The Evolution of Sci-Fi Horror on Television: From 'The Twilight Zone' to Modern Hits

Starting with “The Time Element” teleplay in 1958, “The Twilight Zone,” which originally aired from 1959 to 1964, successfully delivered some of the most recognizable narrative techniques in TV series, and along with them, tried-and-true tropes. It’s groundbreaking in so many ways, and although the changes appeared subtle at first, they’re all influential in shaping how modern sci-fi horror series would be styled and formatted years after it ended.

In his non-fiction study “Danse Macabre,” released in 1981, Stephen King described “The Twilight Zone” as “damn near immortal,” and few could argue with that. Many of its episodes just keep coming back from the grave, either as remakes in films or inspirations for a whole different series. And upon a closer look at how sci-fi horror shows evolve over the decades since the days of The Twilight Zone, you’ll realize that a lot of the formatting, storytelling styles, and themes from the show have been reimplemented, or even copied, by its more modern counterparts. The influence also doesn’t stop at TV series, but also at films as well.

Adult Sci-fi

One of the oldest misconceptions about sci-fi was that the genre came with space faring creatures, laser blasters, and bleeping robots; in short, Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Things changed for the better since The Twilight Zone, as the series showed how out-of-this-world stories could relate to our daily situations and be every bit as meaningful as the works of great authors like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ray Bradbury. Just about every episode of The Twilight Zone is aimed at the adult audience, mixing sci-fi with other genres such as horror and thriller, often to pose complex questions about human nature and offer social commentaries. The X-Files, a much more modern TV series released nearly 3 decades after The Twilight Zone (the original series) had ended, uses more or less the same playbook. The X- Files is predominantly sci-fi, yet it has enough horror elements to appeal to fans of both genres, mainly adult viewers.

Anthology Format

The Twilight Zone is not the first TV series to use the “new week, new story” format, but it somehow becomes the shorthand for the non-serialized drama, eclipsing all its precursors. Before The Twilight Zone even existed, people watched anthology series like Science-Fiction Theatre (1955 – 1957) and Tales of Tomorrow (1951 – 1953). But when “Black Mirror” came along in 2011, no one said it was an iteration of either; instead, they hailed it as a modern-day version of The Twilight Zone. When some networks say that shows like “Channel Zero” and “Dimension 404” are directly inspired by “Black Mirror,” they seem to be blatantly ignoring the importance of The Twilight Zone in the equation.

Sci-Fi Horror Doesn’t Always Need Jump Scares

Even to contemporary viewers, The Twilight Zone remains undeniably scary, despite how old the story and visual effects are. Certain episodes, including “The Mask” and “Eye of the Beholder,” feature some of the most horrifying makeup in the history of TV, fueling nightmares for years. They showcase that grotesque imagery can be just as terrifying as jump scares. The Twilight Zone also proves that horror doesn’t always need typical monsters to be effective. You don’t have to use Frankenstein-like creatures or aliens to evoke fears. Sometimes, simple things that don’t look quite right are enough to deliver terror.

Tech Anxiety

Apart from the anthology format, the use of body horror, and the smart adult-oriented storytelling, The Twilight Zone also gives us an early, and actually enjoyable look at tech anxiety as a concept. If you revisit “The Brain Center At Whipple’s” episode from Season 5, you’ll see how mechanization plays a role in diminishing humanity. Technology takes invention, and inventions can only make people much more inventive than ever before. There will be a time when humans themselves become overwhelmed by the technologies they created. If that sounds familiar, it’s probably because you see the same thing being played out in modern series like “Westworld,” “Humans,” and once again, “Black Mirror.”

We think one of the least talked about influences of The Twilight Zone over modern TV series, and not just limited to sci-fi horror or speculative fiction genres, is how it set the pathway for a show to exist beyond the screen. It’s not uncommon nowadays to see how a popular TV series branches out its fame into the zeitgeist as fashion accessories, action figures, video games, and so on. From Stranger Things and Westworld to Jurassic Park and The Terminator, every single one of them spawned an empire to bring the sci-fi horror directly out from the screen into the real world. Believe it or not, The Twilight Zone was among the first TV series to show how ubiquitous a TV series could become, and affect everybody’s day-to-day life.

Is there any modern equivalent to The Twilight Zone? What is the biggest difference between X-Files and The Twilight Zone? We’d love to hear from you.

Other Things You Might Want to Know