5 apocalypse shows harsher, grittier, and bleaker than The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead may be the ultimate post-apocalyptic franchise: the original show, about survivors trying to unite after a zombie plague destroys civilization, ran for 11 seasons, and that’s without counting the numerous spinoffs. A great many characters die brutally in that span, and they were just as likely to be killed by their fellow human beings as by the undead. It was a very grim show.