The Pilot Written and directed by Frank Darbont, everything about the pilot, 'Days Gone Bye', is epic in scope. The drama is intense and across the episode's hour running time we see the show's hero, Rick Grimes, leap out of a coma and head first into the zombie apocalypse, culminating in a breathless, horse-bound scramble to an infested Atlanta. Along the way we see the makings of a love triangle, death and not a whole lot of hope. The real genius of The Walking Dead is epitomised in this cinematic as hell pilot, with its singular focus on the human side of the apocalypse making for arresting viewing. Gruesomely great. What Did It Change? The Walking Dead trod new ground in two main ways: it showed that given the right treatment comic book adaptations can work better on the small screen, as opposed to being given big budget film treatment. More importantly, thanks to the shows attention towards drama and character-driven storylines, all of the non horror fans that initially tuned in have since staggered out as fans of the genre. Having horror put back on the map can never be a bad thing. Legacy Following The Walking Deads successful launch, the genre very much came back from the dead with the gothic delights of American Horror Story haunting us in 2011, followed up by Hemlock Grove and Bates Motel in 2013.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.
