Halloween is right around the corner when it comes to TV, and Kiefer Sutherland is getting spooky for the season by joining his first Stephen King project since Stand by Me back in 1986. He's coming to the scariest streaming service on the market for a special in honor of Halloween, but he definitely won't be revisiting his Stand By Me days for Shudder.
Kiefer Sutherland (best known on the small screen for 24) is set to star in The Creepshow Halloween Special, based on stories by Stephen King and Joe Hill. The special will release on Shudder, a.k.a. AMC Networks' streaming service specifically geared toward horror, thriller, and supernatural content. It will be animated, with Sutherland playing the character at the center of King's story.
The Creepshow Halloween Special will adapt Stephen King's short story by the name of "Survivor Type," and Kiefer Sutherland will play a man who is determined to stay alive on a deserted island no matter the cost... all on his own. As if a version of a Stephen King story on the small screen just in time for Halloween wasn't promising enough, a Walking Dead veteran is making the adaptation happen.
The Walking Dead executive producer Greg Nicotero also produces Creepshow for Shudder, and he is responsible for adapting Stephen King's "Survivor Type" as well as directing the full Creepshow Halloween Special. The second story in the special will be an adaptation by Melanie Dale of Joe Hill's "Twittering from the Circus of the Dead," starring Joey King of Netflix's The Kissing Booth as a teenager on a family road trip. In true scary story style, that road trip will include a visit to "the gravest show on earth."
After the first season of Creepshow released in time for Halloween in 2019 and scored a renewal for Season 2 on October 30 last year, it's only fitting that Creepshow will release something in honor of the spookiest holiday of the year. Greg Nicotero shared some details about The Creepshow Halloween Special, saying:
Halloween wouldn’t be complete without Creepshow, so with the help of the father and son team of Stephen & Joe as well as a fantastic animated format, we get to continue the tradition and spirit of Halloween.
While Creepshow fans may have previously hoped for the second season of the live-action series to premiere in time for Halloween this year, production was delayed due to the pandemic. The Creepshow Halloween Special can happen thanks to the animated format. The second season is in production now after the delay.
Creepshow isn't the only series to turn to animation to produce new content when live-action wasn't an option; with the winning combination of Stephen King and Kiefer Sutherland bringing a story to the small screen in time for Halloween, horror fans should have some frights to look forward to.
The Creepshow Halloween Special will release on Monday, October 26 streaming on Shudder. If you haven't checked Shudder out just yet, the streamer boasts "the largest human-curated selection of high-quality, spine-tingling, and provocative films, TV series, and originals," with always something "new and unexpected" for members. Plans start at $4.75 per month for the originals and library of content, but you can try seven days for free.
If you're in the market for some non-horror options as the temperature drops, be sure to check out our 2020 fall TV premiere schedule.
