TV is the new reading

‘Fear Itself’ is satisfying summer horror series

Last week’s premiere installment of “Fear Itself” on NBC was incredibly cool, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.

This feels very familiar. I think ABC was airing some dark desert road series called “Desperation” last summer, and there was a collection of Stephen King tales on TNT called “Nightmares & Dreamscapes.” These midsummer mini frightfests are generally mid-budget, high-concept chillers where the schlock  element gets downplayed in favor of suspense and  dramatic tension.

“Fear Itself” seems like a work along those lines. The location in the first installment, “The Sacrifice,” was sparse and evocative, like the title. Four men, fresh from some criminal mischief, bounce along the back roads to evade law enforcement. One is injured, and another talks too much. A crude booby trap disables their car with a SMASH. They cross a frozen lake to an outpost maintained by three impossibly beautiful women, grown sisters who seem to be alone in the camp, tending to an injured priest.

The viewer is settling comfortably into the tale as the sisters work to split up the group. The injured one is tended to in the infirmary. Another is drawn to the barn to help carry blankets, and falls into a trap. The last two travelers enjoy a mysterious stew – and the viewer is free to speculate on what it’s made from – until one rises to check on his injured friend, and discovers he has been killed.

Horrified, he tries to save the priest. But as they race for freedom, the priest is yanked back into the infirmary by some dark force.

This has gotten very interesting. Up until now, the story could’ve been heading in several different directions – that the sisters are actually ancient succubi, that they trap and murder unwary travelers for food, that they are just a weirdly isolated cult experience – anything would fit. When the show reveals the secret at the heart of their sacrifice, the mystery only gets deeper and more exciting as the characters seek an escape.

The stories are written and directed by some of the top horror writers in the business and if the first one is anything to go by, it’s worth a look. Better yet, TiVo it and curl up with a nice juicy horror Saturday night.

It’s surely better than any schlock-and-gore original production Sci Fi will have on deck, and as the days get longer and twilight hours stretch deeper into night it’s a great time to get some adrenaline going.

“Fear Itself” airs 9 p.m. Thursdays on NBC.