Is Stephen King Involved with the Return of Creepshow?

If you’re a horror fan (and why would you be reading this if you aren’t), you’ve known about Shudder, the horror streaming app, for some time now. But later this month, Shudder joins the ranks of other streaming apps by presenting their own exclusive original series: Creepshow, a direct continuation of the first two films, and horror fans are ecstatic. If you’re a fan of the original Creepshow, then you already know this, but what some of you might not realize is that the original Creepshow was a 1982 anthology horror movie written by Stephen King, directed by George Romero. The movie paid homage to the EC horror comics that had come before it and inspired the two horror legends. Not only was Creepshow Stephen King’s film screenwriting debut, but he also starred in the segment, “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill,” which was itself based on King’s short story, “Weeds.”

Romero, sadly, passed away in 2017, but many fans have been eager to hear how involved Stephen King might be with this incarnation of Creepshow. Did he write the series? Is he acting in any of the segments?

Unfortunately, it turns out that Stephen King’s involvement isn’t quite as thorough as it was in the original Creepshow, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have a hand in this latest incarnation.

“It can’t be Creepshow without a Stephen King story,” show runner Greg Nicotero told us. “And he’s like ‘I got just the story.’”

That story, it turns out, is a short story called “Gray Matter,” which stars Giancarlo Esposito (from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul) and Nicotero himself adapted and directed for the series.

While Stephen King won’t be making a cameo or writing every story like he did in the original, he was still involved in the process, as Nicotero explained: “We sent him a bunch of stuff, and he’s been super supportive and he’s been pretty great about anything. He’s like, ‘Yeah, man, whatever you need.’”

Thanks to an interview during our set visit, Greg Nictotero would go on to offer even further insight into the creative process behind this reboot of Creepshow which you can read about here.

Creepshow stars David Arquette (Scream franchise), Adrienne Barbeau, Tobin Bell (Saw), Big Boi (Scream: The TV Series), Jeffrey Combs (Star Trek, Re-Animator), Kid Cudi (Drunk Parents), Bruce Davison (Longtime Companion, X-Men), Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul), and more. It’s currently scheduled to premiere on Shudder on September 26, 2019.