Surprise! ‘Creepshow’ TV Series is Now Streaming Early

Shudder’s Creepshow TV series wasn’t supposed to drop onto the horror streaming service until late tonight. But the gods of horror have decided to bestow a gift upon us, and you can catch Creepshow streaming right now. The horror anthology series is inspired by the George Romero and Stephen King film of the same name, and this new incarnation is under the leadership of filmmaker and special effects guru Greg Nicotero.

Here’s a nice little treat for those of you who are home for the day (or those of you who like to slack off and watch TV at work). The first episode of Shudder’s Creepshow TV series is now streaming early. While the show officially premieres tonight at 9:00 pm ET/6:00 pm PT, both on the Shudder TV live-stream and on demand, the streaming service has released the episode early for on-demand viewing.

Unlike other streaming shows, Shudder is taking a piecemeal approach here, dropping episodes every week rather than all at once. Each episode contains two stories. Here’s the info on the first episode:

Gray Matter

Richie’s drinking habit was getting out of control, but no one expected his thirst to become insatiable. His appetite grew from beer, to animals, to people; and with a hurricane closing in, Richie begins to devour everything in sight.

Written by: Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi, based on the short story “Gray Matter” by Stephen King

Directed by: Greg Nicotero

Cast: Adrienne Barbeau, Giancarlo Esposito, Tobin Bell, Christopher Nathan, Jesse C. Boyd

The House of the Head

Evie’s dolls are some of her favorite companions, but when a severed toy head appears in their dollhouse and starts murdering, Evie can’t protect them. Are her favorite dolls next? Or worse, if it escapes the confines of the dollhouse… is she next?

Written by: Josh Malerman

Directed by: John Harrison

Cast: Cailey Fleming, Rachel Hendrix, David Shae, Guy Messenger, Diane D. Carter

I reviewed the first episode and found it quite enjoyable, writing:

Once you learn to separate Creepshow the TV series from Creepshow the film, you’ll likely have fun with what Shudder is offering. The series is a love letter to horror fans, and packs in plenty of Easter Eggs to both the original movie and to Stephen King’s work in general. The stories never overstay they’re welcome, the folks behind and in front of the camera have a lot to offer, and anyone looking for some fast, somewhat cheap thrills is going to get exactly what they want. The Creepshow TV series was never going to live up to the classic movie, but its bloody heart is in the right place.

Our own Jacob Hall visited the Creepshow set, and spoke with showrunner Greg Nicotero about reviving the horror classic:

“They were like, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about rebooting Creepshow.’ And I went, ‘My Creepshow, Creepshow? Really?’ And they said, ‘Would you be interested in being the creative executive?’ And I was like, ‘Uh, yeah!’ I mean, I was there, I was on the set when they did the original Creepshow. I visited. So I was like, yeah. I mean, George gave me my first job. So it was like my Creepshow, Creepshow. So my goal was, I wanted to honor the spirit of writers in terms of, I wanted some old school writers and some new writers and people that inspire me.”