Not long ago, David W. Dietz III, a technical writer and specialist with InnerLink Strategic Solutions, wrote to tell me about a couple of Pittsburgh-produced shows coming to a computer near you.

These Web-only programs are titled "Dead Patrol" and "Nocturnal," both dancing within the haze of horror.

"Dead Patrol" is about a military unit assigned the task of eliminating the walking dead. Dietz described "Nocturnal" as a gothic horror story reminiscent of the old "Dark Shadows" soap opera.

Now, David's promotional push was not entirely philanthropic. He readily admits to acting in both shows. In fact, you may well have caught David on stage hereabouts, because he's been active on the theater scene.

Still, he invited me to check out a few Webisodes, so I did. And I was more than pleasantly surprised; I was impressed.

The production values -- right down to makeup and wardrobe -- are upper register for a venture of this nature, and the plot lines were entertaining.

In the first episode of "Dead Patrol," what you perceive as a store mannequin turns out to be a zombie in hiding. Cut to a later scene and you have a female soldier sweating the prospect of having been infected by a bite.

I'm not going to give anything away -- you owe it to yourself to watch. But my one nitpick is that viewing requires some serious bandwidth. If you're still on a dial-up (a horror story in its own right), don't even bother. Even with broadband access, you're likely to experience quite a bit of buffering. But if you watch early in the day, you'll likely have better luck.

Oh, and before I forget, you have to know WHERE to watch. So here are the links: deadpatrol.com and nocturnalwebseries.com.

Enjoy!