#WinterThrills ‘Shudder’s Creepshow-From Script To Screen’ by Dennis L.Price

About the book…

‘Shudder’s Creepshow: From Script To Screen’ is the official behind-the-scenes book featuring the spine-tingling stories and tantalizing talent behind The Creepshow series.

Shudder’s Creepshow: From Script to Scream, produced by AMC Networks Publishing and Creepshow showrunner and executive producer Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead), is a coffee-table book which brings fans behind-the-scenes of the acclaimed Creepshow series with deep dives into its riveting origins, gripping development, provocative production, sinister special effects, and much more.

Features a foreword by legendary storyteller Stephen King and an afterword by horror aficionado Kirk Hammett, Metallica’s lead guitarist. Based on the hit anthology series from Nicotero, Cartel Entertainment, Striker Entertainment, and in partnership with Titan Books, the book is written by Dennis L. Prince, designed by John J. Hill, and co-produced by Julia Hobgood. The series has been heralded as “an irresistibly macabre package,” (Slant Magazine) and “an undeniable love letter to all generations of horror fans,” (CBR), and over three seasons, has been one of the most watched programs on Shudder.

This is a worthy -it’s expensive but if you shop around it can be cheaper, or ask for it for Christmas, I got it for half price I think on the site which will not be named-coffee table book which charts the journey of the tv show Creepshow, streaming exclusively on Shudder in the U.S and the U.K.

As someone who is a massive fan of Stephen King and thought I knew quite a bit, it has revelations from the foreword onwards-Creepshow 3?When did that happen?!-encased in this beautifully covered hardback format. The qulaity of the prints are sublime, you have stills from the movies and episodes alike, as well as glimpses behind the scenes, concept art, scripts, and interviews with all the key players.

In between the chapters are linking comic pieces, commissioned for the book, where titular character, the Creep, introduces the next part with his customary ghoulish puns and sight gags. There are even mock up ads for products that you could never buy these days-X-ray specs! Sea Monkeys! Monster Making Kits!-threaded through the book, the attention to detail makes the price definitely worth while.

The pages have a gloriously thick quality and glossiness to them, and unlike a lot of other books which pack as much images on a page as possible, this has a neat balance between archival material and interviews which is perfect becasue you dont just want a book of stills-or maybe you do?-and then loads of dense text. I was surpsied to learn that comics, particularly horror comics, were brought up as bad influences on the psychology of young children int he 1950’s and that Creepshow and its storytelling format, was directly drawn from the likes of ‘Vault Of Horror’ and ‘Tales From The Crypt’.

If that is considered a ‘bad influence’ and a ‘moral failing’ then there are so many of us happily corrupted, watching these beautifully executed homages to the past, with award winning story writers, artists and effects people stepping up to write for, star in, and produce Creepshow, to me, it has many years left in which to continue what it started.

Creepshow takes social, cultural and historical events and mores, trandlates them into sopmething truly horrifying and even adapts well known stories breathing new life into them in an alternative format. The animated Halloween special absolutely scared the hell out of me, taking a story by Stephen King, ‘Survivor Type’, which I must have read 30 times, and made it even scarier. And let’s not mention his son’s contribution, ‘Twittering From the Circus Of the Dead’. Joe Hill gave me nightmares, not going to lie!

Begun with Stephen King and George Romero’s , branching into television, holiday specials, animated specials and so much more to look forward to, this will definitely slake that thirst whilst waiting for series 4 to appear.

About the author…

DENNIS L. PRINCE is an accomplished writer and author who, since 1998, has produced a steady output of book-length works and articles on business, technical, and entertainment topics. His lifetime love for movies and television led him to narrow his focus on film, filmmakers, and popular culture. He’s best known for his books, Aurora Monster Scenes: The Most Controversial Toys of a Generation and Joe Alves: Designing JAWS.