John Carpenter’s ‘Tales for a Halloween Night’ Series is “Dead” at Syfy

A TV series inspired by John Carpenter’s annual graphic novel horror anthology Tales for a HalloweeNight is no longer in development at the Syfy network, according to writer/producer/publisher Sandy King Carpenter of Storm King Productions.

In a recent interview, the series co-creator Sandy King Carpenter tells ComicBook.com, “We had one [project] where SYFY wanted Tales for a Halloween Night but it quickly became evident that they just wanted the title. And I really saw a disaster on the horizon. So I went, ‘No, no, no. This is not a good idea.’ It was a greenlit series but if it’s not gonna be something cool for the fans and for the eventual audience, then I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it. It’s dead.”

Carpenter goes on to explain, “I think we have a pretty good idea what our fans want to see and we definitely have a pretty good idea what should come out from,” King explained. “If somebody’s a fan of that anthology, there should be a character to any show that comes out of it…it shouldn’t be just barfing up the books. It should be something that grows out of it or has a flavor of it or in some way meets the expectations or why are we giving it that title? Call it ‘Bozo Goes To Mars’ or something else.

“It’s all cool. We can do another series but I think if you use that title, you should in some way meet those expectations. So we’ll see,” King confessed. “It doesn’t mean something can’t be done but at its core, the people we work with have to respect horror fans and respect the genre. That’s the core of it. Not just respect the fact that horror right now makes money.”

While this is certainly disappointing news (especially considering John Carpenter was expected to direct the pilot episode), at least we have a new installment of the source material to look forward to this Halloween. The striking cover for John Carpenter’s upcoming Tales for a HalloweeNight Vol. 5 Anniversary Edition was recently revealed, featuring what looks like a violent new retelling of the Headless Horseman legend.

Tales for a HalloweenNight Volume 5 is expected be arrive in October of 2019.

Check out the cover art below.

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