‘Creepshow’ TV Series Adapting Stephen King’s Most Disturbing Story
As a horror fan, there’s not much that actually shocks or disturbs me. But there are exceptions. One of those exceptions isStephen King’s grisly short storySurvivor Type, featured in his collectionSkeleton Crew. It’s a queasy, nasty piece of work about a man shipwrecked on a desert island, forced to slowly eat his own body parts to survive. And now, it might be coming to TV. Director and special effects make-up artistGreg Nicoterois currently working on a newCreepshowTV series for Shudder, and one of the episodes appears to be an adaptation of King’s gross-out short story.
In Stephen King’sSurvivor Type, a disgraced surgeon named Richard Pine ends up on a remote island in the Pacific after the cruise ship he was on sinks. Pine has no food, few supplies, and a bunch of cocaine he was smuggling. The character narrates his story via a journal he’s keeping, and we learn about his desperate situation. Unable to find much food, he soon begins amputating his own body parts, and eating them. It’sreallydisgusting, to the point that when I first read it, I had to take breaks to avoiding getting too grossed-out. Unlike most King works, no one could adaptSurvivor Typeinto a feature film. But itwouldmake for a hell of a short, and that’s apparently what’s happening via the newCreepshowTV series.
It’s already been reported that King and his son Joe Hill would be among the contributors to the show, and now,Production Weeklyhas confirmedSurvivor Typewill be the inspiration for one of the episodes. PerGeekTyrant:
One of the episodes will be called “Survivor Type” and it will focus on a character named Richard Pine, who is “Shipwrecked on a desert island” and while there he “reflects on his life and does the unthinkable in order to survive.”
If done right, this is going to make for averydisturbing episode of TV. And I can’t wait to see it. Each episode of theCreepshowseries will be helmed by a different director, and will feature make-up effects from Greg Nicotero’s KNB EFX Group. When the project was first announced, Nicotero said:
“Creepshowis a project very close to my heart! It is one of those titles that embraces the true spirit of horror… thrills and chills celebrated in one of its truest art forms, the comic book come to life! I’m honored to continue the tradition in the ‘spirit’ which it was created.”
The series is set to debut on Shudder some time this year.
