discovery of a big ol' vampire hickey on her baby boy's neck. Check it all out below, True Blood-hounds...

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Hump-Day Harangue: Walking Dead Cast Takes Shape...

Not really much of a literal "harangue" this week, if you must know the truth--more of a cautiously optimistic nod of approval, as the anxiously anticipated AMC series adaptation of Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead comic book series becomes more and more of a reality.

Yesterday, rumors of Brandon Routh being cast in the show were debunked by the actor himself. I'll admit, I couldn't quite figure out who he was going to be playing anyway, especially since two of the prime roles had already been cast.

Speaking of those two roles, it's very interesting to see that AMC is going with relative unknowns for the most part in this, its first wholly owned TV property. The basic cable channel has been on fire lately with shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men (my personal fave on TV right now), inheriting the throne of TV excellence once firmly inhabited by HBO. And those are both shows which have benefited greatly from having some fresh faces in key parts, so it's understandable that AMC would continue the trend.

As is our wont, we geeky internet types had a ball speculating as to which recognizable actor could take on this or that role. I know I recently conducted a poll which asked who should play lead character Rick Grimes, with choices like Lost's Josh Holloway, Supernatural's Jared Padalecki and Parenthood's Peter Krause (my choice at the time.) In the end, AMC went with British actor Andrew Lincoln (pictured), perhaps best "known" for his supporting part in the 2003 ensemble pic Love Actually. Playing his cop buddy Shane will be Jon Bernthal, an even less known commodity whom I mainly recall from his part as Al Capone in the sequel to A Night at the Museum (hey, I have kids, it comes with the job.)

In the end, I have to give kudos to AMC for resisting the allure of "name-brand" actors, although I'm sure the lower price-tags may have been a crucial factor in the decision, as well. Much like Mad Men, this is the kind of a show that will benefit greatly from a cast of relatively unrecognized talent (although it should be said that Lincoln is fairly known in the UK for his television work.) This shouldn't be something like a CSI or Law and Order spin-off, packed with familiar faces and big-time movie stars slummin' on TV. One of the selling points of The Walking Dead is its dedication to presenting a "believable" zombie apocalypse, as much of an oxymoron as that may be, and the presence of famous celebs would no doubt be a bit distracting.

Kirkman himself seems to be excited, although if I were in his shoes I'd be excited if they had cast Jerry Stiller and Fyvush Finkel in the leads. Nevertheless, I think The Walking Dead has lots of potential to be something very special, and as location scouting kicks off and shooting is almost ready to begin, I gleefully await the realization on screen of one of the strongest comic book series I've read this decade.

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What Am I Most Looking Forward to in 2010?

Yours truly was called upon by Iloz Zoc, fearless leader of the League of Tana Tea-Drinkers, to participate in the latest LoTT-D "Pick-a-Post" blog carnival. The question: What are you most looking forward to in 2010? Well, I thought long and hard about it, and lo and behold, it turns out that the one thing in horror I'm most looking forward to is not a movie, but a TV show. See, although there are some solid releases coming out in theaters this year, there isn't one single film I'm looking forward to more than the Walking Dead television series.

When it was announced some months ago that AMC had picked up the property to be developed into a series, it was literally like a fanboy dream come true for me. I've had my issues with the original Image comic book by Robert Kirkman, but I had always wanted to see it on the small screen in series format. And I wasn't the only one--lots of fans of the book always liked to speculate as to how it would play out on TV. And now, after all the fantasizing, it's finally going to be a reality.

The zombie craze has been with us for some years now on the big screen, and now, at long last, those undead bastids are poised to invade our living rooms. How the hell did it take so long to happen? And while I'm sure there will be copycats galore--MTV is already developing a Dawn of the Dead TV series (*douche chills*)--I have no doubt the Walking Dead project will trump all.

This is for a few reasons. One is that AMC is developing it. Now, I had always felt The Walking Dead would be tailor-made for HBO, and I still feel that premium cable is really the ideal place for this material. But AMC has proven itself to be serious about good television, what with Mad Men and Breaking Bad. While the gore quotient will probably suffer a little bit compared to what it could've been on HBO, I don't have much problem with that--partly because the quality of the show is what's most important, and partly because the gore was never a huge part of the original book to begin with.

As I said, I've had issues with Kirkman's series, and i actually no longer read it. Haven't in years. But I was there at the very beginning, back in the summer of 2005, when the book debuted, and I continued reading it for the first three years. I was eventually driven away thanks to sub-par artwork (which is a non-issue for the TV show), as well as by Kirkman's meandering, often-dull and remarkably zombie-less narrative.

But those early years were often quite good, and I'm hoping that's what the TV show will be drawing on. Once Kirkman got so pretentiously caught up in the day-to-day soap opera turmoil of his human characters, I lost interest. He seemed to be killing time with each issue; filling space. And while some have told me the story plays out better when read in collected form, I couldn't help but be driven away by a terrific premise that seemed to be eventually squandered.

But I don't see this happening with the show. In fact, I see the show exceeding the comic book. We have the brilliant Frank Darabont on board as producer, bringing his keen eye for genre entertainment and compelling drama to bear. We also have one hell of a great concept. So great, it's amazing it's never been done before--a weekly ongoing series following human survivors as they make their way through the zombie apocalypse. Think of every zombie movie you ever saw in which the story just ends and we never find out what happens to our remaining surviving protagonists. Well this time, the story will continue--we will get to see how they get by, how they live their lives in the midst of hell on earth.

There hasn't been much talk of casting, although I have heard fans clamoring for Josh Holloway (a.k.a. Sawyer from Lost) to play the lead part of police officer Rick Grimes, and I have to say he would indeed be a fine choice.

The Walking Dead TV series was, until a few months ago, the subject of fan fantasy, the ultimate wish of hardcore zombie-heads. It always seemed to make perfect sense to do it, but for some reason, no one seemed interested. That's now changed. And I'll be anxiously waiting for Rick and the zombies to join Don Draper and the gang at Sterling Cooper in giving me reasons to tune in to AMC in 2010.

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Vic Mizzy 1916-2009

The composer of this, one of the most recognizable TV theme songs of all time, passed away on Saturday. God love these old-school songwriters. We're really missing something without them...

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Zombiemania: Lots of Fun, but Where Are the Italians?

With Columbus Day just recently come and gone, I thought I had effectively put my yearly Italian-American outrage behind me. But no. Just one day after watching helplessly once again as the closest thing to the Italians' version of St. Patrick's Day slowly get bumped down the holiday list till it's somewhere between Arbor Day and Boxing Day, I had to sit down and watch Zombiemania on Starz.

That's probably a bit too harsh. I want to flat out say that Starz' newest documentary on the history of zombie movies (originally released last year on Canadian TV) was a real hoot. They did a fine job for the most part, following the evolution of the zombie from the voodoo monster of old, through the Romero rebirth, and right up to the undead renaissance of the past decade.

Interview subjects include Romero, Greg Nicotero, Tom Savini, Brian Keene, Max Brooks, Jovanka Vukovic, Maitland McDonagh and others. All very well-informed, and all have a lot to add to the proceedings.

But that said, there was one glaring omission, and that would be the complete lack of a single reference to the entire Italian cycle of zombie flicks. No Lucio Fulci, no Andrea Bianchi, no nuthin. That's like doing a history of the cowboy genre and leaving out spaghetti westerns. OK, maybe not quite that egregious, since spaghetti westerns are arguably the best of that entire genre, but you catch my drift.

Still, Zombiemania was a very enjoyable little documentary, which got into a lot of aspects of the craze, from zombie walks to zombie comics to Max Brooks giving zombie survival lectures on college campuses. It's cool for a total long-time zombie geek like myself to see something like this. After all these years, I still get a kick out of seeing how mainstream America has finally caught up with us.

But I'm still not letting them off the hook for leaving out the Italians. Disgraziato...

* * * * * * * * * *

Two other things:

• If you haven't yet, check out the Dawn of the Dead debate/commentary I did with Brad McHargue of I Love Horror. This is something we originally recorded a few weeks ago, but now Brad has posted it to the excellent site HorrorSquad. So go take a listen.

• Tomorrow marks the second anniversary of The Vault of Horror. That's right, two whole years of me distracting myself from the work I get paid to do. I've got something fun and unique planned, so stay tuned...

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The Tuesday Top 10: Favorite Twilight Zone Episodes

You don't need me to tell you how important and how incredible The Twilight Zone is. And I'm talking about Rod Serling's original here, not that decidedly average 1980s incarnation, or the recent abortion hosted by Forrest Whittaker. The original 1950s/1960s program is arguably the finest science fiction series of all time, rivaled in my opinion only by the original Star Trek and the new Battlestar Galactica. Yet it was also a horror-themed show, and in that category, nothing EVER touched The Twilight Zone.

During its run of only five years, the show produced one unforgettable episode after another, and pinning down ten faves is no mean feat. But here are the ten I most look forward to during the much-anticipated Fourth of July marathons on TV. You might agree, you might disagree, but remember, these are only my personal favorites, amongst a sea of classic eps...

10. Kick the Can (2/19/62)
In an episode recreated in inferior syrupy Speilberg fashion for the 1986 movie, a man in an old folks' home discovers a way for he and his friends to be young again. Their one bitter and cynical comrade ridicules them, and only realizes the error of his way when it's too late and he is left behind as an old man.

9. Living Doll (11/1/63)
How can I forget the great Telly Savalas, as an insecure stepfather being tortured by a vindictive, evil little doll? Legendary Looney Tunes/Jay Ward voice actress June Foray provides the creepy voice of "Talky Tina".

8. It's a Good Life (11/3/61)
Taken from an original short story by renowned sci-fi author Jerome Bixby, this is another one adapted in lesser fashion for the movie. Lost in Space's Billy Mumy plays the omnipotent little boy who wreaks havoc in a rural town. Has the distinction of being the only episode with a sequel, which appeared in the recent reboot series. Bixby also wrote several Star Trek eps, including "Mirror, Mirror".

7. To Serve Man (3/2/62)
Pulp sci-fi workhorse Damon Knight penned this one, a classic that's still grim, despite being parodied to great effect in the movie Airplane. Aliens come to Earth with a book entitled "To Serve Man"--but unfortunately, "IT'S A COOKBOOK!!"

6. The Midnight Sun (11/17/61)
Al Gore's worst nightmare, as the Earth begins to boil under the heat of an enlarging sun, moving closer in its orbit. The sense of claustrophobia is so palpable. And of course, we have one of the all-time classic twist endings, as our main character discovers she was only dreaming--in fact, the Earth is getting colder. Doh!

5. A World of Difference (3/11/60)
I always had a soft spot for this installment, about a man who really believes he is the character he plays on a TV show. In one of the classic openers, we approach it from his perspective, as his normal daily life is interrupted by a film crew yelling, "CUT!" Great stuff, and definitely pre-figured things like The Truman Show.

4. The Hitch-Hiker (1/22/60)
Adapted from a radio play originally performed by Orson Welles, this one always had a kind of Hitchcock feel to it for me. After a nasty car accident, a woman begins spotting the same mysterious hitch-hiker everywhere she drives. Turns out the hitcher is really Death, and the woman never survived the accident.

3. Eye of the Beholder (11/11/60)
For many, the most iconic episode of the series. A beautiful woman turns out to actually be disfigured in a world in which everyone appears as what we would consider to be hideous monsters. Such a classic summation of what The Twilight Zone was all about. Have to love this one.

2. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (10/11/63)
Bill Shatner plays a terrified passenger who discovers a monstrous gremlin on the wing of an airplane in this, maybe the series' most famous episode. It was adapted from Richard Matheson's first published horror story, and probably the only episode that was actually improved in adaptation for the 1986 Twilight Zone movie.

1. Time Enough at Last (11/20/59)
Maybe it's because I have such a love for Burgess Meredith, or the fact that I always related to his character, being an avid reader mysef. This one will always be my favorite. Meredith's character is so sympathetic, and the horror of losing the one thing that would make the apocalypse bearable for him is truly gut-wrenching. There's something about the sad cruelty of it all that makes this episode stand out for me above all the others.

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Hump-Day Harangue: Petty Greed Sinks the Werewolf TV Series Box Set...

Damn. This was something I was really looking forward to. For those who remember when the FOX network first launched in the late 1980s, the show Werewolf is something of a cult classic. Horror fans in particular ate it up with relish--I can remember one of my parents' friends who taped every single episode. Well, right now, that guy is doing a lot better than 99% of the rest of the show's fans. Because as of a couple days ago, the much-anticipated box set DVD release of the TV show was officially canceled.

It only ran for a single season of 28 episodes. But in that time, it picked up a loyal fan following that still remembers it. Werewolf told the story of Eric Cord (John J. York), a reluctant wolfman on the hunt for the leader of his tribe, so he can kill him and lift the curse. Along the way, he also struggles to avoid hurting others and escape the clutches of those who seek to destroy him. It sort of followed the successful formula of The Fugitive and The Incredible Hulk.

Anyway, after the show went off the air in 1988, it completely vanished from sight, becoming the sort of Holy Grail sought out at convention dealer tables and such. And now, the box set, which had been planned, after a series of delays, for release on October 9, has officially been deep-sixed. And all thanks to a couple of greedy has-been holdouts.

You see, Werewolf fell under the category of TV shows which used a lot of songs by a lot of different artists, and so when a show like this comes to home video, all the clearances for the rights to each and every song have to be secured. The Shout Factory, which had secured the rights to the show from Sony (why wouldn't Fox own them?) tried in vain, but in the end there were two anonymous parties that refused to allow their songs to be used. In other words, the price Shout Factory was offering wasn't high enough.

The company could not simply replace the tracks, as is usually done in situations like this, because the individual music tracks were never preserved. To remove them would have meant removing all the audio in those sections, including dialogue, sound effects, etc. And so a couple of money-grubbing "artists", no doubt washed up '80s hack bands looking for one last payoff, have successfully prevented Werewolf fans the world over from reliving their beloved show.

This is something that has been more than 20 years in the making. Even if you limit it strictly to the DVD era, that's still roughly a dozen years that fans of this show, myself included, have been waiting for it to finally be released. I even included the pilot on my list of favorite horror TV movies of all time, that shows you how much I dug it. Nevertheless, like the other admirers of FOX's early foray into lycanthropy, I will have to make do with crummy bootlegs.

Folks, I'm nearly overcome with rage here. Uh oh, is that a full moon? I think I feel a change coming on...

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