Stephen King Thinks This Sci-Fi Anthology Series Is Scarier Than The Twilight Zone

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For a show that aired in the late 1950s and '60s, "The Twilight Zone" has some pretty scary episodes. Rod Serling's foundational horror anthology show was often content to unsettle or even provoke introspection in its viewers, but it could also get pretty darn creepy when it wanted to. According to Stephen King, however, "The Twilight Zone" simply can't compare to its short-lived rival "The Outer Limits," which for the author was a superior example of horror fiction. In fact, King didn't seem all that fond of Serling's series.

Like "The Twilight Zone," "The Outer Limits" is one of the best anthology TV series of all time. Created by Leslie Stevens, the show benefitted from having "Psycho" writer Joseph Stefano as its producer. Whereas Serling's seminal CBS series ran for five seasons between 1959 and 1964, Stevens' alternative managed just two seasons on ABC between 1963 and 1965. Still, in that short time it made a significant impact, and is almost as fondly remembered as "The Twilight Zone." As far as King is concerned, however, "The Outer Limits" deserves to be thought of as superior.

In his analysis of horror in popular culture, "Danse Macabre," King dubbed the anthology series "the best program of its type ever to run on network TV," behind British anthology series "Thriller." What was it that King liked so much? Well, it seems the master of horror simply found Stevens' show more horrifying.

In Stephen King's estimation, "The Outer Limits" isn't just one of the best shows like "The Twilight Zone," it's actually a better horror series. The show is often described as having a more science fiction bent than Rod Serling's anthology series, but King felt "The Outer Limits" was only "nominally science fiction" when in reality it was a "horror program" — and a damn good one.

The writer did admit that "The Twilight Zone" remains "damn near immortal" but his concern was less with the general reputation of shows and more with which constituted the best "horror fiction." According to the author, Serling's show simply had less to do with that particular genre than "The Outer Limits." Instead of pure horror, King saw "The Twilight Zone" as telling "moral tales," even going so far as to label many of them "smarmy," "simplistic," and "painfully corny." He wrote:

"Other episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' were really little more than sentimental riffs on old supernatural themes: Art Carney discovers he really is Santa Claus after all; the tired commuter (James Daly) finds peace in an idyllic, bucolic little town called Willoughby."

The only real compliment the author gave "The Twilight Zone" outside of acquiescing in its "immortal" reputation, was that when it did "occasionally strike notes of horror" many of them "vibrate[d] in the back teeth years later." Ultimately for King, however, "The Outer Limits" was simply superior. "For sheer hard-edged clarity of concept," he wrote, "'The Twilight Zone' really could not match 'The Outer Limits.'"

In "Danse Macabre," Stephen King elaborated on his love for "The Outer Limits" by praising producer Joseph Stefano for having an "extraordinarily clear" vision of what the show was about. "Each episode, he insisted, had to have a 'bear,'" wrote King. "Some sort of monstrous creature that would make an appearance before the station break at the half-hour." The author seemed to appreciate these monsters, noting how even in cases where the "bears" weren't dangerous, they'd still be sent on some sort of rampage by the end of their respective episodes.

But bears aside, generally, King seems to have found "The Outer Limits" to be scarier than "The Twilight Zone," and he's not necessarily wrong. The show often pushed things further than Rod Serling's series, even if it remains tame by today's standards.

Several episodes were truly disturbing, such as 1964's "Demon With A Glass Hand" which is often cited as one of the show's best and most terrifying. Written by Harlan Ellison, it follows a man who starts the episode with no memory and ends up making a discovery that dooms him to a life of excruciating loneliness. But 1963's "Nightmare" was arguably one of the more relentlessly upsetting episodes, in which a group of soldiers endure psychological torture at the hands of a sadistic alien, before one of the most shocking twists in sci-fi history reveals something even more sinister. Still, "The Twilight Zone" episode "The Howling Man" is arguably just as scary as either example, even if Stephen King doesn't think so.