WIRE Buzz: Creepshow S2; Hill House DC trailer; Netflix promises data transparency

The creep is coming back! After a record-setting debut season on horror streamer Shudder, showrunner Greg Nicotero’s Creepshow revival will delight schlock anthology fans all over again in season two. Does that make it round...boo?

According to a release, the series which has thus far adapted Stephen King and George A. Romero’s 1982 film concept into a string of spooky segments to critical and popular acclaim, will be getting a second season with The Walking Dead bigwig Nicotero at the helm.

“For me, Creepshow has been a true labor of love,” said Nicotero. “To be able to pay tribute to George A. Romero’s visionary project and have the show so embraced by fans everywhere is humbling to this horror kid from Pittsburgh. I couldn’t be more pleased and look forward to continuing the series with more ghoulish delight.”

No word on when the second season will begin production — or what genre talent it will attract to compete with season one’s stacked roster — but Creepshow’s finale will air on Halloween at 9 PM ET.

Next, another horror project announced just in time for Halloween. Creepshow alum Joe Hill (whose story By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain was adapted by the first season) is partnering with DC’s Black Label for curated imprint: Hill House Comics.

The horror author is bringing a slew of frightening content to the comic world in the near future, with titles already announced through December — and kicked off with an October tale from Hill himself. If fans need an additional kick in the pants, there’s a new trailer ready to haunt them.

Check it out:

The head-chopping Basketful of Heads (from Hill and artist Leomacs) is all about heads that live on far past their execution date, while coming months will bring The Dollhouse Family (from writer Mike Carey and artists Peter Gross and Vince Locke) and The Low, Low Woods (from writer Carmen Maria Machado and artist Dani). The Dollhouse Family comes Nov. 13 and is about, well, an obsession-driving (and magical) dollhouse, while The Low, Low Woods (out Dec. 18) is all about a haunted mining town and missing memories.

These comics will all include a chapter of Hill’s naval werewolf tale Sea Dogs, with art from Dan McDaid. Awesome.

Finally, one of the biggest streaming services in the world may soon become a more transparent business when it comes to releasing viewership data. This comes from a discussion between multiple studio executives and The Hollywood Reporter, during which Netflix’s head of original films, Scott Stuber, talked about the company’s future productions.

Netflix has been notoriously tight-lipped when releasing figures that most film and TV fans are used to getting from box office receipts or Nielson ratings. When Netflix does deign to release information, the figures are always so gargantuan that they’re often met with skepticism. That may all be changing soon, according to Stuber.

While the exec noted that the policy began simply to allow creators to “free up their narrative form so that they could tell stories that weren't [influenced] night after night by” ratings, they “are used to it” now. As the desires of their base changes — and the needs of the industry change around the streaming war — this too must alter. 

“We are definitely, as a company, moving more,” Stuber said, “and you will see more [viewership transparency]. We do it in some of our earnings reports, and we are going to be doing it more and more because that filmmaker and that actor and that actress want to know that their movie got out there globally in a big way.”

When the next Bird Box hits Netflix, perhaps fans will get some deeper information than the blanket “80 million households streamed” this film.