reflected parallel sentiments, calling it the "best new television show of the year." Ryan felt that the series would broaden the audience of the horror genre, as well as attract new fans. "Finally, a horror show on television for people who hate horror. It's not that The Walking Dead isn't scary or doesn't contain gratuitous amounts of gore [...] but, where other horror projects opt for camp, The Walking Dead grounds itself in reality." Writing for The Atlantic, Scott Meslow affirmed that The Walking Dead was "as dark, intelligent, and uncompromising as any of AMC's other dramas."St. Louis Post-Dispatch Gail Pennington appraised "Days Gone Bye" as "genuinely terrifying", adding that despite being too gruesome for her tastes, it was "too engrossing not to watch." Pennington commended the character development in the episode, stating that Frank Darabont "finds time for the human tragedy of the situation." In an A− grade review, Boston Herald journalist Mark Perigard said that the pilot episode was a "suspenseful thriller", while Robert Bianco of USA Today avouched that it was "one killer of a zombie show." The Wall Street Journal writer Nancy deWolf Smith felt that "Days Gone Bye" contained a cinematic quality to it; "The pilot episode [is] so good that it has hooked even a zombie hater like me." Steve West of CinemaBlend praised the episode, calling it "the best pilot since Losts introduction" and "a brilliant examination of what makes us human." Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A−' grade, and described it as a "stunning debut". Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe said that the installment was "fully dynamic and engaging". "The Walking Dead is a promising human story built over a sea of grunting corpses. It's a scare-fest at points [...] and it's definitely extremely bloody, as zombie guts splatter all over the place like chunky borscht. The 90-minute premiere is a gory Halloween horror event, for sure." Liz Kelly and Jen Chaney of The Washington Post reacted positively to the series premiere, deeming it as a "chilling show", and exclaiming that it had a "very real sense that the world can go completely mad, and stay that way for good." Kris King of Starpulse said that it was "a welcome reprieve from the camp-laden world of zombie culture." Josh Jackson of Paste gave the episode an 8.8 out of 10. Jackson praised the final moments of