Channel Zero

This is an anthology horror series on Syfy and lasted four seasons. Each season is six hour-long episodes dealing with one story. It's a horror series of slow-burning, visually inventive, and hauntingly creepy stories.

First season Candle Cove. In 1988 Iron Hill, Ohio, young Mike lost his identical twin Eddie as the last of five murdered kids. The four other bodies were found without their teeth. The case remains unsolved. Mike Painter (Paul Schneider) becomes a famous child psychiatrist and is haunted by nightmares. He reconnects with his mother Marla Painter (Fiona Shaw) back home. His childhood friend Gary Yolen has been elected sheriff. Gary and his wife Jessica are concerned about their girl Katie. She and other kids are obsessing over an old unseen children's TV show called Candle Cove as before. There is a slow burn going on in the show. It's a struggle to watch week to week but it works much better as a binge. There are shockingly cool horror visuals and ideas.

Second season No-End House. Best friends Margot Sleator (Amy Forsyth) and Jules Koja (Aisha Dee) join J.D. and Dylan on a haunted house tour. It's a popular exhibit named The No-End House in the suburbs at a dead end street with six strange rooms. The group goes in with others and has mind-bending experiences. Margot and Jules stagger out alone. After they leave, they experience ususal happenings in the real world. Margot's dead father (John Carroll Lynch) comes back to life. I'm happy that the characters know that it's not the real world. Margot's dad is the only non-real character that I'm interested in. It's a rather slow burn. The kids do a lot of walking in the empty suburban streets. There are some interesting ideas but it needs more tension. In that sense, it is very much like the first season.

Third season Butcher's Block. There's a stairway to nowhere. Alice is new to the city leaving behind her mother after a troubling incident. Her disturbed sister Zoe shows up. Her new job is to evict people from a rundown neighborhood called the Butcher's Block. It was the home to an old slaughter house run by Joseph Peach (Rutger Hauer).

Fourth season The Dream Door. Newlyweds Jillian and Tom move into their house. They and their friend Jason find a mysterious door suddenly appear in the basement. Jillian finds a disturbing figure from her childhood.

There aren't too many horror series so I was pleased to find this on HBO. Absolutely loved seasons one and two, especially two. The atmosphere is super creepy and I liked the slow pace. Camera work and lighting, set design etc are very good, as well as the understated acting. The whole package is pretty unique and much more "serious" than for example American Horror Story (atleast the seasons I've seen).

But then season three turned me off completely. Seemed to be geared more towards gore and disgusting visuals. The story is somewhat interesting as well as some scenes are pretty effective, but I had to turn my head away too many times to enjoy the season 3 as a whole. Too bad, looking forward to seeing season 4.

I created an IMDb account purely so I could review this show.

I am a huge horror fan and have been all my life and although the horror genre is still fairly new to TV shows, I feel like this is what I have been waiting for. I tried Scream, Slasher, Darknet, and nothing comes close to this show. I didn't know much about Creepypasta so for me this was all new and exciting. From the first ep I was intrigued, it was a thinking person's show, not just cheap jump scares.

The idea of puppets and dolls is creepy anyway, but the simplicity and subtlety of the storyline, the location, the characters..that's what gets you. To take things that scare you as a kid and bring them to your adult life in a way that isn't ridiculous is smart writing. It makes you think long after you've watched it and not many shows or movies have that effect on me as I've watched so many horrors I'm very rarely taken by surprise.

If you're a fan of being creeped out, do yourself a favour. Mike (played by Paul Schneider who I had only seen in Parks and Recreation!) is excellent. He's a character you're unsure of, but feel for.

There aren't many things in the horror genre I'd give a 10, but each week I can't wait to watch a new episode!!

Pros: original, genuinely creepy, strong supporting cast, good production values, a dramatic step up from normal SyFy fare.

Cons: pacing, continuity, logic, lead actor and actress are stilted and wooden, dialog is sophomoric, obvious gaps in dialog, poor performances from/direction for the child actors.

I really really enjoyed this series! Granted, I've only seen the first season, but I'm excited for the upcoming episodes! I can absolutely say, I personally liked it better than Stranger Things. I'm 40 so I've only heard about Creepypasta from my kids. I had known about Candle Cove, but I did not know there was a TV show about it until yesterday. I downloaded the SYFY app and binged them all. Some parts of the story started teetering on ridiculousness, but because of the story line, it made sense. Just when the "oh here we go, it's about to get stupid" scenes were on, they'd pull back just enough. I think the episode format worked well, as they were able to explain the story in more depth. I believe had it been a movie, it would have been just another stupid horror movie. I'm glad I found it and I do wish the show had been marketed or promoted more. I'm a die hard fan of American Horror Story, and while this no where near touched the shocking aspects of that show, it was definitely eerie enough to keep me intrigued. I liked the characters and the acting was believable. I've read in places that SYFY is known for canceling their shows. I really hope the second season draws a bigger crowd, maybe through word of mouth so this show will have a good run.