Channel Zerois Syfy channel’s terrifying horror anthology that follows a town stricken with a curse coming from a children’s puppet show titled “Candle Cove.” Combining modern day scares with creepy vintage marionettes, Candle Cove hits the ground running and offers plenty of frights for the Halloween season. ShowrunnerNick Antoscahas had plenty of success when it comes to his history of horror writing forMTV’s Teen Wolfand as a co-producer on NBC’s seriesHannibal.
Antosca was kind enough to sit down with us to explain howChannel Zerocame about, his plans for the future, and what surprises the series has for us moving forward this season while focusing on Candle Cove. Plus, more on the creation of the “Tooth Child.”
On the Origin ofChannel Zero
When asked about howChannel Zerotook off, Antosca first stated that the main priority of the writers’ room for the series was to “unsettle audiences” and he leaped at the chance to bring the series of Candle Cove to audiences through SyFy. “I’ve been a fan of Creepypastas for a long time,” Antosca told us with regard to the internet sensation of putting together horror stories for random online viewers to wet their whistle on, “with Candle Cove in particular being at the top of the list. When you’re online, staying up until 3AM reading scary stories online, you’ll always end up in Candle Cove at some point.”Antosca went on to mention how he got involved after screenwriterMax Landishad optioned the story with the blessing of the original story’s creatorKris Straub.
“When I saw the story was originally optioned, I knew I wanted to get involved. The original idea was for it be one mini-series but there are millions of these stories out there and they have cult fanbases, acting as modern urban legends. Right now, SyFy is going through a ‘changing of the guard’ and working on thinking outside the box, so they understood us when they saw how passionate we were about the pitch and the story itself.”
On Transitioning Candle Cove from Online Story to Television
“Candle Cove” is especially unique as a Creepypasta in that it exists as a string of message board threads rather than a flat narrative. Keeping this in mind, Nick broke down the process of taking this idiosyncratic format and bringing it to life for SyFy audiences.
“Candle Cove is such a unique example of the Creepypasta format, and so what we tried to do with this was bring the mood, the puppets, and the sense of strange, familiar dread bubbling up to the surface with the series. We wanted the series to follow the inspiration laid out by the original online story, and then build a world around that. In a nutshell, we were looking to have the series almost be like a nightmare you’d have after reading the original Creepypasta.”
The Design of the Candle Cove Puppets
One of the creepiest aspects of Channel Zero: Candle Cove is the design of the puppets. Pirate Percy, Laughing Stock, Jawbone, and the other denizens of Candle Cove have an otherworldly, yet familiar feel to them as they make their appearances throughout the first season. “We were determined to make a show inside the series, in Candle Cove, that felt scary but at the same time ‘plausibly real’,”Antosca noted in discussing the designs of the puppets themselves.
“It was exciting working with directorChris MacNeillon the creation of all these puppets and we collaborated withRob Mills, a puppeteer who has worked onFraggle Rockand with the Henson Company. Rob built and operated the puppets and he’s so talented that I kept having to tell him to make it look shittier to harken back to that time. It took careful calibration in reeling back how creepy Candle Cove could be because if it’s too terrifying it doesn’t work. It needed to have a balance of weird, dark, and scary for it to resonate. To this day, it’s still so amazing to see Pirate Percy brought to life. I would be constantly sending photos of everything to Candle Cove’s creator, Kris Straub, just due to how excited I was.”
The Creation of the “Tooth Child”
Aside from just the puppets of Candle Cove, Channel Zero’s first season is inhabited by what appears to be a young boy made entirely out of teeth. “So the Tooth Child,” Antosca explained, “came to me in a nightmare. After envisioning this thing, it harkened back the ideas of childhood, of losing your teeth, of growing up, and of having recurring dreams that explored all of these things. When I proposed the idea of the creature, it struck a chord with the writers’ room. We had some fantastic artists, who also worked on Hannibal, create the suit for us and we couldn’t be happier with it. For the record, no those aren’t real teeth.”
On the Future ofChannel Zero
Channel Zeroitself has already been greenlit for a second season, focusing on a new story titled “No End House” which follows a pair of youngsters attempting to make their way through a house with a never-ending series of rooms, each getting progressively more terrifying than the last. “We’re shooting Season 2 right now.” Antosca stated about the upcoming entry into the anthology series:
“We really, really want to do a third season as well and of course more moving into the future. Rather than going with the more popular entries of Creepypasta, we’re thinking of going with slightly lesser known stories. When we were originally thinking of the second season, we had a long list of really cool stories but the trick is we can only adapt stories which we can find the authors of to get their approval. Considering the format of Creepypastas, this could be a little tricky.”
WhileChannel Zero’s first season will focus on Candle Cove, it may make something of an appearance in upcoming seasons. “Expect to see subtle and playful crossovers, if any, from season to season. We’re really moving forward with the attitude of each season being self-contained however you may see a ‘nod’ from time to time. Each season will have on director that brings their vision to life through these stories and we want each to feel different from one another while having a cinematic feel for a television series.” The first season though is still not finished and Antosca promises plenty more surprises ahead for the show’s remaining episodes.
“Without getting into spoilers, the show will get much stranger, more psychological, and MUCH more disturbing as we wrap up the first season. Definitely keep an eye out for ‘the hook’.”
Channel Zerocurrently airs at 9PM on Tuesday Nights on the SyFy Channel.
