Last Halloween, Ryan Murphy, the TV producer who helped bring "Glee" into the world, enjoyed what he calls "the greatest viewing experience" of his life. And it had nothing to do with bubbly song-and-dance numbers.

A passionate scary movie junkie, he cleared his schedule and rushed home to catch the premiere of "The Walking Dead," AMC's ghastly drama about a plague of flesh-eating zombies.

"I had the best time. I loved it," recalls Murphy, who continues to follow the series with a religious fervor.

Apparently, he's not the only one who craves some prime-time gloom and gore. Earlier this month, "The Walking Dead" reaffirmed its status as a monster hit by scaring up an AMC record 7.3 million viewers to its Season 2 opener.

Two weeks earlier, Murphy and writing partner Brad Falchuk struck ratings gold for FX with the premiere of "American Horror Story," a chaotic tale of haunted house terror crammed with everything from crazy neighbors and basement-dwelling creatures to homicidal maniacs and a ghost in a rubber fetish suit.

And then there's "True Blood," the twisted, Southern-fried vampire saga, recently renewed for a fifth season, that continues to reign as HBO's most popular series.

These shows and others are bringing newfound attention to a genre that, historically, hasn't had a major impact on television. And they're serving as a reminder to programmers that many TV viewers crave chills and thrills -- and not only on Halloween.


"It's a really great time to be a horror fan," says Alyse Wax, who blogs about the genre for the website Fearnet ( "And what's amazing is that a lot of it is very scary, very good and very dark."

Television, of course, always has offered its share of nightmarish vibes, dating back to shows such as "The Twilight Zone" and "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." But in more recent years, there had been only occasional flashes of genuine fright ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The X-Files"). The kind of intensely rendered, terrifying horror depicted on "The Walking Dead" and "American Horror Story" has been virtually nonexistent.

These days, however, TV viewers can occupy themselves with a wide range of things that go bump in the night, including the bloodsuckers in "True Blood" and "The Vampire Diaries" (The CW), the furry creature in "Teen Wolf" (MTV), the witches in "The Secret Circle" (The CW) and the bizarre freaks of "Fringe" (Fox), "Supernatural" (The CW) and "Being Human" (Syfy).

In addition, a new BBC America drama, "Bedlam," focuses on a former insane asylum haunted by vengeful ghosts. And debuting Friday on NBC is "Grimm," a far-out crime procedural inspired by fairy tales and stocked with frightening mythological creatures.

"People love to be scared," says David Greenwalt, a former "Buffy" and "Angel" producer who co-created "Grimm." " ... The genre has grown. And that's great because it's an opportunity to tell different kinds of stories. I think it's a terrific time to be on the air with this."

But why horror and why now? Ken Burke, a professor of film and art history at Mills College in Oakland, says it's a reflection of what's going on in the world.

"Audiences have been drawn to horror forever, but the genre really seems to thrive in horrible times," he says. "Right now, we're dealing with wars and crime. The economy is unstable. We've got plenty of political turbulence. It's like the horror on the screen is a buffer against the horror of real life."

But before the recent surge in frightful TV, programmers had to first become comfortable with a genre that they -- and advertisers -- traditionally have shied away from. Wax points out that edgy cable shows such as the serial-killer drama "Dexter" helped to pave the way.

—‰'Dexter' pushed the envelope and delved into unnerving territory," she says. "And while it's not straight-out horror, it does have some slasher elements. And it proved that a really dark show done well can be captivating."

Likewise, Robert Kirkman, the creator of "The Walking Dead" comic books that inspired the series, says he became confident his saga would work on TV after watching the ultra-gritty AMC crime drama "Breaking Bad."

"Heck, they've liquefied bodies, blown up people and have done all kinds of gruesome things on that show. So I was sure we could push the boundaries on a cable network," says Kirkman, who is also a writer and producer on "The Walking Dead." "Before we premiered, people were wondering, how is your show going to fit in on the network of 'Mad Men'? I would just shake my head and say, 'Have you seen 'Breaking Bad'?"

Kirkman also believes that TV's move into horror was a natural step for a medium that, in recent years, has become more cinematic in quality and style.

"Horror has always been popular in the movies, and as television has grown and evolved, it has taken on more of a movielike approach," he says. "It's getting into different genres, and the networks are realizing that there was so much untapped potential in horror. Any time you can sit down and see something completely unique -- something that really surprises you -- it's very exciting."

It certainly doesn't hurt, either, that today's creep shows can take advantage of cutting-edge special effects that put to shame those in past programs that sometimes came off as cheesy.

"With our improved technology, you can now do better, cheaper and faster effects for TV than what you could do for movies just 10 years ago," Kirkman says. "It's pretty amazing."

And when the effects make something on the screen more plausible, Burke adds, "it makes for a more emotional experience. You're not sitting there laughing at it and criticizing it."

Today's TV horror auteurs, of course, were inspired by classic big-screen films of the past. In discussing the evolution of "American Horror Story," Murphy and Falchuk fondly recall their love of movies such as "Halloween," "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Shining." And they express a desire to leave their own imprint on popular culture.

"We're very excited that so many people we know are already going as Rubber Man for Halloween," Murphy says. "That's the greatest compliment ever."

Read Chuck Barney's TV blog at and follow him at