In a previous article, I defended the possibilities offered by NBC’s new horror anthology Fear Itself. From the same brains as Showtime’s popular Masters of Horror, this slightly less ambitiously titled series premiered at the beginning of this month. Three episodes have aired so far - and anyone who’s been checking out the critical and unprofessional reviews recently might think I’ve been too kind.

Episodes one and two were penned by the writers of Critters 2/Hocus Pocus and White Noise 2, respectively. Far be it from me to critcize, but it doesn’t sound like they were leading with their best foot. I admittedly have not had the opportunity to enjoy White Noise 2, but I assume its quality level is indicated by the trailer, which begins with a voiceover, “the motion picture White Noise introduced audiences to the phenomenon E.V.P. Recordings of the dead.” I’m not sure what audiences Mr. Voiceover is talking about, but I’m pretty sure that E.V.P. was featured - if not by name - in The Sixth Sense, six years earlier, and the concept has probably existed since the first recording device played back suspicious-sounding static.

So, sure, the first two episodes were not good. Would you expect anything different? Sure, it’s silly to lead with such tripe when they could have picked the third episode instead, which was the brainchild of Carnivàle’s Daniel Knauf. It’s called Family Man, and it sounds like a Bizarro World version of the film that shares its name. In it, a loving husband and father somehow switches lives with a deranged serial killer. So far, it’s been hailed as the first “genuinely scary” installment. Of the reviews collected by AICN’s Hercules in his own Fear Itself article, only the Boston Globe lumps Ep. 3 in with the rest of it, saying the show is “just not scary enough.”

But here’s an interesting factoid: AICN “contributors” Drew McWeeny (Moriarty) and Scott Swan (Obi-Swan) have written a later episode, drawing on their experience writing episodes “Cigarette Burns” and “Pro-Life” for Masters of Horror. One of Harry Knowles’ famous controversies involved his flowery review of a McWeeny script, in which he did not disclose his working relationship/friendship with the writer, nor make mention of his pseudonym. Now the truth is out, but will Knowles allow his staff to be honest in their assessment of the McWeeny/Swan episode?

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