Channel Zero is a new horror and sci-fi anthology series from creators Nick Antosca and Max Landis

Syfy announced today that it has greenlit a new limited horror and sci-fi anthology series, Channel Zero, hailing from Nick Antosca (“Hannibal,” “Teen Wolf”) and Max Landis (Chronicle, American Ultra). Universal Cable Productions has ordered twelve hourlong episodes that are planned to air on Syfy in two self-contained, six episode seasons in Fall 2016 and Fall 2017. Channel Zero will become the centerpiece of the channel’s annual 31 Days of Halloween programming event.

The first installment of Channel Zero is the six part story “Candle Cove,” based on the unnerving tale written by Kris Straub, which gained notoriety online as a popular “creepypasta” (user-generated horror stories that are published and passed around the internet). “Candle Cove” centers on one man’s obsessive recollections of a mysterious children’s television program from the 1980s – and his ever-growing suspicions about the role it might have played in a series of nightmarish and deadly events from his childhood.

Antosca, a novelist and screenwriter, wrote the pilot and will serve as executive producer alongside Landis.

The second, yet-to-be announced six episode season of Channel Zero will then premiere on Syfy in 2017.

“As Syfy’s first ever Halloween original scripted series, ‘Channel Zero’ will transport viewers into the deepest recesses of their darkest imagination, with frightening tales from two of the genre’s most accomplished storytellers, Max Landis and Nick Antosca,” says Dave Howe, President, Syfy & Chiller:

“We’re thrilled to partner with Max Landis and Nick Antosca to bring these brilliantly macabre stories to life,” adds Jeff Wachtel, Chief Content Officer, NBC Universal Cable Entertainment. “Fans are in for a haunting, spine-tingling ride.”

“As lifelong fans of experimental horror and science fiction, from ‘The Twilight Zone’ to ‘Tales from the Crypt,’ we are overjoyed to have the opportunity to offer exposure to a new generation of creators,” add Antosca and Landis in a joint statement. “‘Channel Zero’ is a great opportunity to explore new frontiers in the genre, in a way that allows us to really dig in and get weird.”

Channel Zero: Candle Cove joins Syfy’s previously-announced 2016 lineup of original series already set to include “The Magicians,” based on Lev Grossman’s best-selling novels, “Hunters,” from “The Walking Dead” executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, and the second seasons of “12 Monkeys,” “Killjoys,” and “Dark Matter.”