THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
Director Steve Hughes gets spooky with CBBC anthology show Creeped Out...
Black Mirror for kids? Why not! That’s the loose premise of new CBBC series Creeped Out, a 13-episode anthology show that combines top-of-the-line prosthetics with stories about puppets, spooky kids and curses. “There are things that Black Mirror would do as well,” director Steve Hughes tells Red Alert. “There’s one about technology. There’s one episode that’s got a real Back To The Future vibe, too, which is so heartwarming. Not all of them are supposed to creep you out; it’s a real trick-or-treat series.”
Created by Bede Blake and Rob Butler, it was shot both in the north of England and in Canada. Hughes helmed eight episodes, while Pontypool director Bruce McDonald oversaw the remaining five. “When I was growing up, we used to watch a lot of Tales Of The Unexpected, The Twilight Zone and Amazing Stories,” says Hughes, who also cites the Jim Henson/John Hurt series The Storyteller as an inspiration. “This is that for a new generation.”
Of course, an anthology show is nothing without a host. Luckily, Creeped Out boasts a compere to send even the Crypt Keeper scuttling for his coffin. “We’ve created our own storyteller character called ‘The Curious’, who bookends all the episodes,” says Hughes. “He’s this spooky-looking boy in a mask. He’s an urban myth; people have seen him in the back of photographs, people have heard his name, they don’t know much about him. He passes through the stories collecting moments from them. My kids are already going to dress up as him at Halloween!” Who’d have thought CBBC could become a home for horror?
Creeped Out airs on CBBC from 31 October.