Small Screen Scares: Horror on Television – American Horror Story, Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories, and Channel Zero
In the last few years, horror on the small screen has seen a boost in popularity. There have always been some representations of the genre on television (Tales from the Crypt, Night Gallery, Masters of Horror) but I have personally found the real sense of horror in these productions to be rare. Tales of the Crypt was often a blend of horror and comedy, and Masters of Horror was a very mixed bag when it came to writing. The horror currently gracing our screens is not always top notch either, but there have been some programs or episodes that have surprised me with how dark and existential they are in their exploration of the genre. We’ll be taking a look at American Horror Story, Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories, and Channel Zero: No-End House.
Everything changed in Jack’s life the day his family heard an unexpected knock on the door. For the next four years, they lived in abject terror at the cruel hand of Tommy Taffy. Tommy was an inhuman creature, resembling a life-size Ken doll, who insisted he was there to help the parents raise their children right. At night he would force them to sit in the living room and listen to his lectures on being good people. Then Tommy would debase, violate, and forever scar the four helpless residents of this home. Jack is an adult now, and he doesn’t know it, but his path is hurtling towards a bloody, violent reunion with Tommy very soon.
Don Miller has a memory problem. Throughout his adult life he has had strange experiences and encounters, yet now an octogenarian, they are only just returning, spurred on by a series of bizarre events occurring at his rural home in Washington state. His wife, Michelle, is an anthropologist who, even though retired, still jets off to attend lectures and academic conferences. His adult children are busy in their own lives, and this all leaves Don time to reflect. He begins to recall conversations with his grandfather, a man seemingly involved in clandestine affairs. He remembers weird encounters with a young man while milling about the home of a recently deceased colleague. Then there was the incident in Mexico back in 1958…
Black Army veteran Atticus Turner has come home to 1950s Chicago to find his father missing. Atticus suspects something sinister when he learns his volatile and proud father was seen leaving with a white man. With help from Uncle George and childhood friend Letitia, they travel to a remote village in New England. A conspiracy is uncovered and seemingly resolved in the first chapter. From there, the book is a series of interconnected short stories leading up to a finale where all the spotlighted characters converge for a resolution against the evil throughout the novel.
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