Well, the story is basically about total societal collapse. Now, it is couched in Zombie Lore; but, it is about what happens when disaster strikes and humans are left to deal with the disaster and each other without an outside authority. This is engrossing. Yes, there is blood, and gore and zombies; but, there is also a very engaging story with characters written (and acted) in such a way that you care about what happens to them.
When I first suggested to my hubby that we try the first season of The Walking Dead (which was on Netflix), he gave me a very strange look. Now, it is one of the few shows we look forward to. BOR has not been keeping up with what has been happening with this show. It now beats primetime shows on the major networks with regularity; and, this episode was the season finale. That means a lot of people were going to tune in.
So, speaking from my own experience, The Walking Dead needs to be experienced before dismissing it simply because of the subject matter.
I’m the same way about zombie flicks, they’ve never interested me much before but TWD definitely takes it in a different direction.
The show treats conservatives very well including some strongly religious characters.
Maybe BOR has found his calling as Roger Ebert’s self righteous replacement.