Last year, when I caught word that Showtime was creating a sort of meeting of the minds of horror with their new series, Masters of Horror, I was pumped. I've been a sucker for horror books, movies and TV, especially including the B-movie horror that you'd often see Joe Bob Briggs covering in some book or TV show. Unfortunately, though, I was a bit let down.

Last season's Masters of Horror had one hell of a line-up of directors, with the likes of Mick Garris, John Carpenter and Takashi Miike. The problem for me was that, for the most part, this wasn't even close to the best stuff these guys could dish out. Somebody (the network?) wimped out in many cases, taking the camera away too soon from gory scenes as if to spare the viewer a tummy-ache. I felt cheated.

If you felt the same way I did about last season, next season's going to be a ... pleasant change for you.

I was sent the first few episodes of the second season, and just the other night I had enough time to catch the premiere, 'The Damned Thing', directed by Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre). In a nutshell, something's causing the people in a small town to go completely insane, killing each other in fits of rage over little or nothing at all. A Sheriff tries to restore order in the town while trying to figure out what the heck is going on, while also trying to keep his own rage under control.

If this episode is any indication of what's to come, holy lord they did not pull any punches this go around. We're talking gratuitous gore everywhere. To give you some idea of what to expect, (and while this isn't plot-ruining, I should say SPOILER ALERT through the rest of this paragraph) one guy in the show goes completely nuts and since he has nobody to attack with the hammer in his hand, he takes it to his own head over and over again, then rakes the hammer claw over his face a load of times for good measure.

If horror like this isn't your thing, do yourself a favor and stay far away from at least this episode. I've got a couple more I'll be taking a look at soon, and if the trend continues this will be one of my weekly guilty pleasures (hm, that does sound creepy as hell that I call this stuff a "pleasure"). I'm not sure yet if I'll bother reviewing every episode, but if enough of you would like me to, say so in the comments.

Masters of Horror season two premieres Friday, October 27 at 10 PM.

(UPDATE: Fellow blogger Wil pointed out this list of episodes and directors for the new season.)