John Carpenter to Direct Pilot for ‘Tales for a Halloween Night’ TV Series

After a seven-year absence from the world of directing, John Carpenter is getting behind the camera to bring to life the pilot for the TV series Tales for a Halloween Night, an anthology show based on a comic book series he helped create.

“He would direct the pilot, at least,” Carpenter’s wife and producing partner Sandy King told Rue Morgue. “And then we’ll hopefully bring on some great horror directors—and just great directors—so that it’ll be a high-end show. We want anything that has our brand associated with it to be a satisfying experience for readers, watchers, whatever we’re doing.”

What makes this news so exciting is that, not only will Carpenter direct the pilot, King hints that he could potentially helm multiple installments of the series.

“The idea behind the books is that you can have an evening of reading short scary stories, none of which are alike, and they’re all the different faces of horror,” King described. “There are ghost stories, there are sea-monster stories, there are cursed rings; there’s intellectual horror and bugs, and all sorts of things.”

“So the idea behind the series,” she added, “is to not just barf back the books and do the same things and say, ‘Here’s the books in TV form.’ We want to give you that same feeling of seeing all the facets of horror.”

Carpenter’s last feature film was The Ward in 2010, having spent recent years focusing on musical endeavors. He has since released two albums of original music, Lost Themes and Lost Themes II, which were conceptualized as albums featuring movie themes for films that have yet to be made. In addition to directing, Carpenter is an accomplished composer, previously crafting the scores for Halloween, They Live, Big Trouble in Little China and many more of his classics.

A new installment in the Halloween franchise is currently being developed by David Gordon Green and Danny McBride, who are slated to write and direct the film set after the events of the original 1978 film. Jamie Lee Curtis will return to the franchise to reprise her role of Laurie Strode, with Carpenter serving as executive producer and having hinted at creating the film’s score.

The Tales for a Halloween Night series is slated to hit SYFY in the near future.

[H/T Rue Morgue]