The Crypt Keeper is back! TNT has officially given a 10-episode order toM. Night Shyamalan’s reboot of the beloved horror series,Tales from the Crypt. Based on the EC Comics classic, the anthology series will anchor the network’s new horror block, set to debut in 2017, which will be hosted by a “newly reinvented Crypt Keeper.'
In January, we learned that TNT was teaming up with Shyamalan to launch a new weekly two-hour slate of horror programming, curated by theSignsandTheSixth Sensewriter-director. The horror block will feature both short and long-form storytelling, with Tales from the Crypt as the crown jewel in the new schedule.
TNT’s announcement also brings news of two new original programs that will fill out the horror block, and they both sound downright promising. The first up is a pilot calledTime of Death, and it’s a bit of anAmerican Horror Storymeets 24 hybrid. The show is designed as an anthology of season-long horror stories that happen in real time. The first season will pay tribute to the classic 1980s slasher films, with subsequent seasons planned to explore other horror subgenres.
Here’s killer (beg pardon) description of the first season:
Time of Death is planned as an anthology of season-long horror tales that unfold in real time – each one taking viewers hour-by-hour through a single “long night of hell.” The first season will follow a murderous psychopath who returns to his Midwestern hometown during the annual county fair to exact revenge on a community he believes destroyed his life.
The second project, which is in development, is titledCreaturesand it’s drawing a little inspiration from some horrific real-life inspiration via the Slender Man stabbings. Creatures is being written byDominic Mitchell(In the Flesh) withTom Shankland(House of Cards) attached to direct and serve as executive producer.
Here’s the official description:
AnotherTalesproject now in development isCreatures, a sophisticated psychological thriller that tells the disturbing tale of two former best friends who, at 12 years old, tried to cut out their classmate’s heart as a sacrifice to an internet bogeyman they invented called Mr. Gorgi. Fifteen years later, the two young women have been released from a psychiatric institute into their small town in Alaska, but it’s not long before they start to feel the alluring and terrifying presence of Mr. Gorgi once again.Creaturesis a story of deep friendship and dark obsession, where a vivid imagination meets the power of suggestion and the seduction of belief.
“I’m really thrilled about the way this horror block is coming together with the addition ofTime of DeathandCreatures,” said Shyamalan. “That such a beloved property like Tales from theCryptis launching our evening makes it an even more unique and exciting opportunity. Across the board, the level of talent has been very inspiring.”
Both projects sound pretty compelling, and I love the idea of a weekly two-hour horror block. I look forward to Halloween every year not just for the festivities and culture that emerges every October, but for the sudden ease with which you may find good horror programming everywhere. If TNT can bring a little of that to the rest of the year I’m all for it.
