Why Netflix should save John Carpenter’s Tales for a Halloween Night

Netflix should be the company to save the recently abandoned horror anthology show Tales for a Halloween Night from director John Carpenter.

Comicbook.com reported that SYFY has scrapped their plans to produce John Carpenter’s Tales for a Halloween Night, an adaptation of the famed horror directors award-winning graphic novel series that features storytellers from the worlds of movies, TV and comics coming together to tell original horror stories in an anthology format.

Part of the deal that began with Carpenter, the producers that he works with at Storm King Productions and SYFY in fall of 2017 would have seen Carpenter directing AT LEAST the first episode of the proposed horror anthology show. This would have been extremely exciting news for members of the horror community as Carpenter is a legend in the genre, being responsible for such films as Halloween, The Thing and The Fog to name but a few and the master of horror hasn’t directed substantially since 2010. Tales for a Halloween Night would have been a return for the director that horror fans around the globe would have welcomed.

Sadly Sandy King, president of Storm King Productions told Comicbook.com that:

"“SYFY wanted Tales for a Halloween Night but it quickly became evident that they just wanted the title. And I really saw a disaster on the horizon,”…”It was a greenlit series but if it’s not gonna be something cool for the fans and for the eventual audience, then I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it.”"

By the sounds of it SYFY was not interested in the approach King and Carpenter had that would have featured high-end storytelling from multiple different artists, each with distinct and unique stories to tell.

To hear that SYFY is scrapping the show because of creative differences is difficult for fans since the pitch sounds so exciting however King goes on to say:

"“We can do another series but I think if you use that title, you should in some way meet those expectations. So we’ll see,”"

This does give fans hope for the future and I think this is exactly where Netflix could step in. Netflix has a track record for saving canceled/finished shows such as Arrested Development and Full House, but picking up this show could be an interesting direction for Netflix to take since the show never really came to fruition but the producers still seem interested in getting it made elsewhere.

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The producer’s stipulation it seems is that whoever does want to pick up the show needs to treat the material and creators with care and respect the desire of Carpenter’s to create something that is high-end storytelling and not simply a horror cash-grab.

Within the last year Netflix has shown that they can treat the horror genre with the respect it deserves both in the TV format (The Haunting of Hill House) and as features (The Ritual). All Netflix needs to do now is approach Carpenter and King with a pitch that honors the storytellers within the horror genre and I think they could have a real success on their hands.

For one, the success of last year’s Halloween has put composer John Carpenter on the map again and people are looking at his projects more now then they have in the last 20 years. True horror anthologies are seeing a resurgence in 2019 with CBS’s rebooted The Twilight Zone from Jordan Peele and Shudder’s upcoming Creepshow series. While Netflix does have Black Mirror that show does have a more science fiction bend to it and I think Tales for a Halloween Night could be the pure horror anthology to put Netflix in direct competition with Shudder and CBS All Access.

Not to mention the simple fact that I think if Netflix did pick up Tales for a Halloween Night this year horror fans would be beyond excited to see the master of horror direct something new for the first time in almost 10 years. Carpenter would be controlling a show where horror storytellers will have a chance to come together and create new and interesting material at a high-end level where the genre is respected and not maligned.

Blumhouse has already shown that getting the famously hesitant Carpenter to agree on projects is possible, with last years Halloween, as long as you show him, his work and his vision for upcoming projects the respect that they deserve. Netflix could follow in the steps of Blumhouse and take it one further by actually getting the director behind the camera again.

It remains to be seen whether Netflix or anyone else will pick up the show and do something with it. Personally, I really hope it is Netflix because they do have the respect and proven track record to pull this thing off and it could be a landmark in horror television.

We will keep you updated if we hear anything new from Tales from a Halloween Night on Netflix.