Adrienne Barbeau and Tricia Helfer discuss the Creepshow series

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

We're just under two months away from one of my most highly anticipated horror-related events of the year, the September 26th premiere of Shudder's Creepshow series, which is a return to the world of the classic Stephen King / George A. Romero anthologies CREEPSHOW and CREEPSHOW 2.

Unlike the the movies, the Creepshow series won't just be telling stories that were crafted by Stephen King, but there is a King adaptation in the line-up that happens to include Adrienne Barbeau, who played a memorable role in the first CREEPSHOW, as a cast member. Speaking with Heather Wixson of Daily Dead, Barbeau said she thinks the King story will be the first segment of the Creepshow series to air, which would be perfect – start off with some King before making the segue to other writers.

Barbeau also talked a bit about her character and said the segment might bring to mind one of the stories from the first CREEPSHOW: 

It is based on a Stephen King short story ["Gray Matter"] that appeared in a collection of his short stories called Night Shift. My specific character is not in the short story, though. I think they took a couple of the male characters from the short story and maybe turned them into my character. She's a woman in a very small town that's pretty much been abandoned, and she’s running a little grocery store. And one of the young inhabitants of the town, a young teenage boy comes in, and she can tell there's something wrong, something's going on, and he finally says, "I need help for my dad. Something's not right." So she sends Giancarlo [Esposito] and Tobin [Bell] off to try and help this boy's father, who's an alcoholic, but is also something so much worse than that, too. Unfortunately, I only shot the last day of the episode, so I never got to see any of the special effects, which I understand were incredible. The set of the boy's father's house sounded to me like Jordy's set from the original Creepshow. So, that's about all I can tell you."

If you have read the Gray Matter story, I'm sure you can imagine how the set of the adaptation might be reminiscent of the The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill set in some way.

Wixson also spoke to actress Tricia Helfer, who stars in the series segment Lydia Layne's Better Half, which Helfer compared to a CREEPSHOW 2 story.

I play this high-powered CEO named Lydia Lane. She was giving a promotion and she chooses to give it to one of her employees over another, which really upsets the young protégé. There may be a little bit of selfish reasons involved, and things go awry, arguments ensue, and somebody gets killed. Then a lot of the episode takes place in an elevator. 

There's also another decision that she makes to try and cover it up, as opposed to just come clean, even though it was an accident. So, there's a lot of guilt weighing on her conscience, and when she's locked in an elevator, you're flirting with the line of is she just losing her mind out of guilt, and out of the decisions that she made? Or is this woman really coming back to life in this? Is she in a supernatural-type environment that she doesn't know of? But you think this is happening, so which is it?

It's the struggle for somebody that is an intellectual where they aren’t sure if they are losing their mind or not, and that’s almost harder for themselves to comprehend than something supernatural happening and outside of your control. This episode was really molded after the story in CREEPSHOW 2 with the Hitchhiker, where this woman is losing her mind, but doesn't understand what's happening. And this guy just keeps showing up and how is this happening? But yet it feels real and seems real and is real to her, and so what's happening? Is she just losing her mind or is she in some really bad situation?"

The first season of the Creepshow series will consist of six episodes, each one divided into two segments. The twelve stories that will be told over the course of the season are: 

“Gray Matter” 
Story by: Stephen King, adapted by Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi
Directed by: Greg Nicotero
Doc and Chief, two old-timers in a small, dying town, brave a storm to check on Richie, an alcoholic single father, after encountering his terrified son at the local convenience store. The story, first published in 1973, is part of King’s best-selling 1978 collection, Night Shift. 

“Lydia Layne’s Better Half”  
Story by: John Harrison & Greg Nicotero, adapted by John Harrison
Directed by: Roxanne Benjamin 
A powerful woman denies a promotion to her protégée and lover but fails to anticipate the fallout. 

“All Hallows Eve”  
Written by: Bruce Jones
Directed by: John Harrison
Even then they’re a little too old, this group of friends still want to trick-or-treat but getting candy isn’t all they are looking for.
 
“Bad Wolf Down” 
Written by: Rob Schrab
Directed by: Rob Schrab
A group of American soldiers, trapped behind enemy lines during World War II, finds an unconventional way to even the odds. 

“By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain” 
Story by: Joe Hill, adapted by Jason Ciaramella
Directed by: Tom Savini
Her dad died looking for the monster living at the bottom of Lake Champlain, and now, will she?
 
“The Companion” 
Story by: Joe R. Lansdale, Kasey Lansdale & Keith Lansdale, adapted by Matt Venne
Directed by: Dave Bruckner 
A young boy, bullied by his older brother, sneaks into an abandoned farm that is protected by a supernatural force. 

“The House of the Head”  
Written by: Josh Malerman 
Directed by: John Harrison
Evie discovers her new dollhouse might be haunted. 

“The Man in the Suitcase”  
Written by: Christopher Buehlman
Directed by: Dave Bruckner 
A college student brings the wrong bag home from the airport only to find a pretzeled man trapped inside, afflicted by a strange condition that turns his pain into gold.
 
“Night of the Paw” 
Written by: John Esposito
Directed by: John Harrison
A lonely mortician finds company in the ultimate  ‘be careful what you wish for’ story. 
 
“Skincrawlers”
Written by: Paul Dini & Stephen Langford
Directed by: Roxanne Benjamin 
A man considers a miraculous new treatment for weight loss that turns out to have unexpected complications.
 
“Times is Tough in Musky Holler” 
Written by: John Skipp and Dori Miller, based on their short story
Directed by: John Harrison
Leaders who once controlled a town through fear and intimidation get a taste of their own medicine.

“The Finger”
Written by: David J. Schow
Directed by: Greg Nicotero
An unhappy man discovers a severed, inhuman appendage on the street and brings it home, where it grows into a loyal companion with some deadly quirks.

In addition to Helfer and Gray Matter stars Barbeau, Esposito, and Bell, the cast of the series also includes Jeffrey Combs, Kid Cudi, Big Boi, Bruce Davison, Dana Gould, and David Arquette.

Shudder's Creepshow is produced by the Cartel with Monster Agency Productions, Taurus Entertainment, and Striker Entertainment. Stan Spry, Jeff Holland, and Eric Woods are executive producers for the Cartel; Greg Nicotero and Brian Witten are executive producers for Monster Agency Productions; Robert Dudelson, James Dudelson and Jordan Kizwani are executive producers for Taurus Entertainment; Russell Binder is executive producer and Marc Mostman co-executive producer for Striker Entertainment.