The history of television is marked throughout by horror anthologies: shows that presented standalone terrors night after night. In spite of a healthy birth and a productive span of decades, the form has–sadly–witnessed a sad decline. That television as a medium is currently booming makes this decline all the more puzzling.

The heyday for televised horror was the 50s and 60s, though the 80s and 90s saw a sharp creative run (the 70s, by contrast, were a freakin snooze). Post 2000, the antholog...