I recently came across a magazine that devoted its cover to their assertion that AMC’s The Walking Dead is “The Best New Show on TV.” Surprisingly, this claim and appreciation for a zombie horror show was not found on the cover of Fangoria, Horror Hound, or Famous Monsters of Filmland, but instead on Entertainment Weekly in Issue #1131 (December 3, 2010). This was somewhat surprising given my assumptions about the demographics of EW readers, but on the other hand it was a pleasant indicator of not only the popularity of this specific television show, but also another sign that horror has found a niche for television viewing audiences. The cover story feature notes that while other networks passed on The Walking Dead, AMC was quick to scoop it up, and that it has twice the regular viewing audience of AMC’s other hit, Mad Men, now number two behind the hit zombie program. When we consider that HBO’s True Blood was recently on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine (through a controversial photo featuring its stars nude and splattered in blood), this tells us that not only is horror popular in television entertainment, but also that this is taking place through horror entertainment’s reigning monstrous icons of the zombie as well as the vampire.

This issue of EW also includes another item of interest. Earlier this year the film Splice generated some controversy with individuals on the one hand arguing that it was an intelligent piece of science fiction, and on the other hand those arguing that while the film had some good elements it ultimately fizzled in the end with a turn into a predictable horror film. In this issue of EW Stephen King’s column includes his picks of the best films of 2010, and Splice makes his list. I agree with those who found Splice a good and intelligent piece of science fiction and was pleased to find King on my side of the fence. Genre pictures Inception and Monsters also made the list.

Related post:

“Reflection on The Walking Dead”