The highly anticipated prequel/companion television series to The Walking Dead entitled Fear The Walking Dead (FTWD), has finally made its debut to record-breaking ratings.

The series is set in Los Angeles during the very beginning of the viral outbreak responsible for the zombie apocalypse.

While it is sure to be another feather-in-the-cap for AMC network, the pilot left me extremely underwhelmed.

While the premise sounds intriguing on paper, most of the expanded 90-minute runtime of the pilot focused on tedious, uninteresting melodrama generated by the show's central (and extremely unsympathetic) characters.

Granted, I'm not the biggest fan of zombie stories, or of The Walking Dead specifically. Yet, I did watch the premiere episode of The Walking Dead, and feel it's one of the best television pilots ever produced.

Key characters were introduced in a dynamic narrative that never once felt self-indulgent or meandering.

Surprisingly, the FTWD pilot failed to emulate its predecessor on both counts.

Fortunately, there are other zombie stories being told onscreen. Tales that effectively use zombies as a backdrop to explore universal facets of the human experience.

The following two zombie short films are prime examples.

Each one uses the zombie apocalypse to tell engrossing stories about the human condition much better than the Fear The Walking Dead pilot

CARGO

Stranded during the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, a man devises a desperate plan to save his beloved infant daughter.

Released online in 2013, this short was a finalist in TROPFEST, the world's largest short film festival. It has garnered over 9 million views on YouTube to date.

Watch CARGO here ...