It was only a matter of time before the internet’s best fiction started getting picked up in other media. Specifically, I’m talking about “creepypasta,” the short stories that have proliferated on forums, message boards, and dedicated websites for several years. Slenderman is probably the most widely known creepypasta figure, but one of the absolute best pieces is an eerie little story called “Candle Cove.” Written as a brief series of forum posts, it’s a perfectly dark spin on our nostalgia for the half-remembered stories of our childhood, that realization that the things we liked as kids were much, much creepier than we thought.
SyFy is making a TV series based on one of the internet’s best scary stories
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
Unlike much creepypasta, which has a sort of anonymous folkloric quality, “Candle Cove” is actually the creation of Chainsawsuit author Kris Straub. And now, it’s being expanded into the first season of a SyFy horror anthology series. Deadline reports that the script is being adapted by Nick Antosca, who has written for Hannibal and Teen Wolf among other things, and it’s being produced by Chronicle writer Max Landis. There doesn’t appear to be an air date, but if it’s renewed, each season will focus on a different narrative — a strategy that’s been used with varying results in shows like True Detective and American Horror Story.
Of course, to stay really true (spoilers!) to the original text, the first season will actually need to have never existed at all. We look forward to tuning in to an hour of blank static every week.
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