Anthology horror is back, baby, thanks to nightmare-inducing programs like Black Mirror, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, and Jordan Peele’s forthcoming reboot of The Twilight Zone. So it was only a matter of time before some exec with a long memory decided to relaunch Creepshow, the anthology movie series that began in 1982. We’ve already known about the revival, shepherded by The Walking Dead’s Greg Nicotero and destined for horror streaming service Shudder. But now it’s been revealed, via The A.V. Club, who will supply the stories, and the roster is an impressive who’s who of modern horror and sci-fi writers.
The original Creepshow film was a historic meeting-of-the-minds between horror gods Stephen King and the late George A. Romero. King wrote all five stories, plus the wraparound; Romero directed. Among its more memorable tales included a cusp-of-Cheers Ted Danson being buried up to his neck in sand so he can drown by Leslie Nielsen, E.G. Marshall as a Howard Hughes-esque wealthy germaphobe, and King himself delivering a truly awful performance as a buck-toothed hillbilly who encounters an parasitic alien lifeforce. There followed two movie sequels and one un-picked up TV pilot from 2008 that starred Wilmer Valderamma.
King will return to the Creepshow redux, contributing stories alongside his son (and NOS4A2 author) Joe Hill. (It’s not clear if King will write new tales or simply dig into his cavernous vaults for old copy.) Also on tap is The Bottoms’ Joe Lansdale, Rob Schrab (Monster House), and Josh Malerman. The latter is hot stuff right now, being as he is the author of a little movie called Bird Box, which Netflix claims is one of the most watched movies ever. Can he top the blindfold-related scares of his big breakthrough? Perhaps more important, will his Creepshow yarn inspire as many fun memes and ill-advisedly dangerous copycat videos?
(Via The A.V. Club)
