Creepshow is an American horror anthology television series that was released on Shudder in 2019.[1] The series serves as a continuation of the 1982 film of the same name and features twenty five episodes with two horror stories per episode.[1] The series premiered on September 26, 2019.[2]
On October 30, 2019, the series was renewed for a second season.[3] On October 30, 2020, an animated special titled A Creepshow Animated Special was released.[4] On November 10, 2020, it was announced that a holiday special titled A Creepshow Holiday Special would premiere on December 18, 2020.[5]
On February 18, 2021, the series was renewed for a third season, and the second season premiered on April 1, 2021. The third season debuted on September 23, 2021.[6]
On February 10, 2022, the series was renewed for a fourth season.[7] The fourth season premiered on October 13, 2023.[8]
The Creep shows audience members darkly grim horror stories from the pages of the Creepshow comic book. Each story evokes the traits of a comic book like the first Creepshow film and shows some occasional advertisements of horror products promoted in the comics. The stories detail different things including but not limited to demons, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and zombies.
In July 2018, the Creepshow television series was announced, with Greg Nicotero listed as a producer and streaming service Shudder as the distributor.[10]
As in the original Creepshow, the Creep is a full-bodied puppet that delivers gags (mostly featured in the cold openings of each episode) through nonverbal cues or laughter. There were some episodes that used an animated version of the Creep.
On January 16, 2019, it was announced that one of the segments of the pilot episode would be based on Stephen King's short story, "Survivor Type" from his 1985 collection Skeleton Crew; however, that story was ultimately not used for the first season and was instead part of the animated Halloween special that aired in 2020.[11]
As with the feature films, the series draws from short story fiction. Subsequently, the following were also announced as the basis for stories:[1]
Unlike the film entries, the Creepshow series will feature several directors instead of one director. Announced segment directors include David Bruckner, Roxanne Benjamin, Rob Schrab, John Harrison, Greg Nicotero, and Tom Savini;[1] the latter three having worked on the first two Creepshow features.
Principal photography for the series began in February 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. Season 2 began filming in September 2020; it was supposed to begin in March 2020, but was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22][23][24]
In season four, its episodes were filmed in Toronto.[25]
The series received acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 97% based on 29 reviews with an average rating of 7.7/10. The critical consensus reads: "Delightfully eerie, Creepshow captures the spirit of the original while forging its own spooky path."[26] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[27]
Scholastic Books released a book entitled Creepshow: The Taker, featuring two novellas inspired by the TV series. They were written by Elley Cooper.[28] A followup installment was released on April 28, 2021, entitled Creepshow: The Cursed, also written by Elley Cooper.[29]
On August 3, 2019, Universal Parks & Resorts announced that Creepshow would be coming to Halloween Horror Nights exclusively at its Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. The maze featured three segments from the 1982 film ("Father's Day", "The Crate", and "They're Creeping Up on You") as well as two others from the newly made web television version for Shudder ("Gray Matter" and "Bad Wolf Down").[30]