According to creator Mick Garris, the directors involved were given free rein as to what stories they told; however they wanted to tell them. But when Showtime came on board, they laid out a handful of rules. One was that there could be no full-frontal male nudity. Another was that there could be no violence committed on a child by another child (but violence by adults on children or children on adults was acceptable).
Relying on the directors' prestige, the different episodes were released individually on DVD in some countries, such as France, to maximize profit. A complete series DVD set was later released.
Due to the poor reception of season two, the show was renamed Fear Itself: Antologia do Medo (2008), and the third season became an entirely different show.
This show was fully financed even before Showtime came along. Originally, the episodes were just going to be released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment.