Do you remember the days when we had scary television shows like THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THE OUTER LIMITS, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, and TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE? Those days have long been gone with the premium cable series MASTERS OF HORROR the last anthology show to really provide a quality horror experience on the small screen. Sure, we have THE WALKING DEAD, GRIMM, SLEEP HOLLOW and AMERICAN HORROR STORY, but they aren’t the same.
Super-producers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman are going to try and rectify that gap in the schedule by reviving TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE as a half hour series on The CW. Before you roll your eyes at the network in question, take solace in the fact that novelist Joe Hill is being brought on to write the series. If you don’t know Joe Hill, you are missing out. Hill is the author or the great novels HEART-SHAPED BOX, NOS4A2, and HORNS. He also happens to be Stephen King‘s son.
I have faith that this trio can produce a quality series that hopefully can lure stars to take part in different tales each week. TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE was able to tell actual scary stories during its run which differed from the dark comedy of TALES FROM THE CRYPT. I am excited to see if this show can do a better job than the retakes on THE TWILIGHT ZONE and THE OUTER LIMITS which both paled in comparison to the originals.
TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE is slated to premiere next Summer on The CW, so stay tuned for developments.