Terror Television: American Series, 1970™1999 (American Series)

Rating:
Summary: Horror on the small screen...
Review: People seem to enjoy being scared out of their wits. Big-budget movies have done it with relative ease, but trying to portray terror in a 30 or 60 minute TV show, complete with commercials, is a bit more difficult. There have been some major successes ("Kolchak: The Night Stalker", "The X-Files", "Buffy" and "Angel", but there have been some real dogs ---anyone remember 'Manimal'? This author presents the definitive work on TV horror shows, starting with Rod Serling's "Night Gallery." He reviews each episode, gives complete cast/crew credits, and doesn't waste words in analyzing each show. "Boos" and "ghouls" of all ages will find this a treasure-trove of TV terror.

Rating:
Summary: Horror on the small screen...
Review: People seem to enjoy being scared out of their wits. Big-budget movies have done it with relative ease, but trying to portray terror in a 30 or 60 minute TV show, complete with commercials, is a bit more difficult. There have been some major successes ("Kolchak: The Night Stalker", "The X-Files", "Buffy" and "Angel", but there have been some real dogs ---anyone remember 'Manimal'? This author presents the definitive work on TV horror shows, starting with Rod Serling's "Night Gallery." He reviews each episode, gives complete cast/crew credits, and doesn't waste words in analyzing each show. "Boos" and "ghouls" of all ages will find this a treasure-trove of TV terror.

Rating:
Summary: terrorific
Review: There are many of us who grew up with, and absolutely love, the TV shows that gave us goosebumps and nightmares in our youth. While some of the older shows (like Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits) have been exhaustively written about in both books and magazines, later fright fests have been largely ignored by scholars and historians. That's where this excellent book comes in. Starting in the year 1970, Terror Television gives in-depth coverage to all of the American horror programs that follow. Each decade is well-represented and includes the famous (Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Kolchak The Night Stalker [70's]; Tales from the Crypt, The Hitchhiker [80's]; Twin Peaks, X-Files [90's]), the not-so-famous-but-known-by-fans (Ghost Story, The Sixth Sense [70's]; Freddie's Nightmares, Monsters [80's]; Nightmare Cafe, Dark Shadows [90's]), and the downright obscure (does anyone remember the U.S. airing of Australia's Evil Touch in '73?). In all, Muir delves into twenty seven shows and icludes a section on critical reception, format, history, his own critical commentary, and (an extremely useful) episode guide for each. He's a fine writer who clearly has an extensive knowledge of (and unbridled enthusiasm for) his topic. I love this book and, if you're a fan of these kinds of shows, you should have this on your shelf at home. It's the kind of book that one returns to often.